TITLE:
The Role of School Principal as Instructional Leader: The Case of Shambu Primary School
AUTHORS:
Mulugeta Wende Geleta
KEYWORDS:
Instructional Leadership, Primary School, School Principal
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.8,
August
31,
2015
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to explore the practices of primary school
principal’s role as instructional leader—the case of Shambu Primary School. To
investigate the issue under consideration, the study was guided by qualitative
case study. The guiding questions for the study were: what are the practices of
principal’s role as instructional leader at Shambu Primary School? How does principal fulfill his/her instructional leadership role? And which activities do
principals as instructional leaders engage in so as to improve the
instructional activities in the school? Semi-structured interview, focus group
discussion, observation and document analyses were used as data gathering
tools. On their contribution for the data sources, two principals, two heads of
departments, two teachers and the school’s students’ council were selected
using purposive sampling for interviews and group discussion. The finding of
the study revealed that the administrative tasks took much of principals’ time
rather than instructional activities. Furthermore, it was found that the
principals gave less emphasis for: instructional supervision, extra-curricular
activities, teachers’ training and development, provision of instructional
materials and protection of teaching time. For school to be successful, the
principal has to balance the administrative tasks and instructional tasks. Finally,
it was recommended that the principals need to be trained in school management
and leadership in order to be competent as instructional leader along with
suggestions for further empirical investigation.