The power of principalship

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday October 26, 2026 06:00

It is a position that can easily attract more critics and naysayers than disciples. Drafting a vision and selling it and seeking a buy in especially in an environment where accountability has gone out of the window, is no picnic. School leadership is about effecting change and ensuring that learners are subjected to a robust classroom instructional regimen that maximises opportunities for success.

No school leader accepts the position of authority with the intention to perpetuate a status quo that does not aid learners to quickly move into proficiency and excellence. Bringing about positive changes may not be a peaceful and seamless affair.

Loss of popularity may be the painful price one has to pay for insisting on accountability in a school that was otherwise paying a lip service to the work of making a school instruction counts. Brave school leaders completely devoted the cause of bringing a positive transformation cannot be bothered by temporary setbacks such as loss of popularity.

They soldier on in the midst of a storm, assured their relentless, however unpopular they may be, would pay dividends at the end of the day. It cannot be easy to navigate and wrestle with a reigning culture of negativity and indifference to the plight of students. Removing an existing pattern of behaviour which does not fully challenge staff and students to discharge their best selves more often than not attracts the wrath of those losing the comfort and convenience of the status quo.

I have had the experience and discomfort of seeing newly appointed school principals facing isolation and stiff resistance from the unexpected quarters - old friends and acquaintances. The reason being that once at the helm of a school one has to fasten the seat belt and do what a principal who means business should do.

And that is demanding and insisting on accountability, disciple, focus, hard work and integrity. The plea of every school Principal worth his or her salt is that every lesson that students attend should count and achieve the desired outcomes. This means no student should feel left out or under-served.

Demanding a diversified classroom instructional menu catering for every child that enters a classroom places heavy and enormous responsibilities on the shoulders of everyone in the school including non teaching staff. It makes more effort than it is usually given, more research, more exercises and more marking. It means increasing the frequency of feedback to students. It means dreaming big and learning from experiences, both from anticipated and accidental outcomes. It means pushing every student to do better than yesterday and helping them to catch the fever of dreaming big dreams about their immediate education and their future. Often there is a temptation to narrow the focus of attention to those few gifted students who are eager to come to school every day to receive instruction and abide by school rules.

The few gifted students are a gift from God and necessarily a creation of this or that teacher. They often excel across the board regardless of who is teaching them. They are not the best candidates to show the proficiency of a teacher. The reluctant student tests the ability of a teacher to rise to the occasion and turn around a hopeless situation into a story of hope. The reluctant teacher tests the administrative prowess of a school principal and principals should derive pride and hope from converting reluctant teachers into willing horses ready to give that extra mile when no one is watching.

The reluctant students, the hard nuts to crack who can only get engaged when pushed. Sometimes they could suffer benign neglect simply because of the prevalence of a system that had grown too weary and tired of such “difficult characters”.

It is the duty of a school principal to make every staff member realise that children in school do not have the luxury of opting out of school. The principle that says you can take a horse to the river but cannot force it to drink does not have universal applicability. It can do may be when it comes to adults but certainly does not apply to students. Children do not always know what is good for them. Their energies which could be expended on self destructive ventures ought to be channelled to their academic pursuits by adults who know better.

They are not mature enough to be left to their own devices and permitted to suffer from consequences of their so called choices later in life. Schools exist to sow the seed of light where there is darkness and hope where there is despair.

Waking up students from their slumber is the school principal’s first port of call. Students are malleable creatures. It can be a low hanging fruit provided all members of staff rally behind the cause. It can be a bumpy road if opinion is divided among staff. Those who have already given up on students , who think the students would later have to bear the consequences for neglecting school work and those who blame parents for their failure to instil a culture of self discipline , may not easily embrace the gospel of doing things differently and of course extending a lifeline to presently underachieving students. Every child is worthy of a second chance. Students on their own can easily adapt to a new dispensation of hard work and discipline when they realise and feel a sense of urgency in the school atmosphere. A buy in can be brought with relative ease when students feel loved, engaged and respected. But students’ resistance can be a big stumbling block to the principal’s vision of an academically prosperous school when students feel ostracised and isolated from the decision making processes that affect them. Therefore it is vitally important for the school principal who has big dreams for transformation to win the confidence and faith of students. As for staff, it can take a bit of time before a school principal can enjoy total and undivided loyalty to the cause of turning around a school.

Change can be unsettling for staff as it removes comfort zones and benefits accruing from running a school that is accustomed to operating in a relaxed , less exacting environment. When accountability has gone out of the window , it takes courage and rufflling of feathers to bring it back to the system.

Battles would have to be fought and won, sometimes against one’s closest friends and acquaintances who do not necessarily see the vision or had become too comfortable with the status quo. But a school leader should pursue that which can bring about a profound impact on students with vigor and courage.

Consistency in preaching accountability to all members of staff, ensuring that every lesson taught counts matters most. There should be no rules for closest allies and rules for rivals. All members of staff, the converted disciples and those yet to be converted should feel at home and have a sense of belonging. The worst mistake a school principal can make is to isolate those who are yet to embrace the new vision of total commitment, hard work, discipline accountability and integrity. Tolerating the voice of dissent without compromising the non negotiables is a mark of good leadership. Brave leaders who settle for what is right for students and their future do not fear breaking ranks with and insisting on accountability on those dear friends who may choose to sabotage the vision.

Fearless school leadership is about choosing what is right and good for students and not seeking to amass popularity at the expense of the core business of a school. All schools deserve fearless and brave leaders who are not content with merely dreaming small dreams. School principals must dream big and push their vision of academic success relentlessly. The quality of a school cannot exceed the dreams and expectations of a school principal. The principal’ s dream sets a school on the road to academic prosperity.