Working with Your Faculty

	Written by: Based on the collective wisdom of 33 Public School Principals in Boston Public Schools , Cambridge Public Schools , Lynn Public Schools , Massachusetts Charter Public Schools , Newton Public Schools and Wilmington Public Schools.
Look Inside: Table of Contents Book (85 pp.)

Description of Working With Your Faculty

In 2002, 2003, and 2004, the Project for School Innovation brought together public school principals in its Support Network for Innovative Principals. Participants in these support networks have had anywhere from one month to twenty years experience. They are men and women, black, white, and Latino. Their schools are urban, suburban, charter, district, and alternative. What they all have in common is their role. All are leaders of public schools, and all have faced many of the same questions and the same challenges. This book offers a collection of case studies and pearls of wisdom from those principals.

Working With Your Faculty is a book of case studies, strategies, tools, and concepts based on the wisdom of public school principals and their experiences building working relationships with their faculty. Building constructive relationships with school faculty is one of the most important elements of school leadership. The school principal is the leader of a community of learners, but it is the faculty who must make sure learning happens every day. The school principal is the leader of a community of families, but it is the faculty who are the names and faces that interact with those families every day. The school principal is the leader of a group of professional educators. And all of those professional educators have their own strengths and weaknesses, capabilities and challenges. The best principal can turn all of this to the advantage of students and families.  

While every principal loves working with teachers, every principal has wrestled with the best way to do so. This book shares the wisdom and experience of more than forty public school principals who have struggled with this challenging topic.

Major Topics Covered
Guiding Concepts, Strategies and Tools are based on dealing with common challenges such as When the Challenge is Improving Teaching, When the Challenge is Teaching that Won’t Improve, When the Challenge is Personal and When the Challenge is Improving a School.

Contents for Working With Your Faculty

4 Case Studies. Narrative stories that provide actual examples from our principals' experiences. 

4 Guiding Concepts. Discussion of theoretical frameworks that have helped principals to work with their faculty. Includes ideas about reconciling your identity as a person and your role as a leader, comparing ideas of student learning and adult learning, categorizing faculty attitudes towards change, and weighing your expectations of faculty in relation to their expectations of you.

6 Principals’ Tools. Approaches and questions principals have asked themselves in addressing relationships with faculty. Includes approaches for assessing both problems and potential solutions, conducting classroom observations, building a trusting environment, collecting data to inform decision-making, and selecting the right setting for important conversations.

5 Principals’ Strategies. Step-by-step guides to action principals have taken in working with faculty. Includes strategies for establishing shared expectations among your faculty, for setting up regular classroom observations at your school, for pursuing incremental change in school policies, for having difficult conversations with faculty, and for allowing others to save face in the midst of difficult decisions.

PSI Can Help You Implement These Strategies:

Customized Workshops
Additional training and technical assistance are available.