How to Make A Successful Transition from Teaching to Administration
Are you looking to make the transition from teaching to administration? Many teachers do not know how to go about making the successful transition from teaching to administration. Knowing the correct steps to take will make the transition quick and easy.
First, if you have a good track record as a teacher this will help. Also, if you have participated in administrative-related tasks and leadership roles in your school, this will also help you to make the transition to administration more easily.
If you are considering revitalizing your education career, taking action is critical to get you moving forward.
Nonetheless, as you make the decision to advance in your career and move from a teaching job to an administrative job (such as teacher to assistant principal or from teacher to school principal), you may discover that you are not equipped with all the, leadership skills required.
A school administrative job requires additional educational leadership skills that are not usually required in a teaching position. In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that a principal's job is more like a manager's job. Apart from teaching skills, you need strong management skills to oversee the day-to-day planning and running of a school.
School administrators need to be leaders, collaborators, strong business communicators and accountants (to manage school budgets). You may be required to acquire your new skills in a university program, earning a new education administration or business management credential upon completion.
Transition from Teaching to Administration by Seeking Opportunities to Acquire Administration Skill
Communication and Interpersonal Skills
As a principal or assistant principal, you need to have strong communication and interpersonal skills to communicate with students, parents, teachers, and other administrators on a daily basis. Business communication skills will come in handy when you liaise with your board (many of the trustees will be from the business community) and oversee and explain the school budget.
Some examples of communication include updating the superintendent, public, and/or school board about the school; speaking with a teacher about the progress of his/her class; interacting with students and their parents; meeting with community members; disciplining students; writing reports; and convincing staff to implement courses of action.
To be effective as an administrator, in each of these communications, you must be positive and motivating and never negative and un-motivating. To ensure you are communicating effectively, review how to discover your strengths and weaknesses to communicate positively.
Educational Leadership Skills
You need to have strong leadership skills for a principal's and an assistant principal's job. You must be able to lead by example and guide teachers and students in the right direction when they face challenges. A trusted and respected leader will find it easier to facilitate complex changes such as asking staff to make improvements to curricula and procedures.
This assistant school principal or vice principal resume has left no doubt in the mind of the hiring board of his strong leadership capabilities.
Keywords that paint the picture of a strong leader include: visionary leader, mentor, team player, explorer, role-model, collaborator, supervised, coordinated, and mentored.
Moreover, he clearly communicates that he builds constructive positive relationships with diverse stakeholders: trustworthy, strong and lasting relationships, mutual respect and trust, established and maintained rapport, collaborating with others. Seek opportunities through the school and extracurricular activities to begin developing these leadership qualities.
Resource Management
One of the major challenges of an administrative job is to manage resources effectively. This will require a lot of planning and supervision. You must demonstrate that you have strong organizational skills and can develop and implement a plan as a school principal. These skills will be essential to managing resources such as staff, equipment, time, and many more to run the school efficiently. In addition, be prepared to manage the budget and supervise fundraising.
Process Management
The principal and assistant principal lead in getting the school community involved in making any necessary school process improvements. This requires careful insight into existing processes, identifying areas for improvement, proposing ways to improve them, and implementing the changes.
Discipline Management
Demonstrate knowledge of classroom management methods and how to implement them into the classroom. Discipline is an important part of school management. As a principal or assistant principal, you need to ensure that discipline is maintained throughout the school. This requires meeting with teachers on a regular basis and discussing methods to improve classroom discipline. Plus, you need to ensure that the methods discussed to improve discipline are actually followed and effective. You will be required to deal with parents and students when discipline issues become serious. As a result, you may have to attend attendance, suspension, or expulsion meetings.
Flexible – Multi Talented
An administrator juggles many tasks at a time. Carry out these tasks requires planning, supervising, and management skills. You must have good computer skills using word processing, database software and email. Organizing, scheduling, and budgeting are other key skills you must effectively communicate in your educational leadership resume and cover letter to effectively transition from teaching to administration.
Time Management
As a principal or assistant principal, you are expected to manage time efficiently so that projects are completed on time and within budget. This requires careful planning, delegation of work, and supervising. Be prepared to work long hours; a typical day could last 10-12 hours.
Community Involvement
A commitment to community work as a teacher will demonstrate how you will support the surrounding community as a school administrator. You will find yourself participating in community activities on a regular basis. If possible, get the student body involved with community work; it builds character and helps the students obtain valuable work experience.
Most of the above skills can be acquired over a period of time, while you acquire your teaching experience. Do not hesitate to ask your superiors for responsibilities and assignments that will allow you to develop these skills. For some skills, university coursework is required. There are countless professional courses available, and they will teach you the fine details of management to facilitate a successful transition from teaching to administration.
As is evident, a whole new set of business skills is required to transition from teaching to school administration. Not to worry, it can happen easily.
Over the last 16 years, I have seen this career change many times. Helping educators to move their career into the position they wish is rewarding and enjoyable.
It is easy to see how transitioning from the business sector to the education field is one route to a school administration career. Do not despair. More teachers successfully make this transition by focusing on acquiring the requisite education and skills.
Read more about what administrator accomplishments a principal or assistant principal needs.
Discover how to write a school administrator resume to communicate your credibility.
For inspiration, review head of department CV examples, deputy head application examples and other administrator position examples in our teacher and administrator resume and cover letter samples.
Learn more about Candace Alstad-Davies by reviewing my about me page. From that page, you can review testimonials and frequently asked questions.
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Have questions, please connect by sending an email to Candace or call toll-free at 1 877 738-8052. I would enjoy chatting with you.