Dr. Chaim Y. Botwinick
Over the years, I have had the privilege to mentor and coach many yeshiva day school executives – from experienced and well established heads of school and principals to novice and aspiring professionals in desperate need of training.
My quest for determining why and how people aspire to become yeshiva and head of school senior professionals has motivated me to view the field and the leadership profession through a wide array of professional lenses and perspectives.
A deep-dive into these observations reveal several challenges and opportunities, include the need for more well designed comprehensive leadership training to the establishment of accelerated leadership mentoring and coaching tracks and, internships. These are in addition to the unswerving need for increased financial remuneration, incentives and benefits, including housing subsidies and sign-on bonuses.
As we know, our Jewish day school community is currently experiencing a leadership vacuum, exacerbated by fewer senior educators entering the field. To be sure, many of those who do occupy these critically important leadership positions were (at one point in their careers) outstanding teachers….but, unfortunately they were rewarded for their classroom teaching excellence by being “promoted out of the classroom” to higher paying leadership (read administrative) posts.
This reality is not a very promising or bright prospect for the future of our day schools, or for creating career paths or ladders for our yeshiva/day school teachers or administrators.
Today, our yeshiva day school heads of school and principals are only beginning to enjoy better compensation packages than ever before in history. Nevertheless, our communities are still unable to attract and retain high quality professional leadership. This may be due in large measure to a lack of professional expectations, skills-set, training and experience; as well as a lack of support and understanding regarding the daily roles, demands and responsibilities of the today’s Jewish day school heads and principals.
Yeshiva/Day School Leadership: Strengths, Weaknesses and Opportunities
When painting a portrait of the ideal yeshiva/day school principal or head of school, one begins to appreciate the fact that being an effective and high-performing principal or head of school is one of the most challenging, stressful, demanding, rewarding and exhilarating positions in the world of Jewish nonprofits. It is for this very reason that many great principals and school heads spend a tremendous amount of time and energy responding to the expansive and evolving needs of students, faculty, parents and community members.
Another important characteristic of an effective principal or head of school is his/her ability to inspire a positive school climate, culture and environment of educational excellence through modeling, and by providing best practice opportunities in leadership and school management. But above all, in order for the leader to succeed, he/she must have a burning passion, affinity for student learning, growth and development as well as for model teaching and instruction. This is especially critical in today’s Jewish day school or yeshiva where Jewish values, norms, standards, hashkafa and educational philosophy are paramount.
It is important to note that an effective principal/head of school should always focus on the quality of instruction. In fact, this focus is viewed as one of the most essential aspects of a principal’s or head of school’s commitment to educational excellence – whether it be in Judaic or general studies. The “curriculum” should be viewed not only as a singular classroom activity, but as an important metric indicator reflecting the school’s hashkafa, philosophy, mission, vision and direction.
These activities include public expressions of derech eretz, exemplary middot, kavod, ahavat yisroel, chesed, shmirat haLashon and being a yirat shamayim.
All of these values must be exemplified by the school’s faculty and staff…and modeled by the school’s head of school or principal. They are yet another series of important responsibilities, obligations and commitments which are intrinsic to the head of school or principal’s leadership and influence in the school.
Research in education supports the contention that outstanding professional school leadership require five discrete yet interrelated areas or disciplines.
They include: vision, culture, delegation, instruction and data driven policy and decision making.
Many of these characteristics are learned through experience or through an innate ability to lead, inspire and manage. Fortunate are the yeshiva and day school heads who possess this ability and capacity to understand, appreciate, and celebrate these important dimensions of their work.
Finally, the success of the Jewish day school/yeshiva principal or head of school will greatly depend upon his/her training and experience as well as an ability, capacity and bandwidth to multitask throughout the day. In fact, leaders who are single=minded or focused will have a very difficult time trying to succeed in an ever-changing multi-dimensional time-consuming dynamic environment.
The ever-increasing demands now being placed on the head of school and principal (as leader, manager, counselor, surrogate parent, etc….) are daunting at best. They represent a microcosm of the challenges and exigencies now being confronted in our society, communities and homes.
A school’s responsible approach to the challenges of social media technology, single-parenthood, the over indulgent behavior of the privileged, students with exceptionalities, families living at the poverty level and mental health concerns on the student and faculty levels – are just a several of the ever-increasing challenges facing 21st century day schools and yeshiva leadership. Not a very easy task to say the least.
The evolving role of the principal or head of school is not about being an expert in every discipline, but rather to have the ability, creativity, knowledge and wisdom to identify appropriate resources and leadership expertise in response to these ever growing concerns.
At the Crossroads:
Whether one is a seasoned head of school or principal, or a novice administrator just entering the leadership field – the underlying challenges are basically the same.
So as long as leadership demand outweighs supply, its incumbent upon our communities to ensure that we have the “best and brightest” leading our schools.
Anything less should not be acceptable or negotiable.
We must accept the reality that securing the right leader for our schools will always be a challenge. And one which will probably continue in perpetuity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Chaim Botwinick is a senior executive coach and an organizational consultant. He served as president and CEO of the central agency for Jewish education in Baltimore and in Miami; in addition to head of school and principal for several Jewish day schools and yeshivot. As an Influencer, he has published and lectured extensively on topics relating to education, resource development, strategic planning and leadership development. Dr. Botwinick is co-director of LEV Consulting Associates and creator and host of the Chinuch Horizons podcast series. He is author of “Think Excellence: Harnessing Your Power to Succeed beyond Greatness”, Brown Books, 2011.
