The Role of the School Administrator

The principal of a school is its administrator. The role has two main functions (administration and supervision), four specific roles (community leader, instructional improvement, curriculum development, and plant management), and a history that has shifted over the past century from authoritarian command toward democratic leadership.

Two main functions

The handout opens with a clear breakdown.

The school administrator has two important functions:

1. Administration of the school.
2. Supervision of the personnel involved in teaching and learning includes everything in school: the plant, staff, curriculum, techniques and methods, co-curricular.

Two functions. Administration is the broader management work. Supervision is the close attention to the people who do the educational work.

A school administrator who only administers (handles operations, budgets, policies) and does not supervise (engage with teaching directly) runs the school’s machinery but neglects its purpose. A school administrator who only supervises (focuses on teachers and classrooms) and neglects administration runs out of resources and structure.

Both functions must be performed.

The shift in authority

The handout offers a useful historical framing.

In old authoritarian schools, where the school administrator was a dictator, the SA only needed ability to inspire awe/fear in students and staff and all went well.

The old model. The administrator commanded; staff and students obeyed. Authority came from position. Fear maintained order.

This model still exists in some Pakistani schools. It is fading but not extinct.

Now the emphasis is more on freedom of participation and reciprocal cooperation.

The modern model. Staff have voice. Students have voice. Parents have voice. The administrator leads through influence, not just command.

The handout offers a striking quote.

Leadership in democracy is known by the personalities it enriches, not by those it dominates or captivates.

A democratic leader is recognised by the growth of those around her, not by the obedience or admiration she extracts. A school administrator who leaves her staff stronger and more capable than when she found them is a democratic leader. One who leaves them dependent or worn down is something else.

What the modern SA must do

SA has to earn the leadership.

Position is not enough. The administrator earns trust and authority through her work.

Must come into close contact with teachers, students and parents.

Distance does not work. The administrator must be present, accessible, engaged.

Earn trust.

The currency of leadership. Trust is built slowly, lost quickly. The administrator’s work over time produces (or fails to produce) the trust that makes everything else possible.

The specific roles

The handout sets out four specific roles of the school administrator.

1. Community leader

Community Leader: SA needs to study their community thoroughly, learn its resources of wealth and deploy accordingly. Produce a continuous long term improvement programme. Exercise initiative to meet new needs.

The school does not exist in isolation. It is part of a community. The administrator’s role includes being a leader within that community.

In Pakistani context, this might include:

1. Knowing the community. Who lives here? What do they need from a school? What resources can they offer?
2. Connecting the school to community resources. Local businesses, alumni, parents with relevant expertise, civic leaders.
3. Anticipating community needs. Changes in demographics, economic shifts, new requirements from the community.
4. Long-term community improvement. The school’s contribution to the community’s long-term wellbeing.

A school administrator who treats her school as separate from its community misses opportunities and risks irrelevance.

2. Improvement of instruction

Improvement of instruction: the most important role. Calls for deliberate, long-range planning. Requires creative, cooperative and constructive supervision. Classroom visitation, patient work with teachers over time.

The handout calls this “the most important role”. Improving the teaching that happens in the school’s classrooms.

This is not glamorous work. It does not produce immediate visible results. It requires:

1. Long-range planning. Improvement over years, not weeks.
2. Creative supervision. Not just inspection; coaching, modelling, supporting.
3. Cooperative work. With teachers as partners, not subjects.
4. Constructive feedback. That helps teachers grow.
5. Classroom visitation. Being in classrooms, watching real teaching.
6. Patience. Teacher growth takes time.

Many administrators avoid this work. It requires time in classrooms that they would rather spend in their offices. It requires honest conversations that they would rather avoid. It requires sustained attention that they would rather give to immediate operational issues.

The administrator who avoids the work of instructional improvement is failing at her most important role.

3. Curriculum development

Curriculum Development and improvement: learning at school be constantly adapted to emerging needs/changes. Accept experiments. Be open to new ideas, encourage inquiry. Follow up studies of dropouts/slow learners. Provide time and space for curriculum work.

The third role. Beyond improving existing teaching, the administrator works on what is being taught.

Curriculum work includes:

1. Adapting to new needs. The world changes; what students need to learn changes.
2. Accepting experiments. Trying new approaches, accepting some will fail.
3. Encouraging inquiry. Both in the curriculum (inquiry-based learning) and in the administrator’s own engagement (inquiry into what is working).
4. Following dropouts and slow learners. Understanding why some students do not succeed.
5. Providing time and space. Curriculum development needs dedicated time; the administrator protects it.

A school that does not develop its curriculum becomes stale. The administrator’s role includes ensuring this work happens.

4. School plant management

School plant management: it includes all permanent and semi permanent structures/educational facilities in the school used for the achievement of all educational objectives: site, buildings, physical equipment, recreational spaces, textbooks, etc.

The physical environment.

Desirable levels of students’ academic performance may not be possible where instructional spaces such as classrooms, libraries, technical workshops and laboratories are lacking or ill-planned.

The point is sharp. Physical inadequacy limits academic outcomes. A school with no library cannot teach reading at the level a school with a strong library can. A school with broken equipment cannot teach science properly.

Three components of plant management:

1. Planning plant facilities.
2. Equipping the facilities.
3. Utilising and maintenance.

Plant management is not glamorous but is essential. An administrator who neglects it produces a school where teaching is constrained by the building.

A practical balance

A school administrator’s week typically includes work across all four roles plus the two main functions. A useful self-check at the end of each week:

1. Community leader work. Time spent on community connection, alumni, local partnerships.
2. Improvement of instruction. Time in classrooms; coaching teachers.
3. Curriculum development. Time engaging with what is being taught.
4. Plant management. Time on facilities, equipment, environment.
5. Administration generally. Budget, policies, operations.
6. Supervision generally. People management.

Many administrators find on honest review that they spend most of their time on administration and very little on instructional improvement. The balance is wrong. The work that matters most for educational outcomes is the work being most neglected.

Adjusting the balance takes deliberate effort. The administrative work is urgent; the instructional work is important. The administrator must protect time for the important against the pressure of the urgent.

Flashcard

What are the two main functions of a school administrator, and what is her most important specific role?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Two main functions: Administration of the school, and Supervision of personnel involved in teaching and learning.

Most important specific role: improvement of instruction.

Four specific roles:

1. Community leader. Connect the school to its community; long-term improvement.

2. Improvement of instruction. Long-range planning, classroom visitation, patient work with teachers. The handout calls this “the most important role”.

3. Curriculum development. Adapt to emerging needs, encourage experiments and inquiry, follow up on dropouts and slow learners.

4. School plant management. Planning facilities, equipping them, utilising and maintaining.

Many administrators neglect instructional improvement in favour of immediate administrative work. The balance is wrong; the urgent is crowding out the important.