Should I become an administrator?
Some thoughts for potential leaders from a former principal
It’s spring time, and this question invariably comes up. It’s usually asked by a teacher who has either been asked to consider a future in school administration, or they have an interest in pursuing this type of work.
I respond to this question carefully. I don’t fully know people’s contexts or their motivation for becoming an administrator. What I can speak to is the importance of engaging in identity work when shifting to positional leadership, the benefits and costs of a career in administration compared to teaching, and specific questions to ask when pursuing a position.
Identity Work
Administration is not just a position move within education. It’s an entire shift in role, almost another profession.
This shift was a struggle for me as a new building principal. It took me a while to fully shed the idea that I could still be a teacher while also serving as an administrator. For example, I would spend ample time reading aloud entire chapter books in classrooms in my early years as a principal. Not to say that those times spent with students and teachers, enjoying Walk Two Moons and Holes together, was not time well spent. But looking back, there was a percentage of selfishness embedded in my desire to locate myself at the classroom level vs. the systems level. I was benefiting 20 kids instead of 350 students, such as engaging in more strategic planning.
This is a debatable position. I encourage you to push back.
The larger point here is for prospective administrators to appreciate the true change that is involved when you move out of the classroom. Teachers want a leader who will both listen to them while not being one of them. They want decisions to be made that benefit all students, and especially theirs. This means making choices within the constraints of limited resources and different agendas. Someone is likely to be disappointed. Having a systems-level perspective is critical for effective decision-making. Administrators achieve that through a continuous presence in each and every classroom, not just in the select few.
Benefits and Costs
The most successful administrators never lose their desire to influence all students in a positive way. They accomplish this by hiring great teachers, as well as supporting them year after year.
Most administrators enter this work with that intent. But some get caught up in the minutiae of paperwork, the urgency cycles such as ongoing student behaviors, or dwelling too long on the vocal minority consisting of a few parents or a board member who will never be happy with how you operate. This drains their energy for instructional leadership. At some point, too many of these individuals decide to revolve their work around a) equating busyness with leadership and/or b) reducing visibility to avoid further conflict.
This is a primary cost of administration: a trade off of your time and energy for the betterment of the students and staff. How they perceive this exchange is what separates highly effective and less effective leaders.
For the more successful leaders, they perceive these challenges as an acceptable cost of leadership. They also don’t let it consume their entire days. They develop strategies to reduce these interruptions, such as empowering others to be leaders. They have a clear sense that they are in service of greater education outcomes, instead of in service to individuals’ agendas that don’t hold a schoolwide perspective.
Specific Questions During a Job Pursuit
So a teacher has decided to pursue a career in administration. They have accepted the identity work they will need to do, and have clarified their purpose for this next step in their career.
Again, this is context based, but here are four questions I would want to ask during this process:
Why is this position open? - You want to know the history of this role, such as the leadership style of the previous leader, how they were received. I learned in my last position that there were six different principals over the previous ten years. Clearly, there were some cultural and trust challenges that I was walking into. Subsequently, I was able to prepare better for my first few months on the job, focusing heavily on building relationships with staff and families.
What type of professional development do you offer administrators? - This may be an unexpected question. Professional learning is often an afterthought in districts. Yet it shouldn’t be. As Grissom, Egalite, and Lindsay note in their meta-analysis of the impact of principals on student outcomes, “it is difficult to envision an investment with a higher ceiling on its potential return than a successful effort to improve principal leadership.” If the interview team cannot answer this question with confidence, it can be seen either as a warning flag or as an opportunity to ask for the type of professional learning you want. In one of my contracts, I was able to negotiate full tuition reimbursement for graduate school.
How is the school board’s relationship with the school and the community? - Superintendents come and go. You might want the job because of the potential to work for a great boss, only to see them leave shortly thereafter. School boards, on the other hand, are slower to change. They can also have an outsized influence on our ability to lead, for better or worse. I’ve had board members regularly recognize our school’s accomplishments, and I’ve had board members publicly question my integrity, for example wondering aloud at a meeting if I was keeping our school virtual during the pandemic because I was writing a book about technology. How much this matters to you in a decision to pursue or accept a position will be different for each person, but it’s worth considering. Administrative roles aren’t as secure as a teaching position.
What are my non-negotiables? - This is a question to ask yourself and reflect upon. In the situation you are offered a position, you have a small but powerful window in which to ask for what you want in your contract. The district has tipped their hand, so to speak, in saying they want you. What is your price? For my first position, I wanted a significant salary increase. My wife just had our first child, and she wanted to be a stay-at-home mother while our kids were young. We couldn’t make that happen on a dean of students salary. Once I became an educational author and began receiving requests to speak, my non-negotiable was flex time built into my contract. I could take some time off during the school year to facilitate a workshop in another state, and then make up those days supervising summer school. It was a win-win as the district needed summer school coverage.
I write these “advice columns”, and I inevitably feel like I am leaving something out. Please reach out if you have additional questions, and best of luck if you are pursuing a career in administration. As challenging as school leadership can be at times, the reward of knowing that you are having a positive influence on the lives of every student in your school is worth it.