A Question for Principals and Assistant Principals

Baruti K. Kafele | Speaker and Author

As a longtime teacher and principal from 1988–2011, my approach to both roles was always reflective. I was obsessed with pushing myself to be better than the day before by being intentionally self-reflective in all aspects of the work. As a teacher, I had the following overarching question that I asked myself regularly that drove everything I did in relation to my classroom: “Are my students at an advantage BECAUSE I am their teacher?”

This question mattered to me, and it served as a mirror for my pedagogical and overall performance as a teacher. It forced me to consider whether I mattered; whether I was who and what my students needed; and whether someone else could come into my classroom and take my students to heights that I could not.

When I became a principal, I also maintained a self-reflective approach to my new job. The difference was that now I was responsible for an entire school. As daunting as this was for me, I was all in. I wanted to be effective from day one. Initially, I would ask myself if my students were at an advantage because I was their principal. Eventually, the question became: “Are my students and staff at an advantage BECAUSE I am their principal?”

I felt there was something missing however, so I worked on the question for a while, until I came up with, “Is my school a better school BECAUSE I lead it?” That was THE question. Over time, I began to refer to this question as the quintessential question for school leaders.

Every day after school, as I stood in front of the building at dismissal after the students left campus, I would look at the facade of the building and ask myself, “Is my school a better school BECAUSE I lead it?” I would be brutally honest with myself, and frequently the answer was an emphatic “no.” In this way, I challenged myself to be better. But I didn’t use the totality of leadership as my criteria in answering my question. I narrowed it down to two criteria: instructional leadership and student engagement.

I held myself to a daily standard comprised of classroom visits and coaching, and I held myself accountable to my standard. If my standard was not met on any given day, I deemed that my school was not a better school because I led it.

In this article, I focus on the instructional side of my leadership. Instructionally, I held myself to a daily standard comprised of classroom visits and coaching, and I held myself accountable to my standard. If my standard was not met on any given day, I deemed that my school was not a better school because I led it. I would then return to my office and write in my journal. I had to figure out why I fell short of my standard and strategize on how I would meet it tomorrow.

Five Questions to Ask

In my current role as a full-time leadership consultant, the question, “Is my school a better school because I lead it?” has informed the bulk of my work over the past 13 years since leaving the principalship. Just as my criteria for responding to my question was instructional leadership when I was a principal, in working with and training principals over the years, instructional leadership continues to be my focus. I have tweaked the question a bit, so it also directly relates to the assistant principal relative to instruction. If you’re an assistant principal reading this article, ask yourself: “What is my value to the teachers that I supervise…INSTRUCTIONALLY?”

I have spent countless hours conducting trainings with school leaders on only this question; there’s a lot to unpack. Considering that far too many assistant principals are used as full-time disciplinarians and cafeteria supervisors, and not as instructional leaders, I’ve also used my trainings with them to put their instructional leadership front and center.

For both principals and assistant principals, I’ve devised five overarching questions for them to ask themselves as they consider their work:

1. What is instructional leadership and what does it mean to my practice?

2. Do I understand that my main priority is student achievement and the continued improvement of instruction?

3. What do I know about excellent pedagogy beyond who I was as a teacher?

4. Do I have a philosophy, beliefs, opinions, and ideas about how children learn based upon my own research, reading, and experiences?

5. Does instructional leadership define my primary role as an assistant principal or principal?

Let’s look at each individually.

1. What is instructional leadership and what does it mean to my practice?

I have learned over the years that instructional leadership means a lot of different things to a lot of different leaders and districts. For districts, it is my strong contention that there must be some degree of uniformity as to what instructional leadership means at the building level
to ensure student achievement districtwide.

2. Do I understand that my main priority is student achievement and the continued improvement of instruction?

My travels have demonstrated that there are countless school leaders who understand theoretically that their main priority is student achievement and the continued improvement of instruction. But admittedly, their leadership behavior doesn’t demonstrate evidence of what they know. The cause is typically rooted in a prevailing school culture that doesn’t permit them to be the instructional leaders they desire and need to be.

3. What do I know about excellent pedagogy beyond who I was as a teacher?

Many school leaders serve in leadership capacities on the strength of who they were as classroom teachers. Although they were effective in the classroom because of their personal skill sets, the question is, what do they know relative to effective pedagogy beyond what they did personally in the classroom? Everything isn’t transferable and a leader must possess or have access to strategies that will be compatible with the personalities and skill sets of the teachers they supervise.

4. Do I have a philosophy, beliefs, opinions, and ideas about how children learn based upon my own research, reading, and experiences?

This question is simply asking does a leader walk into a classroom with a knowledge base of effective pedagogy for the students of the zip codes that attend their school? Or does a leader walk into a classroom impressed with pedagogy that looks great but is not necessarily translating into student success?

5. Does instructional leadership define my primary role as a principal?

During the long hours that a principal works in the building, their typical responsibilities are numerous. Within those hours and responsibilities, the question is how much time is devoted to that responsibility where the rubber meets the road, which is instructional leadership? This is where a leader may have to assess their priorities toward ensuring that there is a correlation between their instructional leadership and classroom teacher effectiveness.

As a brand-new principal, instructional leadership was not only challenging for me given all that was on my plate, but it felt virtually impossible. Over time however, I grew and developed an understanding of the correlation between school culture and instructional leadership. Instructional leadership can’t happen if the culture of the school doesn’t allow it. But on the other hand, when instructional leadership is the number one priority of school leadership, the probability for student success increases exponentially.

Baruti K. Kafele is an educational consultant. A former teacher and principal, he is the author of several books and the creator and host of the AP & New Principals Academy, streamed live every Saturday morning on his YouTube channel. He will speak at UNITED in July.