Education is a vital aspect of our personal and future career development and most of this takes place in our formative years at both primary and secondary schools. For those who are charged with running our educational establishments, the pressure is constantly on to improve performance and to ensure that pupils are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in their later adult lives.
Great school leaders need certain qualities, it’s not just a simple case of following the curriculum and hoping for the best. The ones that produce the best results are the leaders who have the passion, vision and courage to push their pupils and staff beyond the norm, to develop an addiction to lifelong learning and to nurture curiosity about the surrounding world. It is about creating an environment for emotional, intellectual and personal advancement that takes everyone to a better future.
Embracing Change
We live in a world that is changing faster than it has ever done before. We now have access to a global market place and can communicate with different people in different countries whenever we want. Research and development is changing the way we work, think, operate and interact. These changes can be frightening. The great school leaders are the ones who accept and embrace this constantly shifting world and bring its benefits to the classroom.
Having a Vision
Top quality school leaders have a clear vision of what they want to achieve and how they are going to achieve it. They aren’t there to be shaped by events, even if changes are happening at breakneck speed around them, they are the ones who work to shape the future.
Utilising New Technology
Along with embracing change and all that brings, good school leaders are quick to utilise new technology. That can be a simple matter of introducing a school app that keeps staff, students and parents fully informed of events or more complex on site technological installations such as smart screens for classes.
Being Brave
Of course, good school leaders need to be brave and lead the way. It’s no good having a compelling vision for the future of teaching your pupils if you don’t have the courage to implement it and drive the process forward.
Able to Persuade
Successful school leaders must possess great communication skills. They are able to explain their vision clearly and emotively, bringing other staff and, more importantly, pupils and parents on board. They rate highly in aspects such as emotional intelligence, creating strong empathetic bonds with those around them that all help facilitate changes to policy and operational procedures.
Probably one of the most important aspects of a successful school leader is their resilience and the ability to endure. Whilst the global vision may be fully formed in their minds, implementing all those small steps that lead to its realisation can be gruelling and time consuming. That resilience is important whether they are introducing a simple technology, encouraging a pupil to excel or handling a major change in governmental strategy.