Shadowing Principal

I had the privilege of interviewing two middle school principals from South Bay Charter Schools in Los Angeles. The questions I asked each of them included;

1. How did you know you were ready to become an assistant/principal?

2. What does a typical day look like? What surprised you the most about the job?

3. What things do you feel strongest in? What things are most challenging?

4. What do you enjoy the most (or get joy from)?

5. How do you try to make the work sustainable (not burn out/feel a sense of purpose)?

6. What supports are the most helpful (from the org)?

My reflection on their responses are as follows;

• “What surprised you?”

Some of the responses that surprised me from the first principal was when he mentioned learning from bad principles he has had in the past. It was from the bad principles that he learned what not to do to teachers. He was able to figure out how to, as he put it, “be a principal but also be human.” He feels that through the bad experiences he had it allowed him to see how important it is to have good relationships with teachers.

From the second principal I was surprised when she mentioned not being a risk taker. She mentioned she’s really good at gathering data and using things that have shown results in the past; for example literacy programs or math programs with data that backs up that they work. However she wishes she was more of a risk taker to implement innovative programs that perhaps don’t have a lot of data to back them up yet but are what the students may need currently. Another surprising thing she mentioned was when I asked her what type of support she needs from the charter organization. She said that they need to understand her as a lifelong learner, meaning that they need to continue building up her knowledge so that she has something to look forward to and continue learning. She also wants them to see her as she said, “for real” and not just as a machine. She wants them to get to know her the way she has gotten to know her staff.

• “How did this experience challenge your perceptions?”

Something that challenged my perception from the first interview was when he said that in terms of social justice and equity he wishes that he wouldn’t have tried to do everything at the same time. He reflected on one of the schools he helped open that ultimately closed. He said, “​​I wish I would have only knocked down one wall of education at a time…I noticed I was doing the work for people and not with them”. He noticed that the students were being reached at a social, emotional and culturally relevant level, however their academics were not reflecting this. He felt that the community was still bought into traditional models of schooling and weren’t completely bought into the work they were doing with the students.

Something that challenged my perception from the second interview was that the principal shared that she gets joy from seeing hard work pay off. She gave the example of all the work that went around school visits and although she stayed up late each night to prepare for them. I would imagine this type of hard work is draining, however once she saw how successful the school visits were and how much engagement there was, she got joy from the work. So hard work that seems unsustainable can also be life-giving.

CAPE Standard 1 A

Developing a Student-Centered Vision of Teaching and Learning

• Both principals centered students and families in implementing programs. For example one principal, implemented a shared reading experience for the WHOLE campus. Everyone read and analyzed the same book and had a school wide assembly with the author during distance learning. The book was relevant to current events in the staff and students lives.

CAPE Standard 1B

Developing a Shared Vision and Community Commitment

• Both principals talked about the importance of relationship and trust building with their staff. One said that what she is most proud of is the respect and responsibility her team feels towards each other. This allows people to take time off and know that everything will be okay. It also allows things to run more smoothly since everyone is on the same page. This is an example of promoting "community commitment and collective sense of responsibility for enacting the school’s vision, mission, and goals."

CAPE Standard 2A

Personal and Professional Learning

• Both principals seek out other principals, conferences, and fellowship programs to receive support for a variety of things such as social emotional learning, instructional practices, and leadership.

CAPE Standard 2B

Promoting Effective Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

• Teachers talked about seeking out innovative ways to support instruction that is culturally relevant and rigorous for students. Both principals use data to choose what they will implement and continue to collect data to see how it is working.