A Study on Determinants Associated with Principals Instructional Leadership Role Behavior in General Secondary Schools

The source of school principals" failure to be instructional leaders lies in both organizational contexts and set of knowledge, skills and expectations they bring to their roles. Hence, the main purpose of this study was to scrutinize the determinants associated with principals" instructional leadership role behavior in general secondary schools in Amhara national regional state, Ethiopia. A model hypothesizing the influence of determinant factors on principals" instructional leadership role behavior was tested. From a sample of 30 randomly selected general secondary schools, 372 sample teacher and 54 principal respondents were participated in the study. While principals were included comprehensively, proportionally stratified random sampling procedure was used to select sample teachers. Questionnaires for principals and teachers were used to examine the personal, school and woreda level determinant factors associated with principals" instructional leadership role behavior. The results demonstrated that principals" instructional leadership role behavior was highly contingent up on principals personal antecedents and contextual factors in which they work. Among principals personal antecedents, teaching experience, principalship experience and specialization were found to be significantly associated with instructional leadership performance in a positive direction. In relation to school level factors, greater availability of instructional resources and school professional norm that greatly value participation of principals in instructional matters had a significant positive association with principals" instructional leadership role behavior. But greater role diversity and lack of principals" expertise in curriculum and instruction had a significant negative association with principals" instructional leadership role behavior. Furthermore, the results revealed that principals" active engagement in instructional leadership role could be influenced by woreda level administrative related issues. In general, from the findings of this study, it could be inferred that any attempt to understand the concept of instructional leadership without taking into account the contexts in which they work could be an incomplete picture. Hence, the concept of principals" instructional leadership responsibility should be placed into the broader contexts (principals personal, school and woreda level contexts) in which they work. The contexts in which principals work could also provide appropriate standard for the recruitment system and development of principals" instructional leadership capacity.