Your Decision, My Decision, or Our Decision?

(Originally titled “Who Decides What?”)

In this Educational Leadership column, principal Thomas Hoerr discusses four rules of thumb he uses to decide who decides in his St. Louis school:

• The more decisions teachers can make, the better. “Teachers are professionals who know their curriculum and understand their students,” he says, “and they need the autonomy to pursue the course that makes sense to them… I won’t always agree with their decisions, but their feelings of ownership stem from knowing that they have the right to decide.” 

• Teachers with more experience deserve more autonomy. “I particularly encourage talented and seasoned teachers to take risks and try new things,” says Hoerr.

• Principals need to be clear about when they will make decisions alone. On safety issues, there’s no leeway, he says. “On other issues, I may have a preference, but I’m fine with a range of strategies.” But he does have strong opinions on some issues; for example, having students copy famous authors’ works is not an acceptable way to teach writing.

• Confusion reigns in the absence of information. “We get into trouble if we assume everyone see things the same way we do,” says Hoerr.

“Who Decides What?” by Thomas Hoerr in Educational Leadership, April 2013 (Vol. 70, #7, p. 86-87), www.ascd.org); Hoerr can be reached at trhoerr@newcityschool.org

From the Marshall Memo #481