Instructional Leadership

Instructional Leadership
Instructional leadership differs from that of a school
administrator or manager in a number of ways.
Principals who pride themselves as administrators
are too preoccupied in dealing with strictly
administrative duties compared to principals who
are instructional leaders.
The latter role involves setting clear goals, allocating
resources to instruction, managing the curriculum,
monitoring lesson plans, and evaluating teachers.
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Instructional Leadership
In short, instructional leadership are those
actions that a principal takes, or delegates to
others, to promote growth in student learning
(Flath, 1989).
The instructional leader makes instructional
quality the top priority of the school and
attempts to bring that vision to realization.

Instructional Leadership
More recently, the definition of instructional
leadership has been expanded to towards deeper
involvement in the core business of schooling
which is teaching and learning. Attention has
shifted from teaching to learning, and some have
proposed the term "learning leader" over
"instructional leader" (Richard DuFour, 2002).

Instructional Leadership
The National Association of Elementary School
Principals (2001) defines instructional leadership
as "leading learning communities". In learning
communities, staff members meet on a regular
basis to discuss their work, work together to
problem solve, reflect on their jobs, and take
responsibility for what students learn.

Instructional Leadership
They operate in networks of shared and
complementary expertise rather than in
hierarchies or in isolation. People in a learning
community own the problem and become
agents of its solution.

Instructional Leadership
Instructional leaders also make adult learning a
priority; set high expectations for performance;
create a culture of continuous learning for adults
and get the communitys support for school
success.

Instructional Leadership
Blase and Blase, (2000) expressed instructional
leadership in specific behaviours such as making
suggestions, giving feedback, modeling effective
instruction, soliciting opinions, supporting
collaboration, providing professional
development opportunities, and giving praise for
effective teaching
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 Inherent in the concept of an instructional leader is

the notion that learning should be given top priority
while everything else revolves around the
enhancement of learning which undeniably is
characteristic of any educational endeavor. Hence to
have credibility as an instructional leader, the
principal should also be a practicing teacher. For
example, in the United Kingdom, most principals
spend an average of 20 percent of their time in a
week on teaching (Weindling 1990).
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 Instructional leaders need to know what is

going on in the classroom; an opportunity
to walk the factory floor. Many a time,
principals are not in touch with what is
going on at the classroom level and are
unable to appreciate some of the problems
teachers and students encounter.

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 The tendency is to address instructional

issues from the perspective when they were
teachers. Principals need to work closely
with students, developing teaching
techniques and methods as a means for
understanding teacher perspectives and for
establishing a base on which to make
curricular decisions.
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Also, a teaching principal strengthens the belief that "the sole

purpose of the school is to serve the educational needs of students"
(Harden, 1988, p. 88). Whitaker (1997) identified four skills essential
for instructional leadership.
First, they need to be a resource provider. It is not enough for
principals to know the strengths and weaknesses of their faculty
but also recognize that teachers desire to be acknowledged and
appreciated for a job well done.
Secondly, they need to be an instructional resource. Teachers
count on their principals as resources of information on current
trends and effective instructional practices. Instructional leaders
are tuned-in to issues relating to curriculum, effective pedagogical
strategies and assessment.
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 Thirdly, they need to be good communicators. Effective

instructional leaders need to communicate essential
beliefs regarding learning such as the conviction that all
children can learn and no child should be left behind.
Finally, they need to create a visible presence. Leading
the instructional programme of a school means a
commitment to living and breathing a vision of success in
teaching and learning. This includes focusing on learning
objectives, modeling behaviors of learning, and
designing programmes and activities on instruction.
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 Instructional leadership
Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS)(from Hallinger)
8 instructional leadership functions

Framing the schools goals

Communicating the schools goals
Supervision and evaluation of instruction
Curricular Coordination
Monitoring student progress
Visibility/accountability
Developing academic standards
Promoting instructional improvements and professional development
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 While it is generally held that the principal is both manageradministrator and instructional leader in many countries,
including Malaysia; principals tend to be more manageradministrators oriented while that of instructional leader is
most often delegated to the assistant principal.
Even then, the label instructional leader is seldom assigned to
any one person but is assumed to be the responsibility of all
teachers.
Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that the trend is towards
insisting that the principal assume the prominent role of an
instructional leader.
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 It will be a formidable task convincing principals to relinquish their

image as manager-administrator and take on the role of
instructional leader. Generally, principals do not see themselves
as instructional leaders and many are of the belief that anything
that has to do with teaching and learning is best assigned to
teachers. I
In some cases, principals feel inadequate to initiate and develop
instructional programmed given the assortment of subject areas
taught with each having its own pedagogical uniqueness. For
example, teaching reading is different from teaching science and
would it be fair to expect the principal to be knowledgeable about
instructional strategies for each of the subject areas.
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 Despite these apprehensions, proponents of the idea

that the principal should be an instructional leader, is
gaining serious attention. If that be the case then the
principal needs to have up-to-date knowledge on three
areas of education, namely; curriculum, instruction and
assessment.
With regards to curriculum, principals need to know
about the changing conceptions of curriculum,
educational philosophies and beliefs, knowledge
specialization and fragmentation, curricular sources and
conflict, curriculum evaluation and improvement.
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 With regards to instruction, principals need to know

about different models of teaching, the theoretical
reasons for adopting a particular teaching model, the
pedagogy of the internet, the theories underlying the
technology-based learning environment.
With regards to assessment, principals need to know
about the principles of student assessment,
assessment procedures with emphasis on alternative
assessment methods and assessment that aim to
improve rather than prove student learning.
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 Besides having knowledge in the core areas of education, the

principal must possess certain to carry out the tasks of an
instructional leader. These skills are; interpersonal skills,
planning skills, instructional observation skills, skills in
research and evaluation.
Interpersonal or people skills are essential for the success of
being a principal. These are skills that maintain trust, spur
motivation, give empowerment and enhance collegiality.
Relationships are built on trust and tasks are accomplished
through motivation and empowerment wherein teachers are
involved in planning, designing and evaluating instructional
programmed.

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 Empowerment leads to ownership and commitment as

teachers identify problems and design strategies
themselves. Collegiality promotes sharing, cooperation
and collaboration, in which both the principal and
teachers talk about teaching and learning.
Planning begins with clear identification of goals or
vision to work towards as well as induce commitment
and enthusiasm. Next is to assess what changes need to
occur and which may be accomplished by asking the
people involved, reading documents and observing what
is going on.
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 Observing instruction (supervision) aims to

provide teachers with feedback to consider and
reflect upon. But teachers should make their own
judgment and reach their own conclusions.
Research and evaluation skills are needed to
critically question the success of instructional
programmed initiated and one of the skills most
useful would be action research.

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 The task of being an instructional leader is both

complex and multidimensional. If principals
believe that growth in student learning is the
primary goal of schooling, then it is a task worth
learning. If a principal possesses these knowledge
and skills he or she are likely become an effective
leaders - sharing, facilitating, and guiding
decisions about instructional improvement for
the betterment of student's education.
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 If principals are to take the role of instructional

leader seriously, they will have to free themselves
from bureaucratic tasks and focus their efforts
towards improving teaching and learning.
Instructional improvement is an important goal, a
goal worth seeking, and a goal when implemented,
allows both students and teachers to control their
own destiny in making a more meaningful learning
environment.

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 Brewer (2001) suggests that the role of the

instructional leader be expanded to incorporate a
shift away from "management" (working in the
system of administrative tasks) toward "leadership"
(working on the system) and in the case being argued
it is instructional leadership.
To achieve this quest, it takes more than a strong
principal with concrete ideas and technical expertise.
It requires a redefinition of the role of principals, one
that removes the barriers to leadership by
eliminating bureaucratic structures and reinventing
relationships.
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The Seven Habits

From The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic by
Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989

1.

BE PROACTIVE: Between stimulus and response in human beings

lies the power to choose. Productivity, then, means that we are
solely responsible for what happens in our lives. No fair blaming
anyone or anything else.

2.

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND: Imagine your funeral and listen
to what you would like the eulogist to say about you. This
should reveal exactly what matters most to you in your life. Use
this frame of reference to make all your day-to-day decisions so
that you are working toward your most meaningful life goals.
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3. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST. To manage our lives effectively,

we must keep our mission in mind, understand whats
important as well as urgent, and maintain a balance
between what we produce each day and our ability to
produce in the future. Think of the former as putting
out fires and the latter as personal development.

4. THINK WIN/WIN. Agreements or solutions among

people can be mutually beneficial if all parties cooperate
and begin with a belief in the third alternative: a
better way that hasnt been thought of yet.
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5. SEEK FIRST OT BE UNDERSTANDING, THEN TO BE

UNDERSTOOD. Most people dont listen. Not
really. They listen long enough to devise a solution
to the speakers problem or a rejoinder to whats
being said. Then they dive into the conversation.
Youll be more effective in you relationships with
people if you sincerely try to understand them fully
before you try to make them understand your
point of view

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6. SYNERGIZE. Just what it sound like. The

whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In
practice, this means you must use creative
cooperation in social interactions. Value
differences because it is often the clash
between them that leads to creative
solutions.

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7. SHARPEN THE SAW. This is the habit of selfrenewal, which has four elements. The first is
mental, which includes reading, visualizing,
planning and writing. The second is spiritual,
which means value clarification and commitment,
study and meditation. Third is social/emotional,
which stress management includes service,
empathy, synergy and intrinsic security. Finally, the
physical includes exercise, nutrition and stress
management.
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Tips for Working in Groups

By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998

Meet people properly. It all starts with the introduction. Then,

exchange contact information, and make sure you know how to
pronounce everyones names. Exchange phone no, and find out
what hours are acceptable to call during.
Find things you have in common. You can almost always find
something in common with another person, and starting from that
baseline, its much easier to then address issues where you have
difference. This is why cities like professional sports teams, which
are socially galvanizing forces that cut across boundaries of race
and wealth. If nothing else, you probably have in common things
like the weather.
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 Make meeting conditions good. Have a large surface to

write on, make sure the room is quiet and warm enough,
and that there arent lots of distractions. Make sure no
one is hungry, cold, or tired. Meet over a meal if you
can; food softens a meeting. Thats why they do lunch
in Hollywood
Let everyone talk. Even if you think what theyre said is
stupid. Cutting someone off is rude, and not worth
whatever small time gain you might make. Dont finish
someones sentences for him or her; they can do that for
themselves. And remember: talking louder or faster
doesnt make your idea any better.
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 Check your egos at the door. When you discuss ideas,

immediately label them and write them down. The
labels should be descriptive of the idea, not the
originator: the troll bridge story, not Janes story.
Praise each other. Find something nice to say, even if
its a stretch. Even the worst of ideas has a silver lining
inside it, if you just look hard enough. Focus on the
good, praise it, and then raise any objections or
concerns you have about the rest of it.

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 Put if in writing. Always write down who is responsible

for what, by when.
Be concrete. Arrange meetings by email, and establish
accountability. Never assume that someones
roommate will deliver a phone message. Also,
remember that politics is when you have more than 2
people with that in mind, always CC (carbon copy)
any piece of email within the group, or to me, to all
members of the group. This rule should never be
violated; dont try to guess what your group mates
might or might not want to hear about.

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 Be open and honest. Talk with your group

members if theres a problem, and talk with me
if you think you need help. The whole point of
this course is that its tough to work across
cultures. If we all go into it knowing thats an
issue, we should be comfortable discussing
problems when they arise after all, thats what
this course is really about. Be forgiving when
people make mistakes, but dont be afraid to
raise the issues when they come up.
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 Avoid conflict at all costs. When stress occurs and

tempers flare, take a short break. Clear your heads,
apologize, and take another stab at it. Apologize for
upsetting your peers, even if you think someone else
was primarily at fault; the goal is to work together,
not start a legal battle over whose transgressions
were worse. It takes two to have an argument, so be
the peacemaker.
Phrase alternatives as questions. Instead of I think
we should do A, not B, try What if we did A,
instead of B? That allows people to offer
comments, rather than defend one choice.
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