Emotional Intelligence in School Management: A School Principal’s Experience

The role of the principal greatly affects school management, the educational environment, and the performance of students and teachers. Emotional intelligence skills among school principals also contribute to enhancing the educational process and achieving institutional success. Below, I present, from my experience as Deputy Director of Education, a set of solutions to deal with the daily problems school principals face by employing emotional intelligence skills. 

First problem: lack of effective communication.

Communication skills are a means of exchanging ideas and information between the principal and the parties to the educational process, and there may be a defect in the effectiveness of this skill among the school principal, which affects his relationship with teachers, students, and parents. This deepens the lack of their needs and repeats their personal and academic problems periodically. Therefore, we present some solutions that rely on emotional intelligence skills:

1. Enhancing non-verbal communication, through training in body language, and enhancing understanding and communication with parties to the educational process.
2. Developing effective listening skills, focusing on the speaker, avoiding distraction, and listening without interruption.
3. Developing emotional communication skills, by enhancing the skills of expressing feelings and needs, and open dialogue skills.
4. Promoting a culture of cooperation and communication among school team members, by organizing workshops and seminars on effective communication, and emotional intelligence skills, and participating in activities that enhance communication and positive interaction.
5. Using modern means of communication, such as email, online chat, and social media platforms, to express ideas and needs.
6. Providing training programs to deal with communication difficulties, and improve the ability to understand and process feelings.
7. Creating a school environment that encourages effective communication, by creating dialogue sessions, organizing social activities, and school events.

Second problem: weak emotional balance.

Emotional balance refers to the principal’s ability to deal with feelings and emotions appropriately

and effectively and achieve balance between different emotions. However, sometimes, the large workloads and administrative pressures may negatively affect his performance. Therefore, the manager must develop his emotional intelligence and enhance his capabilities by following the following methods:

1. Work to achieve a healthy balance between personal and professional life, by setting work priorities, organizing time effectively, and giving importance to rest, and activities that contribute to restoring mental and physical activity.
2. Enhance emotional sustainability by practicing self-care, and caring for mental and physical health, such as: exercising, meditation, eating healthy meals, and getting enough sleep.
3. Enhance stress management skills and emotional tension by learning strategies to control stress, deep breathing, meditation, and good task planning.
4. Build a social support network by communicating with teachers, students, and parents, and benefiting from their experiences, sharing their experiences, and exchanging ideas.
5. Use emotions positively to adapt to challenges and solve problems, by developing positive thinking skills, emotional flexibility, and using emotions to motivate and achieve change.

Third problem: resistance changeChange management depends on planning and implementing transformations in organizational structures, by modifying the administrative hierarchy, and leadership roles, distributing responsibilities, and organizing different departments. As for changing administrative processes, it includes reviewing tasks or redesigning workflows and administrative procedures to simplify these processes and reduce bureaucracy. The change also aims to improve school efficiency, enhance cooperation and synergy between the parties of the educational process, and the ability to adapt to evolving educational challenges. The director may be exposed to resistance to this change from the parties of the educational process, so the severity of this resistance can be reduced by following the following solutions:

1. Realizing and understanding the reasons that led some parties to the educational process to reject change, which may be the result of anxiety, fear of the unknown, and the impact of change on the current situation. These reasons can be better addressed and directed positively by understanding the emotions associated with rejecting change.
2. Building trust and effective communication between the principal and school team members by clarifying the vision and goals of change through open dialogue, listening to their concerns and comments, and involving them in developing plans to implement the change.
3. Motivating change with a positive perspective and clarifying its benefits, such as: improving the quality of education, enhancing opportunities for personal and professional growth for the teacher, and using emotional motivation, such as: praising and appreciating the teacher who embraces change and actively cooperates in achieving it.
4. Developing the ability to adapt and be flexible with change, by learning the skills of analysis, planning, organization, positive thinking, and creative thinking to face the various challenges that arise during the change process.
5. Encouraging continued development of skills, learning new strategies for dealing with change, and organizing workshops and training courses to expand knowledge and enhance capabilities in the field of change.

Yasmine Hassan – Trainer