The instructional leadership role of the school principal in Thohoyandou (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
In the past decade learning outcomes in public basic schools in Ghana have fallen far below the targets of the Ministry of Education as less than a third of primary school children reach proficiency in English or in Mathematics. In the wake of this low performance, there has been a call for the professionalization and strengthening of instructional leadership in Ghanaian basic schools to facilitate effective teaching and learning. Employing qualitative research strategy through interviews, this study sought to investigate instructional leadership practices of 14 school leaders in the basic schools of one educational district of Ghana. The study found limited shared instructional leadership aimed at improving instruction. It seems instructional leadership was related to managerially focused idiosyncratic teaching and learning practices underpinned by behaviourism. Head Teachers had entrenched a leadership culture driven by central policies and expectations.
Instructional Leadership: Its Role in Sustaining School Improvement in South African Schools
Vol. 1 No. 2, 2021
Recent studies conducted around the world have revealed a clear link between the instructional position of principal leadership and school improvement. Instructional leadership, which aims to foster a teaching and learning community, is seen as a key component of successful teaching and long-term school improvement. The rise in site-specific management roles, which are based on instructional leadership experiences, is one of the initiatives launched by the South African government to reform education. In South Africa, school principals are responsible for academic development. This qualitative research aimed to learn more about the role of principals in sustaining school improvement in the North West Province of South Africa. Premised in the qualitative research approach, a purposive sampling technique was used to select six schools that had sustained school improvement for some years. Findings from the study revealed that principals play a crucial role in sustaining school improvement. The study findings reinforce recent literature that identifies instructional leadership as a cornerstone for school improvement.
Practices and Challenges of Enhancing School Leadership in Gambella Regional State
2014
This study aimed at examining the extent to which Gambella Region made efforts to professionalize school leaders as stipulated in the education and training policy document. The specific objectives were exploring the attempts made to professionalize principals; assessing the existing practices to enhance school principals, and the identifying challenges faced so far. Survey method was employed and included all school principals of both primary and secondary schools as participants of the study. Census technique was used and data were collected from almost all school principals using questionnaire. Data were analysed and interpreted using percentage, mean and standard deviation. The findings have shown that majority of school principals become school leaders without the necessary training in school leadership. The majority of the principals lacked experience both in teaching and school leadership. However, they engaged both in leading schools and classroom teaching. They lacked confi...
2018
My heartfelt thanks go to the following support structures without whom this study would not have been possible: To my Lord, The Almighty who always listened to my prayers and guided me all the way in my studies. Thank you Lord for allowing me to believe in myself and granting me mercy for all the times when I was despondent and never thought it possible for me to reach this stage. Dr I. Naicker, my supervisor, for his expert advice, leadership, interest, guidance and encouragement. I am indebted for his continuous support, tremendous patience and vast motivation that he displayed throughout the entire duration of the study. His critical comments allowed me to become more knowledgeable in my field. Through the many drafts of my work he communicated feedback in a positive way. I am also grateful for his quick response times which allowed me to revise and edit my work timeously. The UNISA Bursary Fund for Masters and Doctoral studies for granting me funding for the entire study. Without this funding the study would not have been possible. The governing board members of the participating schools who granted me permission to use their schools as research sites. I am grateful to the principals of the sampled schools who accommodated me during this study and sacrificed their time as participants during data generation. The principals were always responsive in trying to accommodate me in their busy schedule. The Lenasia Muslim School for granting me leave to visit research sites and to generate the necessary data. A special thanks goes to my superiors Mrs. H. Mohomed and Mr. E. Mia who always had faith in my abilities and supported me continuously in my academic endeavours. They understood my study needs and obliged whenever I needed time off for study purposes. My husband, Ebrahim Kathrada who has been the pillar of strength and support to me during the entire duration of the study. He was always willing to sacrifice his valuable time iv | P a g e by assisting me where needed. He always believed in me and encouraged me to reach for my goals. To my children Nabeelah, Naseebah, Muhammed Sa'eed, Fayaaz and Ahmed Junaid who always looked up to me as a mentor and believed in my academic and professional achievements. Thank you so much for the IT support, time and help throughout my studies. To my friends Praveshka and Sushi who sacrificed their valuable time and assisted me throughout the period of this study. To my editor, Ms. H.M. Monier who assisted me in editing the dissertation.
2020
In the past decade learning outcomes in public basic schools in Ghana have fallen far below the targets of the Ministry of Education as less than a third of primary school children reach proficiency in English or in Mathematics. In the wake of this low performance, there has been a call for the professionalization and strengthening of instructional leadership in Ghanaian basic schools to facilitate effective teaching and learning. Employing qualitative research strategy through interviews, this study sought to investigate instructional leadership practices of 14 school leaders in the basic schools of one educational district of Ghana. The study found limited shared instructional leadership aimed at improving instruction. It seems instructional leadership was related to managerially focused idiosyncratic teaching and learning practices underpinned by behaviourism. Head Teachers had entrenched a leadership culture driven by central policies and expectations.
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, 2021
Educational leadership literature has identified generalised instructional leadership roles of school leaders particularly in the context of the Western world. Using a multiple case study design, targeting ten senior teachers at two primary schools as participants, the study aimed at exploring teachers' perceptions of school heads' instructional leadership behaviours that supported or hindered effective teaching and learning. The two primary schools are situated in Lower Gweru District in Zimbabwe. The ten senior teachers from each school were purposefully sampled to participate in the study. Data for the study was generated using three research instruments namely group interviews, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The data was analysed using the thematic approach. What came out of the study was that there are certain instructional leadership behaviours which were perceived by teachers as facilitating teaching like generating an attractive and inspiring vision of academic excellence, modelling best instructional leadership behaviours, creating a school atmosphere conducive for teaching and learning, individual consideration behaviours focusing on teachers' professional and social needs and incentivising teachers. However some Instructional leadership behaviours by school heads were labelled as retrogressive to effective teaching and learning and these include lack of personal commitment to leadership by the school head (being a visiting head), an atmosphere of insecurity and inconsistencies, being disrespectful to teachers, not knowing curriculum content and managerialism. It was recommended that school heads should spend the greatest part of their time at their work station or better reside at their work stations to afford themselves enough time to monitor instructional processes at their schools. Workshops on instructional leadership must be held often to familiarise school heads of their new leadership roles.
2015
The purpose of this study was to analyze the leadership activities of in selected secondary schools of Horo-Guduru-Wollega Zone in Ethiopia. To this end, descriptive survey design was used and both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Out of 30secondary schools, 8 secondary schools were selected through stratified random sampling technique. 82 teachers, eight secondary school principals, three secondary school supervisors and 14 woreda education experts were used as primary sources of data. Secondary data sources were secondary school reports, and relevant policy documents. Data for the study were collected through questionnaire, semi-structured interview guide and focus group discussions. The data collected were analyzed by using frequency counts, percentages, mean and weighted mean. The findings of this study revealed that the lazesssfaire leadership style was the most commonly used; leadership style among principals of secondary schools in the zone. Teachers' job performance was also found to be at a moderate level in the schools. From the findings, it was recommended that school principals should use both laissez-faire and democratic styles of leadership in their school administration in order to enhance better job performance among teachers. The use of the autocratic leadership style should be discouraged among school principals as it could not bring a better job performance among teachers.
In schools, there are managerial and instructional issues to be dealt with by head teachers, as in all categories. Effective head teachers are managers and instructional leaders, and both these roles are essential. Management is not less important than leadership, and in different institutions leadership is not likely to occur easily and be effective, unless management provides consistency and support in a nurturing challenging environment. This paper focuses on the nature of the roles and challenges of head teachers and instructional leaders in primary schools in Malawi. The research design is qualitative; research data were gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Purposive, quota and random sampling techniques were used to select sites and participants for the study. The participants from the schools included head teachers, deputy head teachers, section head teachers and teachers. Content analysis and thematic analysis were applied as methods to analyse the data collected through in-depth, semistructured interviews, focus group discussion and document analysis. An analysis made from the data collected shows that despite instructional leadership being the core role of head teachers in schools, challenges emerge when the head teachers need to balance the roles of general school administration and that of instructional leadership.