The Importance of Principal as Educational Leader for Students in South African Schools
The role of principal as the educational leader lies in providing assistance and support to schools which can help to meet individual needs of the students. The responsibility of principal within International School of South Africa is to direct and co-ordinate the students that can help to ensure effective educational outcome of the students. The goal setting is a crucial aspect of school leadership and the principals have to set the long-term strategic goals that can help in ensuring school improvement (Adams 2018). The goals can help to describe state that the school wants to attain in regard to student learning and the attendance. The link in between mission and the goals can be said to be critical as motivational forces can help to derive from embodiment of the wider values that can help in ensuring commitment of the students. The goal-setting practices of principals has to lay emphasis on teaching and the learning and it is a crucial aspect of the instructional leadership. The principals can set goals that they have to motivate teachers and improve their morale that can bear positive effect on learning of the students (Andriani, Kesumawati and Kristiawan 2018). For example, they can recognise teachers by providing them with rewards that can help to provide the optimal educational outcome. It can help to improve morale of staff that can help to provide encouragement for the teachers. The principals can make curriculum the leading focus within goals of the school that can be instrumental in providing right instruction to the students within the classroom. There has to be curricular consistency that can help to facilitate reading and learning of the students within the classroom. The curriculum reforms have to be made by the principals of International School of South Africa which can help in ensuring efficient operation of the schools. He has to implement values and the agendas that can act as a driving force for ensuring success of the schools within the educational setting. They have to communicate goals to the teachers that can help them to deliver the right learning for the students within the classroom. There has to be sense of purpose and the high expectations that can help to link school goals and development of staff. For example, he can communicate high expectations for the teachers that can be instrumental in supervising instruction that can bear positive effect on the students. The role of principal revolves around co-ordinating curriculum of school and promotion of climate of learning that can help to create positive impact on learning of students (Bush, Bell and Middlewood 2019). The effective principal can help to ensure that idea of the academic success is being understood by the faculty which can help to bring about overall improvement in learning process of the students in the schools of South Africa. For example, the principal has to enter into collaboration with the educators that can help to ascertain success of the students. It can create the way for ensuring standards in the schools that can lead to development of the schools.
Goal-Setting Strategies for Principals as Instructional Leaders
The principals in the role of instructional leaders have to manage time and the resources and they have to identify areas of the weakness that can pave the path for effective educational outcome. The students are not able to manage the time as they are burdened with learning assignments that creates difficulty for the students. The students are not able to find enough time that can aid them in the completion of their studies (Bush 2018). The students have to deal with multiple tasks that acts like a barrier in the path of educational attainment of the students. The teachers in the schools have to face challenges in managing time as there exist unclear procedures which thereby raises challenges for the teachers. They do not get proper instructional time that can help them to deliver proper learning to the students. The students have to face the problem for making the transition from one activity to another that can give rise to anxiety for the students. The teachers have to face problems in managing time as they are not able to organise the activities that creates problems for the teachers (Castillo and Hallinger 2018). The teachers have to balance long-term goals of classroom and educational needs of students that can help to provide useful service for the students. They are not able to set priorities that can help to arrange workload on the basis of importance of tasks that can help to provide positive outcome within the schools. The educational leaders have to devise the interventions that can help the students to learn and understand the curriculum. The weakness of the teachers can be overcome if the principals can narrow their focus that can help to serve the teachers. The strong principal has to build effective relationship with the teacher and they have to be critical that can help to serve useful service for the teachers. The constructive conversations have to be used by the principal on the regular basis with the teachers that can help to overcome weakness of the teachers (Connolly, James and Fertig 2019). The concerns of the teachers have to be listened to by the principals that can help to provide solutions for the teachers to the problems and help them in the arena of time management. The principals can provide plan and timeline for the teachers that can help them to control the students within the classroom. The teachers can develop strengths of teachers with the aid of requisite training that can enable them for managing classroom with greater degree of skill and the confidence. The materials have to be placed in the right places for the educators that can be conducive for effective management of time. There has to be classroom routines and it can help to set clear expectations for the students that can help them to organise their studies. The students can be asked to set their priorities that can be instrumental in simplifying things that can create positive effect within the framework of the classroom. It can help in ensuring safety of the students that can help in improving effectiveness of the students in regard to their learning.
Curriculum Development for Effective Instructional Leadership
The teachers have to act as effective instructional leaders that can help them to motivate and reward the students. The teachers have to be innovative in their approach that can enable them to deliver useful learning for the students. The teachers have to take control of learning of the students and they can make use of best practices that can help them to properly educate the students (Gümü? et al. 2020). The teachers have to identify the missing supports for the leadership within the schools which acts as barrier in the path of empowerment and the effectiveness. It can help in ensuring quality teaching and learning with the schools of South Africa that can help in improving prospects of the students. They have to involve the parents that can be instrumental to bring about improvement in academic and the non-academic outcome for the students within the classroom (Hallinger and Hammad 2019). The leadership of teachers can be useful for benefitting students and it can act as best practice model for the schools. They have to participate within broader professional network of the teachers that can help in ensuring their continual involvement as the teacher leaders. They can adopt hybrid roles that can help in the creation of their career leader within the framework of flat profession. The accomplished teachers can carry out work on the part-time basis and they can rotate the positions that can enable them for alternating in between the full-time classroom teaching and the educational leadership for working in the arena of curriculum designing (Hallinger 2020). The teachers can become the reality with the South African classroom by the display of democratic leadership style that can help in sharing the decision-making responsibilities. They can gather feedback from students and the administrators that can help in the implementation of changes and the policies (Hallinger 2018). The educators have to adopt this approach that can help in building community and in nurturing partnerships among the stakeholders. For example, the teacher leaders can share the leadership role with the principals that can be effective in building instructional capacity of the schools. The parallel leadership approach can enable teacher leaders for functioning as the mediators in between needs and responsibilities of administration and needs within classroom level. It can help in facilitating professional learning for being aligned with larger reform efforts that can help to satisfy needs of students and the teachers. The teachers have to engage themselves in collaborative work that can help in the facilitation of their learning and growth within the educational settings. For example, the school educators can make effective collaboration with the principals that can help to build positive culture within the schools. It can help them to engage in the participatory decision-making process that can help in improving efficiency of teachers. There has to be open communication that can help to guide the teachers so that they can reflect on own learning and the teaching practice.
Effective Time Management Strategies for Teachers and Principals
There exists the problem of poor leadership in the schools and it adversely affects the educational outcome of the students. It creates the way for disruptive behaviour which impedes learning of the children within the educational environment. The school leaders are not able to assert authority at the time of dealing with the school discipline. It has been found that school leadership in South Africa is not able to maintain the balance in between familiarity and the friendliness which makes them lose respect for the students (Hardwick-Franco 2019). The government policies have also created the way for poor management in the schools which have thereby affected educational attainment of the students within the schools. The work context factors can be provided to the teachers that can be instrumental in meeting baseline needs of the students. They have to be provided with appropriate working conditions and materials have to be made available to them that can be effective to provide motivation to the teachers. The work content factors can be intrinsic for work of teachers and they have to be provided with opportunities for their professional development that can help in effective engagement of the teachers within the educational environment (Mohamed, Razak and Abdullah 2020). It has been found that salaries of teachers are low within South Africa that acts as a barrier for the students. They have to be provided with appropriate salary that can make them serve the students in the better manner. The accountability of the teachers are weak in the event of low remuneration and this has to be changed that can help to extend right support for the teachers. The increased accountability can act as the strong complement that can be instrumental in improving motivation of the teachers. The teachers have to be provided with external professional support that can be instrumental in bringing about improvement in motivation of the teachers (Shava and Tlou 2018). There has to be attractive career structure that can help to furnish opportunities for development of the teacher. They can be provided with in-serve training that can help to increase morale of the teachers. They have to be provided with opportunities for mentoring and the observation that can be instrumental to improve outcome of the students. Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation talks about the fact that there exist satisfiers and dissatisfiers which influences performance of the individuals (Yasmeen, Mushtaq and Murad 2019). It can help in encouraging job satisfaction of the employees which can help them in the arena of self-actualisation. The motivators can help in ensuring job satisfaction of the employees and lack of the hygiene factors that create the way for dissatisfaction of workers. The principal in International School of South Africa can lay stress on Comprehensive Professional Development (CPD) that can help to create professional dialogue with the colleagues. It can help in the facilitation of collaborative curriculum development that can help the teachers to make advancement within the professional environment. There has to be Problem-Based School Development (PBSD) that can help to develop staff as it can aid in the creation of professional community which can sustain the educational reforms.
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