Education is vital to how we as a society function, and a school is only as good as the educators within it. School district leaders have a vital role in shaping the climate of the school, the attitude of the students, and the reputation it has in the community. With good leadership established, a school can be morphed into an environment where students not only learn, but are challenged, nurtured, and encouraged. Without good leadership, not only is learning compromised, but students suffer as a result.
To make sure your school falls into the former category, take a look at the following common traits found in successful school leaders.
Community
Successful school leaders understand that a school is made up of its community. They need to build and sustain partnerships with families and other community members. By doing so, they’ll be able to build an inclusive, caring, and culturally responsive community for its students. To accomplish this, school leaders must be visible in their schools and community, develop trust between themselves and their students, and remain transparent with everyone.
Trust plays a huge part in community development: having a high sense of trust will motivate teachers to try new strategies, encourage students to stay connected with their work, teachers, and peers, and garner support from families.
Empowerment
Without teachers, a school is nothing. For a school to be successful, its leaders must hire great teachers and colleagues; more importantly, though, they must support those they do hire on. One way of doing this is by encouraging them to continue learning themselves and allowing them to develop into the best person they can be. The opportunity for career growth and development motivates people to be more productive, engaged, and efficient.
Another way to empower teachers and colleagues is to make an environment where teachers can experiment, innovate, and lead. Principals who create healthy working and learning environments for their teachers will ensure positive repercussions for their students and employee engagement. Great principals will focus on hiring and improving on the best teachers who enter their halls, support the efforts of their employees, set high expectations for everyone—including themselves—to reach and support the individual development of their colleagues and students.