Abstract:

Knowledge-based Society has challenged schools. Educating people able to transform information into knowledge and then, produce new ideas requires visionary leaders that know how to articulate the elements of the institution.

The school’s management is far from being a simple task and it becomes even more convoluted in this ephemeral word. For this reason, the principal must be able to preserve the essence of the school, but at the same time he must push the school towards innovation to respond to the present needs.

Consequently, he requires specific training, understanding that he is a leader and a learner in a community of people that seek for the perfection of the human being. The school is formed by “a group of members where tasks and responsibilities are divided in order to reach the established objectives” (Isaacs, 2005, p. 25).

It is a synthesis of personal expectations that requires the integration of all resources and efforts for it to burgeon. Hence, the school’s principal is responsible for its management and success. He amalgamates the technical and the pedagogical aspects; he is a guide that inspires the ethical behavior; he plans, organizes, empowers, trusts, motivates, supervises and gives feedback to ensure the school’s educational quality and to adapt it to today’s Knowledge Society, the new economical and political order where technology has changed the patterns of production, and where globalization is imminent.

With knowledge as the main source of wealth, the key element is the person, who "transforms and uses information in order to create and apply knowledge for human development" (UNESCO, 2005).

Thus, education is key. Schools must become institutions fit for the Knowledge-based Society by encouraging innovation, problem solving and research, but in order to achieve that, the principal has to be the first one to develop and to promote them among the community.

After studying the personal qualities of 8 principals of different institutions, the characteristics of the Knowledge Society, and the theories of school management the following can be concluded:
The school principal needs to be a mature person that shares the school’s philosophy. Among his personal characteristics, he needs to be sociable, assertive, charismatic, resilient and empathetic. He needs to know who to work with others, and for that, negotiation and communication are fundamental. He must be a leader and a visionary that motivates, adapts easily, and innovates. He ought to have the pedagogical formation, the knowledge of educational legislation, and experience in the teaching sector.

As mentioned above, the principal’s qualities demand specific knowledge and skills circumscribed in the nature of his responsibilities. Defining the profile in advance, by studying the tasks of management and the characteristics of the Knowledge Society allows the institutions to be more assertive while choosing a principal, and on the other hand, to identify strengths and weaknesses of current principals.

Keywords:

School's principal, shcool management, Knowledge-based Society, principal's personal qualities.