THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS

Educators across the country understand that our educational system must improve in the near future in order to keep pace with other countries around the world and provide students with the appropriate opportunities for success. We must look at our leadership practices and reflect on how we can improve them to positively affect schools.

This study specifically analyzed what assistant principals do to create effective professional relationships with teachers. The quality of the relationships between teachers and principals is a key factor in achieving trust, cooperation, and open communication which lead to higher staff morale (Leithwood & Jantzi, 1990). Higher staff morale could lead to greater efficacy that could translate to increased student achievement. This study analyzed the responses from 361 assistant principals when asked the following questions: (1) Why is the relationship between the principal and the teacher important for the school? (2) What is the most critical feature for a successful working relationship between the teacher and the principal? (3) What does a principal do to create good relationships with their teachers? And (4) how does the principal look out for the welfare of their teachers?

The results of this study indicated that assistant principals perceive communication, leadership and support, and trust and respect as the most important characteristics in building and maintain positive working relationships with teachers.