CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES BY: GEORGE WAH WILLIAMS, MA, M.ED
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ustainable school improvements remain at the heart of educational endeavors across the globe, more so in developing countries than in the more developed educational landscapes. Though performance improvement challenges differ between regions, programs, and schools, the commonality remains in the quest to improve and sustain school performance across critical service and support delivery sectors. WHO IS AN INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER? Instructional leaders can be any number of people in a school. The principal, the assistants, the academic dean, department chairs, tenure teachers, and those with the most experience (longevity, qualifications, and the sophisticated ability to influence decision-making) are among the pool of instructional leaders. The list of school personnel above is by no means exhaustive but represents the cream of likely players. High on the list is the critical importance of principals who should serve as pacesetters, instructional recruiting connoisseurs, vision-bearers, and facilitators in chief. According to Gümüş et al. (2022), the role of principals encompasses instructional personnel supervision. It accounts for a broader collection of capabilities vital to elevating the quality and outcome of educational service delivery. Principals are inherently the drivers of change and, as advanced by Abdulwahab (2021), mediate said change through teachers and other school personnel. Accomplishing this is by no means an easy feat. Principals bear the oneness of driving the change they envision in various ways. White (2021) cites the principals as trustbuilders, growth facilitators, and achievement influencers, among other critical roles. These roles are intricately connected to the positioning necessary for effective instructional leadership. With this in mind, Let’s take a closer look at principals’ facilitatory role as instructional leads and how that plays into the global focus of identifying and empowering line administrators and teachers to advance instructional practice for enhanced learning outcomes. PRINCIPALS AS VISION-BEARERS AND TRUST BUILDERS Inarguably the most effective educational leadership 23
E.L. AFRICA | DECEMBER 2022
George Wah Williams, MA, M.Ed., is the founding director of Educational Development Innovations, an author, civic advocate, lifelong educator, and a History instructor with Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.
strategy commences with a clear projection of what that leadership seeks to attain. As Hancott (2017) puts it, visioning must remain an essential critical aspect of institutional leadership, and the lack is tantamount to ineffectiveness. Leaders, especially principals, take in the title and often neglect the role. The two are inseparable. Wearing the crown essentially requires that wearers play the part. Taking on the role of principal presupposes that the title bearer has a clear understanding of the challenges faced by the school and embarks on the new journey with a set of strategies - however, structured intending to improve existing conditions and outcomes. As the lead administrators, principals are under legal, social, and moral obligations to intellectually invest wholeheartedly in their responsibilities. They understand their commitment to serve and protect the students in their charge. Additionally, the expectations are principals can raise the next productive community of local, national, and global leaders and ensure that their charge as leaders remains respected with fidelity. Principals are vision-bearers and, considering their immense influence on the school community, enable those under their supervision to acquiesce easily. Regardless of how formed their vision might be, they are duty bound to leverage the help of other functionaries - proximate or otherwise - to fashion out and articulate their vision in
