Principals' role as instructional leaders is key to quality learning

In the past 15 years, demands on the work of principals have increased proportionately with the ongoing reforms in the education sector.

But by the very nature of their jobs, the demands can only rise, primarily because of principals’ central role as educators, opinion leaders and change agents. It is the same whether in the United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, or America.

Professor Michael Fullan, the renowned Canadian researcher on education leadership says; “principalship is the kind of job where you are expected to be all things to all people”.

Critically, though, one of the most important roles of the 21st century principal anywhere in the world is that of being an instructional leader. This role is central to improving students’ learning outcomes.

In a recent survey on school performance and leadership titled “How the Worlds Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better”, by McKinsey, it was found that to sustain quality learning outcomes, instructional leadership must remain the primary focus for any principal.

No matter how much more work a principal has in running the school, students’ learning must remain the primary focus for each and every school.
Instructional leadership also entails ensuring that goals of the school are well articulated; learning environment is safe and conducive; teachers’ efforts are focused on teaching and improving their own professional skills; and that principals continuously observe classroom teaching. For principals to effectively execute their function as instructional leaders, they have to be lead educators.

In order to support the principals’ as instructional leaders and lead educators, the Teachers Service Commission has provided an enabling legal and policy framework for instructional leadership.

Thus, in the Teachers Service Commission Act, 2012, the principal is defined as “the lead educator or administrator responsible for the implementation of educational policy guidelines and professional practices.

Equally important, the role of the head of institution as instructional leader has for the first time been clarified in the new Code of Regulations for Teachers (2015) that was launched last week.

That role includes: teaching; supervising quality implementation of the curriculum; verifying teachers professional documents; supervising syllabus coverage; ensuring school and class attendance by teachers; providing adequate teaching and learning materials and inducting new teachers, among other responsibilities.

Another key role for the 21st Century principal is developing self-efficacy in teachers by giving teachers opportunities to participate in decision-making in the school.

There is ample educational research showing that job satisfaction in the teaching profession increases when teachers participate in decision-making.
For principals to be effective in instructional leadership, they must practice distributed leadership. This is a shared, collective and extended management practice. It involves mobilising leadership expertise at all levels in the school. This is “leadership by expertise” rather than leadership by seniority or years of experience.

Genuine distributed leadership requires high levels of trust, transparency and mutual respect between the principals and their teachers.

This management style presupposes that every person is an amateur in one area but an expert in another. Consequently, principals should share their vision, give their teachers voice and choice and allow a reasonable level of autonomy to their teams for distributed leadership to work.

They are obliged to put in place administrative frameworks to ensure their deputies, heads of departments, boarding staff and class teachers are empowered to make conclusive decisions on routine administrative issues.

Nancy Macharia is chief executive officer of the Teachers Service Commission. This is an abridged version of her speech at last week’s Kenya Secondary School Heads Association's annual conference in Mombasa.