My big private school experience (9) Principal

There is a boss behind the school. Public schools look at who the chief is behind, and private schools look at who the chairman is. The boss controls the business direction of the school and the use of revenue. Usually, the dragon sees the beginning but not the end, so no one in the school thinks that the big boss has anything to do with them. In fact, the teachers and the principal in the school have a line behind them. Manipulate in the hands of others. If you refuse to be manipulated, you will probably have to quit. Staff in public schools may have a higher degree of freedom, and it is difficult for private schools to have room not to be interfered.

So what is the role of the principal?

Let’s use a company as an example. The principal is the role of the general manager. The general manager controls all the affairs of the company and is directly responsible to the chairman. The road to complete the goal set by the chairman. But how to do it and what means to use is the principal's business. Therefore, students and teachers will see the principal, and the atmosphere in the campus is basically created by the principal's hand.

When I was still in a large private school, the chairman of the general private school would control the principal and let someone he knew and trusted to serve. Of course, there are also more detours. For example, in a small private school I once stayed in, the chairman of the board asked his daughter to be the "deputy principal", and all school affairs were handled by the vice principal. The principal was only invited by the Ministry of Education to be the doorman after he retired, and he only had to wear a suit and laugh every day to play the grandfather of KFC.

Some principals like to shout slogans, and they also ask teachers to memorize them to make them catchy. These slogans are often used by students as fodder for jokes. There is a principal who loves to say "Easy to learn, happy to grow", and it is even printed on the school workbook. Talking too much, even the students who are not serious will memorize it. To put it bluntly, it is an empty talk. In the end, there is only relaxation, not necessarily happiness; if you don’t study much, you can’t see growth.

To be honest, the principal of a large private school at that time was considered a very good one among the schools I have been in. He delegated the affairs of the school to the head of each department, and only put pressure on the head of the department. She asked teachers to be as relaxed as possible in students' subjects, but strict requirements for technical licenses, and issued instructions to each subject director that students must obtain a Class C license before graduation. Once asked to chat, I asked why I had to ask for this? She froze for a moment and said:

"Students come to our school only if they don't like reading. If they don't like reading, they can learn a skill. Otherwise, wouldn't they be living up to their youth?"

It seems to make sense, but my subject teacher here feels like I have learned too much, and it is useless at all. Later, I went to take a vocational certificate, and I was probably influenced by the principal!

The principal of the large private school is a woman, surnamed Xu. She is handsome and beautiful, with a fixed image. She often wears a narrow skirt and carries a Chanel bag. In general, there are not many words, but when giving orders, they are fast and accurate. The only exception is the lecture time during the flag-raising ceremony. She likes to tell stories, which she thinks can inspire students.

Once she told a story to the effect that a lion cub asked the lioness where the happiness was, and the lioness said it was on her tail. The implication is probably that although happiness cannot be seen in front of the eyes, it has always followed its own meaning. After talking for a long time, the principal lost 20 minutes in the first quarter. When I got back to the classroom, I thought there was not much time left for class, so I just came for an open-ended discussion. I ordered a little fart from a classmate:

"Tell me, what can the story the principal just told us teach us?"

"What story? What did the principal say?" He was confused.

Judging from his expression, I think he was either sleeping or chatting just now. I had to tell the happy story on the lion's tail in general. When he heard it, his expression was still stunned. I put on a persuasive look:

"Think about it, happiness is on the tail, not in front of you, so it means..."

"Oh...I see! The lion's happiness is on the tail, so..." A gleam of light appeared on his face, and he seemed to have the answer. Open-ended questions have many benefits, the answer is not important, thinking is important. But he said solemnly:

"We're human, we don't have tails. So, we're not happy."