UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING TEACHING LEADERSHIP PRACTICES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING TEACHING LEADERSHIP PRACTICES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Teaching leadership (IL) emerged from the effective school literature in the 1960s. Two distinct threads have developed over the past three decades. Evidence from the 1980s demonstrated that IL enhanced academic achievement (Murphy, 1985). A second wave of interest developed in the new century, leading to extensive research demonstrating the beneficial impact of IL on school effectiveness and improvement (Hallinger, 2011). With a focus on the US, instructional leadership (IL) has a long history of raising student achievement (Murphy, 2013). In fact, experts claim that IL has been the most effective leadership tactic over the past 30 years (Leithwood, 2008). There has been a resurgence in interest in IL over the past ten years, with many praising its value in fostering long-term teaching and learning in classrooms.  (Bryk, 2010). Every student has the right to a top-notch education that enables them to grow intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and physically (Peterson, 1999). If teachers provide students with a high-quality education, society will value them. However, the kind of environment that is conducive to teaching and learning is typically not realized because of the combination of internal and external factors that tend to mediate instruction and produce a negative impression of the teaching profession. According to Harris (2007), a number of outside factors that have fundamentally changed the character and nature of teaching and learning have had a direct impact on the community’s perceptions of teaching in recent decades. According to Bush (2007), the transformation of teaching and learning may be significantly impacted by the leadership’s effectiveness. The visions for national development and education both call for effective teaching leadership. Because of these objectives, parents and society as a whole have high expectations for education and professional responsibility. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for the public education they provide (Bowora, 2000). According to Chirichelo, school administrators are expected to supervise staff, discipline students, communicate with parents, manage buildings, direct the educational program, ensure the safety of teachers and students, manage finances, and take part in school reform (2007). Grima (2016) asserts that due to their increased engagement with outside organizations, heads of schools are in a better position to identify areas for improvement because they are more aware of what is happening in their institutions. Heads of Schools are accountable for managing improvement by creating the right environment in their schools (Sebring, 2010). They must discuss and plan how to get there with their staff and have a clear sense of direction for their schools. The principal’s duties are constantly evolving. A head teacher typically oversees just one school, but there are some instances where they are in charge of several. Principal, executive, associate, and head of school are just a few of the different job titles that the governance systems that head teachers are accountable to have (Allensworth, 2009). Head teachers have a significant social impact and advance the teaching profession. On the other hand, head teachers are anticipated to have admirable ideals and  because they are accountable for the performance of the schools and students, goals to raise standards in schools. The effectiveness of instruction and student achievement in the classroom are significantly impacted by the leadership of head teachers. Head teachers set high academic expectations both inside and outside of their own institutions. The identification, acquisition, allocation, coordination, and use of the social, material, and cultural resources required to establish the conditions for teaching and learning are the duties of instructional leaders, according to Halverson (2004). Instructional leadership includes the identification, acquisition, allocation, coordination, and utilization of social and cultural resources necessary to establish the conditions for teaching and learning (Spillane, 2004). Nkobi (2008) asserts that instructional leadership seeks to improve the caliber of teachers’ classroom work by

the objective of improving students’ performance as well as their attitudes and behavior toward their academic work and personal lives. Raising learner achievement requires effective instructional leadership.

Statement of the problem: 1.2

To ensure that their schools are managed and structured to achieve their goals and objectives, primary school principals must provide vision, leadership, and direction for their institutions MOE (Ministry of Education, 2012). Teachers must prepare students to become global citizens on a local level. Efforts to increase student achievement can be very successful when school leaders correctly perform their instructional leadership responsibilities (Darling, 2005). However, a contentious national debate is currently centering on educational excellence and school leadership skills. the course material, the instructors The leaders who collaborate with teachers, students, and the community, as well as those who deliver the curriculum, are all factors in this area (Cunningham, 2009). Evidence suggests that policies that only address management and leadership struggle to have more than a general impact on students’ learning. Instead, significant changes in the economy, population, technology, and politics have altered the role of school administrators (Levine, 2005). Public primary school administrators face a variety of difficulties in their current workplace, despite the fact that they are crucial to determining the future of successful schools. Although studies have primarily been conducted to examine the difficulties that primary school administrators face in order to hasten the delivery of high-quality primary education

(Oduro, 2007). However, given the significance of this role in students’ academic achievement and the difficulties primary schools in Ose, Ondo state, face, it is urgently necessary to conduct research on the definitions teachers give to the role of heads of school in instructional leadership.

1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the study is to comprehend and enhance instructional leadership practices in primary schools. The study specifically seeks to:

i. evaluate how teachers view head teachers’ responsibilities as instructional leaders;

ii. investigate the functions of head teachers in enhancing primary school instruction and learning.

iii. identify the difficulties head teachers encounter while exercising instructional leadership in primary schools.

Research question 1.4

i.What are teachers’ perceptions of head teachers’ roles as instructional leaders?

ii.What are

What functions do head teachers play in enhancing primary school instruction and learning?

What difficulties do head teachers encounter while exercising instructional leadership in primary schools?

1.5 THE STUDY’S SIGNIFICANCE

The results of this study were expected to be useful to researchers as well as other educational stakeholders, including teachers, curriculum designers, parents, and policymakers. For instance, the results of the suggested study showed teachers’ attitudes toward instructional leadership and increased teachers’ (educators’) knowledge of well-respected methods for improving teaching and learning in primary schools. The results of this study undoubtedly helped curriculum writers and policymakers address the challenges that head teachers and academic staff faced when exercising instructional leadership in primary schools, and they may have discovered solutions to these issues. (For instance, the

Resources for teaching and learning in elementary schools, their type and accessibility, and areas that needed improvement.) Understanding what was most needed for elementary education might help them understand what was lacking.

1.6 THE STUDY’S SCOPE

Primary school students from four different primary schools in the Ose LGA of Ondo state will participate in this study.

1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS

Over the course of the studies, funding for general research activity will be challenging to come by. Correspondents may also be unable or unwilling to complete or submit the questionnaires that have been sent to them. However, it is expected that these limits will be overcome by making the greatest use of existing resources and devoting more time to research than is required.

Since the purpose and significance of the study can still be achieved despite these limitations, it is firmly believed that they will have little impact on this research report.

1.8 TERMINAL DEFINITIONS

The majority of academics who have attempted to define leadership agree that it is the process of influence that takes place between leaders and followers. Make it clear that leadership is an influence process that results in the accomplishment of desired goals.

According to Spillane, Halverson, and Diamond (2004), instructional leadership is the process of identifying, acquiring, allocating, coordinating, and utilizing the social, material, and cultural resources necessary to establish the conditions for teaching and learning. In order to increase students’ academic achievement, instructional leadership aims to improve the caliber of instructors’ classroom work. achievement as well as their behavior and attitudes toward their personal lives and schoolwork.