Decision Making And Conflict Resolution - 1416 Words

There is no more challenging, nor rewarding job, than being a Catholic school principal. It can also be difficult at times, especially when students cross the line of good behavior, or even worse, when a parent crosses that line. During these first several years as principal, I have had the privilege of overseeing the faith formation and academic development of a wonderful group of young men and women. I have learned as much from them as I hope they have learned from me, and I am honored that God has called me to serve Him in this way. During the course of this paper, I will share with you my vision of the role of principal. To do this, we will examine theories on leadership, organization and motivation. We will discuss instituting change,†¦show more content†¦(Earl, 2015, [powerpoint]) In her week two lecture notes, Sister Patricia made a connection between these five practices and Sergiovanni’s â€Å"dimensions of principal leadership, which he titles â€Å"A New Theory of Principal Leadership† (p. 33): understanding self and others, understanding the complexity of organizational life, building bridges through relationships, and engaging in leadership best practices† (p. 33). (Sergiovanni, 2015, as cited in Earl, 2015 [document]) In addition to the secular theories of leadership, Catholic school principals must consider our commitment to our faith. Sister Patricia challenged us to reflect on our faith and how it fits into these dimensions of leadership. We not only lead our schools as instructional leaders, but more importantly, as spiritual leaders. To lead our schools, we must have a vision of leadership that reflects the purpose of Catholic education, that being the teaching of doctrine, living in community, and understanding the obligation to serve. (To Teach as Jesus Did) Owens and Valesky (2015) encourage an effective leader to clearly state â€Å"a vision of things to come†¦a vision of where we are and where we are going,† (p.14) that binds the school community in a common purpose. Furthermore, â€Å"the vision of a leader is always uplifting, pointing to new directions calling for progress.† (Owens, 2015, p. 14) The principal,