Teachers' perceptions of actual and desired elementary principal involvement in instructional leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the instructional leadership role of the elementary principal from the teacher's perspective. More specifically, it addressed the following questions: (1) Which instructional leadership activities and behaviors do principals engage in most frequently? (2) Which instructional leadership activities and behaviors do teachers believe principals should be engaged in most frequently? and (3) What differences, if any, exist between a principal's actual and desired role in instructional leadership activities and behaviors as perceived by teachers? -- Study data were gathered by means of a questionnaire administered to elementary teachers randomly selected from five school boards across the province. Questionnaire items were developed from an extensive review of literature and research and from an examination of two particular studies of instructional leadership conducted by Larsen (1987) and Williams (1986). An overall response rate of 78.5% was obtained. -- Data were analyzed in terms of the three questions posed in the statement of the problem. Teachers' perceptions of the actual and desired level of principal involvement were presented for each item in the questionnaire. The question concerning differences between teachers' responses of actual and desired level of principal involvement was analyzed by computing differences in mean scores for each item and by using the t-test to determine the significance of the difference. -- Findings and conclusions from the study indicated that principals are sometimes or frequently involved in a limited number of instructional leadership activities and behaviors while teachers desire principals to be frequently or almost always engaged in over 80% of the activities listed in the questionnaire items. Teachers believe that principals should be highly involved in staff development, instructional support, resource acquisition and allocation, coordination and troubleshooting activities but suggested a somewhat lower level of involvement in many quality control items. -- Recommendations for immediate action included principal in-service centered on instructional leadership, consideration by principals for increased involvement in instructional leadership activities and behaviors, and consideration by school boards for involving principals in the selection and recruitment process. Recommendations for further study included an examination of the reasons why teachers desire limited principal involvement in quality control activities, and that a similar study be conducted at the high school level.