I always read things about the role of the principal and the term instructional leader being thrown around.  Of course I believe and know that the principal is the instructional leader of the building.  The principal is also the leader of systems and operational effectiveness.  If you are just starting out as a principal, never forget that component (operational effectiveness).  If you forget that, you will not succeed!  As I type, I am talking to our elementary ELA coordinator and she says that a strong principal is also a strong instructional leader and has a pulse on the ever-changing pedagogy in all content areas.  I do agree with her.  However, I would like to take this a step further.  I remember my time as a high school principal with tons of learning opportunities available to students.  I remember walking into AP Statistics, AP Physics, AP Calculus, and leaving and thinking “What in the heck did I just see?”  So, yes the principal is the instructional leader.  I do think that when I was a principal I always looked at my job as the “Thinking Leader.”  It was always my job to constantly change the thinking of the instructional leaders in our building (department chairs and teachers).  I didn’t always understand the best way to help a teacher with the best instructional practices for AP Stats, Geometry, Culinary Arts, or Advanced Accounting but I did understand how to challenge their thinking.  I challenged them on where we as a school were taking our students, what type of best practices would help our learners, and what the students of Corsicana High School needed in order to have a successful life.  It was my job to be the chief “Thinking Leader.” The great thing about CHS is that we had tons of great teachers, which made my job much easier.  We had a school full of digital natives and we would never meet them where they were if we did not change our thinking.  It didn’t take our teachers long to think differently, and it spilled into the classroom.  What we began to see instructionally began to amaze me.  Teachers were growing with their students, and sharing with other teachers the great experiences they were having.

So, principals be the best instructional leader you can be.  Just do not forget that your job is also to challenge the thinking of your staff.  Challenge them to think that they can be better than where they are presently.  When this happens instruction will change because their is a different mindset as it relates to moving your students forward.

What do you think?

Herbert