What does an average day look like for a school principal in terms of reading and making sense of information, media, and the world affecting the the people in school community around him? I would have to say that the average day for me as a PreK – 12 public school principal would be filled with reading emails, sifting through various online social media platforms, interacting in person with the school community, and fielding calls from all sorts of people who have their own agendas. As a result, my day is filled with detective like skills, analyzing information, critical thinking, and a whole pile of skepticism. I do not want to sound negative with regards to this part of my job, because I actually enjoy it. I pride myself in being a good detective and being able to read between the lines. As a teacher and as an administrator, we have a lot on the line when it comes to being good at our jobs. The bottom line, so to speak, is being able to keep kids safe and cared for, so we can then try to educate them and help them grow into productive members of society.
With that being said, the pitfalls around student safety are greater than they used to be. I have been in this role for 24 years now and student safety and the factors affecting it are greater now than ever before. Just as the type of “bullying” has changed from physical to mental, so has the majority of the dangers facing our students today.
There are so many things that we have to take into account now with LA FOIP and other legal issues to consider. The playing field for education has not only expanded, but it is now multi-layered or even multi-dimensional when it comes to student safety with regards to keeping students safe in the world we live in today. At one point we talked about “stranger danger” from a physical perspective, and that threat was one that we could see. Currently we have to make students aware of the physical threats that are out there that they can see and those that they can’t see at all.
“School divisions should ensure that student and staff security and privacy is maintained, and that data collection and usage is transparent, while integrating the use of technology.” (Chapter 1: Ethical Considerations When Using Artificial Intelligence-Based Assistive Technologies in Education – Kourtney Kerr)
Despite all of this, we need to continue to continue to be good detectives, be skeptical of information and teach students to be the same so that they can have the critical thinking skills necessary to navigate the world that we live in. It is very important that we embrace the ever changing landscape of the online world as that is the world that we all live in and teach our students how to be safe both in the physical world and the world online.
Wow, Darryl, 24 years! You would certainly have witnessed generational shifts, particularly digitally! Isn’t it interesting how being a principal (or teacher) is so closely related to being a detective? I think we could make a riveting crime show about that. And you are right, our job is to teach our students to be super sleuths, too. In many cases, I believe in innocent before proven guilty, but in the online world, a critical eye and healthy skepticism are essential.
Yes Kimberly, I am currently in my 24th year of administration! I believe I started when I was 16. In all actuality, I am in my 24th year of administration less 2 months as I was a classroom teacher before I moved into administration. I know what you are going to say, 2 months is a very long time to be a classroom teacher!
I never would have thought of having to use detective skills in being a principal. That was a very interesting point, and it was fascinating to get a view into what it is like to be a principal in a pre-k to high school setting. That also must be quite a gap in terms of all the ages and kinds of students you interact with on a daily basis.
I really appreciated how you talked about teaching students to be critically engaged with what they experience online, and how this is also a safety concern. That was important to bring things back to that idea of student safety and how teaching these critical skills can help to protect students from future danger.
Great points, Darryl. I agree that embracing technology is necessary but it seems to be getting more and more difficult to promote its use without making it sound like a horrible place to engage. The balance between teaching students to have a critical eye and the online world being a dangerous, scary place seems to be increasingly difficult to balance. Having been the tech rep for my previous school, I noticed that each year the number of parents/guardians refusing permission for online affiliation and participation for their children increased substantially. I wonder if you too have recognized an increased or decreased number of media release approval?
I hate to say it RoxAnne, but I’m not sure if the majority of parents and caregivers actually know what they are signing with regards to media release forms. I’m not sure if our parents are unaware of what they are signing or they are just very trusting in us at the school. As a result, we have very few students in our PreK – 12 school that do not have a signed media and acceptable use release form signed. Perhaps we are just lucky…