Discussion #4

The Principal's Role in Attracting, Retaining, and Developing New Teachers: Three
Strategies for Collaboration and
Support   The Prinicipal's Role(1).docx  
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What role do you think the building principal plays, if any,in mentoring new teachers?
Do experienced teachers or principals play a larger role in developing new teachers?

Through reading this article, I began to gain a deeper understanding of the principal’s role in
a school building as well as their role with both experienced and novice teachers.

I believe the principal can and should play a great role in mentoring new teachers. Principals
need to help develop teachers early in their careers so that they can retain more teachers and
create more effective teachers. The principal has a lot of power on a school campus, and with
active effort they can use it to help develop their teachers. While the principal may not be the
one offering specific advice or watching what the teacher does day to day, there are other
ways they can help develop teachers. First and foremost it is the principal's job to create a
positive work environment. Teachers need a place where they feel supported. Principals can
work to create this environment and make sure that they develop a community of teachers
who want to both help and learn from others. When this community is created, novice
teachers feel much more supported and have the opportunity to develop their skills.
Principals also need to make sure that they have a good induction program for novice
teachers instead of just throwing them into their new role. These induction programs need to
focus on pairing the teacher with a strong mentor, constantly researching and implementing
innovative practices, and fostering discussions of ideas between colleagues. The principal
really has a lot of power over the environment and the support that a new teacher has, and I
believe that they need to work to make active strides in how they work to develop novice
teachers.

I believe that experienced teachers play a larger role compared to principals in developing
new teachers. However, I think principals often play a larger role in teachers choosing to stay
in or leave their position. In theory, principals should play a larger role since they have such
great control as I mentioned in the previous paragraph. However, I believe a lot of principals
do not follow through on these aspects and leave new teachers on their own. Therefore, the
new teacher feels removed from the principal and instead gets most of their development
from their assigned mentor or another experienced teacher. Novice teachers have an easier
time reaching out to experienced teachers around them and seeking help compared to the
principals. Then this lack of support from principals causes teachers to want to leave the
teaching field as they feel lost. Principals have the ability to play a huge role in the
development of new teachers. However, I feel as if many teachers do not focus on his role,
and instead begin to drive novice teachers away from the field.

This article allowed me to reflect on my own thinking about the principal’s role as well as
realize how my own principal’s will be able to help and guide me. I think many teachers feel
as if they just work under the principal and do not feel as if they are working alongside them.
There is a distance between these positions and I believe this gap should close. I have seen
how helpful this active presence can be as our principal really tries to be involved and meet
teachers needs. I think principals need to be working more towards mentoring new teachers
and helping them develop.