A contemporary examination of instructional leadership activities and distributed leadership practices in elementary education
John Tenha & Chipo Makamure
Abstract
While the success of schools is often attributed to the efforts of principals, it is important to determine how schools can embrace distributed instructional leadership to enhance academic performance among learners. It is evident that instructional leadership alone is inadequate and necessitates complementation with a distributed leadership model. This study exclusively focuses on how instructional leadership aligns with distributed leadership, paying special attention to distributed instructional leadership implementation in primary schools in Zimbabwe. In this particular qualitative study, the interpretivist theory served as the guiding framework. The study involved observation and conducting interviews with school teachers and principals to gain insight into the instructional and distributive leadership activities that were taking place within their respective schools. The analysis of the data was approached through the lens of Hallinger and Murphy’s model of instructional leadership. The findings of the study highlighted the importance of active involvement from all members within a school for effective leadership. Furthermore, it was revealed that a holistic approach to school leadership styles is essential, emphasizing the interconnected nature of instructional and distributive leadership activities (distributed instructional leadership). The study ultimately determined that distributed instructional leadership is achieved through collaborative efforts in formulating school visions and embracing shared supervision practices among the members of staff. It was also identified that creating opportunities for staff development in the schools plays a pivotal role in reaching the goals of distributed instructional leadership.
Keywords
distributed leadership, instructional leadership, school vision, shared responsibility, staff development
Author information & Contribution
John Tenha. PhD in Educational Management, Lecturer, Zimbabwe Open University.
Chipo Makamure. Corresponding author. PhD Curriculum Studies - Mathematics Education, Lecturer, Zimbabwe Open University. Email: makamurech@zou.ac.zw
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
This work was not supported by any funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
AI Declaration
Notes
Acknowledgement
This study was self-funded. However, we would like to acknowledge teachers and school principals who cooperated in providing data for the study to be a success. We have no declarations for conflict of interest.
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Cite this article:
Tenha, J. & Makamure, C. (2024). A contemporary examination of instructional leadership activities and distributed leadership practices in elementary education. International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies, 5(3), 267-295. https://doi.org/10.53378/ijemds.353105
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