Chapter 4 #37 Delegating to Develop

Table of Contents Remake: 'Toward a Fair School'

(Approx. 3000 characters)

Since it feels presumptuous to talk about 'development'...

First, I will add a note.
Using the term 'human resource development' sounds presumptuous, as if speaking from a high position.
However, because it is convenient and easy to understand, I will dare to use the term 'development'.

In other words, 'development' is 'assistance to make work easier'.

This leads to the reduction of the 'sense of burden' mentioned in Chapter 2.

When teaching improves, one feels more at ease.
If one acquires the skills for student guidance, daily responses become easier.
If young staff grow, the head teacher's burden is reduced.
When teachers feel at ease, they gain composure, which creates a very good environment for the children...
This creates a positive spiral.

Even if it does not go that well, as a manager, one should aim for it.
This is 'development'.

Scope of Development

As one's position rises from head teacher to lead teacher, vice principal, and principal, the scope of those one should develop naturally expands.
In other words, the principal bears the responsibility of developing all staff.
However, that is different from directly instructing every staff member.

Head teachersdevelop the teachers they are in charge of.
They report the progress and issues of development to the vice principal or lead teacher.

Lead teachersadvise head teachers, even if they don't go as far as developing them. And for teachers, if they advise them directly, they convey the content to the head teacher in charge of development.
They report the progress and issues of teacher and head teacher development to the vice principal.

Vice principalsdevelop lead teachers and head teachers. For teachers, if they advise them directly, they must convey the content to the head teacher in charge of development.
They report the progress and issues of all teacher development to the principal.

Principalsdetermine the policy for development, convey it to the vice principal, and develop the vice principal so that they can become the cornerstone of human resource development.
After receiving reports from the vice principal and confirming them personally, they add to or change the policy.

In this way, the development of the vice principal, in particular, depends on the principal.

The keyword is 'delegating to develop'

'#34 Principles of Organization' as mentioned before, schools used to be 'pot-lid organizations'.

In a 'pot-lid organization', it becomes difficult for the organization to develop beyond the power of the top.
The same applies to human resource development.

For an organization to function normally as an organization, it begins by following the order.
The order is as written in '#6 Secondary Effects and Points to Note in Streamlining Staff Meetings', under 'Additions: Improving Awareness at Each Job Level'.

In other words, when you proceed with development using the method mentioned earlier, it becomes easier for lead teachers and head teachers to demonstrate their full potential.

One might wonder if this increases the burden on lead teachers, but if a school administrator provides guidance while bypassing the lead teacher who works with young staff daily, the lead teacher may hesitate when they notice an issue—wondering if it is an instruction from the administrator, if they simply don't understand it themselves, if they should provide guidance, or if they should stay out of it—which actually causes significant stress.

Therefore, the principal must "delegate to develop" so that head teachers and lead teachers can fully exercise their abilities, and so that the vice principal can become the cornerstone of development.

Vice Principal Development (1): Specific Example <Beginning of the School Year>

First, for the first week or two of the school year, have the vice principal go to observe teachers' classes as much as possible.
Then, the vice principal should actively provide advice to the teachers on what they notice.
Similarly, the principal should also visit each classroom and provide advice if necessary.
(*At this time, advice must always be given in small steps!)

Then, align the assessments of the vice principal and the principal to determine the direction of development.
For example:
"The new teacher in Class X, Year X, isn't improving despite guidance, so let's convey the issues to the grade level head and have them provide focused guidance so that they can improve first."
"Vice principal, let's try to visit Class XX once a day."
"Let's have the vice principal confirm this with the lead teacher."
Things like that.

By handling things this way, young teachers will first start consulting with their lead teacher, and head teachers and lead teachers will start reporting to and consulting with the vice principal.
The organization will begin to function normally.

Vice Principal Development (2): Meetings After Class Observation

Some vice principals have a sense of insecurity, feeling that while it is easy to guide young teachers, it is difficult to guide lead teachers, let alone head teachers or older teachers.

Regarding class observation, it is as written in "#16 Small Steps for Class Observation".
At that time, I was actually meeting with the vice principal to discuss the direction of guidance for each teacher.

Class observation lasts for one class period.
The principal should certainly do it, but have the vice principal observe thoroughly as well whenever possible.
After observing the class, I made it a point to ask the vice principal how they perceived the lesson.
If the direction is different, I might correct it, but I try to respect their perspective as much as possible and organize the content for the vice principal to provide guidance to the teacher.
Once they have confirmed it with the principal, they should be able to provide guidance with confidence, even to older teachers.

And when the teacher came to the principal for guidance, I made sure to confirm what kind of guidance they had received from the vice principal.
If they hadn't received guidance from the vice principal, I made an effort to preface my remarks by saying, "I think the vice principal will talk to you about this, but..." or to encourage them by saying, "Please ask the vice principal as well."

By doing this, you increase the teachers' trust in the vice principal.

This is development for the vice principal.

Setting aside administrative work, I believe that being able to guide and develop teachers is what makes a true administrator.

"Delegating to develop" <= Patience

As I mentioned in "#24 Let's Acquire Responsiveness", it is a fact that people gain ability by being entrusted with tasks.
The same applies to vice principals.
And to delegate to develop, the principal needs patience.

As a principal, you might think, "It's faster if I do it myself," or "I wish they would do it a little more like this..."
You end up wanting to say something, or wanting to step in.

However, bypassing the vice principal is not acceptable for an organization.
(Though I did sneak a peek to check on things =^_^=)

When providing guidance to the vice principal, I was careful to be considerate, such as by choosing my words carefully or giving feedback in small doses.

Since there are only two administrators, I want to nurture them with care.
(I apologize if anyone thought, 'Wait, you were angry, weren't you...' I was angry sometimes... because I'm only human...)

You might think that making the vice principal the key to guidance and development would make their job too difficult.
However, when they are trusted by the teachers, the atmosphere in the staff room improves, and I believe it becomes easier to delegate tasks.

As I mentioned at the beginning, development is about providing help to make it easier for the vice principal and teachers to do their jobs=^_^=

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