The principal as catalyst

An Interview With Troy Mills Principal, Annehurst Elementary School Westerville, Ohio In 1972, Troy Mills, the principal at Annehurst Elementary School asked Jack Frymier, then chairman of Curriculum and Foundations, The Ohio State University, to visit his school. He and his staff had been searching for an easier way to classify curriculum materials for better access to both teachers and students and had been impressed by some of Jack's ideas in A School for Tomorrow. From their initial meeting evolved a four-year working relationship between Ohio State University faculty members, Jack Frymier, Kelly Duncan, Chuck Galloway, and Jack Hough, and the Annehurst school staff, an important by-product of which was the formulation/design of the Annehurst Curriculum Classification System. Phi Delta Kappa has sponsored a movie on this model and Kappa Delta Pi has published a text on it and sponsored workshops on the model's use. A seasoned innovator and dedicated professional educator, Troy Mills rarely puts his modus operandi into print. Last spring, I, as guest editor of this issue, arranged a telephone dialogue with Troy in which he shared with me his ideas on the principal's role. The following is an edited account of that conversation. GUEST EDITOR (G.E.) Troy, how would you describe the role of the school principal? MILLS The role is multifaceted. I see the principal first as an organizer, one who pulls together all aspects of the school; next, as a facilitator of (either) a climate conducive to or non conducive to learning; and perhaps most important, as a catalyst for change. The principal is involved in every aspect of the program-even though the involvement may be low key. I don't view the principal as an authoritarian telling everybody, This is the way we'll do it, because the school staff is capable of contributing many good ideas of their own to complement those of the principal. G.E. What you've described is a rather tough assignment. MILLS Yes, very tough. A lot of people have the idea that the principal should be a permissive individual turning teachers loose and letting them do their own thing. But I think somewhere along the way one needs to develop a standard of performance that is understood (and accepted) by all personnel within the building. G.E. Once this standard of performance is in operation, it will continue even when new staff come aboard. MILLS Yes, and all school personnel must want to become involved for the program to progress as it should. At Annehurst we are heavily into non

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