Take any AP position, or be selective?

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Okay, I've been hearing JoAnn (Dr. Brown) talking about the value and importance of leaders being very selective in the jobs/positions they take, and I intuitively understand and agree with her. However, that presents somewhat of a dilemma for me, because as an aspiring AP, I feel like I should not look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak, and should graciously accept the first position that's offered to me.  If it so happened that I was offered two or more AP positions at the same time, then I could see where it'd be okay to be selective, but otherwise I would be reluctant to turn down any AP job.  So I'd like to ask some of you 2nd or 3rd year APs, and even veteran APs with many years, what your perspective is on this.  Here's a couple more of my thoughts about it, so you understand where I'm coming from and you can advise accordingly: I think, "It would be smart to take any AP job just to get a foot in the administrative door."  On the other hand, APs don't move around laterally very much in my district, so my decision would likely be for better or worse.  If I respectfully declined a job, would a principal consider that an affront and possibly suggest to his/her colleagues NOT to even bother considering me as a future candidate? I think that's a valid concern, but maybe it's not. At the same time, I know the reputations of many of our principals (relatively small district), and I'm pretty sure that there's several principals I wouldn't want to work with (or rather "work for" in their particular eyes). So...what would you all suggest? Thanks in advance for the guidance!

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 1, 2015 at 5:39 PM

    I was prepared to accept the first position offered. Hopefully it will be a good situation. If not, in my district we are able to participate in the transfer position after the third year. I was afraid of rejecting a position for the very same reasons.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 18, 2015 at 4:56 PM

    Three years is a long time to be in a place that's not really where you want to be though. I guess you could look at it as it's up to you to make it a place where you want to be. Thanks for the response!

    ReplyDelete

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