Principal Interview Follow the instructions found in the bullets below to complete the interview assignment. EDL 717 Principal Interview Questions rev (4).docxDownload EDL 717 Principal Interview

EDL 717

PRINCIPAL INTERVIEW

TOPIC: DIVERSITY

Instructions: Complete an interview with a school principal, preferably in the school district in which you are employed. Use the questions below as a guide. Provide the questions and answers to the instructor, accompanied by a two-page personal reflection of the interview results. Upload the completed interview questions and answers and reflection to CANVAS.

Principal Name: Dr. Bridges II

School: Oak Park Elementary School

Email:.org

Instructions:

1. Provide the mission statement with value on diversity. How has your experience and background prepared you to be effective in this environment with this diversity value/initiative?

I have had to encounter many different backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities across my career. The interactions with these differences, coupled with a mind to truly appreciate differences, has prepared me to deal with diversity in the work environment.

2. What do you see as the most challenging aspect of a diverse working environment? What steps have you taken to meet this challenge?

Addressing implicit bias. Many of us, myself included, are preconditioned with certain biases that we are often unaware of. I have purposely chosen to address this biases by having very frank conversations with all faculty members as a means of promoting an environment of constant reflection.

3. What kinds of experiences or training have you had working with others with different backgrounds than your own?

My entire career has been based around working with and for people from all walks of life.

4. Tell me about a situation in which you had to alter your work style (or decision) to meet a diversity need or challenge within the school?

Having to make adjustments toward our EL population was my biggest alteration. As a minority, I always found it easy to address the needs of African Americans as I am African American. However, I needed to readjust not only my line of thinking but my view of inclusiveness toward my EL population.

5. How have you handled a situation when a teacher or student was not accepting of others’ diversity?

Handling situations like these are delicate and should be approached with the utmost sense of care. My practice has always been a more side by side approach as to limit the defensiveness a person will naturally gravitate to. The objective is to always present the desired behavior in a way that the person, whether it be a student or teacher, organically accepts. If my view of diversity is forced on the person in question, then there is no true acceptance of diversity.

6. What does it mean to have a commitment to diversity and how would you develop and apply your commitment at this school?

A commitment to diversity suggests that our diversity becomes our biggest asset and we approach our instruction, our discipline, and our overall set of ideals from the lens of diversity.

7. Define the faculty, staff, and student needs at your school, with regard to cultural acceptance of others that are different. Has a formal needs assessment been conducted on cultural acceptance? If so, what were the results?

A formal needs assessment has been conducted and it did reveal that many of us struggled with certain biases that we were not aware of.

8. What efforts have you made, or been involved with, to foster diversity competence and understanding within the school?

We work tirelessly with our district EL team to foster diversity within the building for our English language learners. Additionally, we cater our professional development from the lens of the students we will serve, which are low income, minority students.

9. What have you done to further your knowledge about diversity? Have you included diversity in your professional development? How have you demonstrated what you have learned?

Diversity is a constant focus as our context necessitates that we pay attention to it (abundance of African American and Hispanic students). We have an intentional focus yearly of understanding our EL students as well as other professional development focused on understanding students of poverty. Much of how this is demonstrated is in my everyday speech and interactions. It is easy to profess a knowledge of diversity. Walking it in everyday life is the testament of its impact.

10. What challenges does a principal face in implementing a cultural acceptance platform to faculty and students? How do you handle these issues?

The greatest challenge is addressing the minds of those you serve. It is the largest determinant of success, or failure, in a cultural acceptance platform. My experience suggests the best way to handle this is to promote the open mindedness that I want exemplified building wide. As I have heard it said, “So goes the leader, so goes the building.”

Adapted from: http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/samples/interviewquestions/pages/diversity.aspx#sthash.zDcl901F.dpuf