The principal's role in professional learning communities

Role of the Principal in the Professional Learning Community The role of the Principal is rapidly changing from that of being purely a managerial and operational enabler of a school and its educators to being much more attuned to the many unmet needs in the professional learning community who actively seek educational guidance. This trend has been exacerbated by the increasing number of working professionals who are actively looking to keep themselves current in their chosen professions, and many professionals looking to move into other fields of interest, in addition to many looking to shift entirely to new professions. The Principal of any learning institution has the unique opportunity to fulfill the unmet needs of professionals in their community and need to step into being a leader as opposed to being just an administrator is clear. This is a vital difference for any educator; to manage is to keep the status quo, but to lead is to push the boundaries of what is possible for the people they serve to accomplish - the Principal must be the one that pushes these boundaries of what is possible for the students, regardless of age look to accomplish. The heightened interest in 0self-improvement in many professionals who want to hone existing skills, discover additional skills, or completely shift their careers needs to be responded to by educators who are leaders. Principals need to step in and answer this need. The pursuit of self improvement in these midlife learners must be matched by the relentless pursuit of self-improvement with a constant pressure to improve and mature as a leader is one of the greatest attributes of a strong educator who is also a leader according to Berry, Johnson, Montgomery (2005). References Berry, Johnson, Montgomery (2005) - Berry, Barnett; Johnson, Dylan; Montgomery, Diana. The Power of Teacher Leadership. Educational Leadership, v62 n5 p56 Feb 2005. (EJ725886)