Becoming and

Exemplary
Instructional
Leadership
BSED Science 4A – group 4
At the end of this module, the learner should be
able to:

● Identify the skills and characteristics of an instructional leader;

● Explain the concept and news along instructional leadership;
● Analyze the role and functions of the principal as an instructional leader;
● Reflect on how a teacher can become a good instructional leader; and
● Make a career plan
Pre-test
Group Activity
Divide the class into five groups, each group should
collaboratively construct a Venn diagram that highlights the
differences and similarities between Instructional leadership
and Transformational leadership. Ensure that every group
member presents at least one key difference or similarity during
their group's presentation.
Think, Group, and Play Jeopardy!
Instructions: Divide the class into two groups, the
game master will be selecting the category for each
group and each group will have a two-minute
discussion. Each category corresponds to five
questions, correct answers will be given 10 points
each. The team with the highest points will win the
game.
Think, Group, and Play Jeopardy!
Categories:

Leadership Style (easy)

Leadership Best Practices (Instructional Leaders)
(easy)
Famous Leaders (hard)
Leadership Quotes (hard)
 Instructional Leadership
 can be defined as “those actions that a principal takes, or
delegates to others, to promote growth in student learning.”
 the role of an instructional leader differs from that of a
traditional school administrator in a number of meaningful
ways
 whereas a conventional principal spends the majority of
his/her time dealing with strictly administrative duties.
 Instructional Leadership
 a principal who is an instructional leader is charged with
redefining his/her role to become primary learner in a
community striving for excellence in education
 the principal’s responsibility to work with teachers to define
educational objectives, to set school-wide or district wide
goals, provide the necessary resources for learning, and create
new learning opportunities for students and staff.
Instructional Leadership: Concepts and Views

Bird and Little (2008) MacElwain (1992)

addresses curriculum prove instruction and
instruction student achievement.

Elmore (2002) Barth (2001)

“organizational glue responsible for their
professional learning
Instructional Leadership: Best Practices
 Instructional Leaders
Share Leadership Leading learner endeavors that are
focused on long term outcomes

Tap the Expertise of Teachers Create opportunities for teachers to

work together

Collaborate in Leading Teachers provide valuable insights

an idea to the principal

Lead a Learning Community Principals must become role

models for learning

as Learners Learning needs to occur

throughout an organization
 Instructional Leaders
Use Data to Make Effective principal skillfully
Instructional Decisions gathers information

Monitor Curriculum and Raise the level of importance

Instruction

Supporting and nurturing teacher

Visits Classrooms
development
 Conventional and Innovative Instructional
Leadership: A Comparison
Conventional Instructional Leadership
1. Principal-centered
1. High focus on curriculum and
instruction
1. Setting clear goal
1. Allocating resources through
instruction
1. Monitoring lesson plans
1. Evaluating Teachers for
improvement in Teaching
Innovative Instructional Leadership
Persons-centered- create collegial with
and among teachers
Focus on School Based Management
Shared understanding of the goals
Providing the resources needed for
learning to occur
Deep involvement in the form of core
technology of teaching and learning
Carries more sophisticated views of
professional development
 Major Divisions of Good Instructional Leadership Characteristics (Armstrong
2007)
Knowledge

Includes awareness of chains management theory,

insight into personal capabilities knowing when
to get help from outside resources with other
leaders of educational advancement.

Confidence

Drives interpersonal relations, communication,

planning, decision making and conflict
management.

Enthusiasm

Includes the ability to bring all stakeholders

together to act.
The Principal as Instructional Leader: A
Focus

Smith (2008) Findley (1992) Smylie and

Conyer (1991) .
administrator who address certain
emphasizes the process managerial tasks encourages and
of instruction and to ensure an develops
facilities the interaction efficient school. instructional
of teacher, student and leadership in
curriculum.
teachers
Instructional Leadership Activities according to Flaith
(1989)

Goals and Emphasis Coordination and Power and Disciplinary Human relations
Organization decision making
set instructional deal effectively
goals, high work for secure resources, with staff,
expectation and effectiveness and generate parents,
focus in student efficiency alternatives, community and
achievement students.
Checkley (2000) argues that rather than
focusing closely upon teacher supervision
and evaluation as the crucial tasks
associated with providing instructional
leadership, principals should instead
consider the following:
1. Encourage and promote teacher growth and development
within their own ranks.
2. Engage teachers in sustained discourse whereby, as colleagues,
teachers can define what student learning should look like.
3. Identify instructional approaches that will support their vision.
4. Be attentive to teaching and learning and to work together and
improve both
5. Foster the conditions through which teachers can specify
instructional goals.
6. Direct the overall effort by offering teachers the support,
encouragement and challenges they need as teachers collaborate
together toward achieving more substantive goals.
Instructional Leadership: traits and behavior
Instructional Leadership: traits and behavior
Traits Behavior
Super-visionary  Can integrate a synergy of effects that
(Sergiovanni and Starratt, enable people, process and technology to link
1998) together in a way that a school achieve its vision

Culture Builder (Barth,  Dedicated to building teacher leadership

2001)  Capable of constructing a shared vision
with all the members of the school community
 Bears ultimately the responsibility for
success or failure of the school
 Instructional Leadership: traits and behavior
Chief Learning Officer  Models learning
(Bottoms and O’Neill,  Driven by the relentless growth of standard-
2001) based accountability system
 Open to new ideas

Heroic Leader  Focus on curriculum, instruction, and student

mastery of learning objectives
 Insistent upon improving student learning
 Instructional Leadership: traits and behavior
Facilitative Leafer  Gears on the discussion of school-based
(Bottoms and O’Neill, management
2001)  Well-focused on school improvement plan
 Offers teachers the support, encouragement,
and challenge they need as teachers

Direction Setter  Sets the direction and influence the members

of the organization to link together toward meeting
organization goals
 Instructional Leadership: traits and behavior
Values-Led (Day, 2000)  Willing to be driven by results

Practicing Teacher  Promotes the values of care an equity within

(Wendling, 1990) the school and its decision-making process
 Both people-centered and achievement-
oriented
 Continues to teach for at last an average of
20% of the week in order to work closely with students
Instructional Leadership: traits and behavior
 Challenges teachers to think more critically
about how they link together personal, professional,
and organizational development in an overall effort to
improve curriculum, teaching, and learning.
 Develops teaching techniques and methods
as a means in understanding teacher perspective
 Establishes a base on which to make
curricular decisions
 Strengthens the belief that the sole purpose of
the school is to ensure the educational needs of
students
The functions of Instructional Leadership involve all the
beliefs, decisions, strategies and tactics that the principal uses
to generate instructional effectiveness in classroom (Moorthy,
1992):
Making the student and Setting high expectations Gearing content and
adult learning the priority for performance instructions to standards

Instructional Leaders: Their Roles and Functions

Creating a culture of Using multiple sources of Activating the communities

continuous learning data to assess learning support for school success
The functions of Instructional Leadership involve all the beliefs, decisions,
strategies and tactics that the principal uses to generate instructional
effectiveness in classroom (Moorthy, 1992):
Making suggestions
Leading teachers to produce
making feedbacks and
tangible as ambitious academic
modeling effective
standards instruction

Instructional Leaders: Their Roles and Functions

Soliciting opinion and Providing professional

supporting collaboration development opportunities
and giving praise for
effective teaching
The Effective Instructional Leader: Becoming One (Glickman
Knowledge-based
1990)
Tasks Skills
Effective schools Supervision/evaluation Interpersonal
literature of instruction communication

Research on effective Staff development People

speaking
Awareness of your own Curriculum development Decision making
educational philosophy
and beliefs
Group development Application
Administrative
development
Change Theory Action research Problem solving/ conflict
management
 Two Elements of Instructional Leadership

Creating a school culture

that makes student
learning the top priority

Providing the resources

necessary to support
teachers’ efforts to
improve student learning
3 ways to become an Effective Instructional Leader

Talk the talk

 Expert in teaching and learning
 Build an informed vocabulary of pedagogical term
 Use keywords like lesson plan, instructional design,
and pedagogy
 Articulate about instructional design, delivery
methods, formative and summative assessment and
learning styles
3 ways to become an Effective Instructional Leader

Walk the Walk

 Demonstrate through this action that teaching and
learning are the center of what happens in school
 Visible in the classroom, in order to learn more about
instructional practices
 Identify outstanding teachers and their methods
 Provide opportunities to superstar teachers to share
their best practices
 Identify teachers in need of support and professional
development
3 ways to become an Effective Instructional Leader

Be the caddy
 Great caddy who provides advice on shot
 “caddy” to teachers providing the necessary tools and
advice on how to best use the,
 Recognize teachers having instructional problem
 Identify the needed resources and provide
opportunities to acquire both
Post-Test
 Activity: My Career Plan

After graduating as a BSED Science

student, create a 5-year career plan.