District leaders’ perspectives on the structures and practices of instructional leadership in Zimbabwe
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Date
2021-05
Authors
Muswere, Michael
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Research over the past two decades has firmly established the critical relevance of the district office of education in providing instructional leadership support to schools. Various policy initiatives in Africa (Zimbabwe included) called on district central offices to shift their work practices from the limited or managerial functions of the past to the direct support of student teaching and learning. In view of this implied performance gap between the district office structures and their practices, I developed an interest in investigating whether the districts actually provided instructional leadership support to schools. This study closely examined Zimbabwean district office leaders’ perspectives on the structures and practices of instructional leadership. The study answered the research question: What are the district leaders’ perspectives on the structures and practices of instructional leadership in Zimbabwe? Guiding the study was the instructional leadership conceptual framework that outlined and described what instructional leaders (the district level leaders for the purposes of this study) were expected to do in order to effectively support teaching and learning in schools. A qualitative research methodology was used, with two case studies focusing on 22 officers drawn from two district offices in the Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe constituting the research design. The individual interview protocol was used to collect data from the district office leadership while documents provided supportive data. The collected data were organised, transcribed, analysed and finally collapsed into themes and categories. Five key findings were obtained. First, the study showed that the district instructional and support structures were aligned to support instructional leadership although there was work overload in two departments - Quality Control and Administration, Finance and Human Resources. Second, the study established four main district instructional leadership practices: the recruitment, selection, and appointment of teachers, heads and deputy heads; organising need-driven circuit-level and district-level professional development; carrying out effective supervision of schools; and spearheading school development efforts. The engagement of stakeholders and partners to foster transparency and teamwork in the district operations was the third key finding. The challenges that affected structure constituted the fourth key finding, with the major obstacles being understaffing in two of the district office departments and non-compliance with the national Non-Formal Education policy that compromised effective school supervision. The fifth key finding focused on practice challenges. These included: inadequate support for learners with disabilities; parents’ low response to pay school fees and levies; indiscipline among teachers and heads; and work inconsistency as a result of inadequate resources and materials to support the district office operations. It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide a guiding framework for the provision of more effective instructional leadership support to schools by the district office.
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Keywords
Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2021, Structures, Practices, District office, Heads, Zimbabwe -- Instructional leadership, Education and state -- Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe -- Social structure