Principals Instructional Leadership Role: The Case of International Schools in Sri Lanka
Principals Instructional Leadership Role: The Case of International Schools in Sri Lanka
Principals Instructional Leadership Role: The Case of International Schools in Sri Lanka
H. M. Lalitha Kumari
Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Science Education, Faculty of Education, University of
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Abstract: This study examines the instructional leadership (IL) role of international school
principals in Sri Lanka. The main aim of this study was to identyfy how do principal’s play
instructional leadership roles as instructional leader in international schools. The objevtives of
the study were to find out principal’s role as instructional leader in international schools and to
identify what activities principals engage in promoting the education of students and upgrading
the pedagogy of teachers in international schools. The multiple case study method was used in
the current study. Accordingly, Semi-structured interviews and focused group discussions were
used as data collecting tools. As the study sample three principals, and nine teachers were
selected using purposive sampling for interviews and group discussion. The study found that all
principals in the sample success to balance their general administrative responsibilities and
instructional leadership roles. All the principals in the sample mentioned that they implement
innovative methodologies to promote the education of students and upgrading the pedagogy of
teachers. The study further found that principals pay a significsnt attention on teachers
professional devlopment, provision of instructional materials and incentives for teaching and
learning by international schools principals as instructional leaders. It was further found that
principals in international schools face difficulties in terms of retention of qualified trained
teachers as a significant number of teachers (nearly 30%) are leaving the country. Therefore it is
recommended that the international school principals need to be taken immediate action in order
to retain qualified experienced teachers in their schools.
Keywords: Instructional leader, Leadership roles, International Schools, Motivation.
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Introduction
There are widespread beliefs that the quality of leadership makes a significant difference to
school and student outcomes. It has been found that the main purpose of engaging in
instructional leadership role is to support teachers to improve their pedagogical skills which
directly benefit students’ high level of educational performance (Bush 2008, Southworth 2004,
Kumari 2022a, 2022b,). According to Southworth (2004) efficient and effective leaders exercise
both direct and indirect influence in implementing reforms and improving students’ educational
achievement. Researchers found that classroom observation is one of the most common ways of
reflecting on pedagogical practices which can help teachers evaluate their strengths and
weaknesses (Farrell 2011). According to Waters et al., (2004) and Pillegedara et,al (2021)
effective leadership of school principals can significantly enhance pupil achievement. According
to them when principals engage in instructional leadership roles such as monitoring the teaching
learning process, holding post observation conferences and providing feedback and support,
providing incentives and resources on time, coordinating curriculum, evaluate students progess,
protect instructional time, provide incentives for teaching and learning will directly affect
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collected in verbal form rather than numerical, data are analyzed inductively and researchers are
concerned with the entire process in qualitative research (Bogdan et,al 2007). The qualitative
research discovers attitudes and behavior, experience through multiple forms of data such as
interviews, observation and documents as it doesn’t rely on a single data source. A case study is
thus appropriate for the current study as it attempts to describe a particular situation.
Sampling Method
As explained by Cohen et al., (2013) careful and effective sampling helps researchers in order to
overcome challenges in terms of time, resources and also access. They further highlighted that
the quality of any research depends on careful sampling and researchers need to make sure the
size of the sample and also its accessibility, as the accuracy of data needed is determined by the
sample selected. Therefore, considerable attention needs to be payed in choosing a reliable study
sample. They further stated that the size of the sample depends on purpose and the nature of the
research. In particular the nature of the research can be quantitative, qualitative or mixed method.
Therefore, according to them there are no clear cut rules for correct sample size. However,
Cohen et al., emphasized the importance of considering methods of sampling when selecting an
appropriate sample for a study. As mentioned by them under the purposive sampling method
sampling is deliberate, depending on the needs of the researcher and the purpose and scope of the
study. Therefore, purposive sampling method was choose as the best suite sampling method for
the current study.
Study Sample
The idea behind qualitative research is to purposefully select participants or sites that will best
help the researcher understand the problem and the research question. Therefore, purposive
sampling was used as the sampling methodology in the current study. Accordingly, three
international school principals, nine international school teachers were selected as the study
sample for data collection. The researcher’s chosen schools were from the Colombo District in
order to findout instructional leadership roles played by international school principals.
Data collection tools
As qualitative data collection tools in the current sdtudy Semi-structured interviews and focused
group discussions were employed. Accordingly, semi structured interviews was conducted with
principals and teachers. Focus group discussions were conducted with teachers as they can give
adequate information in terms of instructional leadership role of the international school
principal in their school.
Interview as data gathering tool
Numan (2007) stated that there are various types of interviews in social science research known
as structured, semi structured and unstructured interviews. In the current study the researcher
used semi-structured interview mainly because the researcher wanted to know specific
information which can be compared and contrasted with information gained in other focus group
discussions and interwiews. In order to fulfill this, the same guiding questions were asked in
each interview schedule. Accordingly, individual interview was conducted with international
school principals in addition to the focus group discussion with teachers. The researcher was
responsible for no interview took longer than 40 minutes.
Focus group discussions as data gathering tool
Focus group discussions have been identified as one of the most important and popular data
collection instruments. As explained by Kvale et, al. (1996) focus group discussion is a type of
group interview which encourages interaction among participants. In particular focus group
discussions allows participants to communicate and make a discussion among them on a
particular issue or theme and then provide authentic information. They further emphasizesed the
importance of using focus group discussions when the interviewer wishes to motivate
respondents to come up with their own ideas, views and also suggestions on a particular issue
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supporting to obtain answers from the interviewees. As explained by Kvale et al., (1996) when
interviewers support the interviewee to obtain answers this will lead to interrupt the
interviewee’s flow of thought. Therefore they advised interviewers to retrain from supporting to
get answers. The last guideline is about organizing interview sections. Under this guideline it is
expected that the interviewer will organize the interview questions in a logical manner. In
particular they are advised not to begin with sensitive or emotional questions. Following these
guidelines, the researcher conducted theree interviews with the international school principals,
and three focus group discussions with teachers.
Data Analysis
In qualitative research data analysis involves collecting open ended data provided by
respondents. Accordingly, the interviews were conducted in English Language and the
interviews were recorded using a tape recorder. Once the interview was concluded, each audio
file were transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the main data obtained through
different interviews. Braun and Clarke (2006) identified thematic analysis as a method for
identifying, analyzing, reporting patterns or themes within data. The transcripts were studied
and, in the process, units, categories and themes were identified. After that the interpretations of
the results were done. The data collected from different interviews were closely examined so that
organizes into categories on the basis of themes and similar features. In this process the
researcher first listened to the recordings of each interview. Then the transcripts were read
several times to get general idea of the interview, identify categories and units of meanings.
Accordingly, similar categories were then grouped together and arranged into themes. Grouping
related categories that show interrelationships helped reduced themes. Most of the themes that
emerged from the interviews matched with the literature available for instructional leadership
roles. Accordingly, four themes such as; principal role in framing and communicating the school
vision and mission, principal’s involvement in managing of curriculum and instructional
programs, principal’s role in organizing professional development programmes for staff and
principal’s role in creating positive climate for teaching and learning. The themes that have been
identified were discussed and supported with relevant quotations from the interviews.
Validity and Reliability
Cohen et al., (2007) show the importance of validity and reliability in research. They stated
that an invalid research is worthless. According to Basit, (2010) issues of validity in research can
be addressed. Validity in qualitative study has to do with being truthful. It refers to the bridge
between a construct and the data. Therefore researcher in this study used triangulation strategy
and thick descriptions to address validity concerns. Reliability in qualitative research deals with
the consistency and dependability of the research findings. Dependability will be obtained
through triangulation as well as a detailed report on the processes followed in the study so that
future researchers may repeat the work. The taped interviews and transcription of the interviews
will be stored and kept safely for verification purposes. Accordingly the issue of validity and
reliability in qualitative research may be addressed through honesty, richness and scope of
the data achieved. Accordingly it is clear that the validity and reliability of a research depend
on several factors. They have been identified as the ability of the researcher to obtain real data
and the extent to which the research explains the phenomenon. Further, the generalizability in
terms of usefulness is also important. Hence, the researcher tried to enhance validity and
reliability in her study through various aspects such as exploring the issue in detail and
triangulating data.
Etical Cosideration
This section focuses on the ethical issues that related to the current study. Obtaining informed
consent from the participants is a one of the basic requirements of any research. Accordingly, the
researcher prepared a straightforward consent form for the participants including important
information with regard to the current research. Each participant signed the consent form
before the researcher started the data collection. Accordingly, relevant permission was obtained
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to conduct interviews and obervations from principals sectional heads and teachers.
As highlighted by Rubin and Rubin (2011) it is vital for every researcher to be careful about
what the respondent says or provides. It is therefore the researchers’ responsibility to protect
their participants. In order to protect participants’ identities Miles and Huberman (1994) suggest
researchers use pseudonyms in their research reports. The individuals who participated in a
research also have moral and legal rights to receive privacy, confidentiality and anonymity. In
particular if the participants do not feel secure and comfortable they will not fully contribute to
providing accurate information. Therefore the quality of the research findings on the one hand
depends on the level of security and comfort of the research participants. Therefore, in
order to avoid any implications on the reputation of the schools and participants the researcher
decidednot use their real names when writing her repor
In any research trustworthiness is one of the key aspects which is frequently questioned. Lincoln
and Guba (2004) stated that there are several ways to judge trustworthiness of a research. The
first one is achieving the credibility of the research. For this every researcher needs to show that
the subject was appropriately identified and described. Due to this, every researcher is required
to give a description about every stage of his/her research in order to convince readers.
Therefore, in the current study, the researcher provided a complete explanation in order to
achieve credibility. According to them the second way of judging trustworthiness is
transferability. Transferability is the researchers’ ability to show the usefulness of findings to
other similar situations even though every research is different in its nature. They believe that
some aspects of a research are applicable to other situations. Therefore, in this current study this
was also considered and the necessary effort was made to give sufficient information. The third
way of judging trustworthiness is conformability. The conformability shows that the data and
their explanation are not creations of the researchers’ thoughts. In the current study the
researcher provided a detailed description of the procedure of data collection and analysis. Also
the current study was further reinforced by audio- recorded data and their transcription.
Cohen et al., (2007) show the importance of validity and reliability in research. They stated
that an invalid research is worthless. According to Basit, (2010) issues of validity in research can
be addressed. Accordingly they identified that the issue of validity and reliability in qualitative
research may be addressed through honesty, richness and scope of the data achieved.
Accordingly it is clear that the validity and reliability of a research depend on several factors.
They have been identified as the ability of the researcher to obtain real data and the extent to
which the research explains the phenomenon. Further, the generalizability in terms of usefulness
is also important. Hence, the researcher tried to enhance validity and reliability in her study
through various aspects such as exploring the issue in detail and triangulating data.
Findings
Interview data
Data obtained from the different interviewees were analyzed and discussed in this section.
Accordingly, the main four themes such as principal role in framing and communicating the
school vision and mission, principal’s involvement in managing of curriculum and instructional
programs, principal’s role in arranging staff development programmes and principal’s role in
creating positive teaching and learning atmosphere were developed. All four themes that have
been identified were discussed and supported with relevant quotations from the interviews.
Findings of the Interviews
In this section the researcher presented the following major findings of this study based on the
interviews data
1. Principal’s role in framing and communicating the school vision and mission
Interms of framing and communicating the school vision and mission, all the principals form the
entire principal sample stated that vision and mission statements are framed in their schools and
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has displayed so that teachers as well as students and the school community can can read it.
This was supported by teacher focus group discussion 2 from international school 2 school.
“There is a vision and mission statements in our school and we have read it and we are motivated
….”
(Teachers focus group discussion 2 from international school 2 school)
According to Hallinger, P. and Murphy, J. (1985) one of the most important instructional
leadership roles is formulating and defining a clear mission, goals and objectives together with
the staff members and communicating them to stakeholders to realize effective instructional
process.
2. Principal’s role in managing and monitoring curriculum and instructional program.
It was revealed from the interviews that the management of curriculum and instructional
programs is a shared responsibility of principal and the school management team in international
schools. This view is highlighted by principal 3 from 3 international School.
“Managing and monitoring curriculum and instructional program should be the central focus of
international schools. In this process principasls need support from the school management team
to make sure instructional procees are taken place as planned and. ……”
(Principal 3)
Supporting to above quote Teacher focus group 1 from international School 1 highlighted that,
“….School management team in international schools conducts instructional observation.
However, they find it difficult to give constructive feedback for teachers as they have very busy
administrative roles to be played. Therefore, we suggest school management to allocate
sufficient time so that the team can identify teachers strengths as well as the areas that they need
to be developed and thereby enhance professional development of the staff …..”
(Teacher focuas group 1)
According to Hallinger et, al (1985) one of the of principal’s role as instructional leader is to
engage in inatructional supervision and evaluating instruction on a regular basis and ensuring
that classroom objectives of teachers are consistent with the stated goals of the school. However,
the focus group interviews revealed that the supervisory role of international school principal’s
and management team was not sufficient as they failed to provide constructive feedback for
teachers’ professional development
3. Principal’s role in staff development program
It revealed from the interview that principal as instructional leader in international school pay
considerable attention on teachers professional development. As stated by the principals 2 from
international school 2,
“Providing professional development opportunities for teachers within the school is very
important as it provides opportunities for teachers to update their knowleg and improve skiils
pertaining to pedagogical practices. In this connections I have advised the management team to
plan, organized and implement pertinent workshopes and series of seminars and implement
innovative methodologies to promote the education of students and upgrading the quality of
pedagogical practices. , ………..”
(Principal 3)
Supporting to above quote Teacher 2 from focus group interview 3, School 3 highlighted that,
“There were several school based teacher training programmes and workshops organized within
the school. Almost all the teachers in our schools got an opportunity to engage in professional
development programmes organized by school as well as outside educational organizations …...”
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6. Recommendations
Based on the study findings and conclusions the researcher suggests following recommendations
so that principals as instructional leaders in international schools could further improve the
quality of pedagogy in international schools in Sri Lanka.
Principals’ role in providing instructional resources:
it was reveled from this study that the trained human resource was not satisfactory in
international schools as a considerable percentathe of trained teachers ( nearly 30 %) were
leaving the country during last couple of years. Therefore, principals as instructional leaders in
international schools need to pay careful attention on this and take immediate action in order to
tetain qualified experienced teacahers in their schools.
Principal’s role in managing and monitoring curriculum and instructional program.
It was further revealed from this study that School management team in international schools
conduct instructional observation. However, they find it difficult to give constructive feedback
for teachers. Therefore, I recommend international school principals to allocate sufficient time so
that the supervisory team can identify teachers strengths as well as the areas that they need to be
developed and thereby enhance professional development of the staff .
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