UNIT ONE

CONCEPTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL
LEADERSHIP
1.1 Definition of instructional leadership
1.2 Distributive leadership
1.3 Teacher leadership
1.4 Characteristics of effective schools
At the end of the chapter, students will be able
to:
• Identify clearly the three components in the
model of instructional leadership.
• Compare and contrast distributed leadership
with teacher leadership appropriately.
• Describe at least 4 principles of teacher
leadership properly.
• List at least three characteristics of effective
schools correctly.
1.1. Concept & Definition of Instructional
leadership
• The concept instructional leader' is a relatively
new concept that emerged in the early 1980's
that called for a shift of emphasis from
principals being managers or administrators to
instructional or academic leaders.

• This shift was influenced largely by research

which found that effective schools usually
had principals who stressed the importance
of instruction.
Flath (1989) described instructional leadership
as those actions that a principal takes, or
delegates to others, to promote growth in
student learning.

Leithwood and Duke (1998) described

instructional leadership as focusing on the
behaviors of teachers as they engage in
activities directly affecting the growth of
students.
• Hallinger and Murphy (2003) described
instructional leadership in a model that
consists of many specific functions within
three broad categories:
• Defining the school mission,
• Managing the instructional program, and
• Promoting school climate.
• This model expanded the concept out of the
classroom unlike the above definitions.
Defining the school’s mission encompasses
two functions: framing the school’s goals and
communicating the goals.
• The former spotlights the principal’s role in
working with others to ensure that the school
has clear, measurable goals that are focused
on the academic progress of its students.
• The latter is the principal’s responsibility to
ensure that these goals are widely known and
supported throughout the school community
and incorporated into daily practice.
 Managing the instructional program means
coordinating and controlling the school’s
curriculum and instruction by stimulating,
supervising, and monitoring teaching and
learning.
 Promoting a positive school learning climate
includes functions such as:
 protecting instructional time,
 promoting professional development,
 maintaining high visibility,
 providing incentives for teachers, and
 providing incentives for learning.
• Can a single leader alone be successful in
accomplishing the above dimensions at
school level?

• It is clear that the task of leading a school is

now too complex and demanding job for one
person.
1.2. Distributed leadership
• Spillane (2006) argues that leadership
happens in a variety of ways throughout the
school and is centred in the interactions
between people.

• The fundamental premise of the concept of

distributed leadership is that leadership
activities should not be accredited into the
hands of a sole individual but, on the
contrary, they should be shared between a
number of people in an organization or team.
• Distributed leadership is a conceptual and
analytical approach to understanding how the
work of leadership takes place among the
people and in context of a complex
organization.

• Remember, distributed leadership doesn’t

mean every one leads but has the potential
to lead under the right conditions.
Generally, distributed leadership involves three
essential components.
I. leadership practice is the central and
anchoring concern.
II. leadership practice is generated through the
interaction of leaders, followers and their
situation.
III. the situation both defines leadership practice
and is defined by leadership practice.
Distributed leadership and quality learning
• The quality of learning is directly related to
the quality of teaching, which is in turn a
function of the quality of distributed
leadership (West-Burnham 2002 )

• The key features of distributed leadership

outlined above highlight the centrality of
teaching and learning.
• Distributed leadership connects to the quality
of teaching and learning through the structures,
systems, procedures and practices that combine
to make the school a learning organization.

• Although the leadership of the principal has

been found to have an indirect influence on
pupil learning, the principal can improve
teaching and learning powerfully through
his/her influence on staff motivation,
commitment and working conditions.
• When leadership is widely distributed and
brought closer to the site of learning, it has a
greater influence on schools and students.

• One of the key concepts that link the features

of distributed leadership to student learning is
teacher leadership.
• What is Teacher Leadership?
1.3. The Concept of Teacher leadership
Leadership traditionally has been perceived to
reside with school administrators where power
flowed downward to teachers.
On the schooling scene, this has meant that
(1) educational leadership has been defined in
hierarchical and positional;
(2) the system has not been organized to treat
teachers as leaders; and
(3) the leadership literature has focused almost
entirely on formal school leadership positions.
These understandings gave rise to views of
leadership that were tightly connected to
domains of responsibility with the
assignment of school-wide leadership to
principals and classroom leadership roles
to teachers.
Teacher leadership is about action that:
transforms teaching and learning in a school,
ties school and community together on behalf
of learning, and
advances social sustainability and quality of
life for a community. (Crowther et al., 2002)
• Teacher leadership is concerned with teachers
helping teachers so that teachers can, in turn,
better help students.

• It is also helping teachers work together to

establish and achieve the goals and objectives
of the school.
• The term teacher leadership refers to set of
skills demonstrated by teachers who continue
to teach students but also have an influence
that extends beyond their own classrooms.

• Teacher leaders, thus, are those teachers who

influence the behavior of both students and
adults in the school setting.
• Besides, a teacher leader is a practicing
teacher, chosen by fellow staff members to
lead them in ways determined by the context
of individual school needs.

• Therefore, an important characteristic of a

teacher leader is expertise and skill in
engaging others in complex work.

• It also entails an unwavering passion for the

core mission of the school and the courage to
confront obstacles to achieving that mission.
 Formal Teacher Leadership Roles
• Many schools have instituted structures in
which teachers assume formal leadership
roles in the school, such as department chair,
team leader, helping teacher or mentor.

• These arrangements recognize the essential

role of teachers as key players in the broader
effort toward enhanced student achievement.
 How Teacher Leadership is demonstrated?
Teacher leadership can be verified through
school wide policies and programs,
Teaching and Learning, and
Communication and community relations.
 School wide Policies and Programs
When a teacher joins a school, policies and
programs define their work to a large extent
(such as the grading system, the approach to
professional development, discipline policies,
attendance policies and student activities).

.
 Principles of Teacher Leadership
1. Teacher leadership is grounded in classrooms.
2. Effective teaching is a prelude to teacher
leadership.
3. Teacher leadership is collaborative work.
4. Teacher leadership is community anchored.
(professional rather than a bureaucratic
orientation).
5. Teacher leadership is a service function.
6. Context is important.
7. Teacher leadership makes a difference(changes
classroom practices ).
1.4 Characteristics of effective schools
• Effective schools should produce stable and
consistent results over time that apply to
almost all students within the school.

• The effectiveness of the whole school helps

determine what happens in each classroom.
Ronald Edmonds identified an effective
school as one in which:
there is strong leadership,
an orderly,
humane climate,
frequent monitoring of students'
progress,
high expectations and requirements for
all students.
• In addition, Lawrence Stedman's research has
emphasized other key features of effective
schools, including
(1) attention to goals involving cultural pluralism
and multicultural education, and

(2) emphasis on responding to students'

personal problems and developing their
social skills.
 Effective School Indicators
Criteria of school effectiveness typically
emphasize student achievement. Some include:
(1) a comparison of expected and current levels
of student achievement;
(2) analysis of the comparison levels of student
achievement in a prior & present grade;
(3) a comparison of achievement scores between
similar schools;
(4) a comparison of subgroups of students by
gender, race, and social class.
Additional indicators might include
attitudes and levels of satisfaction among
students, staff, parents, and community.

focus on academic learning time, remedial and

tutoring programs, teacher morale, staff
development, leadership, and community
support.
 UNIT TWO
CONCEPT OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING
Objectives: You will be able to
 Analyze the three classes of variables that are used as
a frame work for effective teaching.
 Describe the qualities of effective teacher briefly.
 Explain ways of improving effective teaching in novice
and experienced teachers accurately.
 Tell the characteristics of effective learning
appropriately.
 Identify the three central and crucial aspects to pupils’
engagement in the activity of learning.
 List all the importance of inclusive education correctly.
• Talcott Parsons (1960) was the first to propose
three distinct levels of structure in the
organization— the technical, managerial, and
institutional.
• The technical level or technical core is the
system of organizational activity where the
actual product of the organization is
produced;
• in schools it is exemplified by the teaching and
learning in the classroom.
• Teaching and learning involve the interaction
of the learner, the teacher, the curriculum
(knowledge, skills &values) under learning
situation.
2.1. What is teaching?
Teaching is defined by different groups in
different ways.
Teaching is also defined as “a process of
directing the interaction between the learner
and the material to be learned”, etc.
• Teaching is considered by modern pedagogues
as “a process of facilitating individual’s
learning through motivation, coordination,
guiding/ directing the activities he/she
performs and controlling/evaluating the
learning results”.
• Teaching can be defined as a set of processes
and procedures used by the teacher for the
purpose of making learning happen.
• Obanya (1998) sees it as the process of
bringing about positive changes in a learner.
2.1.1. Effective Teaching
• Until the 1960s, research on effective teaching
was largely dominated by attempts to identify
attributes of teachers, such as personality
traits, sex, age, knowledge and training, which
might have a bearing on their effectiveness.
• Such research ignored what actually went on in
the classroom.
• Instead, it simply looked at input characteristics
(attributes of the teacher and pupils), at the
output (e.g. examination results), and tried to
relate the two.
• After the 1960s till 1990, shifted to activities
in the classroom, and in particular the
interaction between the teacher and pupils.
• Moreover, since the 1990s, increasing
attention has been paid to:
I. establishing a research evidence base for
effective classroom practices and using this
to underpin the initial and continuing
professional development of teachers, and,
II. gaining a deeper understanding of the
teaching and learning that takes place in the
classroom.
• As a result, there is now a good consensus
regarding the basic framework for our thinking
about effective teaching, within which
distinction can be made between three main
classes of variables.

Context variables refer to all those

characteristics of the context of the learning
activity, usually a classroom-based lesson,
which may have some bearing on the success
of the learning activity.
Process variables refer to what actually goes
on in the classroom, and deals with the
perceptions, strategies and behavior of the
teacher and pupils, and characteristics of the
learning tasks and activities themselves, and
how these interact with each other.
Product variables refer to all those
educational outcomes that are desired by
teachers and that have formed a basis of
teachers’ planning of lessons and the criteria
they use or others use to judge effectiveness.
The most important educational outcomes for pupils
would appear to be:
increased knowledge and skills
increased interest in the subject or topic
increased intellectual motivation
increased academic self-confidence and self-esteem
increased autonomy
increased social development.
• A basic framework for thinking about effective
teaching is shown as the following fig.
 Professional Qualities of Effective Teacher
The professional competences of an effective
teacher may be grouped into five categories.
 knowledge of the needs, abilities and
aspirations of your pupils;
 planning for improvement;
 teaching and learning strategies
 classroom management;
 monitoring and evaluation of learning
2.1.2. Improving Teacher Effectiveness
Many behaviors and characteristics found
in effective teachers can be cultivated
among novices through awareness brought
about by:
 observing other effective teachers,
 receiving peer feedback,
 cultivating collegial relationships, and
 participating in lifelong learning
experiences.
• For those already in the field, high quality
professional development activities are
necessary tools for improving teacher
effectiveness.

• These activities must be collegial, challenging,

and socially oriented, because learning itself
entails these characteristics.
2.2. what is learning?
Similar to teaching, learning can be defined in
different ways.
 Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge
through the mental process.

 Learning is a relatively permanent change/

modification of the behavior of the learner as
a result of practice.
 Learning can be defined as an internal process
which occurs in the learner.
• Thus, the change in behavior is related to the
acquisition of knowledge, the development of
skills, and the formation of value systems.
2.2.1.Effective learning
 Encourages teacher–student contact
 Encourages cooperation among students
 Encourages active learning
 Gives prompt feedback
 Emphasizes time on task
 Communicates high expectations
 Respects diverse talents and ways of learning
(Gamson and Chickering, 1987)
2.2.2. Pupil engagement in learning
• The notion of ‘engagement’ refers to the extent to
which pupils are seriously involved and occupied in
the academic work they are doing.
The three central and crucial aspects to pupils’
engagement in the activity of learning include:
1. Attentiveness: the pupil must be attending to the
learning experience.
2. Receptiveness: the pupil must be motivated and
having a willingness to learn and respond to the
experience.
3. Appropriateness: the learning experience must be
appropriate for the intended learning outcomes.
2.3. Inclusive education
• Most scholars believe that education is a
basic human right and that it provides
the foundation for a more productive
society.
• For this reason all human beings
participate in education without any
discrimination.
What is inclusive education?
o It is an education system that includes all
students, and welcomes and supports them to
learn, whoever they are and whatever their
abilities or requirements.

• This means making sure that teaching and the

curriculum, school buildings, classrooms, play
areas, transport and toilets are appropriate for
all children at all levels.
o Inclusive education means all children learn
together in the same schools.

o Inclusive education is an education system that

is open to all learners, regardless of economic
status, gender, ethnic backgrounds, language,
learning difficulties and impairments.

o It is an approach that looks in to how to

transform education systems and other
learning environment in order to respond to
the diversity of learners (MOE, 2012).
 The Importance of inclusive education
 It improves learning for all children – both
those with and without disabilities.
 It promotes understanding, reduces bias and
strengthens social integration.

 It ensures that children with disabilities are

equipped to work and contribute
economically and socially to their
communities.
• Education which is inclusive ensures the
presence, participation and achievement of all
learners in places of learning.

• It often requires working to change the

policies, systems, practices and cultures in
schools so that they can respond to the
diversity of learners in their locality, as well as
working closely with the communities and
society at large.
 UNIT THREE
INTERPERSONAL APPROACHES IN
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP