Perhaps in 1-2 years time, schools will even become adult learning places too, extending the skills of parents by offering them non-formal courses such as Paket A or through literacy classes. Such a place will certainly command respect and attract many kinds of contributions from parents and the community. Several schools mentioned slower pupils as being a constraint - again, to what one wonders! However, other schools were slowly differentiating among their children and making provisions for their less quick pupils by developing a range of strategies. These included: grouping the slower learners together or giving them extra time and assistance after class to answer this need. [MBE support is needed here to change the perceptions some schools have of this group of pupils so that this group of pupils becomes a rewarding challenge for school principals and teachers.
Finally, the constraint of limited funds was mentioned in various forms. "Budget for additional work" and "lack of funds for making and using media (ie teaching aids)". There seems to be a common view that using PAKEM methods is costly. One school did mention the paucity of resources, books and library materials.Many of the constraints voiced by school principals are related to a heavily factual curriculum and a wasteful assessment system. Much needed reform of these would ease many of the constraints mentioned above.
It is sad that as part of their instructional leadership role, school principals did not recognize the need to criticise the curriculum with its accompanying test system. This would be considered by most as the heart of education, certainly it is how schools are judged by parents and the community. Sadly, the vocal criticisms of the late 1990s have not been revived during these more open times. [How can MBE assist here?]
9 Primary school equivalence non-formal education program.
Perceptions of role of school principal
Self perceptions of the school principal's role focused more on their management role than on their role as instructional leader. Some school principals considered that "teaching was the business of the teachers", referring to their present role as "improving teacher professionalism". Others acknowledged that they were "educators" or should be an "education leader". A few felt their role was to "direct/ guide and supervise teachers in teaching learning".
General management skills such as an active leader and manager coordinating the school program, an organizer, manager, facilitator, and "administrator who can organize the school so that if follows the regulations" were mentioned as key to the role. More specifically, being able to "establish relationships", "work collaboratively with school committee" or be a "motivator that can bridge between school and community aspirations" were cited in relation to the school principal being a competent manager of external relations with the community.
Both teachers and school committee members commented on the role of the school principal solely in relation to their own job. Thus, teachers focused on their need to be supported by the school principal in their classroom work. Their perceptions put school principals firmly in the instructional leaders role, wanting them to be "supportive of innovations", "provide professional support" and "offer learning guidance", in contrast with many of their heads. They also saw them as the foremost resource person in the school. In managerial terms, teachers wanted a good manager, someone who could "be a leader but also a friend". Apart from their function to "supervise and control" or as "supervisor to monitor all programs", they also consider part of the role is to be the "responsible person for the school and its program".
Likewise, school committee respondents did not mention functions of the school principal's role related to teachers, only to themselves. Thus, they listed "facilitator, motivator, advisor, initiator, mediator and partner", all assigned roles for the school principal during school committee meetings. Other functions within the role were to be an "information source/ resource person, give required explanations, provide solutions to school problems, and manage the discussion."
1.3 Conclusions
For the most part, school principals are embracing their new roles although they would appear to be more comfortable in the role of manager than as instructional leader. In this context, they are showing a greater awareness than before of the characteristics displayed by good teachers. However, many school principals still need to visit their teachers at work in the classroom more often and for longer so that their open support for innovations in the classroom is directly seen.
Neither school principals not their teachers work alone in improving their school. The enabling climate for innovations and change at school level do need a supportive Dinas office, at both district and sub-district levels. Dinas for their part also need to show active and open support for school changes and progressive school principals by visiting their schools more often. In this way, the work of the more forward thinking school principals will be acknowledged and they will be encouraged to continue, thus contributing to sustainability of the progress made.
|
1.4 Recommendations
School principals and teachers need more support so that what they perceive as being additional work as a result of implementing PAKEM teaching methods and SBM is increasingly seen as a positive step towards routinizing school and classroom behaviours which were neglected in the past.
The schools need to know what the criteria for success are, so that they will be able to evaluate their progress on various elements for themselves. MBE could assist by leading the development of a self-evaluation tool for schools which enables each school to locate its performance on a variety of key elements along a continuum, possibly moving from "basic level" through several intermittent stages up to "professional level". Dinas may wish to use this tool during its own monitoring of schools, too.
|
|
