Collaborative support among instructional leaders
Subject
Abstract
This research study explores the issues encountered by principals as instructional leaders of their schools. These leaders are important contributors to the learning environment for all members of the school community. With all of the changes happening in education across British Columbia, the principal’s role as instructional leader has become even more demanding as the primary focus is to support teachers in enhancing student learning. The purpose of this study is to discover how a team of principals can support each other to enhance their capabilities as instructional leaders in an independent school system. After the literature review which focuses on communities of practice, educational change, and qualities of instructional leaders, an action research approach was used for qualitative data collection, using interviews with colleagues and the researcher’s personal journal. A directed approach to qualitative content analysis was then used to analyze both sets of data. After the separate analysis of the interview data and the personal journal data, the two data sets were integrated into a coding frame. From the data analysis, four themes emerged in this study: the work of an instructional leader is daunting; it is emotional; it requires a strategic approach; it must have sustainable efforts. This study concludes with the recommendation that instructional leaders integrate purposeful, shared learning as a strategy to support one another, and provides a framework for that collaboration.