Influence of head teachers’ instructional leadership on teachers’ professional practices in primary schools of Musanze district

Abstract

School headteachers’ leadership is critical to the academic life of both teachers and students in a school. Headteachers, as school leaders hold a position which has a great potential for maintaining and improving the quality of instruction in schools. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of headteachers’ instructional leadership on teachers’ professional practices in primary schools of Musanze district. Specific objectives of this studies were (i) to identify the level of instructional leadership practices implemented by headteachers in primary schools of Musanze district, (ii) to identify the level of professional practices performed by teachers of primary schools in Musanze district and (iii) to find out how headteachers’ instructional leadership influence teachers’ professional practices in primary schools of Musanze district. The mixed research design was used to describe degree to which the variables are related, and the stratified sampling techniques was applied to obtain a representative sample. In this study, 14 headteachers and 216 teachers were related as informants using reliable questionnaires and interviews as instruments to collect data and validity was also checked. Mean and standard deviations distribution were displayed reporting on headteachers’ instructional leadership role and teachers’ professional practices in primary schools of Musanze district. Also, regression coefficients were used to determine the relationship between headteachers’ instructional leadership role and teachers’ professional practices in primary schools of Musanze district. The findings revealed that headteachers’ instructional leadership is less enacted in primary schools of Musanze district the same as the teachers’ professional practices which are less observed in primary schools of Musanze district. However, the findings demonstrated a significant positive relationship between instructional leadership practices and teachers’ professional practices. So, this study revealed that instructional leadership of school headteachers was critical to the improvement of teachers’ professional practices which means that the headteacher who work as instructional leader is needed in school as he/she is the one who can shape the favourable working conditions of teachers and affects the quality of their performance in their professional practices which consequently lead to the improvement of learning outcomes. The policymakers should encourage the use of instructional leadership to improve teachers’ professional practices