Strong leadership is the key factor in what makes a great school; therefore, the principal, being the key leader in a school,l is supposed to efficiently carry out duties in a way that would benefit the teacher and the students.
Every school has either a good or bad principal, and the sign would be evident in how effective his teachers are, how cooperative the parents are, and how productive the students are.
However, not every school principal is committed to putting their best foot forward and doing their duties in a good way. But how do you know if a principal is providing the kind of leadership that it takes to produce great results?
Every principal has strengths and flaws. Most principals can both get stuff done at school and have fun while doing it.
Some only thrive when they are in front of a crowd; others are better at being effective behind the scenes while at their desks.
A quote somewhere reads, “Some principals are not real principals; they are just good at being bad ones,” and there is a clear truth behind those words because a real principal should have no business being bad; a lot of lives are being entrusted to your care, and you have the responsibility of making sure students get a good education and teachers function effectively. Such responsibility should not be taken for granted.
Many factors play a role in a principal’s being tagged as bad.
These issues differ from one person or school to another.
However, a bad principal is a threat to the school and makes the learning process difficult for everyone. Todd Whitaker concluded that “when a principal sneezes, the entire school gets a cold,” and he couldn’t be more right.
Knowing how to detect a bad principal is important for every parent, teacher and guardian to ensure the effective running of a school and the greater good of the students.
A principal, being the brains of a school, should have a positive impact on the teachers and pupils.
Therefore, having adequate knowledge of these warning signs is important because it will help you become aware if there is a problem and take the necessary actions where possible.
7 Signs Of A Bad Principal: Easy ways to detect a bad principal
1. There are no plans to address issues or have clear communication affect staff and parents
A principal cannot take all the blame for the issues students face in the school, but as a principal, it is a duty to ensure that issues that concern students, be they safety issues, psychological issues, or psychological issues, are addressed.
There should be room for communication among parents, teachers and the school authority, which is why most schools form an association to tackle these things.
Sadly, most principals are not able to control things from this end, and parents do not have the assurance that their children are being taken care of in areas where they are performing poorly.
This is a sign of a bad principal. They don’t make plans to address the issues these students face, they don’t involve the teachers and parents to have an open discussion of how to tackle these issues and all these spells out one thing; lack of direction.
When there is no direction, a school struggles. If every teacher and every parent are moving in different directions, it equates to not having a head that helps to guide and intervene in situations concerning the school.
2. The staff and students make comments
Comments from staff and students are a big deal in determining the effectiveness of a principal. The popular saying that only a child can determine whether you are a good parent or not also plays in the school setting.
What does your staff say behind your back? What do the students say behind your back? Are their words about you positive or negative? This is one of the 7 signs of a bad principal – comments from those you work with.
Have you ever heard a student say, “Mr. Rogers is grumpy” with a weird face as compared to another student saying, “Mr Rogers is mean” with an angry face?
These comments should say a lot about the behavioral aspect of a principal. Believe it or not, kids take notice of everything going on around them and they are usually very good judges of character so if your ward complains constantly about a principal, something is wrong.
Next, pay attention to the attitude of teachers. Do they work with smiles on their faces?
True, most teachers carry different baggage from home but the attitude of a principal can greatly influence that of the teacher.
Especially if the teachers are dedicated to their jobs, there will always be clashes between them.
3. No overall vision or meaningful professional development
Professional development includes creating a meaningful school vision which everyone can run along with. Most parents and staff do not want to involve themselves in the decision making but if the principal is vision-driven, he strives to bring all heads together to plan the future of their wards.
However, one of the 7 signs of a bad principal is that he does not have any visionary goals for the school upon resuming office, he has no meaningful guide for professional development nor does he want to get all hands on deck to ensure the smooth running of the school.
Professional development involves addressing the issues surrounding the effective training of students, and while that may be accessible, not having a vision is even more damaging.
4. They spend time pushing papers around
A principal spending time away from school may mean the principal is bad, however, where the line is drawn is when a principal decides to delegate responsibilities to other staff. Especially the responsibility of disciplining students and dealing with parents.
These kinds of principals are always away on one trip or the other or come up with excuses just to be absent from school. They don’t visit classrooms to check how the teacher manages with the students or administer lectures.
Though it may not be possible to know the names of every child in the school, they can’t even boast of knowing the names of a few prominent students and rarely interact with them.
5. They separate their personal life from professional work
A common advice given to leaders is to separate their personal life from their professional work but in the case of education, it is not advisable.
Educational experts claim that such advice is rooted in fear, fear of being vulnerable the way you would be at home with your family, so you come to school putting on a stern, unsmiling and unfriendly face.
Separating your personal life from your work means you stay out of touch with your staff and students after school hours. You cannot be contacted in case of any emergency.
Many principals may not fancy this setting because they feel it’s too cumbersome but in return, it helps to foster a good relationship between students, teachers and parents and may help curb problems outside of the school environment.
Of course, no one says a principal should cross the line of oversharing information in a bid to be in touch but they should not be afraid to establish a strong relationship between their staff and parents.
So separating your personal from professional is one of the 7 signs of a bad principal.
6. Poor student achievement
Poor student achievement is one of the 7 signs of a bad principal. When effective strategies are not put in place to ensure attentiveness and promote student success within and outside the learning environment, student’s academic performance is reported to be poor at the end of every semester.
The principal is part of the driving force behind the excellence of a student so when a school records mass failure and poor performances in external examinations or standardized tests, the principal shares in the brunt of it.
7. Families withdraw their wards
This would finally be the outcome when a parent notices that the school is not meeting the total needs of their children. This translates to being a sign of a bad principal because a principal is supposed to direct the total affairs of a school and ensure the all-round development of a student.
Most families may withdraw their wards because of bad engagement of the school authority in different areas of which the principal is head and inclusive.
It is important to note that every school principal is different in their techniques and tactics of running a school. Also, every school is unique and what may pose a problem in one school may not raise an issue in another school.
However, these 7 signs of a bad principal explained in this article can help you in detecting what is wrong with a school and its administration and knowing where to take action concerning its management.
