Balancing Act: School Leadership’s Theory and Practice

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd, Quezon

For sometime now, I have already written quite a number of articles on school leadership on this portal.  There are just thousands of our readers and visitors who have had a glimpse on these articles.  In addition this site also provided syndicated articles on leadership from well known and trusted leadership gurus like Francis J. Kong and John Maxwell and other public servants and educators.

Images courtesy of www.linkedin.com

I have also read books on leadership particularly that of Stephen Covey and a lot more.  This has shaped my thoughts, beliefs and ideas on what leaders should be.  These ideas are carefully seen on my articles.  Not to include the knowledge and skills I acquired from experience and from both my graduate and undergraduate studies.

These knowledge and skills have helped me along the way.  However, I have to rely most of the time on my instinct and personal judgment as I go along the way in my personal desire and preference towards educational reform and quest for quality learning outcomes and excellence.

I have to admit, but leadership theories and principles are easier said or written than done particularly if one works in the government.  Government service is different and far from the standards of the corporate world.  It is of course changing particularly now under the new regime but in comparison with the fast pace of changes in the private sector, government service is simply lagging.

Sad to say and admit but it seems to be the realities in the government service.  The Department of Education is not exempt from these realities. For sometime, even the current education secretary, Bro. Armin Luistro who himself came from the private sector felt dismayed over the slow pace of how things are getting done, and the reforms that have to get its way.

I feel the same thing as the DepEd Secretary.  One time out of sadness and may be of dismay, I kiddingly said a couple of times in some tit-for-a-tat with fellow school leaders and trusted teaching colleagues that there should be a way of firing erring and incompetent personnel in the department of education like in the private schools and companies and so in the rest of the government agencies.

I also exclaimed the same in one of the exchanges of ideas in one of our post graduate classes at the Philippine Normal University having touched some important issues in education.  Our professor who happens to be a fellow family at DepEd just smiled at me.  The challenge actually is how we could address not only the productivity of our personnel particularly both the teaching and non-teaching which is aptly describe in the so called ‘law of diminishing return.’  If this applies in the private sector, it is aptly more serious in the government.

Once a teacher or an employee got his permanent appointment, instead of an increased and improve quality of service, it diminishes over time.  It is a fact that nobody could deny.  At least with the implementation of the Competency-Based Assessment for Teachers (CB-PAST) it could be checked.  However, the lapses being made in its use, will not solve the problem, not unless corrected, it is there to continue.  (See Teachers and School Heads Tendency in Accomplishing the CB-PAST)  I am afraid that it could even worsen due to the type of young and new teachers who are entering the service which on the most part could be influenced negatively if they are not grounded on the significance of their profession and mission.

CB-PAST provides for the termination of the so called liabilities if used well.  The draw back however, is that it could serve as flat-form for abuses by corrupt leaders or the least, none at all.

On both sides, the Department does possess both corrupt and honest leaders.  It is just puzzling that the corrupt ones passes unnoticed by their respective stakeholders or may be because, they happen to be lucky to be assigned in places with highly apathetic stakeholders or they are too smart that they can control them in their favor.  The worst thing is that some or many of them are relatives of influential people in their respective localities or they themselves are influential or powerful enough to keep opposition at bay.

This blog alone has received a dozen of reports of corrupted MOOE’s by scrupulous school heads.  According to sources, they are able to liquidate these cash advances though nothing has been delivered to their schools.  In most cases, their teachers don’t know that their school heads are receiving cash advances for their schools.  The said thing about these reports is that, all are anonymous and so it could be regarded as a mere intrigue though on one way or another it could be regarded as indeed a fact in the field.

On the opposite spectrum, the straight forward ones however have to comfort themselves, with the slow pace of changes.  Many have to deal first with the institutional cultures and values that exist in their respective domains which vary from one place to another.  Call it the result of diversity which is both a boon and a bane.

This for the most part is bringing performing school leaders to the test.  Many have to choose between becoming populists so as not downplay many of their priority programs and create friction which could upset them emotionally.  We may call it win-win solution.  Others on the other hand have all the strength to choose the opposite of being stern and strict even when it would mean rejection or friction in the work place. 

In this environment, their colleagues have no choice but to follow the wish of their leaders and so all the things he wants for the institution.  I find these leaders admirable for changes could be abruptly achieved and programs implemented at all cost in this type of environment.  Whoever will succeed him or her will no longer have a hard time paving the way for the way has already been laden.  However, it could still be considered a great gamble if continuity of good programs is to be considered once he is replaced or transferred to another station.

On the other hand, populists have to settle with the slow pace of accomplishing things.  Experts say that in this case, honey moon period usually lasts for two years. Meaning, it needs two long years for a reformist leader to fully establish and position himself to his advantage.  This is the sad reason why change is quiet slow particularly in the field of education.  Even if the output is a sure success, in a rat race globalized society, we’ll simply not survive the competition and the demands that a corporate environment requires.   Like the private sector, it should and is expected to be the way of the government service, doesn’t it?

Certainly, school leaders and quality education and reform advocates should work hard to establish what they think is the ideal in their respective places.  Concerned citizens and stakeholders must lend their helping hands to support their leaders if they desire quality education for their children.  They must and should be wise enough to identify the gems in a heap of sand or straw.

After all, as an African proverb says, “It takes a village to educate a child.”  Problems and evil exists just because not a few dare to act.

(The author himself is a practitioner in the field of school management for almost a decade now.  He holds both the Bachelors degree and MA (CARMA) from the Philippine Normal University, Quezon and Manila Campuses.  This represents the views of the author and not of DepEd Quezon.)

What is Good Attitude

 By: Aurelio O. Tolentino
Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 23:21:00 11/14/2010 

We may not be able to change where we come from, but at any time we have the power to change where we go.

Let me tell you about positive attitude from my experience.

I started a life with a very negative outlook. Indeed!  In my desire to improve my conditions and those around me, I acted as a critic not just of myself but also of people around me. After all, it’s said, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
In the end, I not only failed to raise my standards, but people were unhappy with me and I was unhappy with myself!  My civic work, family and Church offered little help to clarify my situation. Even now, students do not take up positive attitude in school.

Norman Vincent Peale

With this disposition, you can imagine how the 1952 book of Norman Vincent Peale, “The Power of Positive Thinking,” so impressed me. Here are quotes that kept me strong after college:

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.”

“When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.”

“Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory.”

“You can if you think you can!”

Robert H. Schuller

Then, I moved on to Robert H. Schuller who influenced my early years at entrepreneurship with his “Possibility Thinking.”  Here are his thoughts that keep my heart warm when it gets cold outside.

“Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.”

“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”

“Any fool can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count all the apples in one seed.”

John Maxwell

Much later, John Maxwell’s books guided me in exercising leadership with 200 people on regular status under my care. I found these treasures in his books:

“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

“Your success stops where your character stops. You can never rise above the limitations of your character.”

“A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Stephen Covey

Then the thoughts of Stephen Covey on abundance mentality made bright my days as my company grew to more than 400 people:

There is so much to be shared in life. Look for its abundance, not its scarcity. When we share life’s abundance, we grow with others and they grow with us.

Here’s a paraphrase:

Meron ako, wala ka, share tayo.
Meron lahat tayo!
Wala ako, meron ka, share tayo.
Meron lahat tayo!
Meron ako, meron ka, share tayo.
Lubos lahat tayo!

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”  This is why I write.  Can you feel the spirit moving with all these thoughts? Can you see how the spirit of good attitude can be mightier than even the pen?

A common definition

If good attitude is so important, then we must define it and not leave its application to chance.

Remez Sasson defines it in his Internet article: “Positive thinking is a mental attitude that admits into the mind thoughts, words and images that are conducive to growth, expansion and success.”

I grew with these thoughts but had to struggle with three concerns.

First, even gangsters can apply such positive attitude at work and succeed! Why, I thought, if I had to change, I’d rather change for the better, not for the worse!

Second, positive thinking can be misconstrued as wishful thinking, braggadocio, losing touch with reality.

A man who aspires to rise above a difficult situation needs to be firmly grounded on reality. He is able to discern the quality of action leading to his aspiration and to take this kind of action from day to day.

In other words, good attitude, if it is truly good, may be translated to specific types of action that lead to success. Otherwise, such attitude is mental gymnastics, a self-delusion.

Third, at every step of any undertaking, how can we know if we’re moved by good attitude or negative attitude? If we’re not careful, we can fool even ourselves!

Evil minds can masquerade negative attitude as positive attitude to attract people to their way of thinking and behaving. Watch political ads in elections!

Define negative attitude

I thought that to clarify what positive attitude was, it would be helpful to define negative attitude.  I then had to consider all life’s nasty realities which make retreats necessary.
As shown in any altercation among people in unruly traffic, bad attitudes are human acts arising from uncontrolled anger, pride, laziness, envy, gluttony, greed, lust.

They result in a hardened heart and sickness inside.

Go back to your past experiences of bad attitudes. Test them against this definition.

Define good attitude

Then, I studied the opposite of these seven characteristics.

They are love, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, humility and self-control. Here are two, more—joy and peace.

Note the difference. Good attitude inspires; bad attitude depresses.

Let us put this distinction to a test. Would you know why the following examples inspire?

Now that we have defined good attitude, we can measure every act, every thought, every goal in accordance with what good attitude is before we launch ourselves into it.

If you know an action or event would give rise to a bad attitude or be motivated by it, would you still proceed?

We do not have to reinvent the wheel. The spirit of good attitude has been around for thousands of years, although it might not have been termed good attitude then.

Here’s the inspired reference on attitudes, Galatians 5:19-23, my source for their definition. This definition is so full of common sense that we don’t have to be Christians to believe it.

Good attitude is the key to competitiveness. It is the road of hope—the road less traveled.
But have faith and be discerning. It is the road to success. Take it.

(The writer is an entrepreneur, and author of the books “The Peso ExchangeRate: Why Are We So Poor?” and “The Philippine Economy: Do Our Leaders Have A Clue?” Feedback at map@globelines.com.ph. For previous articles, please visit map.org.ph.)

7 Things Teachers and School Administrators Should Learn from Steve Jobs

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
www.factoidz.com posted 10/10/2011

The untimely death of Steve Jobs, the man behind the iconic Apple computers, Ipad, Iphone and Pixar has brought to life many valuable lessons in life. He is astoundingly a leader and man of vision where many who are in the area of education, leadership and management could learn from. Here are the seven striking things from the self titled article of Erick Jackson The Top Ten Lessons Steve Jobs Can Teach Us - If We’ll Listen

1. Never fear failure – Many are afraid to do experiments, even innovate and most importantly changes what one has been used to do through the years. Many, in the field of education are succumbed to that culture of fear of going out of their shell, of the box, of their comfort zones. That’s why we tend to live and follow the shadows of others whom we admire instead of just having them as our inspirations instead of doing our own marks, our own legacy. Jobs however didn’t. He went on for his passion. For it, he was later fired by the successor he picked as a CEO only to be taken again, when the Company he himself built is on the brink of collapse. It was one of the most public embarrassments of the last 30 years in business. Yet, he didn’t become a venture capitalist never to be heard from again. He didn’t start a production company and do a lot of lunches. He picked himself up and got back to work following his passion. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told he only had a few weeks to live. As Samuel Johnson said, there’s nothing like your impending death to focus the mind. From Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement speech:

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

2. Don’t care about being right. Care about succeeding – I am just like many who worry about what others will say about me. This most of the time limits my ability to try new things. To innovate and course things up. Jobs used this line in an interview after he was fired by Apple. If you have to benchmark on others’ great ideas to make yours better, do it. You can’t be married to your vision of how a product is going to work out, such that you forget about current reality. When the Apple III came out, it was hot and warped its motherboard even though Jobs had insisted it would be quiet and sleek. If Jobs had stuck with Lisa, Apple would have never developed the Mac.   To continue reading, just please click this link.

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University.  A campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.) 

Knowledge Should Equate Competence

From the original article entitled Knowledge and Competence

BUSINESS MATTERS (BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINE) By Francis J. Kong

(The Philippine Star) Updated June 11, 2011 12:00 AM

Two pilots are trying to land an airplane. As they touch the ground, one pilot screams, “Pull up! The runway is ending!”

The second pilot swiftly gets the plane back up in the air. They make a big turn and prepare to descend again. But the moment they touch ground, the pilot screams again, “Get the plane up  the runway is ending!!!” This goes on for another round.

On their fourth descent, the first pilot says, “This is so dumb. They built this huge and expensive airport, but made such a short runway.”“I know,” answers the second pilot, “But look how wide they made it...”

Some people think that by pulling rank, bullying people or throwing their weight around, they can get others to admire them, fear them and follow them. This is so dumb  as dumb as the pilots in the story. Those pilots are certainly not very competent or very know-ledgeable in flying an aircraft.

Competence and knowledge  is there a difference (apart from the spelling, of course)?

Yes, there is. Knowing is not the same as doing. Competence means one has progressed beyond knowing what to do to doing what one knows.

There are four levels of competence:

1. Unconscious Incompetence  You do not know that you do not know.

2. Conscious Incompetence  You know that you do not know.

3. Conscious Competence  You know that you do know.

4. Unconscious Competence  What you know is already automatic with you.

If you want to gain people’s respect, enchant people and inspire them, you need to be knowledgeable in what you do and be competent at it.

I have met people who pretend to be knowledgeable, when in fact what they do is just echo others’ ideas and opinions. They read a book and suddenly become experts at the subject matter. But once you get to know them and work with them, they fall awfully short of expectations.

There are others who may know what they’re talking about but are not really competent at it. They’re the Talkers. They talk a lot. Yakitty-yakitty-yakitty-yak they go, but when it’s time to act on the things they speak oh-so-well of, they do a poor job. That’s why I feel a little awkward when people introduce me as a person who practices what I preach. I’d rather be known as someone who preaches what I’m already practicing.

Two persons were having a conversation. One said, “I don’t think success has gone to her head.” “No, just to her mouth,” the other said.

In a different conversation, a church member boasts, “My pastor is so good, he can talk on any subject for an hour.” A member of a different church responded, “That’s nothing! My pastor can talk for an hour without a subject!”

Don’t just talk without knowing. And don’t just know without being competent at it.

Learn. Do. Act. Correct. Be humble and speak less. You make less mistakes that way. But when you do open your mouth, speak of what you know and you’re competent at. People will not only listen to you  they will believe you.

Five Leadership Strategies for School Leaders

Based on the original article by Eric Sheninger entitled Five Leadership Strategies for the New Year

As the calendar turns to August, school leaders across the country are meticulously planning for the upcoming year. This process has become more difficult as mounting challenges such as budget cuts and what seems like a relentless attack on the profession of education have taken their toll on staff morale. With this being said, quality leadership becomes even more essential in order to cultivate a school culture whose primary focus is on the learning and achievement of each and every student.

Here are some of my leadership strategies for making change during challenging times. Please feel free to share any other ideas in the comments section below.  

Strategy One: Make No Excuses

Success in this endeavor relies on us to take a no-excuse attitude. Ask yourself this: What am I prepared to do to improve all facets of my school? How will I accomplish more with less? Think and reflect upon the ways to accomplish the goals you set as opposed to the challenges, roadblocks, and pushback you will experience. These are all common complications that arise during the change process and should not be used as excuses not to push forward.

We must be the pillars of our respective institutions and focus on solutions rather than problems. Succumbing to the negative rhetoric, abiding by the status quo, and having a bunker mentality will do nothing to initiate needed changes in our building to improve teaching and learning.

Each day we are afforded an opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of our students through our role as education leaders. Our passion for helping all students learn and assisting staff in their growth should be the driving motivational force to make our schools the best they can be, regardless of the obstacles. Everything is changing -- the world, learners, job market, technology, access to information -- the sad reality though is that schools are not. We need to be catalysts to drive this change!

Tip: Meet with your administrative team and teacher leaders prior to the start of the school year to identify issues where excuses routinely arise. Begin to map out collective responses focusing on positive solutions to these problems.

Strategy Two: Model a Vision for Excellence

Begin by articulating a clear vision to your staff. The consensus has to be that every student can and should learn. Getting your entire staff to embrace this concept is at the heart of effective leadership. I prefer to use the word “embrace” rather than “buy-in" -- a more commonly used word synonymous with change efforts. We should not be trying to sell our staffs on pedagogical techniques and other initiatives that will better prepare our students for success once they graduate.

In order to promote the embracing of new ideas, strategies, and techniques we need to collaboratively work with staff to transform traditional classroom environments into vibrant learning communities where all students are authentically engaged.

Tip: Engage your staff in a brainstorming session during the first faculty meeting in order to develop a collective vision on how to transform the school for the betterment of all students.

Strategy Three: Embrace 21st Century Pedagogy and Curriculum

A vision begins with talk, but will only become reality with action. As society evolves due to advances in technology, we as principals must ensure that instruction follows suit or we run the risk of our schools becoming irrelevant. By irrelevant I am referring to our ability to prepare students with the skills to think critically, solve problems, demonstrate learning through creation, and compete in a global society.

As instructional leaders, it is our primary responsibility to observe and evaluate instruction. With this comes the responsibility to ensure that teachers are provided the freedom to take risks, knowledge of effective practices, resources to make it happen, and flexibility to incorporate innovative teaching strategies. With these parameters in place, principals must then be able to consistently identify, foster, support, and promote 21st century pedagogy.

Inherent within this shift is the need to re-evaluate the curriculum as the real-time web and information age present new challenges to instruction and student engagement. The time is now to lay the foundation to ensure that our students evolve into critical consumers of content, understand the importance of digital citizenship, as well as possess the ability to create, analyze, and interpret an array of media messages.

Tip: Start the year off by gathering key stakeholders to collaboratively revise your curriculum to emphasize essential skills necessary for today's learners to excel beyond your walls.

Strategy Four: Breathe Life Into Professional Development

Most teachers cringe when they hear the words “professional development” and rightfully so. The traditional model utilized by many schools forces educators into structured silos based solely on district and school goals while ignoring staff interests and passions. PD can be inspiring and fun when people are free to follow these interests and develop their own support communities.

Tip: If you thirst for an innovative culture focused on student achievement, begin the process of transitioning to Professional Learning Communities (PLC's). To take it a step further, model and encourage your staff to form their own Personal Learning Network (PLN). Then step back, give up some control, and watch your staff thrive as their passion fuels a transformation of the teaching and learning culture at your school.

Strategy Five: Stay Connected

Principals need support.  This should happen now in our country just like in other countries.

(THIS IS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG.  TO CONNECT WITH OTHER SCHOOL LEADERS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.  THAT'S WHY UNTIL NOW, WE WELCOME SCHOOL LEADERS TO BE OUR FOLLOWERS AND CONTRIBUTORS OF THEIR EXPERIENCES IN THE FIELD AND BE CONNECTED JUST LIKE THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES.  IT IS SADDENING HOWEVER THAT WE ARE STILL WAITING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.)

Change begins with a no-excuse mentality. Don't waste one more minute pondering what could be. There is a revolution going on right now in learning, and it is up to us to lead the way. Please share any leadership strategies that are making a difference in your building.

The writer of the article:  Eric Sheninger is principal of New Milford High School and the subject of a recentarticle in USAToday on social media in the classroom.  He is the author of Communicating Camp; Connecting With Social Media.  You can also follow him on Twitter at NMHS Principal.

(This article came to the knowledge of The Learning Captain through the post of Dr. Aniano Ogayon, SDS of the Division of Lucena City who posted it on his fb wall for the many to see and was reposted here for easy follow-up.) 

Making School Leadership Effective

By Gilbert M. Forbes
DepED Quezon
Region IV-A CALABARZON 

Reading different leadership and Management Books from my personal collection of well known authors as Covey, Maxwell, Waitley, Oswald, and the likes of Filipino educators as Franco, Nebres, Gonzales, Sibayan, Trespeces, Nemenzo and Luz, aside from various readings both conventional and novel (through the use of the internet), is simply not enough if school principals really wanted to make a difference particularly in the public school system and of the future thousands of school children.  For if one would just reflect on the thoughts of the first post apartheid president and the first black president South Africa had, Nelson Mandela who said, “Education is the great engine of personal development.   It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mine-worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.  It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

It is a fact that countries with excellent education like Japan, South Korea and Singapore enjoy significant levels of economic success. A former colonial country like that of the US became of what it is today, the lone super power because of education. US later on, learning from the very power that education can do, used it to further and maintain its interest in various countries of the world through its neo-colonial policies.

To this end, school head plays a very significant role in ensuring that our schools, our next generation of workers and citizens will find their way at least in the fiercely competitive, knowledge-based economy. School principals therefore must be totally sensitive to the expectations of his stakeholders which is actually zeroed in on the demonstration of leadership. It is a leadership which is anchored on bringing a group or institution towards a clear objective. Since, we are principal, instructional leadership is what fits in to us. Other literature called it learning leaders or learning-centered leadership. The demands of 21st century life and work call for principals with a deep understanding of how students learn and at what levels they need to learn. Principals therefore should be able to provide teachers with the leadership and support they need to help students gain the skills and knowledge now identified as important for success in a “flat” world filled with uncertainty and constant changes.

This is the very essence of instructional leadership. To make this happen, as Marsh puts it, as an instructional leader, he is characterized as being a resource provider, an instructional coach, an effective communicator; and has visible presence.Along this line as an instructional leader is that of being a curriculum manager. Since the curriculum is basically what students are expected to learn in the classroom and how the lessons are taught (Farris,1996), the principal must ensure that it is being followed by teachers as the prime basis of their daily teaching.

This is curriculum leadership defined as the exercise of functions that enable the achievement of a school’s goal of providing quality education to learners. It is not only implementation that matters but ensuring curriculum quality and applicability, alignment and integration of the curriculum, regular evaluation, enrichment, update and revitalization of the curriculum.In the public school system, curriculum is developed by curriculum experts and subject specialists and after testing and validation is handed down to all schools for implementation. This doesn’t mean however that the curriculum is absolute for the department encourages localization, enrichment and revitalization considering and understanding local settings, needs, cultural diversity and values. For this reason, principals must really have at least a basic understanding of curriculum development in general and the various models therein like Tyler. Obvious reason is that the given curriculum is not enough to make sure that maximum learning could be achieved. Enrichment and Mastery Curriculum enters and no other person is in the best position to lead in its formulation other than the principal.

In the course of all these, it is very important to know the factors that may affect curriculum implementation success as explained by Parsons (1987, cited in Marsh, 1992) and these are the need for time, technology for change, recognition of the school culture, incentives and rewards, sharing of burden in the workplace, releasing of energy for innovation, collaborative framework, leadership, recognition of the system-level culture, incentives and rewards, the need for political perspective, the need to win allies and the recognition of the role of individuals. Moreover, in monitoring curriculum implementation, it is important to: place more emphasis on mutual accomplishments rather than total fidelity (faithfulness or similarity to the source); strive for the development of a teacher-friendly and change-simple curriculum in the beginning; and promote a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement in the school.When all these are accomplished, we could now gauge the effectiveness of curriculum implementation following the three basic domains: use of curriculum materials, student activities and achievements and teacher activities.

While there could be clear limitations that most principals face in assuming their instructional leadership roles particularly financial resources, this must not discourage them in anyway for instructional leader is tasked to spearhead activities that address the educational shortcomings identified within his/her power. Strengthening one’s emotional quotient EQ will help a lot. Studies say that people with high EQ have the AURA of leadership, meaning they are able to appreciate, understand, respond and adapt to the challenges that face them.Effective school management is observed or measured in many ways. And that some of the indicators of good management in schools are the following: 1) Instructional supplies are ordered and arrive on time (for those schools where MOOE is released directly), 2) Teachers come to school on time, 3)Teacher absenteeism is low, 4) School facilities are in good repair, 5) Teachers have copies of syllabi, 6) Teachers receive instructional supervision, 7) Each school has a functional parent teacher association, and 8) Parents know how their children are progressing in their studies.This time that School Based Management is being emphasized among schools as part of the School First Initiative and Basic Education Reform Agenda, principals need to have leadership qualities in attempting school improvement.

Working towards overall improvement in our school will really requires that we AFFIRM our leadership role in the school’s “domains for improvement.” which includes: curriculum and instruction, performance and development of students, professional-personal performance of teachers and staff, administration/organization, school facilities and supplies and external relations. These could be attained not only by influencing and managing, just a school manager or CEO but an educational LEADER, a transformational leader who act as strong role models (idealized influence), communicate high expectation and provide inspiration (inspirational motivation), encourage creativity and innovation (intellectual stimulation) and provide support to others (individualized consideration).In the absence of continuous flow of knowledge that need to fill a vacuum due to schools which are not effectively organized to support and encourage continuous learning, the quest for coming up with educational research and new information as made stronger and prompted by the changing demands of the society, a principal plays a pivotal role in this regard. He must emphasize the value of research and of lifelong learning and should be the role model of it.

Sound and effective leadership will help a lot and will be the primary key. I am happy to know that effective leadership is characterize by the following indicators (Marsh, 1992): facilitating the development, implementation and monitoring of shared visions and mission; advocating and sustaining a school culture; promoting and sustaining an effective instructional program; Managing operations and resources in the learning environment; collaborating with community stakeholders; involving others and acting with integrity fairness and in an ethical manner.

Reference: Innotech Flexible Learning Management System Learning Modules 1 and 2.