SAGE ADVICE

What can a humble, fledgling school principal like me learn from  school administrators who've been at it for more than 4 decades? Well, I'd say 4 decades worth of awesomeness! On the 4th and 5th days of the Certificate Course on Catholic School Leadership, after a whole slew of theories, paradigms and conceptual models, I noted down some inspiring and thought-provoking words from our speakers, Ms. Florina Castillo, former principal of St. Scholastica's College Manila, and tag team partner Ms. Didi Villegas (also a former Scholastican principal) on the Interdisciplinary Concept Model:

1. Curriculum is breathing in you every hour of everyday.

True! I am breathing it right now, trying to create a sane class program for Grade School and High School.

2. Find friends among fellow administrators.

I may not have BFFs in the administration, but I've got their backs, and I know they've got mine. it takes a great deal of trust to share leadership, weigh life-changing options and make crucial decisions on a day-to-day basis. Lasting conflicts in administration are not good for the health of the school.Having a common goal helps, and talking about how to get there is a great thing to do over shared coffee and doughnuts.

3. Find “other lives” outside administration.

Uh-oh. Got me on that one, coz I don't really have one. Unless I count the hours I spend with my mom, who's got Parkinson's Disease and other related illnesses, blogging like mad every night, facebooking...Life is what you make of it.

4. David’s slingstone is Goliath’s tombstone.

Umm, I've forgotten the context of this one.***Memory Gap*** But it sounds really nice:)

5. What is in our office reflects your person and your work. e.g. if the school has a scholarly thrust, the principal’s office must have many books.

Love this one. I am such an OC with my office. Everyone knows that I'm a voracious reader, so it's no surprise that I have piles of books in almost every flat horizontal surface of my room. I also have an overcrowded bulletin board, which doesn't really function as a memo board, but a display board of stuff I find relevant to my work. These days it's got thank you notes from students, my distinguished alumni medal, a Taylor Swift ad for reading, letters from the Ateneo Alumni Association and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a National Geographic calendar, and a couple of invoices. Clutter is my middle name.

6. “Catch-a-moment, make-a-memory”: don’t let go of small experiences, celebrate them in school.

I've had my share of these in the last 4 years of principalship.My quirky way of catching memories is to take pictures of students and teachers--the more candid the better--and printing them on letters to parents (i.e. high school parenting seminar), tarpaulins, and the school paper. My "victims" are often pleasantly surprised to see their faces published, and I didn't even photoshop them.

7. The principalship is a "Gift of Office."

If I didn't see this as a gift, then I would have quit after one school year. I've never seen this position as a place of power and authority. I am no different from any of the teachers who walk into my office everyday. I just sign more clearances and diplomas, that's all. The real gift is being able to design academic programs, faculty development programs, parent participation programs--and getting everyone in the school community involved in them.

I hope to have more notes on school leadership from the likes of Ms Lala and Ms Didi someday.:)