Principals from six rural high schools participating in the Mutual Building Societies Foundation's (MBSF) Centres of Excellence programme are participating in a series of intensive leadership work-shops to encourage the use of business principles in the management of schools. The sessions started last month, and will continue tomorrow.

The educators represent the six high schools - McGrath, in St Catherine; Porus and Mile Gully in Manchester; Seaforth in St Thomas; Godfrey Stewart in West-moreland; and Green Pond in St James. They are participants in the $100-million programme funded bythe MBSF, which was established by The Victoria Mutual Building Society and Jamaica National Building Society.

Dr Reneé Rattray, programme manager at the MBSF, said the Principal as CEO leadership workshops, are structured to achieve more accountability among school leaders and develop solution-based approaches to teaching and learning.

Lead with authority

Rattray, who was recently appointed to the post of programme manager, pointed out that the workshops are aimed at assisting the principals to see themselves as chief executive officers leading a company, rather than only viewing themselves as a principal of a school.

"We want the principals to embrace the notion of being the person at the helm who knows about everything but is able to delegate and distribute leadership at all levels within the school," she explained. Rattray also emphasises that "account-ability will be a key feature of schools in the Centres of Excellence programme. Principals, teachers, parents and students will all be held to account for student learning."

She added: "The school community is a learning community in which the principal is the chief learning officer, so he or she is the person who drives learning, because schools are in the business of teaching and learning."

Strategic talks

She says among the practices principals will need to put in place is a process of regular observations and strategic talks with teachers to support them in their teaching.

"What we want is a situation where it is not only the students who are learning, but the teachers too," she emphasised.

Michael Ellis, principal of the Green Pond High School, said the workshops have enabled principals to look at student learning in a more meaningful way.

"It reinforces the point that the student is the most important stakeholder," he said.

He added that accountability was an important part of the leadership and management process and impacts teaching and learning.

The Principal as CEO Leadership series is being facilitated by consultant, Gillian Chambers, of the Jamalysha Training Company Limited.