PRINCIPALSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION - Adventist CIRCLEcircle.adventist.org/files/jae/JAE_v75n1.pdf ·...

T H E J O U RN A L O FWebsi te : h t tp : / / jae .advent is t .o rg October /November 2012

P R I NC I PA L S H I P A ND

ADM IN I S T R AT I ON

EDITORBeverly J. Robinson-Rumble

ASSOCIATE EDITOR(INTERNATIONAL EDITION)

Luis A. Schulz

SENIOR CONSULTANTSJohn Wesley Taylor V,

Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, Benjamin Schoun,Ella Smith Simmons

CONSULTANTSGENERAL CONFERENCE

Mike Mile Lekic, Hudson E. Kibuuka, Luis A. Schulz

EAST-CENTRAL AFRICAAndrew Mutero

EURO-AFRICABarna Magyarosi

EURO-ASIAVladimir Tkachuk

INTER-AMERICAGamaliel Flórez

NORTH AMERICALarry Blackmer

NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFICChek Yat Phoon

SOUTH AMERICAEdgard Luz

SOUTH PACIFICMalcolm Coulson

SOUTHERN AFRICA-INDIAN OCEANEllah Kamwendo

SOUTHERN ASIANageshwara Rao

SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFICLawrence L. Domingo

TRANS-EUROPEANDaniel Duda

WEST-CENTRAL AFRICAChiemela Ikonne

COPY EDITORRandy Hall

ART DIRECTION/GRAPHIC DESIGNHarry Knox

ADVISORY BOARDJohn Wesley Taylor V, chair; Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, Larry

Blackmer, Erline Burgess, Hamlet Canosa, John M. Fowler, KeithHallam; Hudson E. Kibuuka, Linda Mei Lin Koh, Mike Mile

Lekic, Michael Ryan, Luis A. Schulz, Carole Smith, Tim Soper,Evelyn M. Sullivan, Charles H. Tidwell Jr., David Trim

THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION publishes ar-ticles concerned with a variety of topics pertinent to Ad-ventist education. Opinions expressed by our writers donot necessarily represent the views of the staff or the offi-cial position of the Department of Education of the GeneralConference of Seventh-day Adventists.

THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION (ISSN 0021-8480) is published bimonthly, October through May, plus asingle summer issue for June, July, August, and Septemberby the Department of Education, General Conference of Sev-enth-day Adventists, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring,MD 20904-6600, U.S.A. TELEPHONE: (301) 680-5075; FAX:(301) 622-9627; E-mail: rum bleb@ gc.ad ventist.org. Yearlysubscription price: U.S.$18.25. Add $3.00 for postage out-side the U.S. Single copy: U.S.$3.75. Periodical postage paidat Silver Spring, Maryland, and additional mailing office.Please send all changes of address to 3200 West FourthStreet, Buchanan, MI 49107, U.S.A., including both old andnew address. Address all editorial and advertising correspon-dence to the Editor. Copyright 2012 General Conference ofSDA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE JOUR-NAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION, 3200 West Fourth Street,Buchanan, MI 49107, U.S.A.

ADVENTIST EDUCATIONThe Journal of

C O N T E N T S

O C TO B E R / NOV EMB E R 2 0 1 2 • VO LUM E 7 5 , N O . 1

2 The Journal of Adventist Education • October/November 2012 http:// jae.adventist.org

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4 Leading From a Sanctified HeartBy L. Roo McKenzie

8 The Principal as Instructional LeaderBy Betty F. Nugent

12 The Listening Principal: Engagement, Empowerment, andLeadership By Evelyn P. Savory and Marva Shand-McIntosh

18 Adventist Principals Face the LawBy Lyndon G. Furst

22 Does Carrying a Smart Phone and an iPad Make thePrincipal a Technology Leader?By James R. Jeffery

28 The Academy Report Card: NAD Principals Assess Enrollment, Funding, and GovernanceBy Linda Potter Crumley, Melanie Litchfield, Riley Graves, and Kayce Foote

36 Essential Counseling Skills for a PrincipalBy Ruth J. Nino and Yoel J. Paredes-Rodriguez

40 The Benefits of Effective Coaching for Principals and TeachersBy Marilyn Diana Ming

46 Tips for Balancing School and Family LifeBy Pamela Consuegra

50 Why Principals StayBy Janet Ledesma

All of the articles in this issue have been peer reviewed.

Photo and art credits: Cover, p. 3, design by Harry Knox; pp. 1, 3, 5, 10, 13, 15, 19, 20, 23, 24, 37, 41, photos.com; pp.30-32, courtesy of the respective schools.

The Journal of Adventist Education®, Adventist®, and Seventh-day Adventist® are the registered trademarks of the GeneralConference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists®.

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SPECIAL ISSUE: PRINCIPALSHIP/ADMINISTRATION/LEADERSHIP

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3http:// jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • October/November 2012

Continued on page 55

Janet Ledesma

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This issue of the JOURNAL isdedicated to the Adventistschool principal. Whetherhe or she is leading an ele-

mentary, middle, secondary, board-ing, or small school, the ministryand work of the principal are of in-estimable value because these re-sponsibilities extend beyond therealm of academic excellence; theprincipal’s work focuses on leadingfor eternity:“Teachers [and principals] do a

high and noble work by cooperat-ing with the divine purpose in im-parting to young people a knowl-edge of God, and in molding thecharacter in harmony with His. Inawaking a desire to reach God’sideal, they present an educationthat is as high as heaven and asbroad as the universe. This educa-tion cannot be completed in thislife, but will be continued in the life to come. It is an ed-ucation that secures to successful students a passportfrom the preparatory school of earth to the higher grade,the school above.”1

Recognizing that the Adventist principal is the key-stone of the school, the purpose of this issue of the JOUR-NAL is twofold: (1) to empower, enhance, and provide re-sources for effective school leadership; and (2) to describefor readers the many “hats” Adventist principals wear, themultiple roles they must fill; to show how they do whatthey do and how their ministry can be enhanced.Thus, in the lead article for this issue, L. Roo McKenzie

writes about “Leading From the Sanctified Heart,” de-scribing the principal as the spiritual leader of the schooland emphasizing the importance of calling, unselfishservice, and spiritual renewal in order for the principal

to be personally in tune with Godand empowered to help others de-velop a relationship with Jesus.Betty Nugent next describes an-

other “hat” for the principal: in-structional leader of the school,which includes staff development,providing practical experiences forstudents, assessment, and advocacy. Evelyn Savory and Marva Shand -

McIntosh describe an additional as-pect of effective leadership in theirarticle on the Listening Principal.How listening provides insights andpossible solutions to problems andopens new areas for growth are thefocus of this article. Lyndon Furst, veteran adminis-

trator and school law professor,helps principals “face the law” byoffering valuable insights into theschool administrator’s responsibil-ities in the areas of negligence, dis-

cipline, and reporting child abuse.Jim Jeffery describes another “hat” the effective prin-

cipal must wear as he explores the intriguing question:“Does Carrying a Smart Phone and an iPad Make thePrincipal a Technology Leader?” Jeffery challenges schoolprincipals to be proactive, to stay well informed, and to“‘create a road map for the effective use of technology bythe students and teachers in your building.’” The section on effective school leadership concludes

with Linda Potter Crumley, et al.’s report of the findingsof an in-depth survey of Adventist academy principalsregarding their responsibilities and challenges. The professional and personal development of the

principal comprises the next section of this special issue.Ruth Nino and Yoel J. Paredes-Rodriguez discuss essentialcounseling skills for school leaders, and assert that apply-

From

to

G U E S T E D I T O R I A L

P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N •

F r o m t h e P r i n c i p a l ’ s D e s k

The spiritual life of the princi-pal in a Christian school iseither a steppingstone or astumbling block to the spiri-tual vitality of his or her

campus. Just knowing the theory ofbiblical truth will not transform mind,soul, and body. God-honoring leader-ship is not a theoretical concept or ahead game. The principal must leadfrom a sanctified heart, which is theproduct of a life of consecration andholiness. Leading from the head ratherthan from the heart will result in self-deception and futility.

Leadership from a sanctified heartbegins with a heart in which God dwells.It has one end in mind—eternity. Thedefining characteristic of leadershipfrom a sanctified heart is total devotionto God, which is demonstrated through agenuine and authentic attitude and acontrite spirit. Leading from the heartrequires intelligent, intentional, and in-cessant attention to ensuring one’s totalconsecration to God.The principalship is probably the

most demanding, most highly scruti-nized, and most under-appreciated jobin the Seventh-day Adventist Church.And yet, it can be the most rewardingspiritual activity in which anyone can

engage. To be a success in God’s eyes,the principal must be endowed withmore than charisma, highly developedprofessional skills, and practical exper -tise. God-honoring, successful princi-palship happens only when educatorswho have been called by the Holy Spiritfind their motivation and passion forservice in the desire to know the divinewill, and then commit themselves tolive humbly and uncompromisingly forthe glory of God.The level of excellence that God-

honoring principals experience anddemonstrate is a Heaven-inspired and


B Y L . R O O M c K E N Z I E

Leading From a

Heart

• P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N


Heaven-empowered service. The lega-cies of godly leaders reveal that there isa significant difference between the ef-fectiveness and long-term impact ofprincipals who live and lead from a sin-cere heart, and those who, knowinglyor unknowingly, lead from a heartfilled with pride, self-deception, and alust for power.Leadership based on ego and pre-

tense is an all-too-common afflictionthat often produces impressive but su-perficial counterfeits. Leading from egoand pretense and not fromthe heart is an activity in fu-tility and vanity. The contrastin leadership attributes be-tween Moses and Pharoah,David and Saul, and Danieland Nebuchadnezzar can beseen in the enduring legaciesof their leadership, whetherfor good or evil. Without aspiritual commitment (lead-ership from the sanctifiedheart), principals will merelygo through the motionswithout ever fulfilling the di-vine invitation and objectiveof being transformed by therenewing of their minds. Theend product of spiritualleadership is the fruits of theSpirit, “love, joy, peace, pa-tience, kindness, generosity,faith fulness, gentleness, andself-control” (Galatians 5:22,23, NRSV).1

Leadership from the heart, like char-acter, is not something that principalsdo. It is something that they are. Spiri-tual leadership is a heart-borne experi-ence and not a skill-driven activity andis transformative for both the principaland his or her school. It transforms theleader as well as those who are led. Itfirst glorifies God and then blesses oth-ers with a life of grace, humility, in-tegrity, mercy, compassion, and trans-parency. Principals who lead from theheart lead with humility and grace andnot with power and authority. They areother-centered, not self-centered.

Leadership Recession?Leadership in Seventh-day Adventist

education is first and foremost a spiri-tual function. Technical skills and ex-pertise in organizational managementare useless unless they are exercised froma heart that is fully committed to servingGod and unwaveringly centered on thespiritual purpose of building up God’skingdom on earth. Unfortunately, lead-ers who know God personally, self inti-mately, and others compassionatelyseem to be on the endangered species

list these days. The Adventist Church,like the rest of Christendom and the sec-ular world, seems to be undergoing anacute “leadership gap” that threatens themission for which Adventist schoolswere established.Successful spiritual leadership re-

quires that the leader’s heart be fullycommitted to God. Without true con-version, the principal’s functions and ac-tivities are nothing but a chimera offalse positives and temporary scaffoldingthat will not withstand the test of time.Leading from a sanctified heart is the

essence of authentic living. Ellen Whitemade a timeless appeal for spiritual,transparent, and God-honoring leaderswhen she wrote: “The greatest want ofthe world is the want of those men andwomen who will not be bought or sold,those who in their inmost souls are trueand honest; those who do not fear to callsin by its right name; those whose con-science is as true to duty as the needle isto the pole, those who will stand for theright though the heavens fall.”2 Onlyleaders who have experienced true con-

version can meet this highstandard. The call to a God-honoring life is more relevantand urgent now than ever be-fore, given the current dearthof such leaders in society. Although the special

species of leaders describedin the above quote is ex-tremely rare today, God isstill searching for and find-ing transformed and com-mitted leaders. These cov -enant leaders (principals)are fully committed at heartand determined to do God’swill on earth. Leadership from a sancti-

fied heart manifests itself ina beautifully transparentlifestyle that demonstrates ahigh integrity quotient. God-honoring leaders cannotpractice in their lives what

their hearts do not embrace. “Fake it ’tillyou make it” is not an option for thosewho serve God in sincerity and who seekto do His will. No leader has been known to lead

someone to the light while standing inthe dark. Dead hearts cannot revive coldhearts. Hence the call for leaders whohave personally experienced a spiritualheart transplant and who serve Godwith sincerity, in the spirit and power ofChrist, their Leader and Mentor. Whenthe soul of the principal catches fire, thesouls of students, teachers, and parentsignite as well. “Those who would impart



truth must themselves practice its prin-ciples. Only by reflecting the character ofGod in uprightness, nobility, and un-selfishness of their own lives can theyimpress others.”3

Could it be that the number-onechallenge of Adventist education todayis not a financial but a spiritual prob-lem? If this is true, then the spiritualityof the principal may be one of the sig-nificant variables that can bring aboutthe long-desired renaissance in Advent-ist education. Adventist education needs to expe-

rience a turning toward thevalues of the kingdom ofGod through the spiritualleadership of its leaders. Godis urgently calling for com-mitted leaders who willhumbly manifest the courageand commitment to “standfor the right though theheavens fall.” The prophetJeremiah beckons to princi-pals, “Stand at the cross-roads, and look, and ask forthe ancient paths, where thegood way lies; and walk in it”(Jeremiah 6:16, NRSV).To a certain extent, leader-

ship from the heart requiresthe exercise of reverse intelli-gence—analyzing and learn-ing from what is and what hasbeen. It also calls for the strate-gic use of anticipatory intelligence—in-tentionally acknowledging, focusing on,choosing, and pursuing preferred out-comes. The divine plan for educationwill, first and foremost, prepare youngpeople (Malachi 2:15) for God’s eternalkingdom. This preparation for eternitycannot be led and facilitated by princi-pals who lead from a heart of ego orpretense, or who are just going throughthe motions. Lee Boleman, in his book,Leading With Soul, writes: “When indi-viduals live superficially, pursue no goalsdeeper than material success, and neverstop to listen to their inner voices, theyblock their spiritual development.”4

Leaders who are not growing spirituallycannot lead from the heart because thisrequires an inner transformative experi-ence that constantly seeks self-renewal inorder to bless and influence others. God-honoring leaders are not just masterteachers. They are, more importantly,master lesson plans to be read and ob-served by those who follow them.The poet Leroy Brownlow wrote:

“You are writing a gospel, a chaptereach day; by things that you do, bythings you say. Others read that gospel,whether faithless or true! Say! What is

the Gospel According to You?”5 Princi-pals need to see themselves as opengospels read by students, teachers, par-ents, constituents, and the community.

Center and CircumferenceSpiritual leadership is both the cen-

ter and circumference of the Adventistprincipalship. An understanding of thevalue that God places upon children,and His divine design for their salva-tion, challenges principals to first of all,secure their own relationship with Godand then work passionately and untir-ingly, always keeping in mind the di-vine mission for children—the salva-tion of every student. Children are very

special to God. Ellen White wrote, “Thesoul of the little child that believes inChrist is as precious in His sight as arethe angels above His throne.”6

The redemption and restoration ofGod’s heritage must be the all-consum-ing agenda for principals. In the finalanalysis, all other school-related activi-ties will be but mere temporal scaffold-ing. Leading from a sanctified heart is amission-driven administrative impera-tive that gives uncompromising prior-ity to what the kingdom of God andAdventist education are all about—the

redemption of all students.

Models and Mentors ofLeadership From a Sanc-tified HeartThe principal is the spiri-

tual thermostat of his or herschool. He or she sets the spir-itual climate and atmosphere.And how does a principal op-erationalize the leading-from-the-heart philosophy in his orher lifestyle and administra-tive practices? Three super-heroes from Scripture answerthis question with unequivo-cal and compelling clarity.Ezra, Nehemiah, and Estherare three models who un-abashedly lived their leader-ship from sanctified heartsand served the cause of God

with an incomparable and enviable mar-gin of excellence.

EzraGod commissioned Ezra, an Israelite

priest, scribe, and leader who lived in the5th century B.C., to undertake a specialwork of reformation and rebuilding.When Ezra learned of the spiritual con-dition of the Israelites, he humbled him-self before God and prayed for theirrestoration (Ezra 9). His wholeheartedresponse and obedience helped to leadhis people back to God.

ee Boleman, in his book,Leading With Soul, writes:

“When individuals live superfi-cially, pursue no goals deeperthan material success, and neverstop to listen to their innervoices, they block their spiritualdevelopment.”

L



Ezra led a group of Jews from Persiato Jerusalem to undertake the challeng-ing task of rebuilding the temple ofGod. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, heobserved that the intermarriage be-tween the Israelites and pagans had ledhis people into idolatry. He wept beforeGod and prayed for revival.Ezra was a leader who had his prior-

ities straight! The first thing that he didin rebuilding the temple was to buildthe altar for offering the morning andevening sacrifices because he recog-nized that time spent in prayer dramat-ically alters one’s relationship with Godand other people. “The tragedy of ourday is not unanswered prayer but unof-fered prayer.”7 Principals who leadfrom a sanctified heart most definitelyalso lead from their knees, for prayer isthe fuel, oxygen, and power of the soul.

NehemiahEvery successful principal must have

a “Nehemiah Moment” in his or herlifetime, when a vision/mission that isborn of God becomes a moral impera-tive that is fueled by a sincere prayerlife and an unwavering commitment todo business God’s way. Before Ne-hemiah accepted the challenge of re-building the ruined walls of Jerusalem,he first undertook the task of rebuild-ing his own spiritual life. He prayedopenly to God (10 times during theshort book that bears his name), con-fessing his own sin and the sins of hispeople, and asking for divine enablingto do the work at hand. A sincereprayer from the heart of a believingdisciple is the key that opens the heartof God. Successful principalship, byHeaven’s standard, is impossible with-out a personal and transforming Ne-hemiah Moment and a consistent andgenuine Nehemiah-like prayer life.Good “pray-ers” are good players forGod! Ellen White states, “The greatestvictories gained for the cause of Godare not the result of labored argument,ample facilities, wide influence, orabundance of means; they are gained in

the audience chamber with God, whenwith earnest, agonizing faith, men layhold upon the mighty arm of power.”8

EstherEsther is an enviable example of

commitment, courage, and compas-sion. Her life demonstrates the pro-found and dynamic interplay betweendivinity and humanity that occurs in atransformed life that is lived from theheart and demonstrates total commit-ment to doing the will of God, andwhen a believer possesses the courageto act fearlessly without concern for hisor her own safety; displays divine wis-dom, and demonstrates compassionatecare for God’s chosen people.

And the Answer Is . . . !What is the short- and long-term

impact of the quality of the spirituallife of the principal on students, staff,and parents? As principals cherish Godin their hearts and reveal the fruits ofthe Spirit in their lives, they become in-creasingly more effective in sharingHim with everyone with whom theycome into contact. Principals cannotraise their students and staff spirituallyto heights that they themselves havenever attained. Even as the humanheart facilitates the flow of blood to allthe organs of the body, so also doesleading from a sanctified heart facili-tate the spiritual vitality of those beingserved. This is leadership at its best!Leading from the ego and wieldingpower over others for vain glory maycapture human admiration and maylast for a time, but leading from a sanc-tified heart bears kingdom-fruits thatinspire and last throughout eternity.

ConclusionLeading from a sanctified heart is

the essence of spiritual leadership andis the outgrowth of a sacred covenantwith God. This commitment begins atthe altar of contrition and requires un-

ceasing prayer. For, says Richard Foster,it is, “At the altar of Covenant Prayerwe vow unswerving allegiance to makehigh resolves; we promise holy obedi-ence.”9 Leading from the heart is initi-ated and empowered by God. It leadsto God, who empowers all those whowill follow Him wholeheartedly—prin-cipals, teachers, students, and par-ents—to life eternal. This is the divineand eternal objective of Adventist edu-cation—the fulfillment of God’s planof redemption and restoration.

L. Roo McKenzie,Ed.D. (EducationalAdministration),has served as a pas-tor and educatorfor the past 38years. He currentlyserves as the educa-

tion evangelist for the Southeastern Cali-fornia Conference of Seventh-day Ad -vent ists in Riverside, California. Beforethat, he was the chief administrative offi-cer of Loma Linda Academy in LomaLinda, California, for 14 years.

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Bible texts credited to NRSV are from the

New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copy-right © 1989 by the Division of Christian Educa-tion of the National Council of the Churches ofChrist in the U.S.A. Used by permission.

2. Ellen G. White, True Education (Nampa,Idaho: Pacific Press Publ. Assn. 2000), pp. 38, 39.

3. _______, Education (Mountain View,Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assn. 1903), p. 41.

4. Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal, Lead-ing With Soul (San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-BassPub., 1994), p. 38.

5. Leroy Brownlow, The Gospel According toYou: http://www.poetry-inspirational.org/ TheGospelAccordingToYou.htm. Accessed July16, 2012.

6. Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home (Nash -ville, Tenn.: Southern Publ. Assn., 1952), p. 279.

7. E. C. McKenzie, Quips and Quotes (NewYork: Wings Books, 1980), p. 415.

8. Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers (Washing-ton, D.C.: Review and Herald Publ. Assn., 1948),p. 259.

9. Richard J. Foster, Prayer (San Francisco:HarperCollins Publishers, 1992), p. 67.

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What else can I do to help these students get it?”queried a frustrated teacher who rushed intomy office at the end of another hectic day. Itdid not matter that I had telephone calls toreturn, e-mails to answer, and math papers to

grade. As her principal, I owed it to this teacher to listen, coun-sel, pray, and act—as needed.Donaldson was right when he wrote that “Principals are fre-

quently so inundated with short-term demands and problemsthat their work lives become governed by management tasksand decisions. They find little time for seeing the field, or theyend up seeing the field through management-colored glasses.”1

When outsiders view a principal’s typical day, they oftentend to conclude that instructional leadership is not the pri-mary focus. Such an outlook, however, “ignores the capacity ofthe principal to influence instruction through indirect actionsthat suggest teaching and learning.”2 Most of a principal’s de-

cisions inevitably have an impact on instruction.In the post-World War II era, principals were expected to as-

sume a broad spectrum of responsibilities: curriculum, person-nel, teaching, emotional quality of the classroom, resources,teaching materials, lunches, attendance, and textbooks, as well aspublic relations and a host of additional duties.3 School systemshave attempted to streamline the responsibilities of the principal,although this restructuring is a work in progress, especially insmaller districts and school systems. In multigrade schools, prin-cipals still fill nearly as many of the roles listed above from thepost-World War II era. Since the turn of the 21st century, manyprincipals have also been looked upon as counselors, supervisors,referees, and heroes. In the Adventist system, the principal is ex-pected to be a spiritual leader, marketing expert, and fund raiser,and to fulfill additional duties usually carried out by the districteducational office of a public system of education. However many and varied the roles a principal fills, one of


B Y B E T T Y F . N U G E N T


ThePrincipalas

Leader


his or her major responsibilities is to be the instructional leaderof the institution. Failure to fulfill this role will seriously dimin-ish the success of the school.What does being an instructional leader involve? This article

will focus on five primary responsibilities: being a source of en-couragement, framing and maintaining standards, leading byexample, implementing regular evaluations, and being ateacher advocate. In order to provide insight into these respon-sibilities, we shall examine the principal’s instructional leader-ship using the hypothetical perspectives of “Mrs. Jenkins” asthe principal and “Mrs. Holland” as the teacher.

1. Providing Encouragement Often a teacher is so inundated with responsibilities that he or

she may feel it is impossible to fulfill all of the expectations of theadministration, parents, school board, andconference. At such times, the principal canbe an effective source of encouragement. TheAdventist principal has the advantage ofbringing multiple perspectives to this task.On the one hand, he or she is an outside ob-server; on the other, the principal is an insiderfamiliar with the entire school program whoknows the strengths and weak nes ses of everyteacher. It is up to the principal to identify thetalents of each teacher and build upon themin order to ensure positive classroom experi-ences for students. Principal Jenkins knows that students in

Mrs. Holland’s science class have not beenperforming well. However, Mrs. Jenkinsalso knows that in the past, every time Mrs.Holland reviewed the lesson using a game,the majority of students earned a score of at least 85 percent.Using this information, the principal can encourage Mrs. Hol-land to regularly include similar kinds of reviews, and shemight even ask to observe the next review game. Unfortunately, it’s easy for the principal to become so en-

gaged with the business of administration that he or she ne -glects the importance of human capital—the teachers whoseresponsibility it is to ensure the academic excellence of theschool. Donaldson suggests that when principals take the timeto engage in and encourage active questioning and open dia-logue, they can learn more about the talents, expertise, and de-sires of the staff. During faculty meetings, private conferences,and informal interchanges, the principal can help teachers planways to use their untapped or seldom-used talents in the class-room or the school as a whole.4

2. Being Responsible for High Professional Standards While uplifting the teachers, the principal must also take se-

riously his or her responsibility to maintain high standards for

professional performance and student achievement throughoutthe school. He or she can achieve this goal by developing guide-lines for classroom management, lesson planning, and instruc-tional strategies. A principal who stays attuned to classroom ac-tivities will know when one of his or her teachers is havingdifficulty enabling students to master certain concepts. In suchsituations, the principal must implement strategies to aid “em-ployees whose marginal behavior causes concern or whose per-formance threatens to drag down the performance of others.”5

In the case of Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Jenkins could suggest thattogether they investigate readily available and proven instruc-tional strategies, and then implement them. Regardless ofwhether teachers have completed 4MAT training,6 readymade,brain-friendly lessons are available at http://aboutlearning. com/. A helpful Adventist resource for successful learning

strategies is CIRCLE at http://circle.adventist.org/. After help-ing the teacher find these resources, the principal needs tomonitor classroom application to ensure that the strategies arebeing properly implemented.

Hands-On Learning—A Successful Learning StrategyThe principal must recognize that one poorly performing

teacher threatens the success of the entire program, and there-fore be ready to take whatever measures are necessary to pro-mote effective instruction in every classroom. Through facultymeetings, outside assistance, schedule modifications, curricu-lum restructuring, and personnel evaluation, the principal maybe able to identify and remediate whatever hinders effectivelearning. Excellence never happens by accident; it is a result ofhard work, team play, careful planning, and supervision.When a teacher is not performing as well as expected, the

principal must find out why, and then create an environmentthat aids the teacher in reaching the goal. After intense confer-encing, creation and implementation of a professional devel-opment plan, focused observations, and assessment, the prin-


nfortunately, it’s easy for the princi-pal to become so engaged with the

business of administration that he or sheneglects the importance of human capital—the teachers whose responsibility it is to en-sure the academic excellence of the school.

U


cipal can craft a “where do we go from here” plan.Principal Jenkins may determine that Mrs. Hollandneeds to attend workshops or take an online course ina specific curriculum area. Or perhaps Mrs. Hollandshould switch recess to a different time of day in orderto spend more time on science. Another option is to have Mrs. Holland observe

someone who teaches the same subject area or gradelevel. According to Webb: “Book learning, or listeningto instruction, must always be built upon through ob-servation and involvement.”7 Marzano makes this ob-servation: “If teachers do not have opportunities to ob-serve and interact with other teachers, their method ofgenerating new knowledge about teaching is limited topersonal trial and error.”8 Goodland found that 75 per-cent of the teachers in one study said they would like toobserve other teachers in action.9

As Mrs. Holland tries innovative methods, Mrs.Jenkins should observe and confer with her duringeach step of the journey.

3. Leading by ExampleIn 2008, worldwide, around 30 percent of all children

were taught in multigrade classrooms.10 In theseschools, the principal is also a teacher, which provideshim or her with an excellent opportunity to instruct byexample. Due to time limitations, the actual instructiontime of the principal- teacher must be organized to en-sure maximum efficiency. If a teacher—or any other ob-server—walks into the teaching principal’s classroom, he or sheshould see what quality instruction looks like. Not only the in-struction, but also the principal-teacher’s classroom managementmust provide a model for the entire building, since effectiveteaching cannot occur in the midst of chaos. The principal can model best practices by team teaching, col-

laborative inquiry, and peer coaching. Nolan and Hoover suggestthat collaborative teaching and observation efforts empower ed-ucators to grow and improve as adult learners.11 Peer coachingallows the teachers to set good examples for one another. Whenpeer-coaching programs function effectively, the annual teacherobservation can be complemented by a principal-teacher confer-ence at the beginning or end of the year. According to Pulliam and Van Patten: “Educational admin-

istrators traditionally were successful teachers who were pro-moted and learned management skills on the job or with con-tinued graduate training.”12 Hence it is not too much to expectthat the principal should lead by example—periodically pre -paring and presenting a lesson, and inviting another teacher toobserve. Mrs. Jenkins might even choose a lesson from a scienceunit and teach it to Mrs. Holland’s class. This will doubtlesshelp Mrs. Jenkins better understand Mrs. Holland’s challenges.Afterward, a post-teach conference will reveal what went welland what Mrs. Holland learned. During the conference, Mrs.

Jenkins should describe how this opportunity helped her tobetter understand the various personalities within the class andhow they affected the implementation of the lesson. Through-out the process, Mrs. Jenkins must be careful to avoid present-ing herself as the perfect teacher. The approach described aboveenables the principal to remain engaged in the learning activi-ties of the students and the teaching activities of the teacher.13

When the principal and his or her teachers collaborate toimprove learning, this helps to develop an environment of “we”and “us” instead of “me” and “them.”14 Describing Jesus’ teach-ing practices, Ellen G. White wrote, “What He taught, He lived.. . . Thus in His life, Christ’s words had perfect illustration andsupport. And more than this; what He taught, He was. Hiswords were the expression, not only of His own life experience,but of His own character. Not only did He teach the truth, butHe was the truth. It was this that gave His teaching power.”15

The principal who applies these principles will achieve personaland team success.

4. Implementing Regular EvaluationsOnce the principal has encouraged, guided, and provided

an environment for instructional success for each teacher, for-mal evaluation can take place. The teacher must know what isexpected throughout the evaluation process, which should en-



compass classroom management, lesson preparation, instruc-tion, and commitment to the school program. In Adventistschools, these areas are included in the observation tools pre-pared by local conferences. The Southeastern Conference ofSeventh-day Adventists has developed one such helpful tool,which resembles the five-phase process of clinical supervisiondeveloped by Goldhammer.16

Following the evaluation, a post-conference should take placeimmediately to reduce teacher stress and maximize implemen-tation of the results. The principal should begin the post-confer-ence by inviting the teacher to talk about the lesson,17 reflectingon what he or she felt was successful and what could be im-proved. Necessary changes should be agreed upon and imple-mented with deliberate speed. The principal will need to followup and provide input to ensure that the recommendations aresuccessfully implemented.

5. Being an Advocate for the TeacherPrincipals must mediate and advocate so that teachers ob-

tain what they need to achieve maximum efficiency. Excellencein instruction cannot be achieved unless the teachers and theschool have appropriate resources. Through evaluations, staffmeetings, and informal conferences, the principal will discoverwhat resources are needed to provide excellent instruction. Heor she should then communicate the needs of the staff, stu-dents, and building to the school board, church board, and con-ference office. Their contributions will help to create an optimalclimate for teaching and learning. If Mrs. Jenkins decides that her entire staff would benefit

from professional development, but funds are not readily avail-able in the school’s budget, she can become creative and proac-tive by exploring other options, such as various federal “Title”funds, as well as county grants and donations from communitymembers. Pulliam and Van Patten suggest that future trendswill define principals as instructional leaders who networkwhile partnering with community stakeholders and universi-ties.18 Mrs. Jenkins can contact local universities to determineif they offer reduced-price or even free workshops or classes forher teachers. Once the school acquires resources, the principal must have

the authority to coordinate and allocate the resources toachieve school-wide excellence. This will require close interac-tion with the school board and conference office of education.

ConclusionBased on the principles listed in this article, here is what a

principal should do when a teacher asks, “What else can I doto help these students get it?”

• Identify the gifts of each teacher and facilitate their devel-opment to help teachers more successfully manage the instruc-tional process;

• Be seen by teachers as a person who is committed to theirgrowth and development;

• Set a school-wide instructional standard and work towardachieving these goals;

• Set an example of instructional excellence in the class-room;

• Evaluate the success of classroom instruction by otherteachers;

• Explore the best ways to help teachers grow academicallyand professionally; and

• Serve as an advocate for his or her teachers.

Betty F. Nugent, Ed.D., is the Principal ofMt. Sinai Junior Academy in Orlando,Florida.

�


NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Gordon A. Donaldson, Cultivating Leadership in Schools: Connecting Peo-

ple, Purpose, and Practice (New York: Teachers College Press, 2006), p. 98.2. Ginny V. Lee, “Instructional Leadership in a Junior High School: Managing

Realities and Creating Opportunities.” In William Greenfield, ed., InstructionalLeadership: Concepts, Issues, and Controversies (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.,1989), p. 78.

3. Robert J. Marzano, Tony Frontier, and David Livingston, Effective Super-vision: Supporting the Art and Science of Teaching (Alexandria, Va.: ASCD, 2011).

4. Donaldson, Cultivating Leadership in Schools, op. cit.5. Ibid., p. 97.6. The 4MAT learning model is open-ended, offering educators a creative

method for enhancing instruction delivery. Its strategies especially appeal tothose seeking diverse approaches to teaching. Adventist educators can accessthe site at http://sda.4mationweb.com/.

7. Joe A. Webb, Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide: Evangelism andWitnessing (Silver Spring, Md.: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists,April-June 2011), p. 66.

8. Marzano, et al., Effective Supervision, op. cit., p. 7.9. John I. Goodlad, A Place Called School: Pros pects for the Future (New York:

McGraw-Hill, 1984).10. Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equal-

ity, Increasing Access Through Multigrade Teaching and Learning (Policy BriefNo. 5) (United Kingdom: Department for International Development, July2008).

11. James F. Nolan and Linda A. Hoover, Teacher Supervision and Evalua-tion: Theory Into Practice (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2011).

12. John D. Pulliam and James Van Patten, History of Education in America(Columbus, Ohio: Pearson, 2007), p. 280.

13. Donaldson, Cultivating Leadership in Schools, op. cit.14. M. W. McLaughlin and S. M. Yee, “School as a Place to Have a Career.”

In A. Lieberman, ed., Building a Professional Culture in Schools (New York:Teachers College Press, 1988).

15. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assn.,1903), p. 78.

16. R. Goldhammer, Clinical Supervision: Special Methods for the Supervi-sion of Teachers (New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1969).

17. Donaldson, Cultivating Leadership in Schools, op. cit.18. Pulliam and Van Patten, History of Education in America, op. cit.




Listening is an effective tool ofleadership. Great leaders aregood listeners—they listen tothose they serve and to thosewith whom they relate and in-

teract. Such listening can provide in-sight in a number of areas: problemsand possible solutions; personal needsand possible fulfillments; and growthand new ventures. Yet, few school prin-cipals know how to listen actively tothe various populations they serve: stu-dents, teachers, parents, and the schoolconstituency.

Most principals recognize that lis-tening is important but are not able touse this skill intentionally to the ad-vancement of their schools. Some listenwithout evaluating how well they arelistening. Then there are those who failto listen because they are not awarethat this activity can significantly en-hance their effectiveness. Why is listening so neglected or

minimized? Two basic reasons: (1) afailure to recognize listening as a formof communication, and (2) a lack ofintentional education in the art of lis-tening.1

Consider the first. Children in manycultures are taught that they must be

seen and not heard. In most cultures,the ability to speak and control speechis seen as a source of power. Purdy andBorisoff2 suggest that people are taughtto listen to the voice of authority—be itmedical, legal, administrative, politicalor religious. As such, listening hascome to be associated with passivityand weakness. The result? A tendencyto trivialize listening and ignore its im-portance—not just in the classroom,but also in society in general, includingbusiness, industry, and government. Second, lack of listening education

has contributed to mistaken notions

B Y E V E L Y N P . S A V O R Y a n d M A R VA S H A N D - M c I N T O S H

The

Principal:Engagement,

Empowerment, and Leadership



about listening. “Listening is the mostused of the communication skills, yet itis rarely taught.”3 Educators withouttraining in listening often turn out tobe poor listeners, and are thus unableto hear the problems that they are ex-pected to tackle. They let society con-tinue to perpetuate fallacies about lis-tening.4 Yet, effective leadership andperceptive listening cannot be sepa-rated.5

This article explores fouressentials of the listeningprocess: understanding lis-tening, working out listen-ing strategies, developing amodel for successful listen-ing, and ensuring appropri-ate outcomes for the learn-ing process.

Understanding Listening

What is listening? Listen-ing is an important part ofthe communication process between two partieswhereby information is ex-changed, results are shared,and communication is es-tablished. When listening isnot an active part of educa-tional and relational proc -esses, other skills such asspeaking, reading, writing,problem-solving, and inter-personal relations suffer. Asa process involving at leasttwo parties, listening de-mands undivided attentionand response between the speaker(s)and the listener(s). Distractions inter-fere with good listening and may resultin a negative response and potentiallydisastrous consequences. Listening is not just an ingredient in

the communication process; it is also aresponse to a basic human need—theneed to feel understood. From an aca-demic and scientific perspective, listen-ing requires making meaning out ofsound, typically the spoken word.Wolvin and Coakley define listening as

the process of receiving, attending to,and assigning meaning to aural and vi-sual stimuli. These authors recognizethe complexity of defining the listeningprocess: “Because listening is such a complex

human behavior as well as a covert be-havior it is difficult to investigate. Lis-tening is in an exploratory state, thusconceptualizing the process of listening

continues to occupy the attention of lis-tening scholars throughout the world.”6

Listening: A Six-Step Process7

Graser has described listening as asix-step process8: 1. Hearing. Hearing is the first step

to listening. A person begins to hearwhen his or her ears pick up sounds. 2. Paying attention. In this step, the

hearer begins to concentrate on a

sound that is directed toward him orher and pays attention to the speaker’smessage.3. Organizing. After receiving new

information, the hearer needs to or-ganize it. This requires integrating newinformation with old data that is al-ready in the brain and sorting it intocategories that make sense to the lis-tener.

4. Understanding. Sort-ing of information into cate-gories must lead to under-standing—that is, assigningmeaning to the informationreceived, and ponderingwhat action to take.5. Remembering is the

next step. The listener storesthe new, understood infor-mation in his or her long-term memory.6. Responding is the final

step of the listening process.Steps 1 to 5 enable the lis-tener to respond to the per-son who initiated the com-munication process. Beingable to respond appropri-ately indicates that the lis-tener was engaged in theconversation and under-stood the message.

Listening Takes EffortListening is more difficult

than speaking. To listen in away that transforms conver-sations and relationships, aleader has to do the follow-

ing: 9

• Actually listen. Do not multi -task. Focus on what the other person issaying.

• Repeat to confirm what was said.This shows that you are listening andcommunicates to the other person thathe or she is being heard. Practice bytrying this first with a child or friend.

• Ask questions to help you betterunderstand what the other person issaying.



Aside from parents, educators arepeople’s first professional role modelsfor effective listening. Yet in the train-ing of educators, the art of listening israrely taught or emphasized.10 If teach-ers and principals have had such train-ing, they can model the various listen-ing behaviors they want their staffto emulate, and in turn, transmit themto their students.Education has not yet placed the

same level of emphasis onlistening skills as it doeson speaking, reading, andwriting. Listening contin-ues to be the orphanmember of language arts.Results of a recent surveyof high school faculty onthe importance of listen-ing skills in the classroomby Campbell11 revealedthat 80 percent of theteachers believed that lis-tening skills are equallyimportant across the cur-riculum, but 75 percentsaid they devote less than10 percent of instructionaltime to listening skills. IfAdventist principals are tobecome leaders in listen-ing and in teaching listen-ing at all learning levels,they should be expected to undergo ad-equate training in the communicationprocess, especially since integrated lis-tening should be considered a corevalue in Adventist education.The challenge for principals, unlike

many other professionals, is that asleaders, they are expected to not onlylisten, but also model listening, teach it,evaluate it, and reward listening skills.In fact, the principal is faced with theformally mandated challenge of gradu-ating students whose listening skills arestrong enough to enter college/careerand succeed in a society that places apremium on workers who are effective

listeners. To achieve this goal, princi-pals must first obtain training to be ef-fective listeners themselves and then beintentional about training others to en-gage in effective listening. Principals must connect and listen

to learn in the same setting. They can-not delegate this responsibility. This isa tall order, but with training and prac-tice in the areas of listening skills,knowledge, and attitude, the challengecan become an opportunity for success.

Listening StrategiesPrincipals can improve their listen-

ing skills by following the strategieslisted below: 1. Create a culture that values effec-

tive listening.2. Acquire listening training, and

provide professional development inthis area for your school faculty andstaff. 3. Set listening goals for yourself

and your institution.4. Reward exemplary listeners on

regularly scheduled awards days.5. Set aside a day to emphasize and

celebrate listening.6. Launch a listening campaign or

tour after each promotion or change in

professional location that you experi-ence.7. Promote campus policies that in-

clude deliberately teaching listeningskills. 8. Connect with organizations that

campaign for the teaching of listeningskills in schools.9. Reinforce Bible reading and

memorization of stories and verses thathighlight listening.

A Listening ProjectHere is a story of how

the principal of an Advent-ist elementary school de-veloped a model listeningproject whose goal was toenhance listening literacyand interpersonal relation-ships among her teachersand students.

• Launching the project.The principal launched theproject by first sharing theplan with faculty and staff,and then with students, en-gaging their interest andsoliciting their coopera-tion. The program chal-lenged the entire facultyand staff to be aware thatlistening is a crucial com-ponent in all aspects of ed-

ucation, social, and professional successand therefore both teachers and stu-dents must master this skill.12

Swanson observed that few pre-service or in-service teacher-trainingprograms incorporate listening intotheir programs.13 He points out that al-though teachers must be effective lis-teners, they cannot practice what theyhave not been taught. According to Leeand Hatesohl, while formal training isreadily available to improve writingand speaking skills, it is still difficult tofind training programs to sharpen lis-tening skills.14

Hence, in order to provide thistraining to her school personnel, the

he challenge for princi-pals, unlike many other

professionals, is that as lead-ers, they are expected to notonly listen, but also model lis-tening, teach it, evaluate it,and reward listening skills.

T



principal adopted a professional up-grading program called The Power ofListening for Educators15 and brought ina consultant to make a presentation.

• Listening training. The listeningproject’s success was ensured by thepositive support from faculty and stafffor implementing a school-wide listen-ing initiative to enhance literacy andrelationships. In addition, teachers ac-knowledged greater awareness of theirrole, as classroom leaders, to be betterlisteners in their communication andinteraction with students, and then tohelp their students to become betterlisteners. Capitalizing on the teachers’ enthu-

siasm for the project, the principalseized the opportunity to make listen-ing a core value in the school curricu-lum. This required modifications in the

to observe purposefully are trainableskills that can be acquired and im-proved through directed, structuredpractice over time. Using a two-pronged approach to

improve the literacy and the relationallistening practice of students, theschool embarked on a listening-enrich-ment initiative that facilitated studentand teacher engagement in listeningthrough an expanded language-artsinitiative. Each day, the teachers em-phasized listening through varied liter-acy and communication activities, pri-marily reading, speaking, and writing.Some listening activities were inte-grated in the instructional process andacross the curriculum, while otherswere intentionally planned and sched-uled to facilitate whole-school interac-

daily instructional plan and interactionprotocol. Before implementing thesechanges, the principal shared her visionwith the student body, school board,and constituency. This helped sensitizethe school community to the need foran increased appreciation for listeningin daily communication and instruc-tion. The expertise of the consultantand the creativity of the teachers moti-vated the students to participate in theproject.

• Training for students. The princi-pal and teachers collaborated in creat-ing a model that would expand the lan-guage-arts program from the usualreading, writing, spelling, and compre-hension to include listening. Strategiesto teach listening included activitiessuch as read-aloud, pair-and-sharenotes, and planned discussions to en-hance students’ listening skills. AsTurner16 affirms, learning to listen and



tion and involvement. The principal’s commitment to en-

sure listening training for both teachersand students was driven by her beliefthat while teaching listening skills isimportant, it is the example of theprincipal and teachers that has themost influence on students.17 There-fore, throughout the project, the prin-cipal not only tried to model active lis-tening by asking questions, but alsoemphasized Jesus’ teaching and listen-ing model. In His leader-ship style, Jesus modeledpatience and relationshipbuilding by listening andconnecting to those whomHe taught.18

Examples of how lis-tening was incorporated inthe daily curriculum in-cluded (1) starting eachday with a school-wide as-sembly when listeningpractice was incorporatedwith the devotions andsilent independent read-ing19; (2) teachers and stu-dents reading silently abook of their choice, usingTrelease’s Sustained SilentReading strategy20; (3) lis-tening to someone prayand read aloud an inspira-tional or Bible story; and(4) scheduling an after-noon session of DEAR(Drop Everything And Read) and lis-tening.Empowered in homeroom class-

rooms, teachers had the flexibility to becreative and to utilize any format thathelped students make appropriatereading and/or listening connections toclassroom instruction themes. Theschedule allotted specific time ofquiet/silence for students to read, lis-ten, reflect, and acquire knowledge. In addition, a school-wide listening

and writing initiative was implementedin preparation for “I Love to Listen

Day,” in mid-May. Throughout theyear, the students participated in a vari-ety of activities related to the theme oflistening. Teachers and students chosetheir class or individual projects fromamong a variety of genres such as po-etry writing, art, and other forms ofpersonal reflection. In a special assem-bly on Listening Day, selected studentsfrom every grade (K-8) were given theopportunity to share—to read aloud ortell about and display their work. Each

year since then, students’ work has re-ceived special recognition and has evenbeen featured in external publicationssuch as the Columbia Union Visitorand Creative Communications.21

• Assessing the project. The final lis-tening project took place at the end ofthe school year at a special listening as-sembly, when the listening consultantand designer of the “I Love to ListenDay” gave an interesting presentationbased on six listening principles. At theconclusion, the consultant challengedthe principal to have the students de-sign an electronic presentation basedon those principles. This opened the

way for students to demonstrate theirskills and understanding.In observing the 8th graders and

their teachers at work on the project, theprincipal employed active listening skillsto evaluate the listening behavior of thestudents and their teacher. The principalmade regular visits to observe the activ-ity’s progress, each time taking an inter-est in individual students and askingquestions, making eye contact, and re-peating her responses to achieve full un-

derstanding of what wasbeing said and /or done.

OutcomesAs a result of this initia-

tive, the teachers succeededin engaging their studentsand empowering them todelve into the project usingtheir own creativity. Inde-pendently and in collabo-rative groups, the 8thgraders created, designed,and produced PowerPointand movie presentations tocapture and communicatetheir understanding of theconcept of listening. Eachone was proud to submitand showcase his or herfinished product. One student had the op-

portunity to describe hisproject to a news reporter.Barrington Salmon, in his

2011 article in the Washington In-former, “Resolve Conflicts Through Ac-tive Listening,”22 reported that the stu-dent spoke excitedly of his listeningproject—a video presentation using amix of audio and video, and pictures.The reporter added that the student“said his life has changed significantlysince he began listening to the advicehis principal offered.”As a result of the program, the prin-

cipal and staff were able to evaluatehow well the goal had been achieved. Incelebration of the students’ overall lis-

he principal’s commit-ment to ensure listening

training for both teachers andstudents was driven by herbelief that while teaching lis-tening skills is important, it isthe example of the principaland teachers that has themost influence on students.

T



tening achievement, the school and thestudents received two special rewards.First, the results of the ITBS standard-ized test revealed that during fouryears,23 the students had achieved con-sistent improvement in all the areas oflanguage arts, with the 8th grade per-forming up to 10th-grade equivalentlevel. Second, the best 8th-grade elec-tronic listening projects received recog-nition at graduation time. The winnersreceived monetary rewards and a cer-tificate of “Exemplary Listener” fromthe Listening First Foundation.

ConclusionIt is distressing to discover that al-

though teachers recognize that listen-ing is important, relatively little in-structional time is devoted to listeningskills.24 But the Adventist school projectdescribed in this article demonstratesthat with a listening principal andteachers who are sensitized, equipped,and empowered to model and instructgood listening skills, students can bemotivated to learn and demonstratetheir listening skills inside and outsidethe classroom setting.Adventist educators can become

leaders in listening education and trainleaders who will listen, if we are inten-tional about including listening as partof the curriculum from kindergartenon, and provide resources for incorpo-rating a listening syllabi and activitiesin every Adventist school.

Evelyn P. Savory,M.Ed. (Adminis-tration, Curriculumand Instruction),worked as an ele-mentary-level prin-cipal for 26 years insix Adventist

schools. Currently, she serves as the In-ternship Coordinator of the Departmentof Educational Administration in theSchool of Education at Andrews Univer-sity in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

�

Marva Shand-McIntosh, M.S.(CommunicationSciences Disorder),is an internationallistening consultantand a certifiedspeech-language

pathologist for the public schools inWashington, D.C. She is the Founder of“I Love to Listen Day” and The ListeningFirst Foundation. She is the author of theproposed Listening Honors for the NorthAmerican Division Pathfinder Clubs,and frequently conducts listening work-shops for educators, faith-based organi-zations, and the community.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Andrew D. Wolvin and Carolyn G. Coakley,

Listening (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1996).

2. Michael Purdy and Deborah Borisoff, Listen-

ing in Everyday Life: A Personal and Professional

Approach (Lanham, Md.: University Press, 1996).

3. M. B. Gilbert, “Perceptions of Listening Be-

haviors of School Principals,” School Organiza-

tion 9:2 (July 1989):271-282.

4. Wolvin and Coakley, Listening, op. cit.

5. Lyman Steil and Richard Bommelje, Listen-

ing Leaders: The Ten Golden Rules to Listen, Lead,

& Succeed (Edina, Minn.: Beaver’s Pond Press,

2004), p. 31.

6. Wolvin and Coakley, Listening, op. cit., p. 68.

7. Communication is much broader than lis-

tening; messages can be verbal, non-verbal, writ-

ten, or electronic. This article will focus on the

listening skills necessary to receive and process

verbal messages, but the same principles can be

applied to other types of communication.

8. Nan S. Graser, 125 Ways to Be a Better Lis-

tener: A Program for Listening Success (East Mo-

line, Ill.: LinguiSystems, Inc., 1992), p. 10.

9. Peter Bregman, “How to Really Listen,”

Harvard Business Review Blog (October 2011):

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2011/10/how-to-

really-listen.html. Retrieved June 4, 2012.

10. Gilbert, “Perceptions of Listening Behav-

iors of School Principals,” School Organization,

op. cit.

11. Robyn Campbell, “The Power of the Lis-

tening Ear,” English Journal 100:5 (2011):66-70.

12. Mary Bozik, Teachers as Listeners: Implica-

tions for Teacher Education (Boston: November

1987): http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/

recordDetail?accno=ED288212; Charles H.

Swan son, Teachers as Listeners: An Exploration (San

Diego: March 1986): http://eric.ed. gov/ERICWeb

Portal/search/detailmini.jsp? Both retrieved June 6,

2012.

13. Swanson, Teachers as Listeners, ibid.

14. Dick Lee and Delmar Hatesohl, “Listen-

ing: Our Most Used Communication Skill,”

CM150 (October 1993): http://extension. mis

souri.edu/p/CM150#training. Retrieved July 15,

2012.

15. Marva Shand-McIntosh, PowerPoint

presentation: “Power of Listening for Teachers”

(January 2007).

16. Thomas N. Turner, Essentials of Elemen-

tary Social Studies (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1999).

17. Campbell, “The Power of the Listening

Ear,” English Journal, op. cit.; Wendy L. Sims,

“The Effect of High Versus Low Teacher Affect

and Passive Versus Active Student Activity Dur-

ing Music Listening on Preschool Children’s At-

tention, Piece Preference, Time Spent Listening,

and Piece Recognition,” Journal of Research in

Music Education 34:3 (Fall 1986):173-191.

18. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain

View, Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assn., 1903), p.

78; Laurie B. Jones, Jesus, CEO: Using Ancient

Wisdom for Visionary Leadership (New York: Hy-

perion Books, 1995), p. 242.

19. D. Ray Reutzel, Cindy D. Jones, Parker C.

Fawson, and John A. Smith, “Scaffolded Silent

Reading: A Complement to Guided Repeated

Oral Reading That Works!” The Reading Teacher

62:3 (November 2008):194-207.

20. Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook

(New York: Penguin, 1982), Chapter 5, p. 3.

21. Marva McIntosh, Allegheny East Confer-

ence Exposé: “People Worldwide Learn to Value

Listening,” Columbia Union Visitor 112:8 (Au-

gust 2007):21; Creative Communications: A Cele-

bration of Today’s Writers (Spring 2009-2011):

http://www.poeticpower.com. Retrieved July 31,

2012.

22. Barrington M. Salmon, “Resolve Conflicts

Through Active Listening,” Washington Informer

(July 28, 2011), p. 4: http://www. washington

informer.com. Retrieved December 26, 2011.

23. Principal’s Annual Constituency Report,

May 23, 2010.

24. Mary Bozik, Teachers as Listeners: Implica-

tions for Teacher Education (Boston: November

1987): http://www.eric.ed.gov/ ERICWebPortal/

recordDetail?accno=ED288211. Retrieved June 6,

2012; Campbell, The Power of the Listening Ear,

op. cit.



Every school principal faces a variety of complex situ-ations, some involving legal and policy matters. Ad-ministrators do not need a law degree to successfullymanage such issues, but they do need to understandthe major legal issues relating to schools, students,

and staff. This article reviews three of the policymaking chal-lenges faced by most administrators. During my tenure as aprincipal in the Adventist system, I faced every one of thesechallenges.At the outset, it must be noted that all of the cases and ex-

amples given in this article are from the United States. Thus,they may not be directly applicable to school situations in othercountries. However, certain general principles do apply acrossinternational borders, such as the sanctity of the contract andthe need for adequate supervision of students. Many of thecases cited here provide good policy recommendations, even ifthe stipulations are not mandated by local law. Thus, readers

are encouraged to make applications to their own setting wherepossible.

NegligenceFirst is the issue of negligence.1 Schools and school admin-

istrators are required by law to ensure that the children undertheir guardianship receive appropriate care. If a child is injuredbecause the school has not carried out its duty, it is liable to becharged with negligence. Every school has several major dutiesregarding its students: Schools must provide adequate supervision. This means

that minors on school property and participating in field tripsmust be under adult supervision at all times. The amount ofsupervision needed is determined by the age and maturity ofthe children and the nature and conditions of the activity inwhich they are engaged. Young children at recess need morecare than older students in a library study hall. At no time

B Y L Y N D O N G . F U R S T

AdventistPrincipals Face



should any students be left withoutadult supervision. If they are and be-come injured as a result, the school andthe principal are liable and may be as-sessed monetary damages by the legalsystem.School personnel are expected to be

aware of situations that might be dan-gerous or could potentially result in anaccident or injury to people on schoolgrounds. They are not expected to beable to predict every possible event, butmust exercise reasonable care to protecttheir students. If they know, or shouldhave known, that a child might have anaccident or be injured and have nottaken action to intervene, they may beconsidered negligent. A second duty related to negligence

is the need to provide adequate in-struction regarding the activities inwhich the children will engage andanything that might constitute a safetyhazard. For example, if children areplaying a game on the playground, theyshould be instructed by the teacher re-garding the rules for the activity andhow to play safely. Hazardous class-room activities such as science labora-tories or shop classes require that de-tailed instruction be given to thestudents.A third duty related to negligence is to ensure that the fa-

cilities and grounds are maintained in a safe condition. Bro-ken equipment and hazardous conditions in the classrooms,gymnasium, and school grounds (sidewalks, parking lot,driveway, and playground) should be repaired immediatelyor removed so people will not be injured. On a regular sched-ule, the principal should conduct a systematic walkthroughof the facility and grounds to identify any potential safety haz-ards. Lack of money is not a defense to charges of negligenceif the school has failed to remediate unsafe conditions in atimely manner.

Student DisciplineAnother broad area of the law affecting schools is the matter

of contracts. In public schools, the administrator’s relationshipto both teachers and students is shaped in large part by consti-tutional provisions. In the Adventist school system, that is notso.2 Rather, the school (or conference) has a contractual rela-tionship with employees and the parents who enroll their chil-dren. Contractual issues are a factor to consider when discipline

becomes necessary. If the school does not handle disciplinarymatters correctly, it may be charged with breach of contract.The Adventist principal, who functions as the chief adminis-trative officer of the local school, is on the front line when itcomes to contract enforcement. The student handbook de-fines the contract (enrollment agreement) between the schooland students (if adults) or students’ parents (for minors). Itshould specify the rules of behavior in a clear and concisemanner and also indicate the appropriate discipline thatmight be applied, especially if the infraction could result insuspension or expulsion from school. The process that is avail-able for a parent to contest a disciplinary decision should alsobe spelled out in detail in the school handbook. Both partieswho enter into the contract—the parent/student and theschool—are bound by its specifications; thus the principalmust make sure that it has been carefully crafted and is fol-lowed in every detail.3

Two recent court decisions illustrate the importance of care-fully complying with the provisions of the student handbook.A female student was expelled from a private school in NewYork4 for repeatedly uttering the phrase “shut up” on the school



grounds. The school’s rules and regula-tions, which were part of the enrollmentagreement, authorized expulsion only insituations involving violent behavior anduse of illegal drugs. The court found thatthe school had breached its contract andawarded monetary damages to the parentsbecause the school had not followed itsown rules.An Alabama parochial school5 expelled

three female 9th-grade students who hadtaken nude pictures of themselves and sentthem by e-mail to a male student, who dis-seminated them to other students. Twoparts of the school policy manual were atissue here: (1) the girls’ activity, whichoccurred outside of school hours andoff-campus; and (2) the nature of the ex-pulsion process. The policy manual specif-ically stated that the school’s interest instudent behavior extended beyond theschool day, and that the institution ex-pected students to behave “within theframework of Judeo-Christian beliefs andvalues.” The school thereby established itsauthority to expel the girls for behaviorthat occurred outside of school hours andoff the school premises.The second issue was the nature of the

hearing afforded the girls and their parentsbefore the expulsion decision was made.School policy placed sole authority forsuch decisions in the hands of the head-master, who had provided the necessaryhearing within the process provided for inthe policy. Thus, the school was upheld inexpelling the girls. It had not breached itsenrollment contracts with the students’parents.

Discipline of EmployeesNo one is surprised that principals must,

at times, administer discipline to children.However, most principals have not givenmuch thought to the possibility of having todiscipline adult employees. Here, the legalissue revolves around the nature of the employment contract.While in the Adventist system, teacher contracts are usually writ-ten by the conference, the local school principal is the one whohas to enforce their provisions, including the discipline of em-ployees. Most union education codes include detailed proceduresas well as a listing of behaviors that are grounds for disciplineand/or termination of the employment contract.6

Terminating an employee’s contract is one of the most dif-ficult aspects of a principal’s work. Yet it is sometimes necessaryto maintain the integrity of church schools. While the processis somewhat complex, employee discipline can be reduced totwo simple rules: Know the education code, and follow it inevery detail.An Illinois case illustrates this quite well. A privateschool had terminated a teacher’s contract for cause, but had

utside of the United States,principals should consult with

legal counsel regarding the applica-ble laws in their country. Likewise,principals in the U.S. need to beaware that among the 50 states andterritories, there is some variation in laws affecting schools. Therefore,administrators must inform themselves regarding the specificlaws within their area.

O



not held a formal hearing, although the policy required thisstep in cases where the school sought to fire an employee. Thecourt ruled that the school had breached its contract because acasual conversation in the hallway did not qualify as a formalhearing.7

It is very easy to ignore an employee’s minor infraction ofone of the rules in the education code. However, when the prin-cipal allows such behavior, it creates the assumption that therule no longer applies. It becomes very difficult, from a legalperspective, to suddenly enforce a rule against one teacherwhen other teachers have been allowed to break that rule. Abetter response is for the principal to consistently enforce therules in the employment contract and the education code. Thiswill require tact and managerial skill on the part of the princi-pal, as well as appropriate supervision of and documentationregarding employees’ work.

Child Abuse and NeglectA final legal issue, and one that I as a principal found very

difficult to deal with, was the matter of child abuse and ne -glect. Throughout the United States, teachers and school ad-ministrators are required to report to the appropriate publicauthorities any suspicion of abuse or neglect of children intheir care.8

The reporting process varies from state to state. In somecases, school personnel are to report to the local police; whilein others, they must notify child protective services, which is apart of the state welfare agency. Principals should be aware thatthe law requires them to file a report whenever they suspectneglect or abuse, whether or not they have proof.This is a very difficult matter, particularly within the closely

knit Adventist community. The principal is often tempted towork behind the scenes to investigate whether the charges orsuspicions are accurate. Leaders may also try to “work thingsout” so that the school and the church are not embarrassed bythe misbehavior of one of its members. Church pastors are es-pecially nervous about such allegations, as they fear that thismay bring public disgrace to the church. The principal shouldresist any attempts to cover up or dismiss reports of child abuseand neglect, and comply with the law. A personal experience illustrates this quite well. I had never

before dealt with suspicions of child abuse, so I was uncertainabout the state requirements. I called a detective friend on thepolice force in our community and described a hypotheticalsituation of a girl whose stepfather was rumored to have beenmolesting her. The detective kindly explained that the state lawrequired me to report even a suspicion of child abuse or ne -glect. Then he asked me for the name of the girl who was beingabused. “Well,” I told him, “this is just a hypothetical case.”“That’s fine,” he replied. “Just give me the name of the hypo-thetical girl.” When I protested that I really wasn’t certain whether the

girl was actually being abused and that I needed to do more

investigation, he replied, “You are a well-trained school ad-ministrator. I am a well-trained investigator. You should ad-minister your school, and leave the investigation to me!” Thedetective’s investigation uncovered abuse not only of the girlin our school, but also of several children in the PathfinderClub. State law does not require proof of child abuse, butmerely the suspicion that it has occurred for the mandatoryreporting law to apply.In my experience, administrators will undergo a significant

amount of emotional turmoil when they perform their duty toreport suspected abuse or neglect. No one will rise up to callthe principal a hero; in fact, the people involved will frequentlybe very angry at the principal for submitting a report. It canquickly become a political nightmare for the principal. How-ever, it has also been my experience that the school is the lasthaven of safety for children who are being subjected to abuse.If we do not do our duty, further abuse is likely to occur. Thus,the Adventist principal has not only a legal duty to report thesuspicion of abuse, but also a moral responsibility.There are many other areas of the law of which the Advent-

ist principal must be aware, but I have found in my work as aprincipal that these are the major ones I faced on a regularbasis. A successful principal must learn to manage these issuesskillfully.

Lyndon G. Furst, Ed.D. (Educational Ad-ministration), is Professor Emeritus of Ed-ucational Administration and Dean Emer-itus of the School of Graduate Studies atAndrews University in Berrien Springs,Michigan. Prior to his appointment asGraduate Dean, Dr. Furst spent 21 years inthe Adventist school system as an elemen-

tary teacher and principal, academy principal, and conference su-perintendent of education.

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Ralph D. Mawdsley, Legal Problems of Religious and Private Schools (Day-

ton: Education Law Association, 2006).2. See Bright v. Isenbarger, 314 F. Supp. 1261 (N.D. Ind. 1970) and Flint v.

St. Augustine High School, 323 So.2d 229 (La. Ct. App. 1975).3. See, for example, Hernandes v. Bosco Preparatory High, 730 A.2d 365 (N.J.

Super A.D. 1999).4. Allen v. Harlem Intern Community School 862 N.Y.S.2d 696 (Sup. App.

Term 2008). 5. S.B. v. Saint James School 959 So.2d 72 (Ala. 2006).6. In most cases, not only teachers, but also support staff have contracts ei-

ther written or implied. Frequently, they are at-will contracts, which can beterminated with or without cause. Each union has a different process for deal-ing with them, but usually the work rules and behavior expectations are some-what similar to those for the teachers and other professional personnel.

7. Nowak v. St. Rita High School, 757 N.E.2d 471 (Ill. 2001).8. Kern Alexander and David M. Alexander, The Law of Schools, Students,

and Teachers (St. Paul: Thompson, 2003).

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In the 21st century, many princi-pals, teachers, and students usetechnologies that give them mobileaccess to information and learningresources on a continuous 24/7

basis. Text messaging and online socialmedia sites such as Facebook and Twit-ter, along with micro blogs, wikis, andpodcasts, enable students and educa-tors to collaborate and engage in activelearning, at any time—night or day. So,what must a principal really know to bea visionary technology leader? Many school principals feel that

they must become technology “ex-perts.” They feel inadequate if they arenot conversant with the latest tech-nologies used by their students andcolleagues. And, often, if they don’tcarry a smart phone or an iPad with anInternet connection, they feel they arebehind the times technologically. Can aprincipal be a strong technology leaderwithout understanding, or using, allthe latest technology? The answer isthat, while principals don’t need to betechnology “experts,” they definitelymust stay abreast of current technolo-gies, which are changing the nature ofeducation.

This article will describe multipleways in which principals may becomesuccessful technology leaders. By beingproactive, they can ensure that they arewell informed and can make wise deci-sions about the integration of technol-ogy at their school.

Technology Expectations for Prin-cipals and Schools WorldwidePart of the principal’s job descrip-

tion is to be informed and to assumethe role of a technology leader. Why? • As new technologies are intro-

B Y J A M E S R . J E F F E R Y


Does Carrying a Smart Phone and an

iPad Make the Principal a

Leader?


world and its latest technology re-sources—data, information, and peers.About two years ago, the U.S. Depart-ment of Education introduced the Na-tional Education Technology Plan 2010(NETP), which calls for at least one In-ternet-access device for every studentand educator inside and outside ofschool. It also called for educators tolead and become highly effective withtechnology so that its incredible powercan be leveraged to support continu-ous, lifelong learning.


duced in schools, principals are an-swerable to many stakeholders for thesuccessful and visionary implementa-tion of these new technologies andprograms. • Principals are usually the people

held accountable for a school’s majortechnology expenditures. • Principals are expected to prevent

students from accessing inappropriateInternet sites and to protectthem from cyber bullying,“sexting” incidents, and on-line predators. So, how do principals

fulfill their responsibilitiesin these areas?Worldwide, the use of

technology in schools con-tinues to evolve. Comparedto only a decade ago, the useof computers (with access tosocial networking sites suchas Facebook) and cellphones has increased expo-nentially, but especially indeveloping countries. ThePew Research Center re-ported from a 2010 surveyof 22 developing nationsthat, “Cell phone ownershipand computer usage havegrown significantly over thelast three years, and theyhave risen dramaticallysince 2002. For instance,only 8% of Russians saidthey owned a cell phone in2002, compared with 82%now.”1 Winthrop and Smithreport that in developing countries,many new technologies, such as cellphones, radios, and e-readers are allemerging as “important low cost tech-nology for improving teaching andlearning processes and outcomes.These new technologies are serving asan important complement to the moretraditional focus on computers and e-learning.”2

Another recent Pew Research sur-vey, this one in 2012, reported on the

use of cell phones for text messaging,taking pictures/videos, and using theInternet. The report stated that, “Innearly every country, the young andthe well-educated are especially likelyto embrace all of these technologies.”3

In the U.S., Secretary of EducationArne Duncan has called for all profes-sional educators to be well connected,through broadband and wireless, to the

In 2009, the latest school technologystandards were unveiled. Officiallycalled NETS-A (National EducationalTechnology Standards—Administra-tors), these standards clearly definewhat school leaders need to know inorder to be effective technology leaders.The NETS-A standards list five per-formance indicators:Standard 1 - Visionary Leadership

appeals to principals to in-spire and make possible themaximum use of Digital-Ageresources to support effec-tive instructional practicesand maximize student andteacher performance.Standard 2 - Digital-Age

Learning Culture calls forprincipals to create and pro-mote a dynamic learningculture that will provide arigorous and engaging edu-cation for all students. Thegoal of this standard is foreducators to provide stu-dent-centered learning envi-ronments that meet the di-verse needs of every pupil. Standard 3 - Excellence in

Professional Practice encour-ages principals to lead andbe innovative in order to en-hance student learningthrough an infusion of cur-rent technologies and re-sources. This standard alsocalls for school principals tobecome heavily involved infacilitating, stimulating, nur-

turing, and supporting faculty in thestudy, development, and use of tech-nology.Standard 4 - Systemic Improvement

recommends that school leaders providetechnology resources to continuouslyadvance their schools. Section 4.e notesthat administrators should establish andmaintain a robust technology infrastruc-ture to support teaching and learning. Standard 5 - Digital Citizenship



urges principals to promote and modelresponsible social interactions in theuse of current technologies, includingWeb-based and mobile technologies.This standard also includes the expec-tation that school leaders will establishschool policies to ensure safe, legal, andethical use of digital information.4

How do principals evaluate theirprogress in the areas of development,knowledge, and implementation of ed-ucational technologies? An excellentself-assessment tool has been devel-oped by the Massachusetts Departmentof Elementary and Secondary Educa-tion.5 It identifies areas where princi-pals need to improve and evaluatestheir awareness of the social, legal, andethical issues related to technology.

Essential Conditions to LeverageTechnology for LearningThe expectations of societal, govern-

mental, and educational leaders regard-ing technology integration in schools arewell defined. Clearly, the rapid growth of

new technologies (social media and mo-bile devices such as cell phones, smart-phones, iPads, etc.) presents endless in-structional possibilities. But oftenprincipals face uphill battles in trying tofund and promote technology integra-tion. Few of the conditions necessary toleverage the use of technology in class-rooms may be in place. Many educatorsare reluctant to integrate technologyinto their daily teaching because theydon’t understand how to use it. Thesame is also true of many school leadersbecause they have not caught a vision oftechnology’s capabilities in improvingthe teaching and learning. Let’s carefullylook at some necessary conditions aswell as some significant barriers to tech-nology integration.According to the U.S. National Edu-

cation Technology Plan (NETP), a gapin understanding exists today that“[t]oo often . . . prevents technologyfrom being used in ways that wouldimprove instructional practices andlearning outcomes.”6 What are the nec-essary conditions for classroom tech-

nology implementation? What kinds ofbarriers interfere with effective tech-nology integration? In 2009, the International Society

for Technology in Education (ISTE)identified 14 conditions as “necessary”to successfully influence the use oftechnology for learning:7

1. Shared Vision. Proactive leader-ship in developing a shared vision foreducational technology among all edu-cation stakeholders, including teachersand support staff, school and districtadministrators, teacher educators, stu-dents, parents, and the community.2. Empowered Leaders. Stakehold-

ers at every level empowered to beleaders in effecting change.3. Implementation Planning. A sys-

temic plan aligned with a shared visionfor school effectiveness and studentlearning through the infusion of infor-mation and communication technolo-gies (ICT) and digital learning re-sources.4. Consistent and Adequate Fund-



ing. Ongoing funding to support tech-nology infrastructure, personnel, digi-tal resources, and staff development.5. Equitable Access. Robust and reli-

able access to current and emergingtechnologies and digital resources, withconnectivity for all students, teachers,staff, and school leaders.6. Skilled Personnel. Educators, sup-

port staff, and other leaders skilled inthe selection and effective use of ap-propriate ICT resources.7. Ongoing Professional Learning.

Technology-related professional learn-ing plans and opportunities with dedi-cated time to practice and share ideas.8. Technical Support. Consistent

and reliable assistance for maintaining,renewing, and using ICT and digitallearning resources.9. Curriculum Framework. Content

standards and related digital curricu-lum resources that are aligned withstate or other official curricula, and es-pecially those supporting Digital-Agelearning and work.10. Student-Centered Learning.

Planning, teaching, and assessmentthat center around the needs and abili-ties of students.11. Assessment and Evaluation.

Continuous assessment, both of learn-ing and for learning, and evaluation ofthe use of ICT and digital resources.12. Engaged Communities. Partner-

ships and collaboration within com-munities to support and fund the useof ICT and digital-learning resources.13. Support Policies. Policies, finan-

cial plans, accountability measures, andincentive structures to support the useof ICT and other digital resources forlearning and in-district school opera-tions.14. Supportive External Context.

Policies and initiatives at the national,regional, and local levels to supportschools and teacher-preparation pro-grams in the effective implementation oftechnology for achieving curriculum andlearning technology (ICT) standards. In their working paper, A New Face of

Education—Bringing Technology Into the

Classroom in the Developing World,Winthrop and Smith identified sevenguiding principles that “can help avoidmany future problems and, more impor-tantly, can help leverage the power oftechnology in educating young people insome of the poorest regions of the world.Given the rapid pace of technologicalchange, it is unlikely that the issue oftechnology in education will go away. In-stead, we are likely to see a blossoming ofnew and creative ways for harnessingwhat technology has to offer.”8

In summary, these seven guidingprinciples are as follows: 1. Using technology to deal with ed-

ucational problems first; 2. Making sure that technology adds

value to other existing solutions; 3. Making sure that a technology

adopted will last over time (sustainabil-ity); 4. Selecting technology that can be

used for multiple purposes; 5. Buying the least-expensive tech-

nologies; 6. Ensuring before deployment that

all technology will be reliable; and 7. Checking that technologies are

easy to use.

Barriers to Technology IntegrationWhat kinds of barriers interfere

with technology implementation andintegration in schools? What can prin-cipals do about them? What if princi-pals discover that they are one of themajor “barriers” to a technology imple-mentation plan? What solutions haveworked to remove these obstacles?Barriers that could thwart technology

integration include: disagreement aboutvalues, theoretical models, and practices;teachers’ fear that they will lose controlover the learning process, and authori-tarian and dogmatic approaches toknowledge transfer. Perhaps the gravestkind of barrier occurs when stakehold-ers (principals, educators, students, andparents) lack a shared vision for educa-tional technology. At the 2011 Interna-

tional Summit on ICT in Education,delegates identified 35 significant barri-ers to effective technology integration inclassrooms. These included: lack of ashared vision, lack of a clear implemen-tation road map, lack of policy for intro-ducing new technologies, inadequate re-sources, limited access to technology,teaching that is oriented toward high-stakes exams, a lack of understanding byeducators and administrators of thebenefits of ICT (information and com-munication technologies), and resist-ance to change.9

What about the role of principals intechnology integration? What do theysee as the most difficult barriers to theintegration of new technologies? Pas-querilla studied the perception of NewJersey high school principals relating tothe integration of technology. He foundthat funding, staff resistance, and poorinfrastructure all were significant barri-ers.10 Wyszynski’s 2010 dissertation fo-cused on elementary school principals’perceptions of possible strategies for ad-dressing the barriers related to technol-ogy integration. His study identifiedthree major barriers: a lack of access totechnology, inadequate time for profes-sional development, and lack of teachertime for mastery. In essence, principalsfelt less successful in implementing tech-nology than they thought they would,because of the length of time requiredfor faculty mastery.11

A 2009 article entitled “The Admin-istrator’s Role in Technology Integra-tion” in Education World observed thatthe most effective way for school ad-ministrators to promote technologyuse is for them to become knowledge-able and effective users of technologythemselves. The article also affirmedthat integration is most successfulwhen the principal is involved and ex-cited about technology and its possibil-ities. The converse is also true. Integra-tion is lowest when the principal failsto champion or demonstrate technol-ogy use. As Starr concluded, “Modelingtechnology usage is key if administra-tors want teachers to play an active role



in technology integration.”12

One challenge often cited by admin-istrators is insufficient resources. Bossadvocates five innovative, no-cost stepsthat can overcome technology imple-mentation barriers. These includebeing innovative with tools that are al-ready in schools, and a novel conceptof having principals and teachers learnwith their students. Boss urged teachersto learn about technology in the con-text of their own classrooms, side byside with their students.13

The Technology andDistance Education Com-mittee K-12 (TDEC) wasestablished in NorthAmerica by the NorthAmerican Division uniondirectors of education tofacilitate the integration oftechnology to instruction.This resource offers accessto free software and holdsregular webinars on vari-ous useful topics.14 ForAdventist principals andteachers around the world,CIRCLE (Curriculum andInstruction Resource Cen -ter Linking Educators), aservice of the GeneralConference Departmentof Education, provides anever-expanding array ofresources, including hun-dreds of articles on tech-nology topics such as educational tech-nology, information technology, musictechnology, technology education,technology integration and technologyplans.15

What Methods Work Best forPrincipals as They Integrate Tech-nology?In a ranking of all the things a prin-

cipal must do to run a school, technol-ogy integration clearly rises to the levelof high importance. So, in summary,what are the most important stepsprincipals can take to support technol-

who are considering the change willfeel safer, and those who are not willingwill see that it may be time for them tochange their attitudes or move on!”17

Two useful Websites can help princi-pals with technology integration: • 21 Things for the 21st Century Ad-

ministrator (2009) is based on the Na-tional Educational Technology Stan-dards for Administrators (NETS-A).18

• 10 Internet Technologies EducatorsShould Be Informed About—2011 Up-

date.19 This is a must-readregarding the latest tech-nologies impacting andchanging society and educa-tion.Administrators will likely

face some challenges in theintegration journey. Gos-mire and Grady’s 2007 arti-cle, “A Bumpy Road: Princi-pal as Technology Leader,”warns that the key to suc-cess is not to pretend toknow everything but to be-come perceptive enough toask the right questions.These authors argue thatanswering the 10 questionsthey pose will help princi-pals lead others to succeedwith technology. Here is asampling: • Which technology

trends do I need to knowabout? What do I need to

know about technology to move myschool forward?• How do I construct a safety net for

technology in my school? • How do I promote the integration

of technology in the classroom? • How will I measure success?20

In summary, there are a tremendousnumber of resources and experts thatcan assist principals in school technol-ogy integration. The few resourcesmentioned above will serve as excellentspringboards to a more complete un-derstanding of technology integration

ogy integration and perform as tech-nology leaders? Here are a few sugges-tions from settings where strong tech-nology integration has taken place.Principals need to see the big pic-

ture as well as all the pieces of the puz-zle, as they move from planning topractice. An older but excellent Web-book, Planning Into Practice, gives agreat overview of the connection be-tween student learning and technology,and lists the tasks principals need to ac-

he Technology and Dis-tance Education Com-

mittee K-12 (TDEC) was estab-lished in North America bythe North American Divisionunion directors of educationto facilitate the integration oftechnology to instruction.

T

complish in order to achieve their vi-sion for total technology integration.This Web-book should be requiredreading for principals as they embarkon the long journey of becoming atechnology leader.16

A second important approach to in-tegration is modeling. As Toy forcefullypoints out, principals, like classroomteachers, must publicly model the useof technology. He states that, “Usingthe hardware, software, and modelingthe learning process will show the fac-ulty what the principal values, makingit more likely that those who are will-ing to extend will feel supported, those



and will enable principals to surmountthe challenges they face along the way.

ConclusionDemands that principals become

technology leaders are escalating. TheNational Education Technology Plan as-serts that technology-based teaching andlearning is pivotal in improving studentlearning and providing data on which tomake successful academic decisions forimproving American education.21

Although few principals will ever be-come technology experts, they must as-sert leadership in this area. The DigitalAge demands more and more technol-ogy in teaching and learning, but princi-pals don’t need to become experts aboutthe latest technologies. Nor do they needto carry a smart phone or an iPad to be atechnology leader. But as Gosmire andGrady correctly assert, technology lead-ership is “about asking the right ques-tions, exploring the answers to thosequestions, and creating a road map forthe effective use of technology by thestudents and teachers in your building.Principals, start your engines! The keysto success for technology in your schoolare in your hands.”22

James R. Jeffery,Ph.D. (EducationalAdministration), hasserved for 10 years asthe Dean of theSchool of Educationat Andrews Univer-sity in Berrien

Springs, Michigan. He is also a Professor ofEducation Leadership and regularly teachesan online class on technology for schoolleaders. Dr. Jeffery recently completed aPostgraduate Diploma in TBDL (technol-ogy-based distributed learning) at the Uni-versity of British Columbia. Before comingto Andrews University in 1999, Dr. Jefferyserved as Dean of the Division of Profes-sional Studies and Chair of the Depart-ment of Education at Canadian UniversityCollege, Lacombe, Alberta. Prior to that, heserved for 22 years as a school superinten-

�

dent, teacher, and principal in elementaryand secondary schools.

REFERENCES1. Pew Research Center. Global Publics Em-

brace Social Networking (2009). p. 1: http://www. pewinternet.org/Commentary/2010/December / Global-Social-Networking.aspx. Retrieved May 5,2012.

2. Rebecca Winthrop and Marshall S. Smith,“A New Face of Education–Bringing TechnologyInto the Classroom in the Developing World,”Working Paper (2012), p. 38: http://www. mobileactive.org/research/new-face-education-bringing-technology-classroom-developing-world. Retrieved May 1, 2012.

3. Pew Research Center. Usage Differs by Ageand Education Global Digital Communication:Texting, Social Networking Popular Worldwide(2012), p. 1. http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/12/20/global-digital-communication-texting-social-networking-popular-worldwide/. Retrieved May13, 2012.

4. Digital Age Leadership, International Societyfor Technology in Education, National EducationTechnology Standards for Administrators (NET-A)(2009): http://www.iste.org/ standards/nets-for-administrators.aspx. Retrieved December 2, 2011.

5. Massachusetts Department of Elementaryand Secondary Education, Educational Technol-ogy Sample Administrator Technology Self-Assess-ment Tool (2005): http://www.doe.mass.edu/ edtech/standards/tsat_sampadmin.html. Re-trieved December 8, 2011.

6. U.S. Department of Education Office ofEducational Technology, Transforming AmericanEducation Learning Powered by Technology(2010); National Education Technology Plan2010 Executive Summary, p. 210: http://www.ed. gov/ sites/default/files/netp2010-execsumm.pdf.Retrieved December 9, 2011.

7. Michael Searson, Therese Laferriere, andRoumen Nikolow, Barriers to Successful Imple-mentation of Technology Integration in Educa-tional Settings, International Summit on ICT inEducation (2011): http://downloads.kennisnet. nl/algemeen/edusummit2011/ 7%20EDU summIT%202011%20BarriersEssentials.pdf. Re-trieved December 12, 2011.

8. Winthrop and Smith, A New Face of Educa-tion—Bringing Technology Into The Classroom inthe Developing World, Working Paper (2012), op.cit., p. 40.

9. Michael Searson, Therese Laferriere, andRoumen Nikolow, Barriers to Successful Imple-mentation of Technology Integration in Educa-tional Settings, International Summit on ICT inEducation (2011): http://downloads.kennisnet. nl/algemeen/edusummit2011/7%20EDUsummIT%202011%20BarriersEssentials.pdf. Re-trieved December 12, 2011.

10. Joseph W. Pasquerilla, The High School

Principal’s Perspective and Role in Regard to theIntegration of Technology Into the High School andHow the Principal’s Role Has Been Impacted. Doc-toral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 2008:http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/7251/. RetrievedDecember 12, 2011.

11. Stephen Thomas Wyszynski, Principal’sPerceptions of Strategies for Offsetting the Barriersto Technology Integration in Elementary Schools inNew Jersey: http://domapp01.shu.edu/ depts/uc/ apps/ libraryrepository.nsf/ resourceid/ 6EF02686582E231D85257704004607CF/ $File/Wisniewski-StephenT_Doctorate.PDF? Open. Retrieved December 14, 2011.

12. Linda Starr, “The Administrator’s Role inTechnology Integration,” Education World(2009):1: http:// www. educationworld.com/a_tech/ tech087.shtml. Retrieved December 5, 2011.

13. Suzie Boss, “Overcoming Technology Bar-riers: How to Innovate Without Extra Money orSupport” (2008): http://www.edutopia.org/ technology-how-to-implement-classroom. Re-trieved December 19, 2011.

14. TDEC (Technology and Distance Educa-tion Committee K-12), North American Divisionof Seventh-day Adventists Office of Education:http://www.nadeducation.org/tdec/. RetrievedMay 4, 2012.

15. CIRCLE (Curriculum and Instruction Re-source Center Linking Educators), Technology Re-sources for Seventh-day Adventist Educators:http://circle.adventist.org/search/ ?search_query =technology&search_go. x=0&search_go.y=0. Re-trieved May 3, 2012.

16. Jeff Sun, et al., Planning into Practice: Re-sources for Planning, Implementing, and IntegratingInstructional Technology (2007): http://www. seirtec. org/ P2P.html. Retrieved December 3, 2011.

17. EduBlogs, Technology Integration, InterviewWith Chris Toy (2011), p. 1: http:// penobscotriver. edublogs.org/2011/01/06/ interview-with-chris-toy/. Retrieved December 7, 2011.

18. 21 Things for the 21st Century Administrator(2009): http://www. 21things4administrators.net/.Retrieved December 13, 2011.

19. “Ten Internet Technologies EducatorsShould Be Informed About—2011 Update”(2011): http://www. emergingedtech.com/ 2011/ 09/10-internet-technologies-educators-should-be-informed-about-2011-update/. Retrieved Decem-ber 14, 2011.

20. Doreen Gosmire and Marilyn L. Grady, ABumpy Road: Principal as Technology Leader(2007): http://www. nassp.org/portals/0/ content/55193.pdf. Retrieved December 1, 2011.

21. U.S. Department of Education Office ofEducational Technology, Transforming AmericanEducation Learning Powered by Technology(2010), National Education Technology Plan2010 Executive Summary, op. cit., p. 7.

22. Gosmire and Grady, A Bumpy Road: Prin-cipal as Technology Leader, op. cit., p. 20: Re-trieved December 15, 2011.


THE ACADEMY REPORT CARD


Many Seventh-day Adventist academies are underenormous pressure to maintain enrollment,maximize funding, and manage collaborationseffectively. Principals are in an excellent positionto assess how their schools are functioning.

This article reports on the findings of an in-depth onlinesurvey of Adventist academy principals in the North AmericanDivision (NAD).1 Ninety-three out of 1082 academy principalsprovided feedback on this survey, and thereby offered a glimpseinto the inner workings of their academies.3

The survey was conducted by the Alumni Awards Founda-tion (AAF),4 a non-profit organization dedicated to improvingAdventist schools. AAF sought information about the currentstate of Adventist education from the perspective of the sec-ondary principals in order to empower the organization to bet-ter serve the school system.5

Questions were revised from the annual survey of The Uni-versity of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research,6

and requested information such as demographic data, percep-tions of financial and political support; characteristics of the

school; and personal job satisfaction in the role of principal.7

Respondents were also asked to react to a series of statementsabout the strengths and weaknesses of the NAD school system.8

Open-ended questions asked about obstacles and successes,and invited additional comments. Only the results of the AAF survey in the areas of enroll-

ment, funding, and governance are reported here. This articleexplores the question: How are NAD academies doing?

E N R O L L M E N T

Declining enrollment is a source of concern for many NADelementary and secondary schools. Academy principals re-sponding to the survey reported 2010 enrollments rangingfrom fewer than 50 to more than 200 students. Twenty-eightprincipals reported that enrollment at their academy had in-creased over the past five years (2005-2010), 19 that it had re-mained stable, and 41 that it had decreased (five reports didnot fit into a single category). Nearly 80 percent9 of the princi-pals did not express confidence that Adventist K-12 schools in

B Y L I N D A P O T T E R C R U M L E Y , M E L A N I E L I T C H F I E L D ,R I L E Y G R AV E S , a n d K AY C E F O O T E

NAD Principals

Enrollment, Funding,and Governance


of our Adventist schools must change in every category if we areto not only survive, but flourish.”

Other IssuesComparisons that did not quite attain statistical significance

in clude the following: Current enrollment at boarding schoolstended to be only a little larger than at day schools,20 and NADboarding academies trended toward having grown slightly be-tween 2005 and 2010.21 An index measuring the perceived sup-portiveness of the school board, conference, and local church


the NAD would grow during the next decade. What factors ex-plain what is happening in these schools?

LocationUrban, rural, and suburban locations did not differ in levels

of current enrollment.10 However, the 33 schools located within15 miles of an Adventist hospital, college, university, conferenceoffice, or area headquarters (Adventist Center [AC]) were signif-icantly larger than schoolsfarther away from an AC.11

Eleven of the 16 academieswith more than 200 studentswere located in an AC, andeach of the 10 schools whoseenrollment had significantlyincreased over the previousfive years was near an AC,12

although not all AC schoolshad grown. It appears thatbeing close to an AC is goodfor enrollment.

SizeThe researchers corre-

lated current and long-termpatterns of enrollment forall of the academies sur-veyed.13 Most large schoolsgrew between 2005 and2010, while small schoolsdecreased in size. One prin-cipal explains, “Membershiphas dropped significantly[in our area], and [thechurch] is aging [whichmeans] fewer [Adventist]kids.”

Number of ConstituentChurchesThe survey found that the

more constituent churchesan academy reported, thelarger its current enrollment14 and the more likely that it had apattern of growing enrollment.15 Interestingly, the number ofconstituent churches per school was not statistically different be-tween schools in AC’s versus those outside of these centers.

School ReputationThe long-term enrollment pattern was correlated with school

reputation.16 Sixty-five percent17 of the principals who answeredthis question said that a negative school reputation representeda roadblock for their school, and 87 percent18 said that the Ad-

ventist community did not perceive denominational schools asexcellent. A principal explained, “Overcoming the negative rep-utation that the school has obtained over the last decade or so [isa problem]. We are making deliberate changes . . . getting thatmessage out is slow and difficult.” While the CognitiveGenesisstudy19 shows that students in NAD K-12 schools perform welloverall, this information has not necessarily trickled down to theconstituents. One principal summed it up thus: “The perception

Southern Union (10)

Mid-America Union (5)

North Pacific Union (13)

Southwestern Union (7)

Lake Union (7)

SDA Church in Canada (6)

Pacific Union (31)

Atlantic Union (6)

Columbia Union (8)

Increasing

Stayed the Same

Decreased

Increasing Staying the Same Decreasing

Figure 2. NAD Academy Enrollment Trends by Union*

*Figures in parentheses indicate the number of schools reporting from that union

Total Enrollment Pattern (2005-2010)

Figure 1. NAD Academy Enrollment for All Unions100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________28% 24%

48%

10% 30% 60%

20% 40% 40%

23% 23% 54%

28.5% 28.5% 43%

29% 14% 57%

30% 20% 50%

32% 23% 45%

33% 67%

37.5% 37.5% 25%



(“Politics”) was created,22 but testsshowed no significant relationshipto enrollment. A subset of thisindex measuring schools’ visionsfor improvement also did not sta-tistically relate to enrollment.

ConclusionEnrollment is a concern for

Adventist education. This study re-vealed that higher academy enroll-ment in the NAD is related to lo-cation (AC), larger current size,having more constituent churches,and positive school reputation.One principal described many

positive actions the school hadtaken to improve, including: “re-cruited and retained superb teach-ers,” “fiscally responsible,” “spiritual,” and “cutting edge tech-nology,” but concluded, “All in all, this school is excellent inmany ways, and yet we still face declining enrollment in theeconomic slump.” Another principal commented: “The biggestchange needed is to fill the seats! We need pastoral and churchsupport or the ability to heavily recruit outside the Adventistcircles . . . [which] will change culture . . .Z.” The emoticon atthe end reflects this principal’s concern about having schoolsthat are truly “Adventist” in culture and have sufficient enroll-ment to operate efficiently.

F U N D I N G

How are North American Division Adventist academies af-fected by funding? More than half23 of the principals who re-sponded to the survey’s questions about finances cited moneyas their greatest roadblock to school improvement. No precisefinancial data were gathered in this survey, but the principals’perceptions of the ease of acquiring and managing financialsupport for the school and financial aid for students were com-bined to create a “Money Index” of perceived financial ca -pacity.24 In addition, open-ended responses addressed the needfor funding, value issues, and ideas for change.

Number of Constituent ChurchesAlthough schools with more constituent churches had

higher enrollment, a correlation between the number of con-stituent churches (from 1 to 5) and the Money Index showedthat schools with fewer constituent churches reported obtain-ing funds more easily.25 Principals explained that constituentchurches’ failure to fulfill their financial agreement with theschool was a severe problem, and some “churches view Advent-ist education as a financial drag.” However, one principal re-ported that “our school has made a strong effort to work in a

positive manner with the constituent churches in the decidingof the amounts of their annual subsidies. In turn, the churchesfaithfully pay their subsidies.” There was no significant difference in the Money Index be-

tween schools primarily supported by the conference andschools primarily supported by local church(es).26 About one-third of the academies in this study were conference-supported,and those principals agreed with the respondent who noted

Top: Great Lakes Academy, Cedar Lake, Michigan.Bottom: Girls’ dorm at Auburn Adventist Academy, Auburn, Washington.



that getting “financial support from the local conference is . . .a major challenge.”

GovernancePrincipals whose schools had better funding also reported

more relational/political support from the governing entities(i.e., the school board and conference officials) with whom theyinteracted.27

The School Improvement Index28 was created from thequestions on the Politics Index that focused specifically on thevision of teachers, school boards, and conferences for schoolimprovement, as well as their willingness to help. The SchoolImprovement and Money indices were significantly corre-lated,29 confirming that greater financial support was related toa strong vision for school improvement by those who helpedto govern the school.

School ReputationDoes the school’s reputation make a difference in its level of

funding? The answer is a definite “Yes.” NAD academies report-ing higher reputations also had better financial support.30

Budget and Financial Gain/LossThe two questions in the survey that directly addressed the

area of budgets were: “Did your school operate within its plannedbudget this last year?” and “Did your school experience a financialgain or loss this last year?” Academies that were rated higher onthe Money Index also operated within their planned budget.31

However, several factors that might be expected to affect whetheror not a school operated within its planned budget were not sta-tistically relevant, including current enrollment, location, sourcesof funding, governance, and school improvement focus.Perceptions of funding did not differ between schools whose

principals reported that the institution had experienced a fi-nancial gain in the past year and those that it had not.32 How-ever, this may be misleading, since some conferences subsidizea school’s deficit each year end as a matter of financial policy.Schools whose enrollment grew between 2005 and 2010trended toward having a pattern of financial gain,33 althoughthis failed to reach statistical significance.

Funding NeedsThe majority of the principals’ open-ended responses re-

lated to funding. As one commented, “Money is the real issue.”Another explained, “The cost of education limits enrollment,and yet there is not enough funding for schools to progress be-yond just being ‘OK.’” Another responded that lack of “fundingto support newer program efforts” made it difficult to attractmore students. Some comments seemed to reflect a “victim”perspective, while others appeared to recognize that money wasnot required to effect many changes. As one principal noted,“With funding not adequate, I must rely on my knowledge,skills, and effort to create change.”

Staffing was another major funding need: “We have too fewpeople doing too many things. Everyone is overloaded.” An-other principal agreed, “The major difficulty is lack of fundingfor full-time teachers in each discipline.”Nearly 85 percent34 of the principals reported that a lack of

funds for student aid was a concern: “The biggest challenge isfinances. We need to give more assistance to families that can-not afford private school tuition.”More than 80 percent35 of principals cited a lack of funding

for facility improvements. One said, “Our building is too small,and there is no funding available.” Another commented, “Fi-nances are necessary to forge ahead with necessary improve-ments (adding new classes and teachers, upgrading facilities,student aid, etc.).”

Value IssuesConcerns about the perceived value of Adventist education

appeared frequently in the qualitative data. Many of the prin-cipals noted that Adventist education is expensive: “I believethat we are pricing ourselves out of business. Many of our par-ents cannot afford the entire tuition.” Another principal stated,“[The] BIG GEST problem with Adventist Secondary Educa-tion is the ability of students and parents to pay for education.. . . I believe the number of families and kids interested in sec-ondary school is still high, but it is never in the radar anymorebecause it is not an option due to financial concerns.” Thisprincipal noted that the cost of education has increased overthe past 30 years, but wages have not risen as rapidly, resultingin the “extremely large amount of financial assistance requestedby our parents.” Several principals also described concerns by constituents

about whether Adventist education was worth the cost: “Manyof the church members do not see the value in Adventist edu-cation,” and others have the “opinion that Adventist educationjust may not be worth sacrificing other things for in a limitedbudget.” “Parents are willing to save and sacrifice for private ed-ucation, but it may not be in an Adventist school.” One principal summed it up succinctly, “The number of Ad-

ventists committed to Adventist education is diminishing. Agrowing number are unwilling or unable to sacrifice to provideAdventist education for their children.”

Ideas for Improving FundingSeveral principals recognized the need for a paradigm shift

in funding: “The way we finance our school system mustchange. It’s not just the responsibility of the local church to fi-nance a school. It’s the responsibility of all churches.” “We needto have CHURCH SCHOOLS rather than TUITIONSCHOOLS!! Parents cannot afford the tuition, but as a churchfamily we . . . need to continually give to Adventist educationso that all of our children can experience the education we havefor them. EDUCATION is one of our greatest EVANGELISTICTOOLS. When are we going to learn that?”


Other IssuesSeveral factors were not statistically related to the Money

Index. Although academies located near an AC tended to belarger and growing, principals of these schools reported moredifficulty in obtaining funding than principals at otherschools,36 but the difference did not reach statistical signifi-cance. Funding did not differ significantly among urban, sub-urban, and rural locations. Day academies were not signifi-cantly different from boarding academies in reported funding,and current enrollment was not significantly related to eitherfinancial gain/loss or to operating within budget.

ConclusionFunding is a major issue for many Adventist schools. In

this survey, greater financial support was related to: one orfew constituent churches, positive political support, goodschool reputation, and operat-ing within the planned budget.Academy principals said theyneeded funding for generalpurposes, staffing, student aid,and facility improvements. Re-spondents expressed concernabout the cost of Adventist ed-ucation and their convictionthat some parents do not per-ceive its value. Principals sug-gest that the Adventist Churchas a whole (not only local con-gregations) should recognizeschools as a church ministryand support them accordingly.

G O V E R N A N C E

How are NAD academiesdoing in the area of gover-nance? As noted above, better relationships with school boardsand conference officials correlated significantly with better per-ceptions of funding. A positive school reputation was also re-lated to higher scores on the Politics Index.37

TeachersTeacher engagement—the degree to which teachers are will-

ing to change, continually improve, and innovate profession-ally—was measured using the Teacher Engagement Index38 andcorrelated with positive relationships between schools and theirgov erning entities.39 The ability of a school to attract qualifiedteachers (as measured by the Teacher Qualifications Index40)also related to good political relationships.41 The survey founda correlation between positive political climate and the princi-pals’ ability to remove poorly performing teachers.42 This is im-

portant, since 75 percent43 of surveyed principals noted thatpoorly performing teachers could affect school improvement,and that good governance was important to facilitate neededpersonnel changes.

PastorsThe responding principals commented on relationships

with local pastors, school boards, and conferences/unions. “Weenjoy tremendous support from our local church pastors,”wrote one principal, adding: “Not all schools get this support!”Support included: “ongoing communication among staff,board, and constituency and combined pastor/teacher in-service meetings”; “collaboration between constituent pastorsand administration to quarterly com pare/synch calendars.Monthly school newsletter put in all area church bulletins. . . .;


Top: Parkview Adventist Academy, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada.Bottom: Maplewood Academy, Hutchinson, Minnesota.


annually meet with constituent church boards to share schoolbudget and answer questions.” Despite these appreciative comments, 81 percent44 of prin-

cipals said that there were sometimes tensions between educa-tors and pastors. One principal longed for “increased supportfrom the conference leadership and pastoral community.”

School BoardsThe principals expressed a desire for “better working rela-

tions between school faculty and staff and school board mem-bers.” While most respondents45 said that their school boardsintended to be helpful, they described a variety of problems,including the following:

• “Apathy among some board members to support anychange. They are just waiting for the principal or school staffto do something wrong to bring it for discussion without con-sulting or asking the administration first.”

•“The school board does not participate in gathering funds.Unfortunately, that is left solely up to me, the principal.”

• “Micromanagement from the school board.”

Seventy-two percent46 of the principals surveyedexpressed concern that school boards often lack ap-propriate training, and 51 percent47 said boardmembers fell short in the areas of innovation or ex-pertise. Almost two-thirds of the principals48

agreed that the school board members were not al-ways selected in a way that could create a knowl-edgeable, helpful group. One principal suggested,“Our boards should be professional based, not rep-resentative based. I believe they can be both, but itinvolves the local church boards placing the appro-priate individual on the board. This would includeindividuals wishing to be board members to pro-vide necessary credentials that would qualify themto be on a school board.” Another respondent sug-gested offering “board education,” which would en-hance the “quality of board member training” (seesidebar on School Board Training on page 34). School board issues were often related to other

problems in a school. One principal wrote: “Staff,parents, pastors, the board and constituents are notof the same mind. Unity is needed.” Principals andschool boards who collaborated success fullyachieved positive outcomes. One principal describeda variety of ways that the board had helped improvethe school: “We made the shift to including project-based learning in our school as a board-driven ini-tiative. . . . [A] board-appointed Vision Committeeis the directing force . . . [with] board sub-commit-tees to improve: spiritual climate, facility, and re-cruiting and fund-raising.”

Relationship With Church OrganizationsConferences/unions were perceived as helpful when they led

in “visioning and proactive support.” The principals appreci-ated the following: “Conference-wide education prayer circle,[supporting] many visits to conference churches by staff andstudent groups. Conference-led ‘regional meetings’ (5+ peryear) with strong school involvement/promotion,” and “in-creased focus on missions and creating opportunities for stu-dents to be involved, because of a strong conference-level sup-port and leadership.” One principal expressed concern, however, that conferences

try to enforce “one-size-fits-all policies that were made whenenrollments were larger. People at levels above that are policypolice and do not assist us in utilizing our local resources totheir fullest.” The principals wanted conferences/unions tothink and communicate about Adventist education as a whole,especially in their geographic area: “No one at the conferenceis willing to make tough decisions or do what is good for thewhole. Consolidation of churches or schools never happens,and instead we go way into debt until finally, assets are sold topay off bad debt rather than to set up endowments to

P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

Positive InitiativesPrincipals shared their most successful initiatives:

Overall school environment:• Hired a full-time development director and recruiter.• Performed more intentional teacher evaluations, including specific

goals for each teacher (used drop-ins, video, and formal evaluations).• Increased public relations.• Hired and retained staff that students admire and respect.• Improved access to technology for all teachers and students.

Funding:• Used social networking for marketing and outside fundraising.• Set up an endowment fund for teacher training.• Developed a foundation to support the school.• Managed the budget and ensured careful reporting.• Developed a four-way matching program among family, church, stu-

dent labor, and school.• Secured grant money for faculty training and new textbooks.• Instituted sound fiscal policies and practices.• Established policies that require students to be current in monthly pay-

ments and have a zero balance from the previous year.• Recruited sponsors or donors for students who cannot afford full

tuition.

Governance:• Chose school board members intentionally based on what they can

bring to the table.• Created a non-profit-style board with member selection based on in-

terest, support, and influence.• Scheduled collaborative meetings for pastors and teachers.• Enhanced board training with a consultant and Philanthropic Service

for Institutions.



strengthen the overall operation.” The principals also expressed the need for schools to be sup-

ported from the top levels of the church. One principal com-mented that “Funding for Adventist education is almost non-ex-istent within the church structure. Every conference reports aspart of its contributions to Adventist Education, all of the fundsthat are collected from parents and remitted to the conferencetreasury for payroll. The tuition funds should not be included inthe accounting for Conference Support of education.” Finally, a number of principals agree with this respondent

that they wanted thoughtful oversight: “Certain ones in the con-ference office intrude or overrule in areas where the expertiseis not strong. They also eliminate some strong teaching candi-dates from the recruitment pool due to what might be rathersuperficial life-style accusations.”

ConclusionGood scores on the Politics Index were related to school rep-

utation, qualified and engaged teachers, and to the principals’ability to hire and fire staff. These academy principals who re-sponded to this survey valued good relationships with local pas-tors, wished to have more productive relationships with theirschool boards, and longed for strong, visionary, financially as-tute support from the conference/union that would help thewhole school system meet current challenges effectively andwith financial soundness.

How are NAD Adventist academies doing?49 Enrollment is aserious problem for small schools, those located outside of anAdventist Center, and/or those with negative school reputations.AC schools and larger (>200) schools tend to be growing.Funding is a particularly urgent need in light of the economic

downturn. One principal said: “I feel that Adventist educationtoday faces the most serious challenges we have ever faced. Weare in danger of losing our system of schools. This sense of ur-gency needs to be communicated to the rest of the [Seventh-dayAdventist] Church at large (not just in educational sectors). Itseems that the world church is reluctant to restructure the cur-rent system or increase financial support for Education.” This survey found that factors related to better funding in-

cluded having few constituent churches, positive politics, andoperating within the planned budget. The principals identifiedgeneral funding, staffing, student aid, and facility improve-ments as significant needs. They lamented that some parentsdo not see the value of Adventist education, when comparedwith its financial cost. The principals strongly supported thevalue of Adventist education and its importance as a churchministry. They recognized that maintaining good teachers isessential to creating good relationships with pastors, schoolboards, and conferences.

Eighty-three percent of the North American Division academyprincipals surveyed said that school board members try to helpmake their schools a better place, but nearly three-quarters (72 per-cent) agreed that “lack of training” prevented school boards frombeing effective. While almost 60 percent (50/85) of the principalsfelt that the school board at their school had a clear understandingof its responsibilities, two-thirds noted that school boards needmore knowledge about new educational and operational practices,and 86 percent said board members needed more expertise in fi-nance, management, and operations.

The majority of responding principals (63.5 percent) agreed thatthe composition of school boards is not carefully monitored, and 73percent said that their school did not have established evaluationprocedures for staff, principals, and school boards.

Resources for School Board Training

1. Philanthropic Services for Institutions (PSI)• Designs for Effective Governance (DEG) grants. This is a

dollar-for-dollar matching grant of up to $2500 for school boardtraining. An additional $1000 will be awarded one year after com-

School Board Training

pletion of the training if PSI receives a short follow-up report show-ing the impact of the grant. Applications are accepted year round.

• Contact Kristin Priest at http://www.philanthropicservice.comto set up an informal board training session for your school. Kristinand Lilya Wagner travel year round to schools in the NAD to conductboard training.

2. Board Source: http://www.boardsource.com. This is consideredthe leading organization in nonprofit board management, bench-marking, and best practice. Its site includes many free articles andresources.

3. The Journal of Adventist Education School Boards theme is-sues:

• Volume 62:2 (December 1999/January 2000)• Volume 66:5 (Summer 2004)• Volume 70:5 (Summer 2008)The articles from all three issues may be accessed at the JAE

Website (http://jae.adventist.org). Click on “Choose an Index/Search”at the upper right, then select “Issue Indexes,” and click on the issueslisted above.

S U M M A R Y



Principals wanted good relationships with pastors, in orderto provide mutual support. They also desired well-trained andeffective school boards, and conferences/unions that providedmacro-level leadership to keep schools fiscally solvent and well-supported. The principals’ responses showed that they viewed Adventist

schools as vitally important for the educating of spiritually at-tuned students. But they also revealed that enrollment, funding,and governance all affect a school’s ability to achieve the broadermission of offering a quality Adventist education.50

The authors wish to express appreciation to the Commonweal Foundationfor its support of this research, the North American Division Office of Educa-tion, and many union and conference leaders for their assistance, and to stu-dent intern Grady Todd for his assistance with this project.

Linda Potter Crumley, Ph.D., is a Professorin the School of Journalism and Communi-cations at Southern Adventist University inCollegedale, Tennessee, and the lead re-searcher for the study reported in this article.

Melanie Litchfield, B.S., is the Director ofthe Alumni Awards Foundation in Chat-tanooga, Tennessee. Mrs. Litchfield facili-tated and distributed the survey and alsohelped in the beginning stages of analysis.As Director of AAF, she is currently layinggroundwork for the Renaissance Network,AAF’s new initiative to help NAD acade-

mies become schools of excellence.

Riley Graves, B.A., is the AdministrativeAssistant at the Alumni Awards Foundationin Chattanooga, Tennessee. She oversaw thecompletion of the article with Dr. Crumleywhile analyzing results and drafting find-ings. Mrs. Graves is currently working oncompleting her Master’s degree in BusinessAdministration.

Kayce Foote, B.S., worked as an office as-sistant in the School of Journalism andCommunication at Southern AdventistUniversity at the time this article was writ-ten. She entered survey results into SPSS,helped create the indices, and ran statistics.Ms. Foote is currently working as an eventcoordinator for Habitat for Humanity in

Chattanooga, Tennessee.

�

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Conducted in Fall 2010.2. Since the time of the survey, at least one NAD Adventist academy has

closed its doors. 3. An 86 percent response rate.4. Go to http://alumniawards.org for more information.5. No other survey results or outside data was used in calculating the results

of this survey. 6. http://ccsr.uchicago.edu (2009).7. All of the data was analyzed using SPSS. 8. These statements were generated in focus groups by AAF in 2009.9. 66/83.10. Only statistics that reached p = .05 or smaller were counted as statisti-

cally significant in this study.11. t(93) = 3.277, p = .001.12. t(93) = 2.35, p = .02.13. r(93) = 0.86, p = .00.14. r(60) = 0.31, p = .02.15. r(60) = 0.27, p = .04.16. r(87) = 0.30, p = .01.17. 60/92. Although 93 principals responded to the survey, not every prin-

cipal completed every question. The numbers shown in parentheses in the sta-tistical tests and the denominators of the proportions indicate the number ofprincipals responding to the question(s) being analyzed.

18. 74/85.19. http://www.cognitivegenesis.org.20. t(92) = 1.58, p = .12.21. t(71) = 1.80, p = .08.22. Cronbach’s alpha = 0.94.23. 41/73.24. Cronbach’s alpha = 0.78.25. r(50)= -.28, p= .05.26. t(76)=.19, p=.85.27. r(65) = .47, p = .00.28. Cronbach’s alpha = .74.29. r(74) =.54, p =.00.30. r(76) = 0.32, p = .01.31. t(74) = 2.19, p = .03.32. t(76) = .56, p = .58.33. r(59) = 0.22, p = .09.34. 77/91.35. 74/92.36. t(76) = 1.67, p = .10.37. r(75) = .46, p = .00.38. Cronbach’s alpha = 0.94.39. r(61) = .44, p = .00.40. Cronbach’s alpha = 0.74.41. r(71)= .28, p = .02.42. r(75) = .31, p = .01.43. 69/92.44. 67/83.45. 69/83 = 83 percent.46. 60/83.47. 43/84.48. 54/85.49. More research is needed for a better understanding of Adventist schools,

including the perspectives of teachers, parents, and other stakeholders.50. This article focused on reporting survey findings, not on providing rec-

ommendations for change. However, AAF and others are actively engaged indeveloping answers to the concerns mentioned by the principals in this sur-vey.




You’ve just been chosen to bea principal. You’ve begun todream and set goals for theupcoming school year, butyou really have no idea what

to expect. You try to feel hopeful thatall will be fine and that it is time foryou to take on this new role. If youhave just graduated with a Master’s de-gree or have several years of experienceas a classroom teacher or vice-princi-pal, or have engaged in committees atboth a conference and union level—you have a good idea what it takes to besuccessful as a principal.

If you have experience as a teacher,you’ll recall that when you faced a diffi-cult situation, the principal was avail-able to handle any classroom matterbeyond your control. You probablyhave an opinion about how the princi-pal should deal with these kinds of is-sues. Now, as a principal yourself, youare not only responsible for these class-room matters, but also for the faculty,the staff, students, parents, and schoolboard, hiring resource teachers, main-taining the property, purchasing insur-ance, choosing textbooks, creating abudget, planning the curriculum andtechnological advances, scheduling

music programs, recruiting prospectivestudents, and being a spiritual leader. However, many underlying issues

also find their way to your office thatcan get in the way of your ultimate goalof “being an effective instructionalleader [who develops and maintains]positive relationships with students,staff, and parents.”1 Remember, as aprincipal you will be judged not basedon your skill in organization and man-agement, but rather by “who [you] areand how [you] interact with others.”2

After a few months as a principal,you realize that you are spending a lot

B Y R U T H J . N I N O a n d YO E L J . P A R E D E S - R O D R I G U E Z

Essential

Skills for a Principal



of time mediating between teachersand parents, or teachers and students,or between teachers—issues thatweren’t addressed in your preparationfor principalship. Although you haveexperience in dealing with classroomissues, lesson plans, and teaching, yourealize you prob ably should have takenmore courses in counseling. It comes asa shock to many new principals thatmuch of their work day is spent inter-acting with people and their problems.Melgosa says that these encountersoften involve “appointments made byemployees or stu dents to discuss prob-lems, issues, worries,and personal requests,”and that “[c]ounselingprinciples and skillswere specifically de-signed for encounterswhere someone is seek-ing help, support, orunderstanding fromanother person.”3 (Atthis point, you may alsoneed to add problem-solving to your respon-sibilities.) The good news (or

maybe the bad news) is,“the ways you respondto these situations andthe fluency and ease with which youswitch the multiple hats you wear willprofoundly affect the quality of the ed-ucational experiences found in yourschool, as well as your own job satisfac-tion.”4 With these tasks in the forefrontof your day-to-day routine, you mayrealize you need to know more abouthow to apply counseling principleswithin an educational setting thanwhat you learned in one undergraduatecourse in educational psychology. Be-cause the role of a principal beginswith interactions with students andalso embraces their families and thebroader community, he or she needsskills beyond those gained from genericpsychology courses or on-the-jobtraining.If you research the 2010 basic re-

quirements for a principal to obtain anadministrator certificate from theNorth American Division Office of Ed-ucation to determine whether counsel-ing skills are integrated in the program,you will find only a requirement read-ing as follows: “Has a minimum ofeighteen semester/twenty-seven quar-ter hours of graduate courses selectedfrom the areas of curriculum, schooladministration, supervision, schoollaw, school finance, school plant plan-ning, personnel administration, schoolpublic relations, religious education,and field experience, or holds a doctor-

ate degree in school administration.”5

Perhaps the closest requirement forgaining insight into the breadth ofhuman interactions is in the endorse-ment requirements for a superinten-dent of schools is a course in humanresources administration and schoolplant planning (course in public rela-tions community partnership). Theprogram does not require a course withan intentional focus on counselingskills to help principals develop theirinterpersonal skills as leaders in Ad-ventist schools. Sharon Weiss in her dissertation,

“An Integration of Administrative andCounseling Skills: Benefits for BuildingPrincipals,” describes how vital these

skills are for the success of a principal.In her research, she found little integra-tion of administrative and counselingskills. “Principals and counselors areboth identified for creating nurturingenvironments in schools….The princi-pal may even have to function in therole of counselor in the school, if theschool does not have a counselor.”6

This statement represents the reality inmost Adventist K-12 schools aroundthe world as well (except for the largestacademies), which do not have em-ployees on staff whose sole assignmentis counseling. Usually, people assigned

to do counseling mustspend the majority ofthe school day teachingor fulfilling their otherassignments. Thus,principals often findthemselves called on tobe counselors.

A Model for SchoolCounselingPrincipals need a

specific model andtraining for schoolcounseling because itdiffers in several waysfrom other forms ofcounseling. According

to educational psychologist GarryHornby, “counseling in schools. . . has abroader focus than most situations inwhich counseling is used.”7 Most otherforms of counseling focus mainly onremediation. However, school counsel-ing also has “preventative and develop-mental focuses.”8 Second, school-basedcounseling occurs spontaneously whena student comes to the office, a parentdrops by to visit, or when initiated by aparent or a teacher, rather than duringscheduled appointments with clients.Third, the people doing most schoolcounseling are not qualified coun-selors, but educators. Fourth, counsel-ing in schools is not a specific, isolatedhelping strategy, but a continuum ofhelping strategies. Kottler and McEwan, in their book



Counseling Tips for Elementary SchoolPrincipals, describe the essential ele-ments required to apply counselingand consulting skills to the school envi-ronment. The first step is “learninghow to recognize problems.”9 Althoughthis may seem like a daunting task,most experienced principals have de-veloped a “sixth sense” that helps themidentify when something is wrong witha student, teacher, or parent. However,beyond intuition, it’s also necessary to“have a rough idea of what is going onbefore you can take appropriate action. . . [but remember] your job is to fig-ure out if indeed there is a seriousproblem, and if so, what to do aboutit.”10 The astute principal can learn torecognize a variety of clues that indi-cate when someone needs help. Following assessment comes imple-

mentation—the process of helping. Itis not your job as principal to be a full-time counselor. Yet you will find inyour position “daily instances in whichsomeone will reach out to you for un-derstanding and some rudimentarybackground in several skills will allowyou to help them.”11 Nonetheless, it isimportant to recognize the limitationsof your role because “regardless of pos-itive intentions inherent in any helpingrelationship there is the potential forboth benefit and harm.”12 Therefore,when those moments arise, rememberthe following13: 1. Helping skills are learned from

practice, not just by reading aboutthem.2. Functioning as a counselor will

help you to put your own needs asideand be nonjudgmental.3. Dealing with concerns, rather

than “problems,” is your responsibility.“Problems imply there are solutions,even right ones, yet most often, per-sonal issues have no single answers.”14

4. Avoid giving advice, as you maybe blamed if the results are disastrous.Even if all goes well, you are teachingcounselees to “consult someone else totell them what to do” and reinforcingthe idea that “they are incapable of

making decisions on their own.”15

5. Helping the person to feel under-stood, supported, and not alone is allyou can do.6. Slipping into a “helping mode”

means freeing yourself from your ownproblems in order to be as nonjudg-mental as possible.7. Try not to feel overwhelmed as you

practice your role as principal-counselor.Time will give you the opportunity todevelop interpersonal effectiveness.8. Recognize when people need help

that you are not qualified to give, andrefer them to a professional counselor.

Setting the StageCounseling meetings are different

from regular conversation or discus-sions since the counselor must focusintently on the messages the other per-son is transmitting (through words, si-lence, body language, etc.). However,before you begin the meeting, it is im-portant to take steps to clear your mindof all distractions, put aside your ownworries, and be willing to be fully pres-ent for the counselee. Kottler and Mc -Ewans list basic counseling skills thathelp “to build an open, trusting, andaccepting atmosphere.”16 First is at-tending to the counselee, which means“giving [him or her] your total com-plete undivided interest.”17 Second islistening, which means communicat- ing “by the way you respond to thespeaker, by your ability to prove thatyou really did hear what has beensaid.”18 Last is empathy, “where attend-ing, listening, and interpersonal sensi-tivity come together in such a way thatyou are able to get outside yourselfenough so that you can sense what theother person is feeling and thinking.”19

As Adventist educational leaders, weinteract often with diverse persons,which enables us to minister as Christdid. In the parable of the Good Samari-tan (Luke 10:25-37), an unfortunateman is beaten nearly to death by ban-dits. Two religious leaders pass him by

on their journey to Jericho, showinglittle empathy and offering no assis-tance. Did they feel they were too busyto attend to the wounded man? Werethey too worried about their ownsafety to stop to find out what had hap-pened to him? Yet, the Samaritan who traveled on

the same road took the time to attendand “listen” by showing compassiona nd empathy. In verse 34, we read thathe bandaged the man’s wounds(the word is derived from the Greektraumata, which can be translated“trauma”) by pouring on oil and wine.In the Bible, the oil represents the HolySpirit, who is also known as the Spiritof counsel or Counselor (Isaiah 11:2and John 14:26), and the wine repre-sents Christ’s sacrificial blood (Luke22:20). It is important to note that thewounded man needed to receive bothphysical help as well as the oil (theCounselor) and the wine (Christ).Nonetheless, the helping process didnot end there. It continued beyond theemergency aid. The Good Samaritanthen carried the injured man to an inn,where he received the protection of theinnkeeper. We can apply this parable toAdventist schools. As “inn-keepingprincipals,” we have the responsibilityto extend the Good Samaritan’s helpingprocess to aid wounded students, par-ents, and staff members.

An Environment of TrustBefore he left, the Good Samaritan

gave the innkeeper money to be used toaid in the victim’s recovery, but he alsotold the innkeeper that if caring for theman cost more than what he had paid,he would reimburse the innkeeperwhen he returned. As a principal, youare prepared and equipped for leader-ship but need to aid in the recoveryprocess of students, families, and staffwho are wounded and in need of help.Therefore, if this requires going beyondthe basic training you have received toacquire counseling skills, you shouldconsider doing so. Through empathyand guided support, you will be able to



establish an environment of trust thattreats students as more than mere ves-sels to be filled with facts. “Empathy,warmth, and support are essential skillsin the counseling process for they rep-resent compassion, concern, and caringin the counselor [principal]-student re-lationship.”20

As an Adventist school leader, it isyour responsibility to attend to theconcerns of diverse individuals and theconsequences resulting from your deci-sions. A Christian educational systemmust not only educate young peoplefor this world and eternity, but alsohelp them recover from their woundsand traumas. Adventist principalsshould have compassion for the peoplethey lead, and actually stop and pay at-tention—even if this implies leavingbehind their responsibilities to be pres-ent in the moment to attend to the in-dividual, unlike the two religious lead-ers, who rushed by the wounded manon their way to “do God’s work.” Moreover, when Jesus said, “‘“Love

your neighbor as yourself”’” (Mark12:31, NIV),21 He also warned that in thefinal judgment, the criteria for beingconsidered His follower was this: “‘as youdid it to the least of these My brethren,you did it to Me. . . as you did not do itto one of the least of these, you did notdo it to Me’” (Matthew 25:40, 45). Ozorak believes there are two ways

of interpreting Jesus’ imperative. One isthat Christians must help those inneed, and the other is that they arecalled to see Christ in the face of thosein need.22 The latter is an intrinsic mo-tive, one that arises from being led bythe Holy Spirit to love as Christ loved.Principals, as educators and counselors,must acknowledge their own wounds(traumas) and recognize the needs andsuffering of others by showing compas-sion (empathy), which will produce theultimate fruit of the Spirit—love (forGod and the neighbor). Principals have enormous responsi-

bilities in leading a successful, God-fearing school. If you integrate coun-

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Jeffrey A. Kottler and Elaine K. McEwan,

Counseling Tips for Elementary School Principals(Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, Inc.,1999), p. vii.

2. Ibid, p. 1.3. Julian Melgosa, “How Educational Leaders

Can Use Counseling Principles and Skills,” TheJournal of Adventist Education 66:1 (October/No-vember 2003):32.

4. Kottler and McEwan, Counseling Tips forElementary School Principals, op. cit., p. 11.

5. North American Division Office of Educa-tion, K-12 Educators’ Certification Manual(2010), p. 16: http://www.nadeducation.org/ client_data/files/1091_certificationmanual3262010.pdf. Retrieved July 26, 2012.

6. Sharon Weiss, An Integration of Adminis-trative and Counseling Skills: Benefits for BuildingPrincipals. Ed. D. dissertation, Illinois State Uni-versity (February 2007), p. 35. Retrieved January15, 2012, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text(Publication No. AAT 3233951).

7. Garry Hornby in Counseling Pupils inSchools: Skills and Strategies for Teachers. GarryHornby, Cerol Hall, and Eric Hall, eds. (London:RoutledgeFalmer, 2003), p. 12.

8. Ibid.9. Kottler and McEwan, Counseling Tips for

Elementary School Principals, op. cit., p. 14.10. Ibid., p. 17.11. Ibid., p. 30.12. Hornby, Counseling Pupils in Schools, op.

cit., p. 165.13. Most of the recommendations in this list

are adapted from Kottler and McEwan, Counsel-ing Tips for Elementary School Principals, op. cit.

14. Ibid., p. 31.15. Ibid.16. Ibid., p. 46.17. Ibid., p. 43.18. Ibid., p. 44.19. Ibid., p. 45.20. Weiss, An Integration of Administrative

and Counseling Skills, op. cit., p. 25.21. All of the Scripture texts quoted in this ar-

ticle are quoted from the New International Ver-sion. Texts credited to NIV are from The HolyBible, New International Version. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used bypermission. All rights reserved worldwide.

22. E. W. Ozorack, “Love of God and Neigh-bor: Religion and Volunteer Service Among Col-lege Students,” Review of Religious Research 44:3(March 2003):285.

23. Kottler and McEwan, Counseling Tips forElementary School Principals, op. cit., pp. 3, 4.

seling skills into your repertoire ofleadership skills, you will “notice animprovement in your personal rela-tionships. . . become more respected asa leader in your school. . . you will be-come more influential in every aspectof school life. . . [and] you will be ableto grow emotionally and psychologi-cally yourself.”23 Although the principalis not called to conduct formal coun-seling, he or she can attend to students’needs, listen to parents’ concerns, andshow empathy for those in their care,and thereby enhance their effectivenessas they follow Jesus’ example.

Ruth J. Nino,M.A., currentlyserves as Principalof the WaldwickSeventh-day Ad-ventist School inWaldwick, New Jer-sey. She has served

in multiple capacities over the years, in-cluding multigrade teacher, vice-princi-pal, and Curriculum Committee Chair-person for the New Jersey Conference.Ms. Nino earned a Bachelor’s degree inElementary Education and SpanishStudies from Andrews University and aMaster’s degree in Curriculum andTeaching from Teachers College, Colum-bia University.

Yoel J. Paredes-Rodriguez, B.A.,currently serves as ateacher at MeadowView Junior Acad-emy in New Jersey.After earning aBachelor’s degree in

theology from Universidad Union inLima, Peru, he obtained a Bachelor’s de-gree in Psychology from Montclair StateUniversity. Currently, he is pursuing aMaster’s degree from Fordham Univer-sity in Pastoral Counseling and SpiritualCare and a Master’s degree from Teach-ers College, Columbia University, in Psy-chology in Education.

�




Leadership is complex. How complex is seen in the re-cent proliferation of research and publications on alltypes of leadership, ranging from principal-centeredto competency-based approaches.1 One such approachto leadership is coaching, a topic vigorously explored

as part of the new perspective in preparing leaders to raise their“level of skilling,” which will enable them to influence employ-ees who are not meeting expectations.2

Many principals fail to become coaches because they do notunderstand how to use appropriate strategies to get optimumresults.3 Adventist principals are no exception. More and more,a large number of great principals are trapped in a “manage-ment paradigm” that keeps them from leading effectively.4 Asthey focus on control, efficiency, and rules, they fail to capturethe essence of specific qualities needed to rise above the ordi-

nary. The coaching process helps principals, especially Chris-tian ones, to think deeply about their own character and mo-tives, and become more effective in promoting “better moraleand a higher level of commitment among the entire work-force.”5

Although coaching has been studied and discussed vigor-ously for decades, it was not until the 1960s that the subjecttook on enough importance to be considered a distinctmethod/tool with defined skills attached to it. The emergingsurge lasted through the 1990s, according to several re -searchers.6 Since coaching is about developing people in theworkplace, the educational community should give careful at-tention to how coaching, particularly its two variants (Trans-formational Coaching Theory and Team Coaching) can en-hance educational leadership.

B Y M A R I L Y N D I A N A M I N G

The Benefits of Effective

for Principalsand Teachers



Coaching and Leadership (New Practices and New Language)

Transformational Coaching.Rachel Frumi’s examination ofThomas Crane’s theory of Transformational Coaching7 re-vealed that the heart of coaching is to shift “the organizationaldynamic from Boss/Subordinate/Competitor to Coach/Client/ -Partner.”8 In addition, according to Crane, coaching is “the artof assisting people to enhance their effectiveness, in a way theyfeel helped.”9 To accomplish a successful partnership and sat-isfactory outcome, this model specifies that:

• Coaching must be a comprehensive communicationprocess in which the coach provides performance feedback tothe client.

• Topics should include all work-related dimensions of per-formance (personal, inter-personal, and technical orbusiness skills) that affectthe client’s ability and will-ingness to contribute tomeaningful personal andorganizational goals.

• A coach must act as aguide by challenging andsupporting the clients inachieving their personaland organizational per-formance objectives. Whenthis is done by a trustedlearning partner, the clientfeels helped by the coachand the process.

• The coaching processbecomes the foundationfor creating a high-perfor-mance, feedback-rich cul-ture that flows full circle—down to direct reports,across to peers, and up toone’s supervisor.

Team Coaching.Hackman and Wageman describe the The-ory of Team Coaching as a superior leadership strategy inwhich success depends “directly and substantially on the degreeto which coaching functions are fulfilled competently at appro-priate times and in appropriate circumstances.”10 These re-searchers concluded that a new model was warranted after theirliterature review revealed that “leaders focus their behaviorsless on team coaching than on other aspects of the team lead-ership portfolio.”11

Team coaching opens the way for reflection and assessmentof practice by the teacher clients. Small groups will benefit fromintensive programs that give the clients what they need to growprofessionally. The programs center on collaborative activitiessuch as “action research, study groups, peer support groups,

professional dialogue groups, and electronic networks.” Largergroups include self-reflection as well. According to Boyd andCooper, “learning logs” and/or journals aid in the overall im-provement process.12

Coaching: A Strong ToolThe objective of this article is to describe how coaching can

help principals and other school leaders become more effective.Coaching leads to transformational behaviors that stimulate“an upward spiral growth” for the principal and establish a con-tinuum of “knowledge, skill and desire.”13 Coaching can helpdisgruntled school leaders who are tempted to quit their jobsbecause their roles seem too scripted. It gives them more op-portunities to mediate change because it makes them aware of

a variety of opportunities for interacting with teachers that willassist them in “useful and practical ways.”14

Boyd further states that “coaching is a form of professionallearning which integrates the most effective learning aboutteacher work. Coaching is designed to integrate effective staff de-velopment and successful change management processes throughproviding a continuous growth process for people at all experi-ence levels.”15 More than a decade ago, James Flaherty recognizedthe great need for coaching people to a high standard of excel-lence in the workplace. He believes strongly that understandingpeople is the key that enables a coach to give them “a chance toexamine what they are doing in light of their intentions.”16 Fla-herty argues that through the building of trust, an executivecoach is able to infuse confidence and strengthen the competenceof a subordinate client, but only when that executive is able to



self-examine and self-correct his or her own performance. Then,through a purposeful relationship with the client, the coach canguide him or her to follow the coach’s example. Whitmore states that “only when coaching principles govern

or underlie all management behavior and interactions, as theycertainly will do in time, will the full force of people’s perform-ance potential be released.”17 He notes that coaching “focuseson future possibilities, not past mistakes.”18 Whitmore insiststhat coaching “requires us to suspend limiting beliefs aboutpeople.”19 It is paramount for a solid partnership to exist “be-tween the coach and client in the endeavor of trust of safetyand of minimal pressure.”20 Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, andSwitzler agree that not dwelling on mistakes helps to promotea more positive climate.21 Learning to approach the client in anon-threatening manner requires skill and time, but helps tofoster a relationship. Coaching helps to debunk the idea thatthe administrator’s job is “fixing people,” but it does hold theindividual “accountable” and responsible for confrontationsand for being non-abrasive. Both parties must be able to talk“openly and honestly. Both should be candid and respectful.”22

Adventist principals can use these coaching principles whilekeeping in mind the need to also reflect the traits of the HolySpirit as they interact with teachers. In a Christian institution,the coaching process takes on a higher purpose. It requires acommitment to godly service—treating people with love andfairness and valuing the gifts of the Spirit that are manifestedin them (“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” [Galatians 5:22, 23,NKJV]).23 For example, love demands action, so if love is pres-ent, principals will regard positive change as movement towardthe noble ideals of true education. In short, the reflective prac-tice reminds Christian principals of their mission—to serveothers.24 The administrator’s commitment to coaching shouldlead to frequent conversations intended to promote teachers’personal and professional development. The following guide-lines will help with the process:

• Emphasize Christian values.• Envision and initiate change by persuading others to alter

the status quo.25

• Encourage and inspire teachers and support staff.26

• Transform a climate of resignation into a climate of op-portunity.27

• Improve strategic planning and collaborate with teachersabout the future you seek to create.

• Set higher performance goals and standards for yourselfand others.

• Share practical know-how with teachers when asked.28

• Intervene when appropriate to prevent avoidable mis -takes.29

• Provide targeted feedback, presented in such a way that therecipient can grow and learn from it.30

The contemporary business world embraces coaching inorder to improve worker efficiency.31 This performance-driven

strategy sets it apart from the use of mentoring in the educa-tional community, which is oriented toward reflective practice.Implementing a coaching model does not mean that a princi -pal abandons mentoring and other approaches to teacherlearning,32 but rather that he or she becomes more aware andresponsible, taking on the challenge of a new vision in the at-tempt to overcome barriers. When skills are mastered andstrategies are carefully implemented, both principal and staffwill benefit from coaching activities.

The Coaching Path to ChangeA sustainable path to school change is never smooth or easy.

Coaching experts believe that if an administrator is willing tobecome a possibility thinker and obstacle remover, is not ruledby assumptions, and is fearless and non-judgmental, he or sheis ready to become a catalyst for transforming a school effi-ciently and effectively. Below are a few practical ways to accom-plish the intended change:Experienced coaches suggest that effective strategies must

extend beyond monitoring performance. According to Reiss,“the language of change must be in the air.”33 The effectiveleader will establish “self-directed teams” and vigorously seizeopportunities.34 This new role is critical because the principalmust reach one teacher at a time and not prematurely judge orinfuse his or her thoughts into the person being coached. It isimportant for the coach and teacher to spend time talking to-gether so that “fears can be explored and a commitment madeto moving forward.”35

Coaching requires a long-term “commitment . . . to benefitfrom its results,”36 as well as sustained practice to achieve max-imum efficacy. Learning to coach may be one of the single mostimportant decisions a principal makes in his or her professionallife. Therefore, school leaders must acquire hands-on experi-ence from high-quality leadership programs and/or workshops.For example, prominent New Jersey Coach Jerald Harvey, LLC,has had a successful practice for 25 years, helping individualsrealize their maximum leadership capability. His programs arehighly individualized and offer instruction, collaboration, re-flection, and growth. Today’s school leaders need enhanced professional develop-

ment programs that help them acquire concrete knowledgeabout “how to create a vision, share authority” and be “account-able for achieving the school’s goals.”37 Instruction in problem-solving techniques will provide practical solutions andstrengthen the principal’s ability to implement more effectivecoaching interventions. The mentoring component of the lead-ership programs/workshops will also enhance the principal’spersonal growth and career development.38

Monroe asserts that often, the evidence of success in lead-ership is slow in coming or impossible to see.39 However, lead-ership coaching is different; the approach focuses on positivechange in individuals, thereby changing the culture of organi-zations in a short time because the process is so individual-



ized.40 Indeed, coaching is one way of mastering skills andstrategies that will enhance competencies and produce signifi-cant personal growth.41

Cope’s Seven-C FrameworkCope offers a seven-C framework that helps principal-

coaches become more optimistic about their teachers, learnhow to get the best out of them, and help them see their ownpotential and find their own solutions. 1. Collaborative coach/sustainable change. Cope’s “Collab-

orative Coaching Model” provides a blueprint for getting toknow people through working together, clarifying expectations,and setting the stage for identifying core competencies thatserve as markers for success.42 The process of coaching at thisstage requires partnership and building trust between two peo-ple. Using these techniques, principals cansharpen their own skills and embark on ajourney of self-discovery. With practice,coaching will enable them to get the opti-mum results from their employees. 2. Client awareness and willingness. At

the very beginning, a principal should at-tempt to understand the teachers’ “emo-tional, logical and behavioral drivers” be-cause this will provide insight about theirthinking and how their emotions affecttheir work.43 By listening and learning, theprincipal will discover which issues theteachers wish to address. According toCope, the goal is to understand “what hashappened, what is happening and what theclient [teacher] wants to happen.”44

3. Clarity: What’s going on? The coach-ing principal must learn to interpret cuesfrom staff members in order to identify the “blocks and barri-ers” that prevent clients from reaching their potential. In thecase of limiting beliefs, the clients will experience unnecessarystruggle if the coaching principal is unclear about what to doand how to help. During this clarifying stage, it is importantthat the “undiscussable issues” between both parties be ad-dressed.45 At this time, the clients need assistance from thecoach to cut through negative behavior patterns (self-decep-tion) caused by defensive thinking. A listening coach knowswhen it is the right time to lead individuals to share informa-tion about distressing situations in their lives. The coach neverinitiates the digging but gently leads the clients to share trou-bling aspects of their personal lives that impede their work per-formance. By helping to change client attitudes and actionsduring this time, the coach can expect to exert significant in-fluence over the clients’ lives. The coach uses skills to ferret outnegative behavior patterns that affect the clients’ effectivenessand well-being. There are times when the coach must push resolutely on

when a teacher client seems to be hiding parts of his or herworld or seems reluctant to answer difficult questions. The fol-lowing techniques can be utilized at this stage:

• The Fantasy Ladder, which helps to map and manage lim-iting beliefs that the clients might have about themselves.46 Forexample, how does a teacher view himself or herself in regardto professional performance? While respecting the client’s be-liefs, the coach should dig deeper. The challenge is guiding theteacher to identify and reframe negative thoughts (weak-nesses/obstacles) about self to make him or her feel empoweredand optimistic about the possibilities for the future.

• The Shadow Map, which helps the teacher-client to explorewhat difficult (uncomfortable) issues exist in the relationshipand how these can be explored without causing too muchpain.47

4. Create: Find the best solution. Time pressures will al-ways be a problem in coaching relationships because of themany responsibilities of the principal and staff and their busyschedules. This new partnership is only a small part of eachperson’s life. When both parties understand the value of thecoaching, it can assume its proper place as a diagnostic anddevelopmental tool. According to Cope, at this stage the roleof the coaching partner (the principal) is important becausehe or she must help the clients “consider new ways to solveold problems and, once a solution is identified, to then testand ensure that the choice is an optimum one and not arushed or less-than-optimum solution.”48 An examination ofthe two aspects illuminates the importance of this step. First,Create provides a strong indication of how well things aregoing between coach and clients. During this step, the coachhelps the clients examine “diverse options” and then guidesthem in selecting the best course of action. Second, Createhelps direct clients’ attention to the “cost and consequencesof the proposed solution and ensure[s] that they are using the

t the very beginning, a principal

should attempt to understand the

teachers’ “emotional, logical and behav-

ioral drivers” because this will provide

insight about their thinking and how their

emotions affect their work.

A



optimum solution and one that will deliver sustainablevalue.”49

5. Change: What needs to be different? At this stage, thecoaching partner makes sure that the new ideas work by listen-ing carefully as the clients outline their action plans. The coachmust act purposefully and follow through to ensure that clientsmake the changes that will produce the desired outcomes. Al-though this creates some pressure for the clients, most will ac-cept it in order to achieve the desired outcomes. The coachpartner (principal) continues to manage and act as a “drivingforce” to move clients from the comfort of planning to the ac-tual fulfillment of their goals for personal and professionalgrowth. Clients may need a light push in theright direction through gentle words, or amore “commanding presence to drive thechange.”50 This stage can be described bythe use of two models:

• The Y-Curve considers how people gothrough change and how the smallest ofchanges (even self-imposed) can result ineither dissent or loss of motivation, whichin turn can trigger resistance.51 For instance,a teacher losing focus or harboring feelingsof neglect due to rushed encounters with acoaching partner can abandon the wholeidea and end the partnership.

• The Change Framework addresses theissues relating to mobilization in the coach-ing partnership and explores the level offorce or control that the coach needs toapply in order to achieve the desired goals.52

The continued learning of the clients (teachers) calls for actionsthat demonstrate the understanding of realistic high standards,and willing participation. For instance, the coaching principalapplies gentle pressure to remind the teacher that each day’sactions must reflect the desired changes; therefore, in the spiritof openness and collaboration, they develop a template thatrecords planning activity and observed reflections that revealthe teacher’s commitment to this effort. As a bonus, the tem-plate provides the coach with regular feedback. 6. Confirm/Continue: How to facilitate change. Humans will

expend a great deal of energy to avoid unpleasantness. The nat-ural inclination is to resist value judgments, especially if they in-volve assessment or measurement. However, facing this fear inthe context of coaching will turn a negative into a positive for theperson who wishes to improve self/skills. Two models are helpfulat this stage. The first one entails a “Cockpit confirmation or de-veloping the client’s capability to self-monitor and measure [hisor her] level of achievement.”53 The second focuses on the gamesthat people play when faced with the need to do a realistic assess-ment of their progress.54 Cope argues that for coaching and thenew learning it entails to bring about change and become thenorm in the workplace, there can be no room for games. Reality

needs to be faced, and both the coach and clients must committo a conscious effort to identify barriers that prevent the achieve-ment of the targeted results. There are no “miracle solutions” inthis kind of people investment.55

7. Close: Sustainability of the change. Coaching makes adifference because of the partnership that develops between theparticipants. The collaborative process helps ensure that posi-tive outcomes occur: goal implementation, self-awareness, per-sonal alignment with intended change, and sustained perform-ance through the finding of and doing their personal best. Allthese behaviors result when the coach and clients persist to theend and understand that the process of change comes with real-

life problems at home and in the workplace. When the coachdisplays a desire for collaboration, engages in a reflection onthe results of the strategies implemented, and focuses on recip-rocal accountability, he or she encourages the clients to “lookback and learn” and to deal with any overlooked problems thatcould trip them up. This type of coaching seeks to achieve “sus-tainable change, not short-lived satisfaction.” During theprocess, the coach must assess whether clients are able to “flysolo before disengaging and moving on.”56

Conclusion Coaching is a way of strengthening school leadership and

enhancing teacher effectiveness. A principal coach can imple-ment this innovative option as a way to participate fully in theprofessional lives of teachers and to guide them in discoveringtheir personal best. According to Patterson, Grenny, McMillan,and Switzler, effective leadership and healthy school environ-ments result when those involved with coaching are able tomove forward in a positive way, celebrating their willingness toincorporate new methods of practice that work toward com-mon purpose and goals.57 The partnership results in positivechange, not only in the relationship but also in the workplace.

he coach partner (principal)

continues to manage and act as a

“driving force” to move clients from the

comfort of planning to the actual ful -

fillment of their goals for personal and

professional growth.

T



Specifically, when highly effective professional learning occursin school environments, students benefit. The goals and cultureremain aligned because of the reciprocal and ongoing supportprovided to both clients and coach. Coaching works—for both client and coach. As long as

someone is willing to take a chance on someone else, it will re-main a useful tool in the workplace, especially Adventist schoolenvironments. Frumi reiterates this premise when she assertsthat “the only way to truly help people grow is to help them indeveloping new practices and new language, and that the onlyway to coach effectively is to enter into a reciprocal relationshipwhere coach and client engage in a dance of mutual influenceand growth.”58

Marilyn Diana Ming, Ph.D., has, for anumber of years, been a consultant in thefield of educational transformation for pri-vate and public schools and non-profit or-ganizations. Her expertise includes tacklingleadership in non-traditional ways. Dr.Ming’s interest in coaching resulted fromher work with Jerald Harvey, LLC, a gifted

coaching instructor. She writes from Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Tracey Weiss, Coaching Competencies and Corporate Leadership (New

York: St. Lucie Press. 2003).2. Julie Boyd, “Coaching in Context: A Paper Written for Teaching and

Learning and Ultranet Coaches’ Initiative”: Department of Education and EarlyChildhood Development (2008), p. 10: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/ studentlearning/programs/teacherlearningcoaches.htm.

3. Sylvia Mendez-Morse, Leadership Characteristics That Facilitate SchoolChange (Austin, Texas: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1992).

4. Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessonsin Personal Change (New York: Fireside Press, 1989), p. 102.

5. Weiss, Coaching Competencies, op. cit., p. 212.6. Walter R. Mahler, “Improving Coaching Skills,” Personnel Administration,

27:1 (1964):28, 29; Diagnostic Studies (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1974);__________ and William Wrightnour, Executive Continuity: How to Build andRetain an Effective Management Team (Homewood, Ill. Dow Jones-Irwin,1973); L. Tobias, “Coaching Executives,” Consulting Psychology Journal: Practiceand Research 48:2 (Spring 1996):87-95.

7. Thomas G. Crane, The Heart of Coaching: Using Transformational Coach-ing to Create a High-Performance Coaching Culture (San Diego: FTA Press,2009).

8. Rachel Frumi, “Book Notes.” In J. Flaherty, ed., Coaching: Evoking Excel-lence in Others (Newport Beach, Calif.: Frumi & Associates LLC, Catalysts forChange, 1998), p. 1.

9. Crane, The Heart of Coaching, op. cit., p. 31.10. J. Richard Hackman and Ruth Wageman, “A Theory of Team Coaching,”

Academy of Management Review 30:2 (April 2005):269-287.11. Ibid., p. 269.12. Julie Boyd and Carole Cooper, Collaborative Approaches to Professional

Learning and Reflection (Tasmania, Australia: Global Learning Communities,1994).

13. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, op. cit., p. 47.

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14. Boyd, “Coaching in Context,” op. cit., p. 10; Gary Yukl, Leadership inOrganizations (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Prentice Hall, University of Michigan,2000).

15. Boyd, “Coaching in Context,” op. cit., p. 3. 16. J. Flaherty, Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others (Maryland Heights,

Mich.: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999), p. xii.17. John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance: Growing People, Perform-

ance, and Purpose (London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2002), p. 5.18. Ibid., p. 7.19. Ibid., p. 170.20. Ibid., p. 20.21. Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and A. Switzler, Crucial

Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, andBad Behavior (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005), p. 20.

22. Ibid., p. 4.23. Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible texts in this article are quoted from

the New King James Version. Texts credited to NKJV are from the New KingJames Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used bypermission. All rights reserved.

24. Lorraine Monroe, Nothing’s Impossible: Leadership Lessons From Insideand Outside the Classroom (New York: Public Affairs, the Perseus Books Group,1997).

25. Nathan Laufer, The Genesis of Leadership: What the Bible Teaches UsAbout Vision, Values, and Leading Change (Woodstock, Vt.: Jewish Lights Pub-lishing, 2006), p. 9.

26. Ibid.27. Robert Hargrove, Masterful Coaching Fieldbook (San Francisco: Jossey-

Bass/Pfeiffer, 2000), p. 105.28. Ibid.29. Ibid.30. Ibid.31. Weiss, Coaching Competencies and Corporate Leadership, op. cit.32. Boyd, Coaching in Context, op. cit., p. 8.33. Karla Reiss, Leadership Coaching for Educators: Bringing Out the Best in

School Administrators (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, 2007), p. 157.34. Ibid., p. 58.35. Ibid., p. 132.36. Whitmore, Coaching for Performance, op. cit., p. 158.37. Wallace Foundation, “Becoming a Leader: Preparing School Principals

for Today’s Schools”: http://www.wallacefoundation.org (June 2008), p. 2. Re-trieved July 30, 2012.

38. Ibid.39. Monroe, Nothing’s Impossible, op. cit., p. 71.40. Reiss, Leadership Coaching, op. cit.41. Mick Cope, The Seven C’s of Coaching: The Definitive Guide to Collab-

orative Coaching (Aurora, Ill.: Prentice Hall Business, 2004).42. Ibid., p. 27.43. Ibid., p. 28.44. Ibid.45. Ibid.46. Ibid., p. 75.47. Ibid., p. 88.48. Ibid., p. 106.49. Ibid., p. 109.50. Ibid., p. 137.51. Ibid.52. Ibid.53. Ibid., p. 161.54. Ibid.55. Ibid., p. 162.56. Ibid., p. 203.57. Patterson, et al., Crucial Confrontations, op. cit.58. Frumi, “Book Notes,” op. cit., p. 7.



School administrators face dailybattles to balance their workexpectations with their familyand personal needs. They con-stantly must wrestle these diffi-

cult questions: How does one fulfill allthe requirements of the job while stillmaking family a priority? What abouttime for hobbies and vacation?The Scriptures make it clear that we

have a God-given responsibility totreasure and protect our family. Con-sider this counsel by the Apostle Paul:“Anyone who does not provide for

their relatives, and especially for theirown household, has denied the faithand is worse than an unbeliever” (1Timothy 5:8, NIV).1

Ellen White is also clear about thedistinction that is to be made betweenour work commitments and our familyresponsibilities: “There is no more im-portant missionary field” than our ownhome.2

No matter where we are serving orwhat we are doing, each of us has beencalled to make our family a prioritythat is second only to God. So, why is itso hard to put family before work?How does one measure, manage, and

balance the competing priorities ofGod, church, community, ministry,family, and self? Why do so manyschool administrators feel guilty whenthey say “No”? What practical tech-niques can you use to make sure youtake care of your family and yourself?An administrator’s schedule is un-

predictable, unrelenting, and unstruc-tured. Rarely a day goes by that he orshe will not have to deal with un-planned issues and emergencies. Thisconstant addition of unexpected itemsto already hectic schedules can lead to

B Y P A M E L A C O N S U E G R A

for BalancingSchool and Family Life

Tips



unstructured days and untold stress.There is constant pressure to producereports, plan ahead, attend committeemeetings, and meet missional objec-tives. Unlike hour-time workers, theadministrator has to plan his or herown schedule around a few givens andmany unknowns, and still find the timeto gather the necessary information tomake tough decisions.In addition, with the economic chal-

lenges currently faced by so many edu-cational institutions, the principal mayhave to pick up extra duties that wouldordinarily be performed by a supportstaff. However, despite thechaos and lack of ade-quate staff, administra-tors can achieve greatercontrol than they maythink possible. It is often the unex-

pected crises that createtime-management is-sues. The administratormust try to squeezethese daily “emergen-cies” into his or her “freetime.” But where is thisfree time when the prin-cipal is rushing to andfro all day—classes toteach, paperwork and e-mails to attend to, meetings to attend(with parents, pastor, and board mem-bers, faculty, students, and the RotaryClub!), mentoring new teachers, cur-riculum planning, making arrangementsfor a variety of school events includingreligious-life activities, supervisinglunch and recreation, and so many otherrecurring tasks.Administrators often find it hard to

deal with all the shame and guilt theyfeel (and that people heap upon them)if they fail to respond immediately toeverything that appears to be in theirjob description. Their very naturesmake them people pleasers, caretakers,and servants. They want to please theirconstituents and conference superin-tendents. They want their students andteachers to be happy. Their job is to

serve, and failure to do so producestremendous feelings of guilt. Adminis-trators want to help everybody, but thejob never ends. There are always morepeople who need help. Unfortunately, the church and its

institutions actually reward the admin-istrator’s failure to put his or her familyfirst. Work addiction is the one kind ofdysfunctional behavior that gets re-warded. The more time one spends atschool or in the office, the more kudoshe or she receives. No one gets a plaquefor balancing his or her personal andprofessional lives!

So, it is time for the church to giveyou, the administrator and minister ofeducation, permission to set appropri-ate boundaries. But of higher impor-tance; you have God’s approval to putyour family first! So, how can you ad-just your schedule in order to fulfillyour God-given mission? Consider thefollowing eight guidelines:

1. Differentiate Between the Ur-gent and the Important Consider your leadership style in

regard to time management. How doyou deal with unplanned emergencies?Review the graphic representation inFigure 1. In which quadrant do youspend most of your time? How can youdetermine what is truly important?

Claims on your time can be classifiedin terms of urgency and importance.These can be sorted into four cate-gories as shown in the four quadrantsof Figure 1. In order to understandhow to balance the urgent and the im-portant, let’s begin by defining thequadrants:A: Non-Urgent and Unimportant—

Here we find demands on the adminis-trator’s time that are trivial, unimpor-tant, inconsequential, and irrelevant.We could easily label this “The JunkMail Quadrant”! In this quadrant arethe leaders who get inundated by

mountains of triflingminutia that demandtheir attention. B: Urgent but Unim-

portant—This is wheremost of us spend most ofour lives. We devote 80percent of our time tothe mere 20 percent ofactivities that producesresults. Our mission getslost in demands that ap-pear to be urgent but areoften unimportant in theoverall scheme of things.C: Urgent and Im-

portant—This mayseem like the best quad-

rant in which to operate. However, inthis quadrant, the administrator is con-stantly in crisis mode. He or she playsthe role of firefighter, rushing fromspark to spark trying to extinguish theerupting flames. This is exhausting andunproductive, long term.D: Non-Urgent but Important—

This is actually the best quadrant inwhich to operate. If you deal promptlywith important tasks, this may elimi-nate most of the non-urgent or crisisissues. In other words, learn to dealwith the important before it becomesurgent! Focus most of your time andenergy in this quadrant by planning,organizing, and prioritizing. Learningto operate in Quadrant D will savetime that you can devote to your familyand personal interests.

Figure 1. Time Management Quadrants3

Urgent but Unimportant Urgent and Important

URGENT B C The 80/20 Leader The Crisis Leader

Non-Urgent and Unimportant Non-Urgent but Important

NON-URGENT A D The Shuffler The Planner

UNIMPORTANT IMPORTANT

Adapted from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey

P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N


2. Accomplish What You HaveBeen Called to Do, and SelectOthers to Hold You Accountable!What is it that you have been called

to do? Make sure your role, expecta-tions, and job descriptions are clearlydefined. If it’s “not your job,” then clearit from your schedule. Let others dotheir job, and you do yours. Do not co-opt someone else’s ministry. Considerwriting into the job descriptions of all ofyour staff the need for them to spendtime with their families. Remember, youhave the opportunity to be a positiverole model for your teachers and sup-port staff in making family apriority. Focus on the mis-sion to which you havebeen called.Asking another person

to hold you accountablemay be helpful as you eval-uate and readjust your pri-orities. This could be a con-ference or union employee,a board chair, a pastor, oranother person whom youregard as a mentor. Youmay need some outsidehelp to review your sched-ule and time commitments.Record how you spend yourtime over the next 30 days. Asyou review your notes, begin by elimi-nating the things that are not necessary(Quadrant A) and find ways to operatemore in Quadrant D. You may also wantto engage the local school board andstaff in dealing with some of the items inQuadrants B and C. This does not meanthat you ask their permission to taketime off . . . only that you keep them in-formed and involved in the process.

3. Set Limits on Time Devoted toRegular School WorkWhat is a reasonable amount of

time for the educational administratorto spend each week doing normalschool responsibilities? In one surveydone by a pastor, lay people’s estimates

averaged 82 hours per week. One laymember proposed that the school ad-ministrator should work 200 hours perweek! How is this possible when a weekhas only 168 hours?So, what is a reasonable amount of

time for the administrator to spend onstaff development, committee meet-ings, parent conferences, and otherschool-related tasks? Decide on a rea-sonable total and then have yourspouse, your board, or your conferenceadministrator hold you accountable.There will be times of the year or spe-cial events that may demand extra

hours. But, when that event is over orthe crisis has passed, reward yourselfand your family by spending somemuch-needed time together.

4. Guard Your BoundariesSet and lovingly communicate

boundaries to your church family toprotect your family time—and encour-age them to do the same. A good ad-ministrator will always respond to le-gitimate emergencies, but first, he orshe needs to define what constitutes anemergency. Be candid with your schoolfamily about how they can expect youto respond to various crises. Yourclearly communicated responses willprevent misunderstandings and keeppeople from usurping your time.Train yourself to accept the fact that

you don’t have to answer your cellphone every time it rings, nor do youhave to bring work or your computerhome. Use an answering machine toscreen messages, and respond at appro-priate times.

5. A Regular Schedule MakesCrises Easier to Deal WithIf you maintain a regular work

schedule, your family will be more tol-erant when you must spend extra timeto deal with a true crisis. The challenge,of course, is to define what constitutesa true crisis. Some things that at first

glance seem like emergen-cies can wait!Be honest with your-

self—are there times whenyou have described a minorproblem as a crisis becauseyou wanted somethingother than events at homeon which to focus your at-tention? If so, then counsel-ing may be warranted.

6. Mentor Someone toTake Your PlaceA major challenge facing

the Adventist school systemtoday is a shortage of edu-cational administrators. You

can help the system—and yourself—byestablishing a mentoring program.Choose someone you trust, and trainhim or her to take your place. Identifyothers who have been called to do thework of ministry. Empower and trainthem to coordinate and lead programsand events. In this way, you are helpingto build up the body of Christ. Re-member, recognizing the gifts and tal-ents of others and investing time intheir training is a scriptural principle:“So Christ himself gave the apostles

the prophets, the evangelists, the pas-tors and teachers, to equip His peoplefor works of service, so that the body ofChrist may be built up” (Ephesians4:11, 12, NIV).

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

1. What is an appropriate hierarchy of priorities? When asked

to prioritize God, church, ministry, and family, how do you rate

them? Where does your family fall in actual practice?

2. How do you balance the urgent with the truly important?

3. How do you decide what constitutes a true “emergency”?

4. Is it easier for you to say “No” to some people than others?

If so, what makes the difference?

5. Does saying “No” make you feel guilty? If so, why?

6. What can you change beginning today?

P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O NP R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N


7. Schedule Daily Time With YourFamily, and Take Your VacationTimeWhen God created Adam, He de-

clared that it was not good for him tobe alone. So He gave Adam a wife—NOT a whole school family! What does your calendar look like?

Does it show that you have plannedtime with your spouse? It is just as im-portant to schedule and honor this ap-pointment as any other meeting onyour calendar. A good formula to usein scheduling time with your spouse isas follows: Spend at least 30 minutesevery night with your spouse, one en-tire evening each week, one day eachmonth, and one weekend each quarter.If you have children, it is important

to make sure that your daily appoint-ment book includes them. In additionto spending time alone with yourspouse, you need to schedule time withthe entire family. Make sure that yourchildren feel they are valued and loved.When you are traveling, call home reg-ularly and speak to each child.Guard your family time, especially

those precious mealtimes together.4

Well-known Adventist leader R. R.Bietz once told this story: When askedby his family to give them more time,he offered them his daily planner sothey could fill in the time they wantedwith him. They chose carefully, and hesacredly guarded the time agreed upon,even if it meant declining to chair animportant meeting. Once a boardmember spotted Bietz’s car near thebeach and saw him playing on thebeach with his children. This gave thechurch leader an opportunity to testifyto his family and to the member that itwas his responsibility as a husband andas a father to put his family first.We often fail to give our own family

the time that we are so willing to de-vote to other members of our churchor school family. This indicates theneed to reorder our priorities.If you are single, do not allow others

to burden you with extra duties be-cause they think you have nothing to

do because you “have no family.” Thisis not an acceptable argument. For,whether you are married or single, haveseveral children or none, you mustmake and take time for yourself. Doingso will make you a better, more ener-gized, more focused and healthy leader.When did you last take some time

off? Schedule your next vacation today.You need to take time for rest and forspiritual renewal. Taking care of your-self will make you better able to serveothers. Don’t allow the busyness of lifeto squeeze out personal time. Rechargeyour batteries and refresh yourself. Thisis also a great time to recommit and re-connect with God. Follow Jesus’ exam-ple: “The world’s Redeemer. . . . lovedthe solitude of the mountain, where hecould hold communion with his Fatheralone. We read: . . . . ‘And in the morn-ing, rising up a great while before day,he went out, and departed into a soli-tary place, and there prayed.’”5

8. Learn to Say “No”In a fascinating little book, What

Matters Most: When NO Is Better ThanYES, long-time youth worker DougFields offers this advice:“You may be at a crossroads in your

life and ministry, and the challenge ofsaying no is exactly what you need. So Iwant to challenge you now: The ‘goodway’ is saying no—have the courage towalk in it and find rest for your soul. Isbusyness really getting you what youwant—or need? In the end, busynessmakes us look important but cripplesour relationships. Busyness feeds ouregos but ultimately starves our souls.Busyness fills our calendars but frac-tures our families. And busyness propsup our images and shrinks our hearts.”6

Fields shows how Christ modeledtime management: “Jesus said ‘no’ togood things. He said ‘no’ to importantpeople. Jesus left people unhealed. Hedidn’t answer every question, go toevery event, or meet everyone’s needs.

He needed time away from his disci-ples. He needed space. Yes, he evenneeded sleep. He was 100 percent Godand 100 percent human; therefore hehad human limits. He needed solitude.He needed time to reflect and pray andnourish his spiritual life. It was thislife-giving time of connection to theVine that gave Jesus spiritual powerand energy for His ministry to others.And I believe it was during those timesof solitude that He was able to hearGod’s voice and know what mattersmost.”7

Implementing these eight principleswill help put you on the track to ahealthy and happy balancing act be-tween school and family life.

Pamela Consue-gra, Ph.D., is theAssociate Directorof Family Min-istries for the NorthAmerican Divisionof Seventh-day Ad-ventists in Silver

Spring, Maryland. Before assuming thisposition, she served for 30 years as anAdventist teacher, principal, and super-intendent.

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Texts credited to NIV are from The Holy

Bible, New International Version. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used bypermission. All rights reserved worldwide.

2. Ellen G. White, Child Guidance (Washing-ton, D.C.: Review and Herald Publ. Assn., 1954),p. 476.

3. Steven Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effec-tive People (New York: Simon and Schuster,1989).

4. National Center on Addiction and Sub-stance Abuse at Columbia University (2005),“The Importance of Family Dinners II.” NationalCenter on Addiction and Substance Abuse, NewYork. http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/6280. Ac-cessed October 31, 2011.

5. Ellen G. White, Youth’s Instructor (February15, 1900).

6. Doug Fields, What Matters Most: When NOIs Better Than YES (El Cajon, Calif.: Youth Spe-cialities, 2006), pp. 20, 25.

7. Ibid., pp. 80, 81.

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years. Rather than to focus on problems within the organiza-tion, my goal was to describe the experiences of those who haveserved for many years. This article describes the data from thestudy about why principals stay.1

My 2011 research study revealed that Adventist principals inNorth America stay an average of 2.5 years at the elementarylevel, 3.6 years at day secondary schools, and 4.0 years at second-ary boarding schools. Many studies have identified reasons whyschool principals leave their jobs.2 However, few studies havebeen conducted to determine why principals stay. The purposeof this study was to describe the experiences of school principalswho have remained in leadership at the same school building forat least 10 consecutive years in the Adventist system of educationin North America and to discover why they have stayed.

Research DesignA qualitative, multiple-case-study design using narrative in-

quiry was chosen as the most appropriate method to probe the

Several years ago, I was the principal of a Seventh-dayAdventist boarding academy that closed. Not only wasthis a terrible loss for the students, parents, faculty, andconstituency, it was personally devastating for me. Theproblems were compounded by the fact that no poli-

cies were in place for the closure of such a school. Thus, all ofthe employees’ termination settlements were done as if we wereretiring from the organization. However, I was not retiring nordid I want to leave! I loved the school, the students, the faculty,and the church’s educational ministry.This tragic experience created a desire in me to support,

mentor, and provide resources for Adventist principals. To doso, I enrolled in the leadership program at Andrews Universityin Berrien Springs, Michigan, and from the inception of mystudy, focused my program and research on school principals.When I was ready to write a dissertation, my research focusedon telling the story of why the principals in the study havestayed in the Adventist system in North America for 10 or more

B Y J A N E T L E D E S M A

WhyPrincipals



lived experiences of the princi-pals in this study.3 The primarycriteria used for the study were(1) the principal had served as anadministrator for 10 consecutiveyears or more in one schoolbuilding, (2) the principal wasidentified by his or her union ed-ucation directors and approvedto participate in this study by thelocal education superintendents,and (3) there was an attempt toensure that the research study in-cluded a representative samplingin the areas of gender, ethnicity,service time, school size, andtype of school. While the studysought to be representative of allnine unions in the Adventist K-12 educational system in NorthAmerica, two unions did nothave any principals who hadstayed in one school for 10 ormore years, and thus were notincluded in the research study.Conceptually, this study was

framed around spiritual leader-ship theory and resiliency theory.Fry defines spiritual leadershipas “the values, attitudes, and be-haviors necessary to intrinsicallymotivate one’s self and others sothat they have a sense of spiritualsurvival through calling andmembership.”4 Two dimensionsof spiritual leadership are de-scribed in the literature: (1) Cre-ating a vision for the organiza-tion whereby leaders and groupmembers experience a sense ofcalling, and (2) Establishing a so-cial/organizational culture basedon altruistic love whereby peopledevelop a sense of membership,feel understood and appreciated,and express genuine care, concern, and appreciation for bothself and others.5 Fry referred to these dimensions as the “call-ing” and “membership” of the spiritual leader.6

Resilience is defined as the ability to recover readily from ill-ness, depression, other stressors, or buoyancy in the face of ad-versity.7 There is a direct relationship between the stress of theprincipal’s job and his or her capability to maintain resiliencein the face of prolonged contact with severe stressors.8 I as-

sumed resiliency theory would help provide a frameworkwithin which the staying power of the principals in this studycould be explained.

Why Principals StayThe research study revealed that Adventist principals stayed

because of their (1) passion for the students, (2) commitmentto God’s calling, (3) passion for ministry, and (4) passion to

Demographic Number

Number that qualified 7Number that did not qualify 2

Small Elementary 3Elementary 5Junior Academy 2Secondary School 4

Hispanic 1Black 5Caucasian 8

Female 7Male 7

Unions in North American Division

School Type

Ethnicity

Gender of Principal

About This Study

In 2011, the author of this article tracked principal longevity in the Seventh-day Adventist systemof education in the North American Division (U.S., Canada, and Bermuda; hereafter referred to asNAD), and then studied the principals who had remained the longest at their current school.

The study revealed that the average stay for a K-12 principal in his or her current school between2006 and 2011 was 4.0 years for boarding-academy principals, 3.6 years for day-academy princi-pals, and 2.5 years for principals in elementary schools.

To identify the administrators who fit the criterion for this study, the author obtained permissionfrom the NAD vice president for education to contact the education directors in the territory’s nineunion conferences. The union directors of education were informed about the purpose of the studyand the interview questions, and asked to identify principals in their region who fit the criteria forthe study.

All of the principals identified by the union directors were contacted by e-mail in order to gathersome initial data regarding administrator retention and to determine which ones were willing to par-ticipate in the study. The principals’ response to this request, “Please describe why you stay as anAdventist principal, and what you think could help the problem of principal retention?” helped indicatewhether each would be a reflective and perceptive informant who could provide an in-depth de-scription of his or her lived experiences.

Participants were selected based upon a balance of gender and race, their responses, and theiroverall willingness to participate in the study. The table below summarizes the types of schools rep-resented by the participants in this study.

Table 1. Demographics of Participants in the Study


serve others. Because of their strong relationship with God,they endured in spite of the difficulties and the demands of thejob, which are most times undefined and quite complex. Theywere able to thrive even when coping with adversity becausethey relied on God’s guidance and prayer to sustain themthrough hardship.

1. Passion for StudentsThe primary reason why the principals indicated they stayed

in Adventist education for 10 or more consecutive years wasbecause of their passion for and commitment to their students.When asked, “Why do you stay?” the principals referred to theirstudents and the direct impact they believe they are makingupon their lives. The principals’ passion for their students wasclearly revealed by their physical expressions during the inter-views. Most responded with smiles, emphatic intonations, andexcited body language when sharing their experiences, reveal-ing their heartfelt commitment and passion for each student.One principal said, “I live by the motto which states, ‘Jesus looksat us and discerns infinite possibilities.’” For most of the principals interviewed, their passion for

young people extended beyond the school building. They feltthe same responsibility for students in the community as forlocal constituencies: “I stay to provide opportunities for allschool-age students who wish to attend an Adventist school thebenefit of enrolling,” said one respondent. This principal sharedthe joy he feels each fall when classes begin and the studentswhom he has prayed about and recruited are now enrolled inhis school. It was clear from their responses that the principalsloved and were devoted to their students, demonstrating thisthrough their unselfish service to the ministry year after year.

2. Commitment to CallingThe research study also revealed that Adventist principals stay

because they feel directly called by God, accept His calling, andcommit their lives to educational ministry. One principal said: “Ihave dedicated my life to this ministry because I believe the Lordcalled me to it. Because I could see the circumstances when I lookback which have led me to this and I think no amount of griefwill run me out of this, I’m here for the long haul.”The commitment to God’s calling was so firm for these

principals that their conviction to remain in educational min-istry was unyielding. One of the respondents described it thus:“I stay because of my vow to God that I would remain in Ad-ventist education until He indicated that it was time to leave.”Another principal explained, “I’m not here because I want tobe here; I’m here because God wants me to be here. If He wantsme to go someplace else, He will show me the way, and He willprovide the way for me.”This commitment to God’s calling is demonstrated by the

number of years these principals have served in their schools.One principal, who had been in the same building for 30 years,said, “God has chosen me to be at my school at this particular

time, place, environment, and in this particular area of thecountry.”Their commitment to Adventist education was so strong

that most principals indicated that they modeled it in their per-sonal lives. Several principals indicated that while they hadchoices as to where to enroll their children, they always chooseAdventist education because they recognized its value andpower to transform lives spiritually, mentally, and physically.One principal was so emphatic about her passion for Adventisteducation that not only have her children all been educated inAdventist schools, but her grandson is now enrolled at herschool. The principal transports her grandson daily past twodistinguished “A”-level school districts to the church school.

3. Passion for Ministry and OthersThe principals interviewed in the study stay in Adventist ed-

ucation because of their need to serve others through educa-tional ministry. Most of them spoke emphatically about thegreat joy in helping others develop a personal relationship withJesus. To realize this goal, the principals have conducted Biblestudies for students, parents, community members, and neigh-bors. One principal described the joy he and others felt in min-istry in these words: “It’s wonderful to be a part of a ministrythat you know is ‘kissed by God.’”Several principals described helping others develop a per-

sonal relationship with Jesus as a part of their mission as schoolleaders. One said: “Baptism is the summation, the ultimate ob-jective, and ultimate goal of Adventist education which is tolead students and parents to Christ in a way where they makethat final commitment to say ‘yes,’ I want to follow the Lordand I’m going to consummate my experience through bap-tism.” Several principals described the experience of witnessingthe baptism of someone they had brought to the Lord as hum-bling and inspiring. Most of the principals recognized that their passion for min-

istry also enhanced their own personal spiritual growth. Oneprincipal explained, “I stay because of the strong relationshipthat I am able to develop with my God.” Another principalnoted, “I stay because my job allows me to grow spiritually.”Throughout the interviews, the principals shared stories of ex-periences that strengthened their faith through educationalministry. Whether it was through an answered prayer, God’sprotection, provision, intervention, or guidance, time after timethey experienced unbelievable ways in which their faith in-creased because of His faithfulness.The responses made it clear that Adventist principals stay

because of their passion to serve others and their ability to teachand nurture the people they serve in the areas of life skills, pro-fessional development, and in parenting. One principal sharedthe experience of developing a team approach to leadershipeven though he was in a hostile environment.The study revealed that Adventist principals are passionate

about training adults as well as children. Whether in the area of

P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

Continued on page 54

Janet Ledesma, Ph.D., is the EducationalLeadership Coordinator and an AssociateProfessor in the Education Leadership De-partment at Andrews University in BerrienSprings, Michigan. Before coming to An-drews, Dr. Ledesma served as an Adventistschool principal for more than 28 years atthe elementary and secondary level in

preschools, elementary schools, and junior and boarding acade-mies. She has a burning desire to serve Adventist school principalsthrough mentoring and by providing resources such as biweeklyprincipal Webinars.

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Janet Ledesma, Narratives of Longevity From the Perspective of Seventh-

day Adventist School Administrators in North America: A Multiple Case Study(Ph.D. dissertation, Andrews University, 2012): http://udini.proquest.com/ view/narratives-of-longevity-from-the-pqid:2436159261/.

2. Katherine S. Cushing, Judith A. Kerrins, and Thomas Johnstone, “Dis-appearing Principals,” Leadership 32:5 (May/June 2003):28; Leslie T. Fenwickand Mildred Pierce, “The Principal Shortage: Crisis or Opportunity?” Principal80:4 (May/June 2001):24-25, 27-28, 30, 32; Jay N. Hoffman, “Building ResilientLeaders: Many Universities and School Districts Are Creating Support Mech-anisms that Increase Administrator Resiliency and Lead to Greater Retention,”Leadership 34:1 (September/October 2004): 35-38; Carole Kennedy, Summaryof Responses to NAESP/NASSP/NMSA (Washington, DC.: The Principals’ Lead-ership Summit, 2000); Kent Peterson and Carolyn Kelley, “Transforming SchoolLeadership,” Leadership 30:3 (2001):8-11; Les Potter, “Solving the PrincipalShortage,” Principal 80:4 (2001):34-37.

3. D. Jean Clandinin and F. Michael Connelly, Narrative Inquiry: Experienceand Story in Qualitative Research (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000); Sharan B.Merriam, Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education (SanFrancisco: Jossey Bass, 1998), rev. ed.

4. Louis W. Fry, “Toward a Theory of Spiritual Leadership,” The LeadershipQuarterly 14:6 (2003):693-727.

5. Ibid., pp. 693-727; Laura Reave, “Spiritual Values and Practices Relatedto Leadership Effectiveness,” The Leadership Quarterly 16:5 (October2005):655-687.

6. Fry, “Toward a Theory of Spiritual Leadership,” The Leadership Quarterly,op. cit., p. 693.

7. Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky, “When Leadership Spells Danger,”Educational Leadership 61:7 (April 2004):33-37.

8. Pat H. Ackerman and Pat Maslin-Ostrowski, The Wounded Leader: HowReal Leadership Emerges in Times of Crisis (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002);David W. Cash, “In Order to Aid in Diffusing Useful and Practical Information:Agricultural Extension and Boundary Organizations,” Science, Technology, &Human Values 26:4 (Autumn 2001):431; Michael A. Copland, “The Myth ofthe Super Principal,” Phi Delta Kappan 82:7 (March 2001):528-533; Lee Greene,“More and More With Less and Less,” Principal 83:1 (April 2003); Ronald A.Heifetz and Marty Linsky, “When Leadership Spells Danger,” Educational Lead-ership, op. cit.; Albertus J. Isaacs, An Investigation of Attributes of School Princi-pals in Relation to Resilience and Leadership Practices (Ph.D. dissertation, FloridaState University, 2003: http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-09212003-212500/unrestricted/Dissertation_Isaacs_full.pdf); Jerry L. Patterson, JanicePatterson, and Loucrecia Collins, Bouncing Back: How Your School Can Succeedin the Face of Adversity (Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education, 2002).

9. See 2 Timothy 4:7. Texts credited to NIV are from The Holy Bible, NewInternational Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used bypermission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Journal of Adventist Education • October/November 2012 http:// jae.adventist.org54

Continued from page 52

P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N • P R I N C I P A L S H I P • A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

best practices or parenting skills, their joy in teaching camethrough clearly. One principal explained that not only is she help-ing parents become better parents; when necessary, at times, shehas become the parent. This principal has driven children to andfrom school, counseled with students, prepared lunch for them,and helped them with homework after school. None of the prin-cipals expressed any regrets about extending themselves beyondtheir call of duty in their passion to serve others.Several principals described their devotion to mentoring

others. One remarked, “I stay because of my opportunity tomentor people.” Whether mentoring a new teacher or an expe-rienced one, parents, church members, or colleagues, the prin-cipals recognized the value of mentoring relationships. Severalof the principals explained that, in fact, the reason they are nowable to stay in Adventist education is because they themselveswere mentored effectively.A benefit of serving others is the building of lifetime rela-

tionships. One of the principals shared this sentiment: “I staybecause of the lasting relationships that I have built with thepeople I serve.” Many of the principals said they maintainedlong-term relationships with people they have served long afterthey left the place in which the relationship began.

SummaryThe findings in my study revealed that principals in the Ad-

ventist system of education in North America who have stayedin one place for 10 or more consecutive years are resilient spir-itual leaders. They thrive in spite of the fact that the role andexpectations associated with their jobs are often poorly definedand quite complex. The demands of the job, personnel issues,parent and student issues, board issues, financial issues, con-stituency and community issues all have the potential to con-tribute to overwork and imbalanced lives. Yet because of theirstrong relationship with God, these principals have been ableto be resilient despite adversity. Most cited their reliance onprayer, which sustains them through many difficult and chal-lenging times. Why do Adventist principals stay? They stay because of their

passion for the students, their commitment to God’s calling,their passion for ministry, and their passion to serve others.Paul’s words at the end of his life describe well their convic-tions:“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have

kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of right-eousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award tome on that day and not only to me, but also to all who havelonged for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV).9

For the complete study, please refer to the author’s Ph.D. dissertation: JanetLedesma, Narratives of Longevity From the Perspective of Seventh-day AdventistSchool Administrators in North America: A Multiple Case Study (Ph.D. disser-tation, Andrews University, 2012): http://udini.proquest.com/view/narratives-of-longevity-from-the-pqid:2436159261/.

�

http:// jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • October/November 2012 55

ing these skills will enhance the role of the principal. MarilynDiana Ming urges principals to develop essential coaching skillsto impact and influence others. Her article emphasizes thevalue of collaborative principal-teacher coaching relationshipsthat focus on the professional development of the entire team. The section ends with Pamela Consuegra offering time-

management tips for principals—how to balance the demandsof their work with the needs of their family and their personallives. Her eight practical strategies will help school leaders tomaintain healthy balanced lives that will make them strongerand more productive administrators. Janet Ledesma concludes the issue by sharing the findings

of her studyNarratives of Longevity From the Perspective of Sev-enth-day Adventist School Administrators in North America: AMultiple Case Study. In this article, she tells why principals stayfor long periods of time in the Adventist system of education—passion, calling, and godly commitment to the career and toservant leadership.The concept of servant leadership is grounded on the

premise that in order to lead, the Christian administratormust first learn to serve others from a heart filled with love.Jesus was the perfect example of servant leadership, and toldHis followers to do likewise: “‘Whoever wants to become greatamong you must be your servant, and whoever wants to befirst must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not cometo be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for

many’” (Matthew 20:26-28, NIV).2

It is the authors’ hope that these articles and resources inthis special issue will empower principals in this sacred workand encourage readers to appreciate and support the dedicatedand committed work of our servant leaders in education—Ad-ventist school principals!—Janet Ledesma.

The Coordinator for this special issue, Janet Ledesma, Ph.D., isEducational Leadership Coordinator for the School of Educationat Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. She and herassistant, Evelyn Savory, enthusiastically undertook responsibilityfor an issue that had been dormant for some time, assisting in allaspects of its preparation, from defining topics and soliciting au-thors and peer reviewers to providing input on manuscripts andanswering, at all hours, a multitude of questions. The EditorialStaff of the Journal express heartfelt appreciation for their assis-tance throughout the planning and production of the issue.

Guest Editorial Continued from page 3

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Ellen G. White, True Education (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publ. Assn.,

2000), p. 13.2. The Scripture quotation credited to NIV is from The Holy Bible, New In-

ternational Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Usedby permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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