BLOG PENDIDIKAN DAN BEASISWA

“Professionalism was associated with teacher supervision, curricular involvement, and taking initiative – not writing reports, hiring janitors, or ordering toilet paper” (Cuban, 1998, p. 61). It is interesting to identify a principal as a person who was hiring janitors and/or ordering toilet paper in the early decades of this century. This situation indicates that the role of principal was not really significant. Besides, many articles have reported that in the 1800s school did not even have a principal. Then, how did the school manage the complicated tasks such as students’ achievement, social control, curriculum, etc.? This paper will answer this question. I will discuss the changing role of the principal in the United States in four main eras: Janitor/Principal Teacher Era (1770-1929), Great Depression Era (1930-1953), Sputnik Era (1954-1980), and Nation at Risk Era (1980-1990). I will also discuss how and why the principal’s roles had evolved.  1. Janitor Era/Principal Teach...

After reading this article I realized that it is not easy to make an effective school. I used to think that principals could do everything they want to improve the quality of their school. In facts, however, there are a lot of things we must consider in achieving school effectiveness. There are at least three main points that Rosenholtz (1985) proposed to create a successful school: The principal's competency, effective school goals, and like-minded teachers. The first point in realizing school effectiveness is the principal’s competency. The principal’s approach in dealing with the goals of achievement is very important. Rosenholtz (1985) assumed that the principal should be able to do effective planning and lead action to mobilize teachers in eradicating low student achievement. In line with this, Bossert, et al (1982) stated that the principal should also be able to balance between the “bottom-up” and “top-down” views of organization in leading an effective school. Besides, ...