The role and experiences of deputy principals with instructional leadership in Zimbabwe
| dc.contributor.advisor | Jita, L. C. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Chitamba, Norman | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-02-19T11:06:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-02-19T11:06:50Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-12 | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Scholars across the globe agree that instructional leadership plays second fiddle only to teaching in improving students’ achievement. Extant literature heralds the instructional leadership of the principal as the major determinant of students’ outcome. School reform efforts have focused on the principal as the agent of change, at school, who leads teachers to levels of achievement. Although some principals strive, as much as they can, to discharge their instructional leadership role effectively, many are constrained by a retinue of other duties they are to perform. This study is inspired by the realisation of the distributed leadership construct which has gained currency. The distributed leadership construct advocates more actors in instructional leadership. Deputy principals are second to the principals on the schools’ hierarchical structure. The aim of the study was to unpack the role and experiences of deputy principals with instructional leadership. Specifically, the study focused on gaining insights into how deputy principals experience the practice of instructional leadership in selected schools of Zimbabwe. The study also focused on the challenges faced by deputy principals in enacting the instructional leadership role. The debate on the role and experiences of deputy principals with instructional leadership is inconclusive. This study is an instalment that adds new knowledge to the discourse. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and a case study research design to investigate the role and experiences of deputy principals with instructional leadership. A sample of three deputy principals was purposively sampled for observations and multiple interviews. Overall, the study concludes that deputy principals are instructional leaders who play a critical role towards teaching and learning and, above all, students’ achievement. The study established that deputy principals contribute towards visioning of the school through vision formulation, marketing and implementation. Visioning compels deputy principals to prioritise their activities and allocate resources accordingly. Another finding of the study is that deputy principals enact the instructional leadership role of managing teaching and learning through supervision of lessons, monitoring students’ progress, modelling good teaching behaviours, building a reading culture in the school and incentivising teachers. Challenges faced by deputy principals in enacting the instructional leadership role include role ambiguity and lack of uniformity in their duties. Largely, the duties are dependent upon the principal one deputises. It is recommended, for practice, that a collective approach to vision development be adopted. All stakeholders of the school should be mobilised in visioning the school to secure their commitment to it. As a way of protecting instructional time, it is recommended for practice, that deputy principals introduce block scheduling that allows fewer classes each day for longer periods to offset loss of instructional time due to motions. In view of the nature and varied duties at boarding schools, it is recommended to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education that two deputy principals, one responsible for operations and the other for instructional leadership be appointed. It is further recommended to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education that there is urgent need to enact a policy that allows for the formation of an association of deputy principals to facilitate sharing of practices. Further research about the role of deputy principals with professional communities is required. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/10408 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Deputy principal | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Principal | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Instructional leadership | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Distributed leadership | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2019 | en_ZA |
| dc.title | The role and experiences of deputy principals with instructional leadership in Zimbabwe | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |