School leadership, and in particular the principal, have a key role in the implementation and sustainability of school health promotion. The principal is central to creating the organizational conditions, capacity, and readiness required for successful implementation of an initiative. The capacity building aspect relates to time and resource allocation, competence development, and administrative structures and strategies designed to empower and involve teachers and students. The readiness-building aspect involves motivating and advocating a value basis for the initiative by linking it to the articulated overall aims of the school.
In their role as facilitators of interventions and innovations, school principals frequently concentrate on managerial and organizational aspects such as allocation of resources and time for the intervention. Research indicates that in order for school principals to be successful agents of intervention they also need to give emphasis to the leadership role. Leadership, however, does not replace management, but should be a facilitator of it (Daft, 1999). Leadership requires an awareness of a sustained long-term aim for the implementation, through building and maintaining a supportive organizational culture, establishing commitment to the goals and values of the program, and developing direction for the school in its work. Daft (1999) suggests three core elements in principals’ roles as they implement programs: to provide direction, to secure alignment, and to enable students and staff. Each of the elements includes leadership and management strategies, as presented next.
To Provide Direction
Implementation of programs involves the introduction of something new and thus requires change. Leadership means helping to direct that change by articulating a clear vision, setting priorities and developmental goals, and charting a plan to achieve these visions and goals. Leadership is supported by managerial approaches used to identify concrete, step-by-step actions, to allocate resources, and to schedule the program into the daily life of the school.
To Secure Alignment
Closely related to providing direction is the act of aligning the people involved in the program. In order for teachers to be willing to spend time and energy on the program, they need to be convinced of its utility. In the leadership role, the principal must communicate the vision and the values of the program to gain alignment and commitment. A crucial element in the alignment process is to build and nurture collaboration among the teachers. Supporting the leadership strategies, managerial actions integrate the program into the school’s written policy plan and thus make it a shared strategy that all teachers are committed to use. Formalization is also advanced by monitoring the extent to which teachers follow the school plan. Careful alignment around values and questions of relevance can influence teachers’ conviction of the program’s utility and thus decrease tensions they may experience as change occurs.
To enable
Finally, successful implementation also requires that the principal ensures that the teachers have the tools and training to use the program. In the leadership capacity, the principal needs to be available as a discussion partner for the teachers during implementation. The leader probes and listens to teachers to identify their needs and to give them feedback. In the management role, the allocation of resources and time for teacher training and program implementation (including teachers’ planning time) is crucial. Teacher training is critical to successful program implementation. In a new health promotion initiative, teacher training needs a broader focus than in a prepackaged program. In either case, the aim of collaboration between teachers, school leadership, and students is vital.
Leadership and management strategies are also important to secure the sustainability of the program. A long-term perspective on the three core elements of a principal’s role is important. Experience over time helps teachers identify any impact of the initiative on their daily teaching life and thus the program’s utility. The principal’s ongoing attention to how the program advances the school’s goals enhances sustainability. This attention helps teachers cope with changes and urges professional development. Further, the principal’s management strategies maintain the new program’s position in the overall school policy plan and thus allow for rational allocation of resources, particularly in the realm of ongoing teacher training and staff development.
Conclusions
In summary, effective school-health promotion should be based on systematic identification of what the school wants to achieve through the initiative. Often, it is wise and efficient to use an evaluated program of demonstrated efficacy. In other instances, a school may have to develop a unique program based on a comprehensive local needs analysis and assessment of resources. Activities should be built on existing theory and evidence of impact when available. It is also important in the whole-school approach to secure commitment of both students and staff. Activities and approaches should be planned to incorporate necessary changes in the physical and social environment of a school in addition to more traditional health education approaches aiming at improving students’ individual skills and attitudes. The school health service and other relevant collaborators should also be involved to ensure use of all available competencies and resources. School leadership has a crucial role to play in facilitating both development and implementation of the school health-promotion program. Moreover, evaluation of processes and outcomes is critical. Systematic development, implementation, and evaluation are required to advance deeper knowledge of what constitutes an effective school health-promotion program