0.6 Challenges facing black american principals: a conversation  (Page 18/22)

Principals need to get in touch with themselves and their surroundings. A drive away from the suburbsand inner city, a walk on the beach, meditate, jog in the woods, sit by the water, and talk to wise Big Mamma (she need not have adegree to possess wisdom) or a professional elder“dean”who broke the ice long before your arrival thus making your professionalpresence possible. School administrators and their principals ofcolor need to understand (in theory and practice) spirituality, support groups, shifting, and paradigm reconstruction, Two GotchaHandicap, and humor. Black principals in the postmodern era must teach these terms to future educators and principals for they too,must learn to analyze and interpret within their paradigm and the paradigm of others how to know when to“hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.”

Each one Teach one (Diaspora)

Lastly, the diversity of our schools is upon us. Principals in the new millennium enhance the texture of theirleadership success by listening and interacting with faculty and students from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Mentorsnot only experience an honor to serve but mentoring can be a powerful indicator that the school values a mentor’s skills and abilities to lead and share with others (Playko, 1995). In thislight, the mentoring can increase the mentor’s self-esteem (Czaja&Owens, 1999). Another intrinsic value of mentoring is the feeling of having a potential impact on the future of educationalleadership (Milstein, 1993, Daresh&Playko, 1992). Galbnüth and Cohen (1995) noted that mentors and mentees have reported thatmentoring is a highly satisfying and rewarding as it fosters a cohesiveness within the organization while encouraging the completedevelopment of each individual by facilitating growth of personal development. The willingness of both people to invest their time,energy, emotions and themselves in an agreement to work together can result in shared personal enhancement, growth, andsatisfaction, as well as improved communications.

Mentoring programs that engage both practicing and retired school administrators can be mutually beneficial as aprogrammatic effort that affirms self-worth and acceptance. Moreover, the diversity of the mentee’s and mentor’s backgrounds and approaches enrich the process of discovery, the ways ofthinking about solving problems, and the multiple modes of communicating ideas. Therefore a comfort level with difference, aswell as flexibility to learn in various ways, must emanate from the organization of schools.

References

Bland, B. (1989). Midnight Run. You've got to hurt before you heal. CD, Jackson,

Mississippi, Malaco Records. 

Bloom, G.&M. Krovetz. (2001, Jan. / Feb.). A Step into the principalship.

Leadership, pp. 12-13.

Bolman, L.&Deal, T. (1995). Leading with soul. Jossey Bass: California.

Butler, J. (1993). Transforming the curriculum: Teaching about women of color. In J.A.

Banks.&I C.A.M. Banks (Eds.), Multicultural education: Issues and