If there鈥檚 one key leadership skill that principals need, it鈥檚 the art of conversation. This skill has come into sharp focus as the role has become more complex and demanding, school leaders say.
鈥淲e notice that the size of our plates hasn鈥檛 increased, but more and more is being put on it,鈥� said Julie Kasper, principal at Century High School in Hillsboro, Ore., during a July 15 panel discussion here at the UNITED school leadership conference, organized by the National Associations of Secondary and Elementary School Principals.
That overflowing plate can often mean that leaders, who need to seek out difficult conversations, avoid them. 鈥淲e become less open to feedback and opinions that are different from our own,鈥� Kasper said.
Kasper has been an educator for the past three decades鈥�20 years as a teacher, and the last 10 as a principal. This means she鈥檚 had to have 鈥渉ard conversations鈥� with teachers she professionally grew up with. Despite how challenging they are, Kasper said these conversations need to be done, especially when teacher morale is low or the school鈥檚 climate and culture needs work.
Kasper, along with Benjamin Feeney, the principal of Lampeter-Strasburg High School in Lampeter, Pa., laid out three tips to make hard conversations with teachers easier. These principles, they said, could also work for conversations with parents, students, and other stakeholders in the school鈥檚 community.
Get organized first
Both Feeney and Kasper stressed the importance of 鈥渒eeping notes鈥� from the conversation.
Delicate issues that principals need to address with teachers鈥攆rom a pattern of being late to the need to improve classroom management鈥攃an cause concern and anxiety among teachers. Having a digital record of the notes can help, so they can revisit the conversation when they are feeling calmer.
Both principals also recommend coming back to the conversation in 24 hours to ensure that teachers are clear about what needs to change.
鈥淓ven if you had a five-minute conversation during bus duty, make sure that you follow up within 24 hours,鈥� Kasper said.
Identify the right conversation
Not all types of conversations need to happen in the same way.
Conversations meant to praise or acknowledge a win for a teacher鈥攍ike an improvement in their student鈥檚 state assessment scores鈥攃an be more informal. And principals should take into account how teachers want to be recognized.
鈥淚鈥檝e surveyed faculty on how they like to receive gratitude, and not every teacher wants to be called out publicly. It鈥檚 mortifying for some people,鈥� Feeney said. Instead, they would prefer a one-on-one conversation.
For harder conversations, he and Kasper suggested a 鈥渢hree-point鈥� conversation: sitting side-by-side with a teacher and a piece of data or information that needs to be addressed. This could be an angry email from a parent, or the number of failing grades a teacher has given in the semester compared to the rest of the department.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e sitting beside them [during the conversation]. The receiver [of the bad news] has something to look at,鈥� Kasper said. 鈥淭he non-verbal message is that, 鈥業鈥檓 your partner. We鈥檙e in this together.鈥� It can break down the defensiveness on both sides.鈥�
Collect data before making assumptions
It鈥檚 tricky to walk into a hard conversation without any preconceived notions, the principals said. In addition to keeping emotions in check, principals must also make sure they don鈥檛 assume what a teacher or staff member is going through.
This is where collecting data helps, Feeney said.
Consider a teacher who finds classroom management difficult and needs the principal to intervene. 鈥淎s a principal, I have to decide, do I want to prove a point, or do I want to change their behavior?鈥� he said.
Instead of telling the teacher what to do, the principal could instead assign an instructional coach to work with the teacher and build their skills in classroom management.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 always want to hear what they aren鈥檛 good at,鈥� Kasper said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 our job to coach up 鈥� and sometimes coach out.鈥�
