Turnaround principals

Maurice Smith, Guest Columnist
I love airplanes and am intent on one day learning how to fly one! The thought of manoeuvring a jet at an altitude of 35,000 ft gives me a rush of adrenaline, and if it were left up to me, I would be on one every single week. There I go dreaming again; time to get my head out of the clouds.

My ongoing obsession with planes is responsible for my consuming every bit of news about aircraft. I know about the commercial carrier incidents in Jamaica and Guyana. I am aware of the plane that had to turn around as a result of both pilots suddenly feeling dizzy and I am also acquainted with those flights that had to be diverted, or in some cases return to their departing ports because of bats, birds, disruptive passengers, mechanical failure, and threats of terrorism or turbulence.

Federal regulation names the pilot-in-command as the final authority over the safety of the flight and holds him or her accountable, regardless of whatever situation is transpiring on board.

Principals to whom are entrusted the lives of countless students who sojourn through institutions of learning are mandated to ensure safe passage and a prompt arrival at destination success. School leadership is a high-stakes career that ought to be approached with a clear mind and steady pair of hands.

Some people think that anyone can teach a class or lead a school, but such a position is ill-advised and uninformed, given the complexity of issues that impact cognition and human behaviour. Similarly, not every principal possesses the skill set needed to turn around an underperforming school many of which have begun to appear on the education ministry's radar.

Low achievement in schools is the result of inadequate resources, ineffective leadership, unsuccessful teaching, substandard expectations and insufficient intervention into inoperative homes and communities. Schools that are continuously challenged in their performance need a turnaround principal who will continuously challenge them in a new direction characterised by improved performance.

A turnaround principal, therefore, is a highly experienced, accomplished and professional leader who is tactically proficient in defying the status quo to motivate staff, hone their competencies, insist that students spend more time on tasks, create an empowering school climate, and make data-driven decisions in order to eventually reverse the downward spiral.

Flight Plan

A flight plan, like a road map, specifies starting and ending points, as well as routes that can be taken. This very technical chart is crucial to the flight process, and its execution demands shrewdness and wisdom.

The turnaround principal, when developing a plan of action for the course that is to be charted, will be cognisant of the sensitive nature of the situation and in so doing will facilitate stakeholder participation in an emotionally intelligent and respectful manner, while being diligent in identifying and harnessing the untapped and underutilised strengths that exist within the institution.

The Ultimate Destination

The turnaround principal's only aim is to steer the school to a place where its policies, programmes and procedures enable students, teachers and parents to realise their potential. Such a place is not defined solely by exam scores but rather by self-actualisation. The turnaround principal knows how to lift the thinking of his crew and customers; balance the weight of issues they come on board with; generate sufficient thrust to propel them forward, and manage the drag that slows them down.

The turnaround principal, in committing himself to the ultimate destination, is capable of achieving the right balance among these forces.

Travel Tips

The turnaround principal embraces the philosophy that helping others succeed is his purpose in life. He believes that all students can learn and that teachers who have faith in their pupils will, at all cost, go above and beyond the call of duty to help them attain their goals. He makes it his duty to assist those teachers assume a sense of worth and dignity about their conduct and work ethic. He understands that master teachers find the extra time to rescue struggling students, whether through pull-out sessions or tutorials after school or on weekends. He facilitates collaboration among staff and ensures orderly conduct at all times.

Every so often the turnaround principal advises on several things: the need to wear your seat belt to be safe during intermittent turbulence along the journey; the weather so that you will be dressed appropriately for the work world; and the flight time so you will prepare your mind for the short or long haul depending on how quickly progress is made.

Aviation Training

Some 50 years after pushback from the gate of colonisation, and as we now taxi down the runway of national development, we need all hands on deck to help us position ourselves for greatness.

The recently established National College for Educational Leadership must accelerate its efforts in ensuring an unremitting supply of acclaimed and competent school administrators.

Included in this cadre for certification should be career professionals with demonstrated expertise in school leadership who can be engaged on a contractual basis to turn around underperforming schools whose principals will need to be placed on training sabbaticals or their tenure eventually terminated.

There are such individuals who are either retired or retiring, and it is tragic that there is no formal mechanism that allows us to benefit from their vast knowledge. Turnaround principals are now needed, so let us heed this boarding call.

Maurice D. Smith is a doctoral student at Howard University. Feedback to this article can be sent to maurice.d.smith@ bison.howard.edu.