WHEN A TEACHER BECOMES A PRINCIPAL

LARRY JUN R. LOBO

Not every teacher would dream or wish of becoming a school head. Management and leadership roles can be very overtaxing. The tasks attached to the job would eat a lot of family time, increase one’s responsibility, and expose one to a lot of risky decisions and failures. Moving from the teacher’s sphere of life to a school head’s perplexing dimension is not just a smooth drift away from ones’comfort zone, but a total rip off of how one used to perceive and manipulate his or her daily existence.

A school head has five primary concerns. These are the school, the teachers, the learners, the parents, and the community. The school head has to ensure that the school offers a climate conducive for quality education. He leads and supervises teachers in delivering said quality education to learners. He sees to it that learners can freely and adequately access this education and that parents feel a sense of security with regard to their pupils’safety in school. The school head must also be able to get the support of the community and gather a lot of stakeholders who are very much willing to partner up with the principal and teachers in effecting positive changes in school for the benefit of the learners.

With these concerns in mind, why would a teacher envision becoming a school principal? Some would say that it has to be the paycheck; a chance to put more in one’s pocket or a chance to renew loans. Some would think about the power that the position brings; the opportunity to have other teachers seemingly under one’s control. There are some, however, who believe that they can make a difference that is even be more significant as compared to when they are just classroom teachers.

When a teacher becomes a principal, it must mean that God has a purpose for him. Being chosen means he has to make use of his every gift and talent to perform the job effectively. Many challenges may come along the way, which tend to discourage and make one just return to being the teacher he used to be. But God has plans, and once called, there is definitely no turning back. Becoming a school head is an opportunity to make a difference and bring a positive impact to the lives of teachers and students. One simply has to trust God, roll up his sleeves, and put his best foot forward as he embarks on a journey to a whole new world of school leadership.

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The author is OIC-Master Teacher I at Air Force City Elementary School (AFCES)