Principal Interview: Student Discipline

1
Principal Interview Student Discipline

• Dr. Michael Hickman
• Pulaski County Public Schools
• Critzer Elementary School
• Assistant Principal
• Prior experience
• Pulaski County High School
• Assistant Principal

Critzer Elementary School 100 Critzer
Drive Pulaski, VA 24301 540-643-0274
2
What are the challenges of Student Discipline?

• Helping children to understand that they have a
  choice in their actions.
• The expectations from teachers as to how they
  believe the principal should handle the
  situation.
• The time that is spent on discipline that takes
  away from other aspects of school leadership.

3
How does discipline effect the overall school
climate?

• When there is a lack of discipline, children are
  confused as to the boundaries that are
  appropriate in the school.
• It is important to help children deal with their
  mistakes in a positive way. Positive discipline
  helps to create a positive school climate.
• Positive discipline encompasses sitting down with
  the child and having a conversation about the
  situation. The principal corrects through
  counseling.

4
What is your personal leadership style/philosophy
related to student discipline?

• Talking with the students and working with them
  on the logic behind the decisions that they have
  made.
• My training is based out of Reality/Choice
  Therapy. This training was developed by William
  Glasser. The emphasis on this program is to help
  students connect behavior with consequences. This
  is done with rational conversations, class
  meetings, contracts, and clear rules.
• Connected to Choice Therapy is the aspect of
  Positive Approach to Discipline (PAD).

5
How do you involve parents in student discipline?

• I like to call, or meet with parents, to keep
  them informed in the discipline process.
• It is important to work with parents to aid in
  helping the child to understand the consequences
  to their actions.
• The more rapport that you can build with the
  parent, the more support you can get to help with
  improving student behavior.
• Help the parents to see that you are not
  against them or their child, but that
  consequences to actions are a reality of being a
  part of a community.

6
What are legal issues related to discipline?

• Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), schools must
  report certain incidents. The state gathers data
  on the frequency of the incidents.
• The data from the reporting of the principal is
  gathered and made into a report and is tied into
  the adequate yearly progress of the school.
  Schools must meet requirements for being a Safe
  School.
• Principals must accurately record the student
  infractions of school policy. There must be a
  record of what the child did, and what was done
  in response to the infraction from the
  administration.

7
What are effective strategies that you have used
related to student discipline?

• Helping students to see that you want to give
  them a chance. I want them to know that the
  behavior that they have chosen was not
  appropriate, but I will support them to make
  better decisions in the future.
• I believe that children respond best when they
  are treated with respect. When they feel that
  they are being treated fairly and listened to,
  they tend to respond to discipline and
  correction.
• I believe that the core of discipline is not
  focusing solely on the behavior, but helping
  children to understand what is leading to their
  actions.
• Meeting with the student and having positive
  conversations with them to seek to improve their
  decision making.

8
How do teachers feel about educational leaders
approach to discipline?

• Building trust with the teachers is the most
  challenging aspect to discipline.
• Many teachers feel as though I am being soft on
  the student or not handling the situation in the
  way they want it handled.
• Teachers must remember that there are things
  about the student or the students family that
  impact my decision on how I handle the child. The
  teacher is not always aware, or as concerned,
  with how that impacts the decisions that are
  made.
• Helping the teachers to know that I want to
  support them as their principal and what they are
  doing in the classroom, but I must also work in
  the best interest of the child. I must work to
  get them to trust me in the decisions that I am
  making concerning discipline.

9
Principal Interview Student Discipline

• Michael Greco
• Pulaski County Public Schools
• Critzer Elementary School
• Principal
• Prior experience
• Floyd County Public Schools
• Principal

Critzer Elementary School 100 Critzer
Drive Pulaski, VA 24301 540-643-0274
10
What are the challenges of Student Discipline?

• The greatest challenge to discipline is
  convincing teachers that you are supporting them.
  
• Working with children to change negative
  behaviors that are reinforced and taught in their
  home life.

11
How does discipline effect the overall school
climate?

• It is important to realize that schools have a
  feel to them the second that one walks in the
  door.
• You want to build a culture of safety and
  boundaries, while promoting a place that is
  flexible and warm as well.
• Try to land in the middle between being too
  strict or too loose.

12
What is your personal leadership style/philosophy
related to student discipline?

• I like to use a more low-key approach to
  discipline. I want children to experience someone
  who is calm and collected when I am talking with
  them in a discipline situation.
• Help children to better understand the boundaries
  of the school and classroom. They must know that
  there are consequences to their actions.
• Talk to the children, and try to get to the root
  at what is driving their actions.

13
How do you involve parents in student discipline?

• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. Make sure
  you are building rapport with parents.
• Get parents involved in the process. Do not leave
  them in the dark about their childs behavior,
  what the consequences are, and how they can
  support the child to make better choices.
• I live by a principle He who tells the first
  story, tells the best story. Talk to the parents
  before the child tells their story to the
  parent that may be misleading.

14
What are effective strategies that you have used
related to student discipline?

• Respecting a child in discipline goes a long way.
  
• Children know and can sense if you care about
  them and want to help them to improve their
  behavior and not just punish them.
• Follow through on the consequences that you have
  set for the child. You must be a person who will
  go through what you have said you would go
  through.
• Let parents know what is going on and make a
  connection with them.

15
How do teachers feel about educational leaders
approach to discipline?

• Building trust with the teachers is the most
  challenging aspect to discipline.
• Educate teachers as to more of what you know is
  going on in the total life of the child.
• You are the ultimate leader in the school and
  some decisions must fall on you to make. Teachers
  will not always agree with every decision that
  you make.
• Meet with them and have a conversation to better
  explains at why you arrived at decision
  concerning discipline.