Instructional leadership is a form of leadership that enhances teaching and learning by promoting best practices. Instructional leadership was introduced in the 1940s with a minimal growth trajectory for its literature experienced up to the 1980s (Hallinger et al., 2020). The principal’s role as an instructional leader was emphasized by Edmond in his seminal article. Edmond indicated that any principal who applied instructional leadership is likely to be instructionally effective (Hallinger et al., 2020).
Such leaders are effective since they focus on a clear academic mission and hold themselves accountable for achieving results. Instructional leadership has contributed to the establishment of Principal Leadership Academies in the United States of America. The academies had an objective to transform principals into instructional leaders. This contributed to a significant increase in the number of publications promoting the importance of instructional leadership.
The emergence of policies emphasizing the need for professionalization and school restructuring led to a shift to leadership models that were consistent with the policies. Instructional leadership was re-conceptualized in the late 2000s to encompass leadership for learning (Hallinger et al., 2020). This saw the rise of various instructional models focused on student learning as well as designing school organizations to achieve success and enhance teachers’ capacity.
Instructional leadership is not considered a form of school leadership but should be viewed as a component that is needed to achieve effective leadership. School leaders should rely on the path between instructional leadership and teacher learning to improve student learning. Instructional leadership has grown to become one of the most powerful metaphors needed to guide school leaders’ expectations. Instructional leadership can help to influence student learning results in a positive manner when introduced in the learning settings.
Reference
Hallinger, P., Gümüş, S., & Bellibaş, M. Ş. (2020). Are principals instructional leaders yet? A science map of the knowledge base on instructional leadership, 1940–2018. Scientometrics, 122(3), 1629-1650. Web.