How Pastoral Care Policy Has Contributed to the Management of Junior Secondary Schools In Botswana

As with the importance of selecting a highly qualified principal to help raise test scores and closing achievement gaps, the selection and support of staff is also critical. Gregory F. Branch, Eric A. Hanushek, and Steven G. Rivkin’s 2013 study “School Leaders Matter” examined the effectiveness of many principles’ leadership and the effect they had on student achievement ratings. “A primary channel through which principals can be expected to improve the quality of education is by raising the quality of teachers, either by improving the instruction provided by existing teachers or through teacher transitions that improve the caliber of the school’s workforce” (Branch, pg.4). A principal must be able to continually seek out professional development, to research best practices and new educational theories to support their staff and students. If principals are to close the achievement gap, they must be willing to inform and instruct their staff on new teaching strategies. Mr. Canada, from his TED talk, “Our failing schools. Enough is enough!”, states: “You go into a place that has failed kids for fifty years and say: ‘so what’s the plan?’ And they say: ‘Well, we are going to do what we did last year, this year’. What kind of business model is that?” (TED, 2013). The principal willing to venture into new, uncharted waters may succeed or fail, but at least they

In this chapter, Fullan begins by maintaining that principals who are effective lead learners are necessarily also good managers, because they understand that having clear routines is essential for school improvement.” (57) He quotes from Viviane Robinson’s Student-Centered Leadership to both underscore the previous point and emphasize that successful principals take an active learning stance: “The principal who makes the biggest impact on learning is the one who attends to other matters as well, but, most important, ‘participates as a learner’ with teachers in helping move the school forward.” (58) Fullan also borrows from Helen Timperley’s work in responding to the question, Who is in a principal’s class? The principal’s class consists of “team leaders who in turn can leverage the learning of other teachers in their group”

The Middle School Leadership Questionnaire was administered. The most current district data were collected from the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) database. The researcher requested district permission and approval for student information from the PEIMS database, only for students with approval from the “Parental Approval Form” to participate in this study. The “Parental Approval Form” was written in both the English and Spanish. The parents’ informed consent and permission forms were collected prior to accessing the student’s participation in this study.

One thing that is a for certain in education is changes will take place. Education mirrors the world we live in, and that is, change is inevitable. However, this process is not always accepted by the entire staff of a school and may be found burdensome to others. As a teacher leader, when certain changes in the school take place regarding a rule, the entire staff needs to come together to ensure the rule is being implemented and enforced. One such change that is happening at my school is the once a week mandatory meeting of all PLC teams. The decision to implement mandatory PLC meetings did not go over well with all teachers. When a school makes a rule or policy change, there are parts of the organization, such as the political, human resource, and cultural perspective that feel the effect.

Evaluate how school policies and procedures may be developed and communicated within a school and to others.

In conclusion, schools need to come up with a way to enhance student to teacher associations, better security measures for students and schools that are financially responsible. If schools can agree on a way to make class life better for students we will see a significant increase in schools production. The system is corrupt and without a plan cannot be fixed. Schools need a base to start in order to make progress to

Future school leaders are expected to understand, address, and solve problems they will encounter (Copland 2000). School leaders must also be able to anticipate a problem before it happens. Problems that school leaders are faced with can be identified as routine, structured, or ill-structures problems. Routine and structured problems are the familiar issues that leaders face, ill -structured problems are more complex. Ill-structured problems are more complex and lack clarity and present numerous obstacles. The ill-structured are the situations that are unforeseen and cannot be anticipated. The Interstate School Leader Licensure Consortium or ISLLC has developed six standards that provide a foundation for thinking about ill-structured problems.

1. Observation: The student will observe the Pastor/Mentor as he engages in the different areas of care when the care presented.

In a church school, it is important there is evidence of spiritual development across the curriculum and that every curriculum area includes some aims and objectives which make spiritual development more explicit in the teaching and learning process.

SBM is, however, a potentially valuable tool for engaging the talents and enthusiasm of far more of a school's stakeholders than traditional, top-down governance systems. Moreover, once in place, SBM holds the promise of enabling schools to better address students' needs. This promise is more likely, however, if a "high-involvement" model of SBM is followed. This model envisions teachers and principals being trained and empowered to make decisions related to management and performance; having access to information to inform such decisions; and being rewarded for their accomplishments.

Doyle, D. & Wedd, A. (2011). The culture of Catholic schools. Mt Lawley: Edith Cowan University.

Administrators are continually evaluating and reflecting upon their practice to improve the schools in which they lead. Development of various measurement tools assists administrators in focusing on the school’s strengths and bring attention to areas of needed improvement. The Teacher Working Conditions Survey is an evaluation system that began in 2002 for all North Carolina public school systems. The TWCS is anonymous, and offers an overview of the school and insight into various teacher perspectives. Another tool used to evaluate the school climate is the Profile of Organizational Characteristics (POC) used to characterize organizations and evaluate school climate. Evaluating research on the current TWCS along with the POC aids school executives on areas of strengths and areas for improvement within their schools.

According to the authors of this article (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009), principals need to concentrate on the development of skills and behaviors in order to be successful in motivating, leading, and changing the direction of a school. The successful principal understands that there exists a fine balance of caring for others and the need to accomplish specific tasks (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).

As an educational leader, I have encountered several new and existing school policies. I never thought deeply about the various processes and the stakeholders involved in policy formulation and implementation. This semester I am engaged in the course Managing Educational Policy as School Leaders (EDLM 6005). This is Semester III, 2016/2017. My course coordinator is Dr. Timar Stephenson. Dr Stephenson was my course coordinator once before and was very helpful whenever I needed clarification or when I had a difficulty. I am thrilled to embrace the new ideas and learning opportunities embedded in this course since it teaches issues which I experience at work. Dr Stephenson, during his introduction reminded his entire class that success in this course would only be realized through hard work, dedication, and commitment. Therefore, it is imperative that I have the right attitude as I navigate this course. The course involves seven weeks of intense work. I am pleased to have a wonderful group facilitator by the name of Rhonda Joseph who has already given us a BBC to explain the requirements of the course and our first two modules.

Effective school leadership today must combine the traditional school leadership duties such as teacher evaluation, budgeting, scheduling, and facilities maintenance with a deep involvement with specific aspects of teaching and learning. Effective instructional leaders are intensely involved in curricular and instructional issues that directly affect student achievement (Cotton, 2003). The writer of this paper acknowledges that school principals should play the role of instructional leaders, not just a school manager. The reality is that are many demands on a principals time and management skills making it difficult for most of them to spend time in classrooms, when performing teacher evaluation. Principals often make sure that teachers