Before we get started, I have two quick announcements

1.     I’ve been hearing a strong interest in how to support beginning teachers. I went into some key practices last year in episodes 214 and 215, so if you are in the mode to think about how to support your BTs (and ECTs), give a listen to episodes 214 and 215

2.     The July 22 episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast we feature a panel discussion with myself and five assistant principals. Some are national/state AP of the Year awardees and others are just wrapping up their first year as assist principals. The focus of our discussion is being a first year AP! We would love to hear from you. If you have questions, topics, advice, or stories, please consider sharing. Please email them to me at [email protected]. I would love to be able to name contributors but will only do so if you explicitly give permission for us to include your name and affiliation. We are recording on July 15, so don’t wait.

Okay, now onto the episode…

Show Notes, Episode 2: Why is Instructional Leadership so Hard?

About this show:

Have you noticed how many first-year teachers have trouble managing their classrooms? And if they never receive really good support, they become 5 and 10-year teachers who can’t manage their classrooms. And then they leave the profession.

But guess what? We have a similar problem in the principalship. Most (not all) principals are not fully prepared to meet the challenges of instructional leadership. And if they never get really good support, their trajectories can mirror that f the teachers I just mentioned.

This issue is the reason I started this podcast, the reason I do a daily leadership email, it is the focus of my trainings and courses, and it is at the heart of my APEx program. If you’ve been listening for a while, you know that instructional leadership is a common focus. Today, we are going to look at the problem of developing instructional leaders and some things I think we can do about it.

Notable Quotes

Frederick: 

“In a perfect organization, which does not exist, the people, the structures, and the resources are all aligned to the purpose, and to each other. And a perfectly aligned organization is a great place to work. Unfortunately, it is the nature of organizations to be in disalignment rather than alignment”

“You have two basic responsibilities… Your primary job is to keep everybody safe. Number two is to improve student learning and outcomes for students. Now, you don’t teach students, so the way that you do that is by growing your teachers. In other words, you have two responsibilities: keep everybody safe and help your teachers get better.”

“We can’t manage time, time is finite, there is only so much of it, there is nothing to manage. What we have to manage is priorities”

“Really good instructional leadership is also about systems alignment”

Links:

My email: [email protected] 

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html 

Sign up for the daily leadership email: https://mailchi.mp/c15c68e6df32/specialedition 

Website: www.frederickbuskey.com

Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)