Induction for newly appointed principals and deputy principals

Effective school leadership is a crucial lever of school transformation. As a school principal, you play a vital role in shaping the culture of your school, articulating the vision and mission of the school, setting clear expectations for teachers and learners, leading and managing teams of teachers who can deliver high quality education. Thus the quality of leadership you will provide has a direct bearing on successful curriculum delivery to change learner outcomes for the better.

You have just joined the school as a new principal and proverbially put - “a new broom to sweep the floor”. Your employer, the school community and other stakeholders have high expectations of you - to make a difference! There is a need for you to review your approach in order to adjust to your new position as principal.

If you have been promoted, you might have to reconsider your interaction with stakeholders at the school, and if you recently joined the school, you need to study the culture and ethos of the new school to understand it better.

Both scenarios require a paradigm shift in your attitude, approach and outlook to efficiently execute your operational responsibilities in the new position. Do you feel confident that you can take up the challenge?

Van Deventer (2015:44) indicates that the school principal as an internal change agent, is expected to initiate, facilitate and implement change. This must be done by means of:

• Determining the outcomes of the proposed change
• Determining the procedures and methods of implementing change
• Scrutinising literature relevant to the proposed change
• Contacting other school principals who have already had experience of the proposed change.

Having a clear vision of the change you want to bring about for your school is perhaps the single most important contribution that you can make to its future success, because it creates direction and purpose. Clarke, A (2012:2) refers to four key strategies leaders use as they seek to produce future focused change:

• Vision ( to establish direction)
• Strategy (planning to achieve the vision)
• Aligning people (marketing and selling the vision and strategy)
• Motivating and inspiring (creating the energy and commitment to drive the process). This is how you are soon going to feel as new principal. You might even have experienced this feeling...