Running a school can be a daunting task. Often when people think of principals they think of instructional leaders and disciplinarians. However, what gets overlooked is that there is an entire site to keep running: staff to motivate, lights to keep on, buildings to maintain, budgets to keep, and much more. There is an entire operational side of being an administrator that is not visible to others from the outside. Many conversations with my administrative team often begin with them saying “well, what you may not know…” and most of the time they are right, I did not think about or was not aware of a certain aspect of the topic at hand.
This being the case, I focused my fieldwork time heavily on the operational side of administration. I wanted to ensure that I saw some of these behind the scenes meetings, conversations, and duties in order to have a more well-rounded view of what the day to day tasks of being an administrator looked like. In the high school space, this also meant putting an emphasis on athletics as well. Athletics is a heavy lift at the high school level, and it was crucial to see and understand how these work in the administrative space. Going forward, I've asked my administrative team to consider me when they need an admin designee so that I can continue to gain experience in this area. Doing this work and following up with questions will give me hands on experience in order to prepare me for an eventual leadership role of my own. Below, you will find a brief fieldwork reflection that described my time shadowing.
This being the case, I focused my fieldwork time heavily on the operational side of administration. I wanted to ensure that I saw some of these behind the scenes meetings, conversations, and duties in order to have a more well-rounded view of what the day to day tasks of being an administrator looked like. In the high school space, this also meant putting an emphasis on athletics as well. Athletics is a heavy lift at the high school level, and it was crucial to see and understand how these work in the administrative space. Going forward, I've asked my administrative team to consider me when they need an admin designee so that I can continue to gain experience in this area. Doing this work and following up with questions will give me hands on experience in order to prepare me for an eventual leadership role of my own. Below, you will find a brief fieldwork reflection that described my time shadowing.