Advice for Principals After School Mergers: Avoid an "Us and Them" Mindset

Following a series of school mergers, education experts have offered guidance to school principals on how to manage the transition smoothly as new academic terms approach.

The central piece of advice is for principals to avoid cultivating an "us and them" mindset among staff and students who come from previously separate schools. Such divisions, experts warn, can undermine cooperation and morale within the newly formed institution.

Instead, principals are urged to foster a sense of shared identity, treating all staff and students as members of a single community rather than representatives of their former schools.

This guidance comes as several areas prepare for the upcoming school year following recent administrative restructuring. In Phu Xuan district, preparations are reportedly being carried out urgently, reflecting the tight timeline between the merger and the start of term.

Long Dien commune is similarly finalizing arrangements for its new school year, having also undergone a merger process that combined previously distinct schools into unified institutions.

School mergers, which are often part of broader administrative reforms, can present significant challenges for education leaders. Staff members from different schools may have varying teaching styles, institutional cultures, and expectations, while students may struggle to adapt to unfamiliar peers and routines.

Experts note that if these challenges are not addressed carefully, they can lead to lingering tensions or a sense of exclusion among certain groups within the merged school. Effective leadership, by contrast, can smooth the transition and help build cohesion.

Recommendations for principals include maintaining open communication, ensuring equitable treatment of all staff and students regardless of their school of origin, and actively working to dissolve informal divisions that may persist after a merger.

As multiple districts and communes navigate this period of change, the advice underscores a broader challenge facing education administrators: managing structural reform while preserving a sense of unity and stability for both staff and students.