HOW TO USE THIS BLOG

Below, you will see a number of blog postings.  Each posting represents one of the themes or 'layers' identified in the article. Please post your comments about the themes and layers. As well, please read the comments of others and feel free to respond to them.  The final posting on this page contains the full contents of the original article as it appeared in the Summer 2012 edition of the Ontario Principals' Council Register. 

We are hosting this blog in the hope of providing a forum for discussion and learning about the role of vice-principals.

The Leadership/Management Dichotomy

The Current Ontario Leadership Framework

Instructional Leadership

Day-to-day Tasks of Vice-principals

Your experience in the role of vice-principal.  Please post your personal comments or reflections. As well, please read the comments of others and feel free to respond to them.

Other Thoughts and Comments Related to the Vice-principalship

The Original Full Article

Posted: June 14, 2012

Vice-principals: The Unsung Heroes of Instructional Leadership

By:  Dr. Richard Williamson and Dr. Andy Scott

“I’m not doing enough around my school that would be considered instructional leadership. What am I going to do? How am I going to do my part to meet school improvement goals?”

                                                              - Laments of an anonymous Vice-principal

                                                    

How is it possible that vice-principals believe this to be true? Why is it often difficult for vice-principals and others to see the direct connection between their work and student achievement? Why don’t vice-principals see themselves as key instructional leaders? The answers rest in our analytical framework for understanding the role. By their nature, the theoretical, conceptual and role lenses, we bring to view the role of vice-principal as inadequate at best and inappropriate at worst – vice-principals deserve a better rep! 

We believe a new conceptual lens, specific to the role of vice-principals, must illuminate and celebrating their major contributions to instructional leadership, while debunking the notion that the role offers little opportunity for such leadership.

A few things are clear about the vice-principal role. First, not much can be found in the literature about their work  (Marshall & Hooley, 2006) – a statement in and of itself. Second, the duties of the role  are not well defined in Ontario (Armstrong, 2009) or in many other jurisdictions. The Ontario Leadership Framework (OLF) provides a description of the practices and competencies of effective school leaders, but it does not address the actual day-to-day tasks of the vice-principal. Indeed, in Ontario, as in many other provinces and states, a vice-principal’s duties remain at the discretion of the principal. Third, historically vice-principals have assumed what may appear to be the less appealing tasks of school leadership – discipline, attendance, scheduling, among many others (Kwan, 2009). Much is to be learned.

The major issue presented by the dearth of research is that, in the absence of role specific frameworks, we apply inappropriate lenses, which demean the role. In this regard, we wish to challenge the popular notion of instructional leadership – it is far more than direct involvement in the classroom and the science of teaching. Instructional leadership can be found in all of the actions vice-principals take to create the conditions needed for effective teaching to happen, and for student learning to occur. Indeed, every time a vice-principal engages in conversations with teachers, deals with student discipline, develops the school timetable, engages with parents or performs any of a myriad of other tasks, instructional leadership is occurring  (Leithwood, In Press). Hour-to-hour and day-to-day, vice-principals are working to create the best possible environment for teachers to teach and for students to learn.

We further call into question the appropriateness of the current OLF in terms of reflecting the vice-principal role. Without doubt, the OLF does provide a clear articulation of the practices, knowledge, skills and attitudes of effective school leaders. Where we believe it falls short is that it does not address the actual tasks of vice-principals. The OLF provides the ‘how’ of effective leadership. It is the ‘what’ that is missing. What are the actual duties of vice-principals?  Resourceful vice-principals can find ways to be effective instructional leaders regardless of the tasks they are asked to do. Greater clarity about the actual work of vice-principals would serve both vice-principals and the schools in which they work.

Finally, in recent years, there has been an increasing focus on instructional leadership. School improvement has become the expectation of schools across many western countries (Harris, 2002) with school leaders being held accountable for how well teachers teach and students learn. With the shift in focus for principals and vice-principals to be instructional leaders, there has been a corresponding decline in the value placed on the ‘management’ aspects of school leadership. The result has been the emergence of a leadership/management dichotomy (Harvard Business Review – HBR Blog Network – January 2012). We question the value of this dichotomy and the attitudes that accompany it. We see this as a simplified view of school leadership because it has set up an instructional leadership vs. management paradigm. This paradigm is not serving schools well. Further, in many ways, vice-principals have been caught in the middle. In some cases, they have been delegated the ‘management’ of the building with the principal able to enjoy the instructional leadership of the school. This dichotomy serves no one well - not students, teachers, vice-principals or principals.

In response to the inadequateness of these perceptions, we propose a new lens with various layers through which to view the role of vice-principal. The first layer is a role perspective: Vice-principals are Instructional Leaders. Indeed, the role of vice-principal is a key leadership role, second only to the principal. Does the literature support this assertion? No, not because it is not true, but because, as noted above, very little research has focused on the role. Vice-principals can serve as instructional leaders through all of their interactions and through all of the duties they perform. By shifting away from the leadership vs. management paradigm, all the work of a vice-principal can be seen as instructional leadership (Leithwood, In Press).

The second layer is a broader perspective: Vice-principals are administrative team members. Indeed, vice-principals work in dyads, triads and quad team structures; and it is in this team context that they influence principals, affect school-wide instructional leadership, contribute to the vision and goals and align their performance and growth plans. Further, with effective dialogue within the team, the values, beliefs, assumptions and practices of vice-principals are shaped. The administrative team is a critical school structure that often defines and connects the role to the broader team efforts. In fact, it is very difficult to separate individual leadership from that of the administrative team.

The third layer is a teacher’s perspective: Vice-principals are exemplary teachers. Many vice-principals assume teaching assignments as well as school leadership duties. By doing so, they  model effective teaching and have daily opportunities for directly impacting the instructional practices of teacher-colleagues. Imagine the potential impact of an exemplary teaching vice-principal during the course of conducting a teacher performance appraisal. Is there any greater instructional leadership opportunity?  

The fourth layer is a psychological perspective: Vice-Principals are emotionally intelligent leaders. As we know, the demands of the role require the highest levels of emotional intelligence. Vice-principals must manage their own emotions as well as those of others, and often in crisis situations. These skills, according to others, are developmental in nature; consequently, any image of the role must acknowledge that growth and development in this area are givens.

The fifth and final layer is an administrative perspective: Vice-principals are directors of the collective managerial effort. They undertake many administrative duties that help create the teaching and learning conditions of the school. Within each duty is the opportunity for instructional leadership. It is not what they do, but rather how they do it, that can turn routine tasks into leadership that makes a difference for students. In fact, as Leithwood points out:

            ...several recent studies have found that among the large range of tasks associated with  school leadership – some clearly intended to directly improve instruction and some primarily concerned with organizational management – those most directly concerned with organizational management make the largest contribution to student achievement. (p. 8)

Many vice-principals know this to be true. As one vice-principal stated:

… I have numerous opportunities throughout each day to be an instructional leader. When a staff member approaches me with an issue, be it discipline or managerial in nature, I can always relate the issue back to student need in terms of curriculum, instruction and/or accommodation. I believe that those hallway conversations, parent meetings and problem solving meetings all mean that I am taking a lead role in terms of instruction in this building.

Vice-principals are instructional leaders, administrative team members,  exemplary teachers,  emotionally intelligent leaders and  directors of the collective managerial effort!  This is a far more compelling image of this role - one that will build efficacy, pride, accomplishment and recognition.

We understand that changing our collective lens towards the role of vice-principal stands as a formidable challenge. Maybe, as an initial and substantial strategy, we need to address the imagery in the title itself – take the ‘vice’ out of the name. Typically, the word vice has a dual meaning. On the one hand, vice is used to form a compound word denoting someone who serves in the absence of the person of authority; on the other, it is a word that connotes images of evil, immoral, unethical and degrading acts. Is this the desired image? Is changing the title really that ridiculous?  In answering this question, think about how often we change the names of central office roles to capture the essence of their work and provide a clear focus of  student achievement. Further, keep in mind that other jurisdictions use different words for the title.

In order to be successful in our efforts to change the image of the vice-principal role, alignment with the OLF 2012 must be achieved. In this regard, our lens should serve as the conceptual basis for reflecting on the school leadership practices and the drafting of a complementary framework specific to the role of vice-principal. This framework will cast a new direction for research, professional development, job satisfaction, performance appraisal and recruitment. Imagine an image of the role that stands not just as a means to an end (a principalship), but as a career-satisfying end, in and of itself.

Many vice-principals have expressed to us their desire to assume the principal role because they see it as the opportunity to fully become the instructional leader that originally led them into school administration. Sadly, many of our current vice-principals are not seeing themselves as instructional leaders. Indeed, with the current leadership/management dichotomy, vice-principals are not alone in seeing themselves as attending to the more mundane operational work of the school. Nothing could be further from the truth; however, it requires a changing of lenses on all of our parts to see how all of the school leader work can indeed be instructional leadership. Vice-principals matter in a deep and profound way and need to be given the recognition in our perceptual frameworks. They deserve a better rep!

REFERENCES

Armstrong, D.E., (2009). Administrative passages: Navigating the transition from teacher to assistant principal. London: Springer

Harris, A. (2002) School improvement: What’s in it for schools?  London: Routledge Falmer.

Hill, L., & Lineback, K., (2012). I’m a leader, not a manager!, Harvard Business Review: HBR Blog Network, January 5, 2012.

Kwan, P., (2009). The vice-principal experience as a preparation for the principalship. Journal of Educational Administration Vol. 47 No. 2,

Leithwood, K. (In Press). The Ontario Leadership Framework

Marshall, C., & Hooley, R.M., (2006). The assistant principal: Leadership choices and challenges. Thousand Oaks, California:  Corwin Press, Inc.

Acknowledgements – Many thanks to the following Vice-principals for their input:  Sheila Shauf TLDSB, Lisa Waldinsperger TLDSB, and Nan Mantle YRDSB

Dr Richard Williamson is a principal of Leadership Development in York Region District School Board.   Dr. Andy Scott is the Leadership Development Officer for Trillium Lakelands District School Board.