Exploring distributed instructional leadership practices in high performing Zimbabwean primary schools
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Date
2022
Authors
Tenha, John
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Instructional leadership has been one of the most discussed leadership constructs in educational research over the times. The focus of instructional leadership is on principals as the people with all the knowledge to develop schools to greater heights. The increasing workload for principals and the advent of distributed leadership made it prudent for school principals to distribute leadership to other staff members. This practice made use of by effective school principals helped schools to improve their instructional performance. This study was, therefore, motivated by the thought of distributing instructional leadership to all members in a school.
Distributed leadership calls for more players in instructional leadership. This results in the tapping of knowledge and expertise in school members. The aim of this study was to have a deeper understanding of how distributed instructional leadership practices were enacted in high performing primary schools for improved performance. The study focused on examining the main activities that characterised instructional leadership practice in the selected schools. It also focused on how the major activities of instructional leadership align with and or exhibited features of distributed leadership. In specific, the study focused on how distributed instructional leadership is enacted in high performing primary schools in Zimbabwe.
The qualitative research approach and a multiple case study research design were adopted for this study. A sample of three school principals and nine teachers were purposively selected. Structured interviews, observations and document analysis were used to gather data. The study concluded that the school principals were involved in instructional leadership. The principals carried out instructional leadership activities through distributing leadership practices to other members in their schools. Distributed instructional leadership practices were enacted through varied leadership activities undertaken by various school members.
It was established that visioning the school was a key activity of instructional leadership in these successful schools. The schools had specific visions which were developed through collaboration among the principals, teachers and the school community, an example of a distributed instructional leadership practice in the schools. Another finding was that in all the three successful primary schools, managing instruction was prioritised by the principals who all took a distributed approach in executing this activity with their teachers. It was also found that the schools relied on two major strategies to manage instruction and promote instructional improvement, viz, observation of teaching and feedback together with modelling of exemplary practice by the leadership team. The final finding was that the schools had conducive environments for teaching and learning that they created through professional development and collaborative leadership practice.
The study recommends that principals nurture teachers through distributing leadership to all members to enable them to grow professionally. This has benefits for both teachers and learners. It is also recommended that teachers are made aware of the importance of distributing instructional leadership. Further research on a wider scale on how distributed instructional leadership is enacted in schools is recommended.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.(Education Management and Leadership))--University of the Free State, 2022
Keywords
School leadership, instructional leadership, distributed leadership, leadership practices, high performing primary schools, distributed instructional leadership