Anthony Fraguzzi

Posted on 9/25/10

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I have been working in the field of education since 1970;
and I have come to believe that one of the main obstacles
to student achievement and academic success is the middle
manager known to us as - The Principal.
It is he or she who sustains poor teaching by failing to
use the necessary administrative tools to help flagging
teachers or to remove them, if necessary.
It is he or she who too often uses the principal's position
of power to humiliate and/or intimidate teachers for
reasons that are often non-educational.
It is he or she who often sets the tone in the school
building which can either contribute to a warm and
effective learning atmosphere or a cold and hostile
enviroment.
Any teacher can easily supply a half-dozen examples of both
types of principals.
My own experience has been that the principal too often
allows his or her personal politics of power to interfere
with the true mission of the educational system.
Principals, I believe, are given a good deal of power that
is too often abused in the hands of immature, egotistic
personalities. In the name of 'respect to the office' too
many individuals ascribe to themselves the trappings of
power which alarmingly resemble that of minor potentates or
miniture monarchs.
The principal should be a collaborator and facilitator with
and for the teacher - who is, afterall, the professional
who has day-to-day, hour-to-hour contact with the learner.
More respect for teachers and less for the middle-managers
would go a long way into resolving some of our educational
shortcomings.
Anthony Fraguzzi

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