The Secret to Creating a Great Learning Environment
Hint: It Starts with Awesome Administrators
Teachers v. Administrators: Anyone who spends time in public education will quickly pick up on this dynamic.
At first it baffled me — aren’t principals technically our bosses? — and then I started hearing the horror stories of bad administrators.
Some principals see their jobs as a jump-off to higher positions; new principals come in and use a heavy handed approach to bring about change, and then leave; other principals are spineless and don’t support their teaching staff.
All of these cases involve some form of ignoring Teacher Voice.
In This Is Not a Test, José Vilson recounts being written up by his admin for not having a tidy bulletin board, as if that were the key to his students’ success. No wonder teachers are suspicious of administrators. We want leaders, not petty dictators.
For me, I got lucky. Towards the end of my teaching program, I got a call from the assistant principal at the school where I would eventually work. He asked if I could come in for an informal interview with some of the team: we sat around the principal’s office and discussed our views on things like grading and skills-based teaching, but I remember a lot of laughing too. I left with this feeling in my gut that this was the kind of school I wanted to work at — these were administrators who really cared about their school and community.
After the interview, I walked around campus to pick up the student vibe — it was easy-going. The students seemed safe and happy. Whatever was going on here, I wanted to be a part of it.
Now I’m in my third year of teaching and I’ve relocated to a new area and a new school. I can’t tell you how hard it was to leave that administrative staff behind.
They taught me how powerful and profound a strong administrative team can be — how they can shape a school’s energy.
I took notes, observed how my admin were different from the horror stories I’d heard about, and this is what I believe are the essentials to inspiring a great learning environment, and what I hope to find at my new school.
1. The Community Principal
This is someone who embeds themselves into the community, who cares about the community, and sees the school as an integral part of it. For them, being a principal is not just a pitstop to a district position. My principal grew up in the community and attended the high school, so he has an emotional and personal commitment to it.
On the other hand, one assistant principal lives in another community twenty miles away, and he is every bit invested in the school, community, and his role.
The principal is the leader of the school, the main representative. Families, students, and teachers should know what to expect. I’ve heard of the “olden days” in California, when folks in a community could name the principal at each school and know their reputation.
Today there seems to be so much turn over in principals. When principals come and go, it’s a disruptive force that brings a lot of anxiety with it.
2. Visibility
Whenever I went to a school event, the administrative team was there. Before school, at lunch, after school, you’d see them out and about. I’m pretty sure they knew every students’ name — not just the high achievers and trouble-makers. I can recall seeing my own high school principal perhaps twice in four years. Where I taught, the kids feel comfortable enough to approach the principal, but they also respect him. They know he’s tough, but they also know he cares about the school — and them.
3. Setting the Tone
A good principal believes in the school and sets the tone.
I’ve actually heard the principal tell students that “our school is a special place” and they were lucky to be there. If you hear that enough, you start to believe it.
In our school-wide meetings, the discussions were often centered on student learning — how student achievement had grown, and how we could grow it further.
As a new teacher, it was so easy to get lost in my own classroom, trying to forge good relationships with students and create fun lesson plans. But every time the principal turned the conversation to student performance, it reinforced the purpose of school. There was never any ambiguity about his attitude toward learning — we can keep doing better.
The assistant principals were masters of managing student behavior. Once I called a meeting between one of the assistant principals and a troubled student of mine. He managed to make the sassiest, most rebellious girl address her issues head on. All he did was ask serious, straighforward questions, but his tone had this mix of being stern, yet concerned, while all wrapped up in gentleness. I think that girl will remember that talk for the rest of her life — at least I will. You can bet I took mental notes.
4. Encouraging Teacher Voice
I always felt that I could turn to my principal to talk. Whether it be a concern or suggestion, he listened. Principals are busy people, yet mine always made time for me when I need to discuss things.
He also went to bat for us whenever we teachers wanted to implement something new. There was always this sense that he stood up for us when it came to the school district or school board.
One of the assistant principals always had time to discuss curriculum with me. He helped me rethink the whole structure of my lesson plans in a way that revolutionized student accountability in my classes.
5. Respecting Teacher Time
Whatever could go into an email or memo did. Meetings were reserved for pressing matters. Teachers are busy people, too, and when you pull us out of our classrooms for after-school meetings, it knocks us out of our routine. An hour meeting could screw up my whole day and put me behind on grading. Our admin staff recognized this. They joked about talking really fast on purpose. I can say that they never droned on.
There are so many more points I could make about the strengths of the administrators with whom I was lucky enough to work, but I believe these had the biggest impact on me.
It’s mid-summer, and I’m no longer an employee of this school, but I still text the principal whenever I get homesick. And he’s the kind of guy to reassure me that I’ll find what I’m looking for at my new school, and, if not, I can always move back. It feels a little bit like leaving home for the first time.
I thank the entire administrative team for setting the bar high — for the students, for the teachers, for themselves. Thank you for showing me some of the ways a school can be great. I want to give a shout out to the principal’s administrative assistant, the activities director, and chair of special ed. You know who you are! You run the school behind the scenes and served as great role models to me. Thank you for that!
Jenny McClelland is a high school English teacher in California. She specializes in California literature and has contributed teaching materials to the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University. Follow her on Twitter: @jenilola
