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| Issue 022/2005 |
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OPC President Doug Acton Shares his Leadership When he does look back, Doug realizes that there were various factors that guided his decision-making process. One was his father, a former elementary school principal who has been an influential force in Doug’s life. “There were also key teachers and coaches that I came to admire,” Doug recalls, “not just because of how well they could teach a certain subject, but more so because of their ability to reach out and affect the lives of those around them. That became something I wanted to do. I learned that teaching is about developing people, and I liked that.” So after graduation, Doug headed to teacher’s college at the University of Western Ontario and never left the city. Hired by the London school board in 1975, Doug spent 11 years as an elementary school teacher, two years as a secondary school teacher, two years as a VP and has just completed his 14th year as a principal. Throughout his career, the relationship aspect of the role has been the most gratifying. “There's really nothing like that ‘ah-ha’ moment in the classroom, resolving a social problem on the playground or watching players execute successfully on the basketball court. For me, the idea of developing a love of learning in students, connecting with kids and influencing them in the classroom or in the gym, is a reward that is hard to quantify.” After becoming a principal, Doug realized that the people side of the business was even more important. “I discovered that the principalship is all about relationships too. There are just more of them and they're at different levels and are more complex. But there is nothing better than making those kinds of connections and working toward a positive result. Building that culture makes such a difference in the school and has made the principalship so worthwhile for me.” Now, Doug plans to lead at a different level as he takes a one-year leave of absence from the Thames Valley District School Board to serve as OPC’s President for the coming year. Leadership involvement began early for Doug. In high school, he played on many sports teams, was a member of the Student Council and the Booster club, served as Lieutenant-Governor of the Key Club and was on the Sarnia Youth Council. At his high school graduation, he received the Inter Primos Esse award, given to the graduating student who contributes the most to community and extracurricular activities. “The motto at the Royal Military College is ‘Truth, Duty, Valour.’ It's the kind of thing that becomes ingrained in you as an RMC student. It teaches you the value of leadership and involvement and it's continued to be applicable throughout my life, in my teaching and into the principalship,” he notes. As a teacher, Doug was an active federation member, serving on the local Executive and provincial committees for a dozen years. He also served on predecessor principal associations as an Executive member. “I've always believed that that kind of involvement makes you better at your core role because you have a broader context, and it also gives you the opportunity to lead or shape events that help the organization continue to improve.” So when the OPC was established, Doug was a founding member, eager to become involved in the new professional association. “As a member of the Executive for the past four years, I've been part of a leadership team that's helped take the OPC from a fledgling organization to the respected, maturing body that it is today.” In November 2003, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy told the OPC Provincial Council that one of his main goals was to better define the role of the principal. Doug plans to see the OPC take an active part in this project over the coming year. “Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them,” Doug states, quoting from Lawrence Peters. “The principalship is one of those kinds of roles. And so it's our job right now to inform the debate and help shape the outcome.” To do that, Doug is counting on the assistance of OPC Members from across the province. As part of an OPC-commissioned research study being conducted by Queen’s University, principals and vice-principals across the province have been asked to take part in an activity log, whereby they keep track of everything they do during the day in 15-minute increments. In combination with a set of one-on-one interviews taking place with principals and supervisory officers, the research will provide, for the first time anywhere, hard data on just how diverse and complex the role really is. It’s information that will be valuable to the ministry as it undertakes its role-of-the principal review. “Our challenge, as school leaders, will be to balance the concept of what the principalship should be with what it actually is. With our data, the task will be to resolve the differences between the two. We can then lobby for changes that will allow us to perform our primary role and function effectively, without being derailed by some of the barriers that can get in the way. “For example,” he continues, “what are some things that are really low priority with respect to principal effectiveness that end up consuming large amounts of our time? Part of what we want to do with the role of the principal is to recognize what priorities should be on our plate and get some of the things that interfere with those priorities off of our plate. That can have a direct impact on what every OPC Member does day in and day out.” As Doug considers the year ahead, he cites two projects on OPC’s front burner. The first is the College of Teachers. “The College is currently re-examining the Ethical Standards and the Standards of Practice for the teaching profession. I think the Code of Ethics applies quite appropriately to all members of the College. But the Standards of Practice really only apply to teachers right now—they don’t adequately reflect the additional roles and responsibilities we have as school leaders.” The OPC will be presenting a position paper to the College on the Standards this fall. It’s an issue that Doug believes will have an important impact on the principalship. The other issue is potential labour disruption, given the expiry of all teacher contracts as of August 31. “Provincially, there is the potential for widespread labour disruption. As an organization, we need to support our Members with strategies to help them get through these next critical months.” After 29 years in a school, Doug knows that one of the issues school leaders struggle with every day is how to get everything done. “To quote Michel Fullan, I think principals are struggling with coherence making. We have many, many competing priorities and demands on our role, and it’s a challenge to identify and sort out what our core purposes are and then ensure that our activities are aligned with that. I think that's an ongoing struggle with the principalship.” Doug cites the Teacher Performance Appraisal process as an example. “That was a big consumer of my time last year. It's an important process that we need to be involved in, but it's a question of whether it's functioning as efficiently as it can. I probably spent more time on the TPA last year than I have at anytime in the past, just to make it work and to meet the minimum requirements with respect to the meetings that you have to have and the documentation that you have to provide. It's a heavier layer.” At the provincial level, Doug believes that the OPC as an organization also needs to consider its next steps. “We've had a spectacular establishment phase, rapid growth and have been through a process in which we identified our core purposes. Our primary membership base has been established and resources are being developed to assist the needs of Members. As an organization, I think we're at a point now where we have to talk about strategic growth and pick our path fairly carefully for continued success.” Acknowledging that there are many roads that the OPC could choose to travel down, Doug uses a tongue-in-cheek analogy to make his point. “There's an old story that says you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince. I feel, however, that excessive frog kissing may be a waste of time and resources and could be downright hazardous to your health. Our success to date allows us the luxury of being a little bit more selective as we cast our eyes over the pond, and to select only those frogs with the best prince potential.” As a veteran Executive member, Doug has been watching and learning from past Presidents. “For me, it's been absolutely exhilarating to work with such dedicated and talented professionals that are very passionate about this undertaking. We've had the benefit of a string of effective, dynamic Presidents, supported by an extremely capable staff, who have spoken out on behalf of principals and vice-principals in Ontario and have helped to shape the debate around public education. “My participation in the OPC over the years has helped me to acquire skills and context. I hope to be the next in an effective line of Presidents as the OPC continues to grow by representing its Members at the local level and helping to shape policy at the provincial level.” Aside from education, Doug claims to be “passionate about, but not necessarily proficient at, golf.” His other hobbies are reading, music, cooking, gardening and entertaining. Over the past year, Doug has also been mentoring his wife Marti, who just completed her first year as a VP in the Thames Board. “That's been a really different dynamic for me as I’ve watched her enter the role for the first time. We've had lots of interesting discussions and it's been reinvigorating for me to go through all those firsts again.” Along with four grown children and one grandchild, Doug is also the grandfather-to-be of twin boys, expected this fall. It promises to be a busy year for Doug, both in and out of education. Despite the hectic year ahead, Doug can’t wait to get started. “When you start a new role like this, you can anticipate what it is going to be like to some degree, but you can't really appreciate its depth and complexity until you do it. I see the next year here as the opportunity of a lifetime, to be of service to my peers on a whole different level than anything I've ever done before. I’m looking forward to it and anticipating it with real excitement.” There may be fewer frogs to kiss in the year ahead, but Doug Acton plans to make sure that he kisses the right ones. E-mail: dacton@principals.on.ca
Interview conducted by Peggy
Sweeney, OPC |
