Becoming a School Principal: Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn

by Sarah E. Fiarman, Richard F. Elmore

Overview

The principal’s role is increasingly understood as a critical lever for school improvement. Yet the job can be a solitary one, offering few opportunities to reflect with colleagues. What does it take to manage the work of continuous improvement—to push staff members constantly to operate outside their comfort zones? What dilemmas and challenges must principals confront? How can school leaders learn from their mistakes and move forward?

In Becoming a School Principal, Sarah E. Fiarman describes her first few years as a school principal committed to enacting a powerful vision of leading and learning. Drawing thoughtfully on the literature of school reform and change leadership, Fiarman discusses a wide range of topics, including empowering teachers, building trust, addressing racial and economic inequities, and supporting a culture of continuous learning, as well as thornier issues such as learning to use authority skillfully, dealing with resistance, and managing supervision and evaluation. The book addresses common challenges and highlights missteps as well as successes.

A contributing author to several leading books on school reform and instructional improvement, Fiarman engages readers in a lively, frank, and revealing conversation about building the vision and capacity to provide effective instruction for all students and the intensely personal process of learning to lead.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612508467
Publisher:	Harvard Education Press
Publication date:	10/20/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	920,422
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Sarah E. Fiarman, a former public school teacher and principal, is a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she teaches instructional leadership for elementary, middle, and high school principals.

Editorial Reviews

Fiarman’s Becoming a School Principal represents a powerful vision of professionalism for school principals.” —Elizabeth Zumpe & Heinrich Mintrop, Teachers College Record
 

From the Publisher

09/15/2015
Fiarman (education, Harvard Graduate Sch. of Education; coauthor, Instructional Rounds in Education), a former public school teacher and principal, offers advice on the role and career of school principal, seeking to "highlight the challenges new principals commonly face and the learning that happens along the way." Topics include understanding what the position entails, teacher development, and dealing with resistance or avoidance from teachers, parents, or students. Other matters discussed are creating trust, racial bias issues, and supervision/evaluation (including possible firings). Students' learning and progress is the primary goal. Involvement with and advocacy for teachers is needed on the job, says Fiarman, and time management for all concerned is crucial as the school day doesn't afford much opportunity to confer or reflect. Listening is also a valuable skill as part of the various interactions. This book relates what principals do on a daily basis and shows how to tackle that long to-do list. The appendix is a "Principal's Bookshelf" that lists 17 titles for further reading. VERDICT Presents a solid idea of what to expect as a principal and provides useful strategies for solving administrative issues.—Barbara Kundanis, Longmont P.L., CO

Library Journal