Study Guide: What Great Principals Do Differently

Eighteen Things That Matter Most

Beth Whitaker, Todd Whitaker, Jeffrey Zoul

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781596672062, 9781138130609
• eBook ISBN: 9781317925002
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Designed to be used by facilitators and participants in seminars, book study groups, or other professional development events, this book guides critical thinking, collaboration, and professional growth based on the concepts in Todd Whitaker's best-selling title, What Great Principals Do Differently (2nd edition).

Each chapter includes:

Key Concepts
Discussion Questions
Journal Prompts
Group Activities
Application Strategies

With this Study Guide, you can gain a deeper understanding of Whitaker's acclaimed book and learn how to apply his concepts and ideas in daily practices.

Part One

Chapter 1: Why Look at Great?

Chapter 2: It’s People, Not Programs

Key Concepts

♦ Although principals must have a strong knowledge base in their field, what they know about being a school principal is subordinate in importance to what they do as a school principal.

♦ The perspective of What Great Principals Do Differently is threefold, based on research findings examining effective school leadership, observations at and consultations with many schools and school systems, and the personal core beliefs that guided Whitaker’s own work as a successful school principal.

♦ We can always learn from observing what great principals do. Eliminating inappropriate choices does not help as much as identifying good ideas used by successful educators.

♦ By studying our most effective school leaders, we examine where they focus their attention, how they spend their time and energy, and what guides their decisions.

♦ No matter how good our most effective principals are, they still want to be better.

♦ No program inherently leads to school improvement. It is the people who implement sound programs who determine the success of the school. Programs are never the solution and they are never the problem.

♦ Recognizing the importance of people over programs, great principals recognize that the two primary ways to improve a school are to hire better teachers and to improve the teachers who already work there.

♦ Great principals realize that teachers—just like students—vary widely in their individual needs and abilities. As a result, no single program will work with the same rate of success for all teachers. Programs are only solutions when they bring out the best in teachers.

♦ In addition to promoting whole-school growth and improvement initiatives, great principals do everything possible to promote individual teacher development.

Discussion Questions

1. What do great principals see when they view their schools and the people in them?

2. Why should we look at what great principals do?

3. In what ways is looking at ineffective principals limited in its value? On the other hand, why must we also study less effective principals and schools when determining what distinguishes those identified as great?

4. As a school principal, what guides the decisions you make each day?

5. What are some ways you can ensure that you recruit and hire the very best teachers? How can you improve the teachers already working at your school?

6. Why do certain programs work so well for some teachers while other teachers using these same programs fail?

Journal Prompt

Think of a program that you have implemented in recent years at your school or that has been implemented at a school with which you are familiar. Which teachers adapted to the change of programs, embracing the new idea and making it work? Did any teachers resist the change? Was the program ultimately deemed a success? What determined whether or not it was successful? What should principals consider before endorsing schoolwide programs for implementation? If such programs are adopted, what can principals do to foster successful implementation and honor individuality among teachers?

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Group Activities

It’s Not What You Do—It’s How You Do It

Beginning on page 6 of the text, Whitaker describes several “programs” that he deems neither a problem nor a solution: open classrooms, assertive discipline, whole language, direct instruction, mission statements, and standards-based assessment. Divide the class into several groups of four to six participants each. Ask each group to discuss the relative merits of one or more of the above “programs” or to pick another one not listed above. Participants should discuss how the chosen program can work effectively or ineffectively, sharing any specific examples from their own experience. Have each group report back whether it was the people involved or the program itself that determined the level of success.

You Don’t Say …

Distribute the six quotations regarding leadership below, one each to six groups. Allow time for all groups to study and discuss their quotation. Have them discuss how the quotation is in some way connected to the material presented in Chapter 1 and/or Chapter 2 of the text. Ask each group to offer another quotation with which they are familiar—or even create an original sentence—and share their work with the entire group.

Leadership should be more participative than directive, more enabling than performing.

A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.

Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens, people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.

Good leaders develop through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.

A good leader is not the person who does things right, but the person who finds the right things to do.

Leaders don’t force people to follow—they invite them on a journey.

Application

Think about ways in which you want your school to improve. While you may at first focus on schoolwide improvements, recall Whitaker’s research showing that teachers value principals who not only implement whole-school growth proposals, but also are committed to encouraging and supporting staff development for individual teachers. At your school, begin by asking five teachers you respect what they would most like to improve about their current practice or in what areas they would like to grow professionally. Commit to helping these teachers reach their individual self-improvement goals. Continue this practice by finding out what all the teachers in your building would like to “become” during the future years of their professional careers. Perhaps some aspire to administrative careers or would like to try gifted education or move into counseling. Maybe others would like to teach at different grade levels or in different subject areas. Other teachers may desire less dramatic change, wanting only to improve their classroom discipline practices or use performance assessments more effectively. As the school leader, you must recognize the needs of individual teachers in the vital area of teacher development, since this will also lead to overall school improvement.

Notes

 

 

 

 

 

Part Two

Chapter 3: Develop an Accurate Sense of Self

Key Concepts

♦ Everyone, including principals, would like to be held in high regard by others, but great principals would rather be respected than liked and work accordingly to earn that respect.

♦ Having a clear sense of who we are and what we do is a crucial component of effective leadership. The very best principals stay attuned to how they come across to others and continually work to make sur...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven
• Part Eight
• Part Nine
• Part Ten
• Part Eleven
• Part Twelve
• Part Thirteen
• Part Fourteen
• Part Fifteen
• Part Sixteen
• Eighteen Things That Matter Most