E.L. Africa Magazine | December 2022

CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES

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 have generally failed to lead school improvement for three researched-generated reasons One such reason is a principal's perception of their relations with teachers Perception of principal-teacher relations might seem unimportant to many but does pivotally play out in how principals see themselves in the eyes of those they supervise An unfavorable perception of oneself or thoughts of being disliked by teachers rob principals of their esteem, power, and influence to engage meaningfully. In such a situation, and as Shaked (2019) points out, perceptional misjudgments undermine principals’ image of themselves through the eyes of their teachers.