The Principal As Visionary Journalist

How do you get more of what you want in the repertoire of practice in your organization?

As an instructional leader, one way to encourage practices that contribute to student learning is to recognize, call out, and celebrate them when you see them.

When teachers know their colleagues are finding success with a new initiative, hearing it from the principal validates that it can be done.

When someone is struggling with an instructional technique, or dealing with a major classroom challenge, if the principal celebrates what they’re doing to head in the right direction, it can serve as a tremendous source of encouragement.

In this way, the principal serves as a journalist – not of the world as it is, but as it should be.

This is what it means to have vision – to connect the present with the possible, and to encourage and document progress toward that possibility.