Wednesday, June 2, 2010

A Good Principal Needs to Know Pedagogy (Day 2)

Day 2 of my month of blog-a-day (Spilling Ink http://tinyurl.com/nc7gg3) continues with answering the following job application question: Describe the knowledge, skills, and qualities one should embody to be an effective educational leader.

...  The most important knowledge for an effective educational leader is the insight that he doesn’t know it all. Of course, it is vital that the leader know the best pedagogical practices of a vibrant learning environment such as differentiating instruction, creating hands-on activities, and designing interdisciplinary units that complement state and local standards. When I taught seventh grade social studies, I created a learning environment that was engaging and differentiated. My lessons often allowed for a layered approach or a hands-on style to help all types of learners. My four-teacher team created engaging interdisciplinary units. I have studied and led study-groups of Turning Points 2000 (Jackson and Davis, 2000) to increase my understanding of the best practices of middle school. As an administrator, I have had the opportunity to create a mental catalog of the skills of dozens of fantastic teachers. While pedagogy comes closest to the core of what an educational leader needs to know, there is also much practical knowledge required.  ...

If you have a comment about pedagogy or what a principal needs to know, please leave a note here. Thank you.

2 down, 28 to go.

2 comments:

  1. I agree, the effective principal needs to know how to admit when he or she does not know the answer. There is no place in school leadership for arrogance. Good teachers are good experimenters. They look for solutions to unique problems. Good principals are also good experimenters who support teachers in experimenting with new ways of teaching students.

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  2. J. Robinson,

    Thank you very much for the comment. I agree that supporting teachers who experiment is vital to strong leadership. We all need to take risks sometimes. Thanks again.

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