Student, Principal, Principle Centered Leadership

Student, Principal, and Principle Centered Ethical Leadership Children are taught to be responsible for their actions as soon as they understand right and wrong. Parents teach children to admit to their wrongs regardless of the consequence. This teaches them to be responsible for their actions or what we consider moral philosophy or ethics. Can we expect students to be ethically competent when they enter school? No, we can’t. But we can expect them to learn it. All parents to do teach expected conduct of the school, thus it is then the school’s responsibility to teach such actions/conduct. Teaching character education as students enter Pre-K/Pre-K 4 and continuing such education at the age appropriate level will help to produce better citizenship in the school and community. At every level of education (elementary, intermediate, middle, Jr. high, and high school), schools have Student Council and/or Honor Society Clubs. clubs instill and further educate through student-centered leadership. These clubs usually start at the 4th or 5th grade level. Students in the lower grade levels can learn the same type of leadership with Student of the Week, Class Leader (President), or Leader of the Day. The younger students can learn how to lead with respect and not being mean to their classmates just because they are the appointed leader of the specific time frame. The older students learn the same concepts; however, they also are responsible for day to day activities at the school such as raising the flag, leading the school wide morning pledges, and liaison for students. Students become more conscious of the value of education and their studies when involved with such student centered leadership. They learn the process of campaigning and remain ethical while doing so. They learn how to resolve conflict among themselves and learn at an early age the concept of “agreeing to disagree”. Such leadership will spill over into the classroom and with other students. Principal centered leadership focuses on the ethical leadership of the campus administrator. The principal must not only follow the policies and procedures of the district but those collaboratively created for the campus. Though the policies and procedures must be followed, it must be done in an ethical manner. Many new issues have arisen that principals must now deal with that was not an issue 10-20 years ago. Principals must now make the ethical decision of how to deal with staff to staff issues, student to staff issues and student to student conflicts. Principals are now faced with legally and ethically handling inappropriate relationships (staff/student or staff/staff). Should the principal handle the issue publically or with the least publicity as possible? Are all parents and staff made aware of the situation or just the parties with possible involvement? Many schools have their own police officer on campus with policies and procedures or what types of infractions will be handled by the district police versus the city police. Should a principal allow a staff member or student to be led off campus by any form of officer? Should it be done while the exchange of class is occurring or once the halls are clear? As a principal, I would conduct all investigations with the least amount of public scrutiny as possible. I definitely would protect the “due process” of my students and staff by not leading off campus during high traffic times. If possible, I would allow parents to pick the student up and have the campus officer follow to whatever authority the student must report (district police, city police, probation officer’s office, etc). The same would be allowed for staff members. Allow the privacy of what is to take place away from campus. Stephen Covey has a couple of books which can help us become more principle centered leaders. Covey states, “Significant, sustainable quality must ultimately be generated inside-out”. Covey’s belief is the same principles that govern our personal quality performance also lead to increased professional and organizational effectiveness. Some researchers believe that we usually have more integrity in the workplace than we have in our personal lives. That is not the concept taught by Covey. I tend to agree with his natural leadership philosophy. When the four dimensions of human nature are fulfilled, we can become better leaders. The four dimensions are physical, mental, spiritual, and socio-emotional. We must be physically fit to endure the challenges of leadership. It has been proven that diet, exercise, and rest can affect your processing ability. The lack of such will not allow for appropriate, intellectual choices and rational reasoning. Your physical well being will be a catalyst for the other three dimensions. When you are not physically well, your mental capacity is affected. I believe the reverse is also true. When you are not mentally well, it will affect the physical body. We must get the required amount of rest for our mental stability. We must also keep our minds sharp with continued education, workshops, and/or self teaching. Reading and participating in webinars to keep abreast of updated material or best practices in any career will help keep our minds functioning. The old adage “if you don’t use it, you lose it” is very true. We must keep our minds functioning at all times. We can use all mediums to do so. Academics is usually what we think of and refer to but the use of exercise and games (sports, cards, board games) will keep you sharp as well. Our spiritual being can keep us grounded. Spirituality manifests our quality of being. What is your belief system? What helps keep you intact when things are falling apart? It is your spirituality; not necessarily your religion. I know that my religion dictates my being; however, those who are not religious can still be spiritual. All three of these must work in tandem in order to be effective. Last but not least we have our socio-emotional health. We must be emotional healthy in order to interact appropriately with others. We must be comfortable with ourselves and abilities before we can lead others. A leader with all four dimensions intact will be an outstanding leader!!

Does Morality Matter?

Does morality matter? My answer would be yes. Where would this world be without morals and values? The changes of society should not make morals invalid. Although some would want you to think that with societal changes come moral changes. I say not so. Societal norms of the 21st Century would lead you to believe that the morals of our ancestors or even our generation have changed. They have not. Dictionary.com defines morals as motivation based on ideas of right and wrong. Culture gurus would suggest that what is right and wrong is based on cultural beliefs. I would say that right is right and wrong is wrong regardless of the culture. The lack of morals has led to the destruction of upstanding, productive citizens and communities. Selling of drugs is an immoral act. Has it become a norm for people to be known drug dealers? Yes, but is it right? The answer would be no. Not only is it wrong because of the effects of drugs on the community but also illegal. The effects have filtered into the schools as young as elementary age students. We are teaching kids at a young age that it is ok to be perform immoral and illegal acts. Should we teach morals in schools? Yes, we should. Isn't it the teachers' responsibilities (in addition to parents) to teach our kids right from wrong? I certainly thought it was. From the time kids enter preschool, they are taught to share, take turns, not to take things that don't belong to them, say 'please' and 'thank you', wait your turn, listen politely when your classmates are talking, etc. Aren't these examples of teaching morality in school? People tend to mix up teaching morality with teaching religion in school; thus, some educators shy away from teaching morals. In public schools, students also need moral doctrines. Unfortunately, the politics of moral education too often devolve into hapless arguments about the separation of church and state. Those ethical arguments miss the mark. Religious doctrines, philosophy and the Constitution all provide core values that can be embedded into the curriculum as readily and rigorously as social studies. Teachers and school leaders often lack the skills or willingness to teach moral and ethical principles without proselytizing. But students can't wait for civics class to be taught civility. All teachers must manage behaviors that are conducive to learning, but school leaders must also try to develop experts who can teach, test and hold students accountable for their ethics knowledge. In efforts to produce well-behaved students, some schools will feel satisfied with their overall "school culture" plan. School leaders will point to their behavioral strategies that certainly have an impact on student learning behavior in school. However, there's more to it. Schools should not expect dressed-up discipline policies to replace the need for students to be able to clearly articulate arguments about right and wrong. Parents and citizens not only want kids to read and write at high levels, we also want good people. Our curriculum should reflect that. How can we teach morals to the students of the 21st century? I would suggest this is accomplished with character education. The U.S. government's website from the Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/character/brochure.html, ) defines character education as "a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about and act on core ethical values such as respect, justice, civic virtue and citizenship, and responsibility for self and others". As teachers, I think we are teaching these values every day or at least I hope we are. Does it have to be a formal process? I don't think so but I do not see anything wrong with it if morality is taught as a formal 'character education' class. The problem is that all educators must teach character education. The staff must also model it on a daily basis. Every time the opportunity presents itself, educators must acknowledge undesired behavior from students. The desired behavior should be stated and/or modeled whenever possible. I have found in doing this that many of my students don’t realize the behaviors they are exhibiting. Others who are aware of their behaviors have questioned what is wrong with what they said or did that was incorrect. For instance, I have a student who has an issue with respect. He is not trying to be disrespectful but he is. He will be in a conversation and saying “yes ma’am”, “no ma’am”; however, he will blurt out with “you lying”. Although he has not done it to me, I had to step in because my skin crawled to hear a 13 year old tell this to a 30+-year-old adult or any adult. I have discussed that when he does not agree with what an adults says to respond with, “I don’t agree with that”, “that is not how it happened”, or “ that is not correct”. He actually asked me why did he have to respond this way instead of just saying she/he is lying if that is the case? We continued to discuss what is respectful and what is disrespectful. I had a better understanding of why he did not feel he was being disrespectful when we had a parent teacher conference. His mother was explaining what she felt was a disability of his. He matter of factly stated, “That’s a lie. That is what you always say and it’s a lie.” His mother began to go back and forth with him about the issue. I had to step in and remind him of our conversation about respect. His mother had no problem with him saying she was lying or that he felt comfortable with her to go back and forth as if he was talking to his peers. Once students are accustomed to the expectations, they will perform as expected. I believe students will do what they are taught and what is enforced. If we are not enforcing what we are teaching, then what is the purpose? Parents must also be held accountable for the actions of the students. Had that mom stopped my student the first time he told an adult he/she was lying, he would not be doing it at 13 years old.