A Matter Of Principals Education

6 December 2008

Young teachers are increasingly aspiring to - and gaining - leadership roles, writes Kristie Kellahan.

Forget the old stereotype of all school principals having grey hair and spectacles. Today there is a growing number of teachers promoted to the position of head of school well before their 40th birthday.

It has been predicted as much as half the education workforce could retire within the next five years. With future staffing needs in mind, there's a strong push to identify younger teachers with leadership aspirations and potential for promotion.

Four years ago, Bernard Cheng celebrated his appointment as principal of Australia Street Infants School. Cheng was just 28 years old at the time of his appointment, the youngest principal appointed to a metropolitan school.

Cheng credits his strong work ethic and ambition, along with the guidance and support of the principal he worked under at Mowbray Public School, for the rapid promotion.

"I had an excellent principal, who was very encouraging and wanted everyone to feel ownership of the school," Cheng says. "After two years teaching there, I was given an assistant principal role."

Cheng says the experience he gained as a computer skills assessment consultant within the Department of Education was also beneficial when making the step up to principal.

"I was in and out of 120 schools in that role as I helped them to integrate new technology into the classrooms," he says.

"It was a wonderful opportunity to observe how all these different schools operated."

Cheng says leading a school is endlessly interesting. "You are responsible for shaping and creating the type of school you'd like to attend yourself," he says.

"It's a huge responsibility because ultimately the buck stops with you."

Cheng says many of the parents at his inner-city school are the same age or older than he is. "A lot of the parents here are highly educated, articulate and have high expectations, so it's important that I exhibit my depth of knowledge as much as my youthful exuberance."

Louise Gallagher is the principal of Hunter Sports High School, a large school catering for up to 1000 students. Now 38, she was promoted to principal three years ago.

Gallagher says her post-grad certificates and Masters degree helped hone her skills and leadership aspirations.

"I've always been very work-focused and dedicated," she says. "I think it's important for other teachers to see there are leadership opportunities; you don't have to be in the job for years and years to get promoted."

She says that while her relative youth may have been "a bit of a novelty" at first within the school community, ultimately it's about how you relate to the students. "In some ways it might be an advantage to be younger because the kids connect well with me but really I don't think age comes into it at all. It's about how you teach and lead."

This has been the first year in the top job for Mark McConville, principal at Toronto High School in the Hunter region. At the age of 36, he says he has enjoyed the journey and has never been overly concerned with the future. "I never had the goal of being a principal but the opportunities came up as I went along and I enjoyed each position I held," he says. "The real key is to do a good job for the kids, not for a promotion, and the opportunities will open up rapidly for you."

McConville says the financial rewards of teaching are not as great as other professions but the job satisfaction is richly rewarding. "I really enjoy going to work every day and you can't put a price on that," he says.


Back to News Index | Back to Home