I hope I don’t sound arrogant and “all-knowing”, because my intention is not to tell others how to do it, rather, I’d like to be myself in a realm of other leaders where I will learn and contribute. I want school teachers and administrators to “come out and play” so that we together contribute to a better future. We have a great opportunity to make it right from the beginning by showing our students that we believe in them, that they should believe in themselves and that there are many wonderful experiences to discover in life. You don’t need drugs, if you’re happy inside and you don’t involve in violence and crime – if you know that education matters and that you can make a difference for yourself and others. But of course, these matters are all related to the rest of society. School cannot change a student’s family situation, but it can engage in community work and co-operate with others.

What I find so fascinating about leadership within schools is that we are all leaders. The teachers are leaders and should be approached as such. That means that I as a leader must have a keen ear to what they are saying about their leadership and evaluate how I can contribute to their profession with my genuine interest in their very important job. It’s tough to be a teacher today and the teacher needs support in order to keep the necessary focus and spirit up. The teacher also need cooperating colleagues – and how do we create a positive atmosphere of co-operation and trust within the organization?

Tonight I read an interesting posting at one of the groups I just joined at my social network. The question was how we make enterprises learning organizations. Oh, if I only knew?! This is something that I have spent years pondering upon as I love these moments when we share and learn from each other! It is in the learning process we often feel very creative and happy which in turns add to results.

I want to share my joy in a learning experience and  bring the teachers to see what I see, that we have a wonderful job with all our students!

For a moment I realized what a powerful tool it would be to also link to my own blog, as I comment on someone elses, when I feel like something must be said. For quite natural reasons nobody hardly visits this blog since it has been dead ever since that day when I had to vent my frustration about principals.

Well, I might be back in town so to speak. I just wish I could feel a little bit more engaged.

Some teachers may feel that it is better if the principal sticks to his/her office but I would suggest that a school is never better than its leadership. Imagine a school where the principal is taking a teacher´s role to educate society on the importance of education?

When I reflect upon the very meaning with my job as a teacher I see that I need support. It is tiresome to try to convince the principal and the politicians the need for an education that is larger than just an isolated subject, such as math, English or history. In order to make sense of your subject you need to make sense of the need for education – both from an individual standpoint as well as for society as a whole.

I wish that principals were forerunners for democracy, that they were a voice in society, trying to advocate the importance of having a school system that does not only teach our youngsters subjects, but also critical thinking and engagement in making a better world for all of us.

So far I have met and read about dedicated teachers but where are the principals? Are they told to be quiet and conform to to the standards in order to keep the budget? Everybody knows that kids who do not get proper education and support as children cost society far more as adults than if they are given appropriate support when they are young.

A principal has more power than an individual teacher. I wish that the principals together with their staff make an effort to spread the ideology that school is an active and very important part in society that can make a change in terms of reducing violence, crimes and injustice.

We will see what I make of this, maybe this is the new beginning of spreading my reflections to a bigger audience then just colleagues at work and students in the classroom?