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Show Radical Changes Show School Chief Attitudes ! School principals have changed markedly over the past two decades as they have faced increasingly complex and frustrating responsibilities, according to a University of Utah professor of educational administration. Dr. Lloyd E. McCleary, University of Utah says that larger schools, a string of legislative mandates, declining j enrollments, rising expecta-I tions from parents and new ser- vices creating organizational complexity have all contributed to the changing prin-cipalship. Today's principals, says McCleary, have an educational philosophy very different from that of their predecessors. He attributes part of that change to the social turmoil of the late 1960s and early '70s which had a dramatic impact on schools and the principals who lead them. According to studies by both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals, radical changes occured between 1965 and 1980 in principals' views about compulsory education, court decisions, aid to private and religious schools, student rights, political discussions in the classroom and emphasis on academic work. Today's principals say hostile or disinterested students shouldn't be required to attend school; schools require too little academic work; schools should provide specific job training and develop programs for talented students; and schools aren't producing enough scholars in human needs, energy, environment and medicine. The principals disagree with statements that court decisions concerning segregation were correctly applied to public schools; that federal aid should be available to private or religious schools; that court (Continued on Page 8) School Chief Attitudes Change (Continued from Page 1) decisions approving of prayer and Bible reading in the classroom were correct. The principals also feel that political discussion should be limited in the classroom. McCleary noted that while principals today are much better prepared academically, the demands on them are greater and so, subsequently, are their frustrations. In her 1981 doctoral dissertation in educational administration, Miriam Y. Lacey found that today's principals rate the ability to manage conflict as the most important charact-teristic in their professions. They view themselves as in one conflict after another with students, teachers, parents, staff, fellow administrators and boards of education. As part of the "Me Generation," some parents are abdicating more and more responsibility for their children to the schools, which creates an added burden on administrators, the principals told Lacey. One principal sees a "wave of narcissism" among parents. "They don't ask what they can do to help their kids, but speak about themselves and their rights," he says. Another princ-pal reports the joke among administrators is that signs will soon be posted in schools saying, "Conceive them and leave them." Lacey found that some recent programs providing child care, psychological services, and moral and ethical development, etc' have increased the friction between the school and the community. Also compounding the problem arc new laws and regulations requiring educators to work with diverse groups of students. Another frustration for principals, adds McCleary, is the lack of control over their time. "They're forced to deal with day to day things, so they don't have time to change curriculum or come up with innovative programs and plans," he says. A study by the National association of Secondary School Principals in 1980 found that principals are leaving their positions at "an alarming rate." "It's due to. burnout, drawout and retirement," says McCleary. "Being an effective principal takes a high energy level. But how do you sustain that? When you get to be 55 you can't keep up with those kids anymore." Because principals can easily transfer their skills to areas such as management or sales where pay is higher, many are lured away from education. Of 60 principals judged to be "most effective" in the study, a third had left the principalship in two years and about half of those left education. "It's quite a horrendous loss,"; he says. "At the same time, we're developing a serious need for principals. All the middle and high school principals and all key central administrators in the Salt Lake School District, for example, will be gone in five years. This condition is becoming a general concern across the country as the aging staffs reach retirement age and the more effective administrators leave." |
