As a new school administrator, are you wondering what educational leadership skills or traits you should be fine-tuning, learning, and developing? Look no further!
Do you dream of sitting in a school administrator’s office instead of the one you currently share with your students?
If so, it may be time to start thinking about moving from the classroom into an educational leadership role as an assistant principal or school principal.
Identifying and developing educational leadership skills and effectively incorporating these qualities in your principal resume to target the desired position will be critical to your career transition.
If you are a teacher, you already have many crucial educational leadership qualities to be a successful school leader.
Transitioning from the classroom to the principal’s office can seem daunting, but it could be your best decision.
I understand how scary it can be to move outside your comfort zone of teaching into something new, exciting, and challenging, like leading a school.
Not every teacher has dreams of becoming a 21st Century school leader in education. Don’t get me wrong-a teacher is a leader – but not of the entire school.
Only those who have tended to seek out top leadership positions and leadership roles throughout their lives will have the desire to pursue a leadership role in education. And whether you are happier in the classroom or want to lead a school, either choice will be perfect for your situation.
However, if you dream of becoming a school leader, I want to help you!
Hundreds of educational administration jobs are available in the United States, Canada, and Internationally. They include coordinators, vice-principals, principals, heads of schools, business administrators, educational administrators, assistant superintendents, and superintendents. So there are lots of leadership positions available for you to choose from.
Research career trends in education to see what’s hot and align with your values, motivators, interests, and skills.
In most cases, a school administrator must have teaching experience before accepting a job in administration and an administrative license or credential. If you already have these, you are well on your way to applying for administrative positions, such as school principal or vice-principal.
Suppose you have already gained leadership experience in your teaching career by leading a department, mentoring student teachers, serving as the lead teacher, or coordinating professional development or extra-curricular activities. In that case, you can use this skill base as a foundation for an educational leadership position.
“When you know what you want, and you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way to get it”
– Jim Rohn
15 Educational Leadership Qualities to Transition to Administration
In this post, you will discover ten tips to assist educators seeking to be firm administrators and better leaders. Not only will you find these career tips helpful if you are a budding leader, but you can also pass them on to seasoned administrators – everyone can brush up on their skills.
These skills will help you to write a resume to transition from teaching to educational leadership. The art of resume writing is to target the resume to the desired job using relevant skills and accomplishments. Plus, using keywords relevant to the position you seek is critical.
1. Demonstrate Teambuilding and Collaboration Skills
As one of the school’s “head honchos,” you are responsible for leading your staff and students to succeed. Therefore, you must develop and demonstrate how to unite the school and teach in times of crisis or change. Be the first person to take action when something goes wrong.
Ensure the school population knows they can turn to you immediately. Propose new ideas to bring together teachers of different schools of thought to learn and flourish through extraordinary collaboration. Most teachers participate in extra-curricular activities to become excellent team players.
2. Ability to Coordinate with Diverse People
More than likely, your school is a multicultural melting pot concerning students and staff alike. Treat all individuals equally, regardless of gender, race, age, creed, socio-economic level, etc.
Put your prejudices behind you and strive to make this a highly inclusive and welcoming learning environment. Besides, you will have to learn to work with several personalities – some will be very easy to get along with, while others may be difficult and frustrating.
Take the time to get to know your staff as individuals, learn what personality type each falls into, and figure out how to coordinate with them accordingly.
3. Foster Strong Written and Verbal Communication Skills
Whether speaking at an assembly, addressing the school board, writing grant proposals, or your philosophy of administration and leadership, you must be able to communicate your thoughts clearly and concisely. If you struggle with writing or public speaking, it may be a good idea to take night classes or distance learning courses to improve these relevant skills.
How you represent yourself verbally or in written correspondence will indicate how you will be a leader. You want to come off as a strong, knowledgeable, and confident administrator in person and on paper.
4. Organize and Encourage Professional Development Seminars and In-services
All staff in your building must keep their skills sharpened and their minds alert. An excellent way to achieve this is to bring in guest speakers or coordinate seminars that cater to a broad audience.
Promote or address topics outside the box less frequently than basic classroom instruction skills. These may include maintaining a stress-free life, innovatively reaching students, renewing the joy of teaching, and bringing the classroom to life.
Do not make these in-services mandatory; instead, let your employees know you will attend and express why they must participate.
5. Remain Up-to-date on Current Educational Administration Trends or Concerns
In education, new thoughts, techniques, and devices are rising rapidly. You must stay on top of these issues, understand them, communicate these new ideas to colleagues, and be willing to incorporate as many inspiring inventions as possible.
Not only will this assist you as an individual, but it will also aid in bettering your school and staff and help your institution rank highly within the district or region. Furthermore, if you think you have a groundbreaking idea, do not hesitate to share it with fellow educators or strive to publish an article in a reputable journal.
6. Promote School Spirit Events
If student and staff morale remains high, so will test scores. Regularly arranging assemblies, fundraisers, and other school-wide events will attract positive attention and boost school spirit, resulting in greater enrollment and a lower teacher turnover rate.
Fundraisers are an excellent method for gaining additional income toward new computers and technology, sports teams, after-school clubs, and other extra-curricular areas that may need financial help. By asking students and staff to participate, you create a school community where everyone feels included and valued.
7. Encourage Community Involvement and Promotional Events
If you are a new school administrator, it is of the utmost importance that you make an excellent first impression on the local community. Hosting open houses for the school and promoting community involvement amongst your students and staff will foster strong relationships with close neighbors and local businesses.
There may come a time when you need to reach out to these individuals or organizations. If you are already on good terms with them and have established respect for yourself and your school, this should be a relatively easy task.
8. Maintain an Optimistic, Can-do Attitude
Whether you face a crisis at school or the trials of a gloomy economy, make sure that you remain upbeat. If the educational leader is optimistic and promotes an attitude that things will get better, this feeling will be contagious with the other staff.
Enthusiasm is another excellent asset you must possess and display to be an effective administrator. Enthusiasm, like positivity, is contagious. If you demonstrate how eager you are about an upcoming school event or learning a new technology application that the school has acquired, it will be much easier to get the rest of the school on board.
9. Offer Positive Reinforcement to Students and Staff
As mentioned above, positivity can be a great driving force. By encouraging students and staff positively, such as letting them know you are proud of them or rewarding them for a job well done, you can cultivate a happy, productive, and success-driven learning environment.
People want to feel good about their jobs, and, as the new school administrator, you need to help your staff with this. Like teachers reward their students, you can hold special ceremonies or appreciation days to boost staff morale and let individuals know how much you value them.
10. Play an Active Role in IEP Development
Individualized Education Plans/Programs are crucial in assisting students with disabilities or delayed skills. As such, you should want to be part of IEP planning and development, regardless of your current position. Speaking with colleagues, parents, and students will show that you are genuinely dedicated to helping all students learn and progress.
Furthermore, you will have some great ideas to make IEPs more effective. Get input from other administrators throughout the district as well – the more minds working together, the more creative the ideas, and the better the program.
11. Drive Learning and Success for All
As noted above, school leaders must be advocates to help every child learn, regardless of age, grade level, disabilities, and personal circumstances.
As much as possible, build an inclusive and supportive school community dedicated to helping all students reach their full potential. This can include scheduling guest speakers, hiring specialists, making referrals to the appropriate agencies, locating valuable materials, and talking to parents.
If there are specific disabilities or social issues that you do not fully understand, do some additional research or attend conferences to help gain the necessary information.
12. Parent Relationship Building
Parents play a vital role in the success of their children. The same can be said for the success of your school. Family members are an excellent resource for extra help in organizing a fundraiser or school-wide event.
You may want to hold parent workshops and attend PTA meetings to increase communication and familiarity with these individuals. Workshops are also an effective way to introduce families to new school policies or innovations you wish to implement. By developing a solid relationship with parents, you and your staff will discover more about the students and learn how best to accommodate their unique needs.
13. Share Best Practices with Experienced and New School Administrators
As the adage goes, two heads are better than one. Working with other professionals in the same field will give you different perspectives on various topics of interest. If it is not already in place, try to organize a monthly meeting with educators and administrators from across the district.
Hold brainstorming sessions to discuss regional problems and creative solutions. Furthermore, by networking and developing strong working relationships with like-minded professionals, you will have someone to call on in times of crisis or uncertainty.
14. Understand School Policies and the Superintendent’s Expectations
Regardless of how high you climb the administrative totem pole, someone is always taller than you, whether a principal, superintendent, or school board. Therefore, you must know what is anticipated of you right from the start, thus leading to a few misunderstandings and complications down the road.
Take the time to read and identify with set school policies and procedures. If your boss is open to suggestions, make them tactfully. This is also an excellent way to forge a healthy relationship with them.
15. Retain a Professional Leadership Appearance
Style of dress, personal grooming habits, and overall appearance greatly describe a person. To be considered a serious professional, you must dress like one. This does not mean you must go out and buy suits or blazers worth thousands of dollars; it simply means you must look like you fit the part.
Do not break the bank trying to impress. Dress pants (or skirt) and a matching sports coat or blazer fit an administrative position. Keep colors and prints tasteful. Besides your clothing, ensure that you keep up with personal grooming – showered, combed, and styled hair, fresh breath, neat nails, etc.
Wrapping up Educational Leadership Skills for New School Administrators
If you wish to enter education administration, there are many other qualities to learn and develop. I will write another blog post on them in the future.
After you are confident in your skills and abilities as an educational leader, write a school administrator cover letter or resume to communicate you have the relevant expertise and experience to do the job.
Backing up your leadership skills by sharing success stories and examples is critical to writing a curriculum vitae (CV) or resume to land school leadership job interviews.
Are you a new school administrator working on fine-tuning your educational leadership skills? Share any advice in the comment section.
Please review a principal sample resume to see how accomplishments are incorporated into the outline. Don’t forget to check out the matching cover letter while you are there.
If you need assistance writing your resume, please call me toll-free at 1 877 738-8052 or email candoco@telus.net. You may wish to review our resume writing services if you have time.
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”
Henry David Thoreau
