Adminfo - and Vice Principals

A subtle and careful undertaking
BCPVPA President Les Dukowski on the inherent controversy
in preparing children to take their place as thoughtful and
socially responsible citizens.
Jacob Bronowski’s intellectual
pursuits encompassed both science
and the humanities. He died in
1974 at the age of 66 and is probably
best known as the author and host
of the 1973 BBC series The Ascent of
Man. I recall being deeply impressed
by the Ascent series and used material
from the accompanying print materials
in some of my classes — the visual
proof of the Pythagorean theorem is
particularly elegant.
Bronowski’s interests extended
far beyond his work in geometry;
beyond the precision and proof of
mathematics to the ambiguity and
controversy of the human condition
in society. He is quoted as having said
“Has there ever been a society which
has died of dissent Several have died
of conformity in our lifetime.”
There is a science to the practice
of education. Application of research
and determination of effective practice
can often take place in the context
of dispassionate academic discussion.
The heart of public education,
though, is about the human condition.
It is about the fundamental undertaking
to make the world a better
place by preparing children to take
their place as thoughtful and sociallyresponsible
citizens. There is bound
to be controversy.
What do principals and vice-principals
do on those occasions when educational
policies and practices lead to
controversy In some instances the
controversy does not evoke any strong
feeling one way or the other. Other
times one may hold strong views and
feel the need to speak out.
Our positions as school leaders
make us both highly regarded and
highly visible and our opinions and
actions carry considerable weight in
the community. Principals and viceprincipals,
however have a duty of
loyalty to their Boards of Education
and cannot compromise that duty.
Court decisions have clearly indicated
that this duty may restrict a
principal’s or vice-principal’s right to
freedom of expression.
John Judson and Sarah Colman,
of the London, Ontario law firm of
Lerner and Associates, for the Ontario
Principals’ Council, wrote an article
for the OPC journal The Register
in February 1999. In the article they
state “Although your criticisms may
be warranted and your concerns wellfounded,
you have a duty to your
board, as your employer, not to do or
say anything that might be detrimental
to their interests.”
February 08 • Adminfo • 2
The duty of loyalty to Boards,
and by extension, to the provincial
policies that govern the operation of
Boards, does not make us powerless.
As an educational leader we will hold
strong opinions on policy matters
and will feel compelled to act in the
BCPVPA
Board of Directors 2007–2008
Les Du k o w s k i, President
ldukowski@bcpvpa.bc.ca
Ma r il y n Merler, President-Elect
mmerler@sd22.bc.ca
Directors
Leslie Andersson
andersson_l@sd36.bc.ca
Jameel Aziz
jaziz@sd73.bc.ca
Br i a n Chappell
bchappell@sd57.bc.ca
Ch e r y l Dew
cheryl.dew@sd27.bc.ca
Br i a n Ja c k s o n
Brian.Jackson@sd41.bc.ca
Su s a n Jo h n s e n
sjohnsen@richmond.sd38.bc.ca
Ch r i s Jo h n s o n
cajohnson@deltasd.bc.ca
El a i n e McVie
emcvie@sd61.bc.ca
My l e s Mo w a t
Myles_Mowat@sd59.bc.ca
Pa u l Ta y l o r
taylor_paul@sd36.bc.ca
ISSN: 1201-4214