SSON The School Head as

Instructional Leader:

2 Enhancing Teacher
Competence

What Is This Lesson About?

Effective schools have principals who focus on curriculum and instruction. Much is expected of the
principal. As the saying goes, “Where the principal goes, so goes the school.” As you learned in Lesson
1, instructional leadership puts emphasis on the quality of teaching and learning. The principal
achieves this through having high expectations that are sustained among staff and students. At the
same time, there is recognition that support and encouragement are needed for everyone in the
school to do his or her best.

How does the school head promote learning? What are the conditions for operationalizing the
enhancement of learning? What are some indicators of success in this regard? This lesson will
familiarize you with the concepts related to the function of a principal as a curriculum leader for
students and a supervisor, coach and mentor for teachers.

What Will You Learn

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

 Name the domains of responsibility of a school head.

 Describe a curriculum.
 Define the role of a curriculum leader.
 Enumerate the tasks involved in curriculum leadership.
 Help improve teacher competence through coaching, mentoring and instructional supervision.
 Discuss some of the indicators of good management of schools.
 Describe the three personal leadership styles of a school principal.

 Let's Study
 Read the critical incident below and find out whether Principal Roberts is an effective
instructional leader.

Critical Incident (Adapted from Farris, 1996,

p.208)

Leslie Roberts is a principal in Cookesville, Tennessee.

Like other school heads, she was concerned with the
learning pace of the students. She observed that
children who were seldom read to at home, or who
rarely read books themselves, are at a major
disadvantage in learning to write. She noted that poor
readers and even some average readers in Grades 1 to
 3 tended to have trouble writing. They have limited or
awkward vocabulary and sentence structure.

To assist students in improving their writing, Principal

Roberts went into the classroom and developed
procedures for using sentence expansion with primary
grade students. She created sentence stems, the
beginning three or four words of a sentence, using
words from the student's content area textbooks or
trade books that they were reading. The sentence
stems were then written on the board for the students
to respond to and discuss. Students repeated the
sentences orally to provide reinforcement. The
students then individually wrote paragraphs
incorporating the sentence stems. By the end of the
year, their writing reflected much improvement over
their initial efforts.

Let's Think About This

Based on the critical incident, would you say that Principal Roberts is an effective instructional leader?
What makes you say so? What characteristics did she show that indicate that she promotes quality
education in her school? Would you like to have her in your team? Why? Write your ideas on the space
below.

Don't forget to print your answers

before proceeding to the next page.

Let's Read
Domains of a School Head’s Responsibilities

Chapman (2002) stated that school heads generally have responsibility in four areas. These are:
 i. School management

This task includes ordering supplies, hiring and assignment of teachers, gathering of
information, and basic record keeping.

ii. School communications

This includes coordination with ministry of education officials and community

stakeholders.

iii. School community relations

This involves working in community councils, joining community development

associations, and involvement in PTCA/PTA and local organizations.

iv. Instructional supervision

This includes all functions directly related to providing teaching and learning within
schools. In other words, this involves activities that help attain educational goals. The
concept of instructional supervision varies across countries.

Many Southeast Asian school heads view school management as their primary responsibility
(Chapman, 2002). Because of this administrative role, there is a tendency for them to lose track in
implementing instructional leadership. A true instructional leader does not lose focus of his two most
important target audiences: the students and the teachers. These three stakeholders form the core
triangle in educational systems.

What do you notice about the arrows that connect the school head to the students and the teachers?
If you answered that they are bi-directional or they go both ways, you are correct. This diagram
implies that the school head plays an important role in making sure that teachers teach well and
students learn as much as they can.

et's Read
The School Head as a Curriculum Leader

A curriculum is basically what students are expected to learn in the classroom and how the lessons are
taught (Farris, 1996). It refers to all educational experiences students go through in the school. In
other words, it is like a master plan that serves as guide to what educational goals are to be achieved
and through what teaching methods. As a school head, chances are you are already familiar with what
a curriculum would look like. It is the reason why, for example, Grade 1 pupils are taught certain
content areas while Grade 2 pupils are taught something else. The process of coming up with a
curriculum is long and painstaking. You will appreciate this more when you study Module 2, Lead
Curriculum Implementation and Enrichment in the LEARNTECH eXCELS flexible learning program.

Curriculum leadership is defined as the exercise of functions that enable the achievement of a school’s
goal of providing quality education to learners.

Curriculum leadership involves the following simplified tasks:

 Ensuring curriculum quality and applicability

 Integrating and aligning the curriculum
 Implementing the curriculum efficiently
 Regularly evaluating, enriching, and updating the curriculum

There are several challenges that prevent a principal like you from practicing curriculum leadership.
Familiarity with these challenges is important in optimizing your work. Nevertheless, the most
important thing for you to remember is that as an instructional leader, you play a lead role in
implementing the curriculum. This means that you are primarily responsible for making sure that the
curriculum, the school’s grand teaching plan, is implemented well. Curriculum management is an
integral part of instructional leadership

Let's Study

Principal Jing has a dilemma. Due to a decrease in education graduates in his country, his school lacks
teachers, especially in Science and Math subjects. Since Science and Math are an important
component of their primary school curriculum, as the principal, he has to find a way to solve the
problem. He was happy when a new teacher was asked to report to his office by the district
supervisor. It appeared that this might be the solution to the problem. During the interview, however,
Principal Jing found out that it is the teacher’s first year of teaching and that her specialization is
Physical Education. What should he do? He needed a teacher badly, but the current applicant seemed
ill-prepared for the job.

To help Mr. Jing make a decision regarding this matter, answer the questions below:

1. If you were Mr. Jing, would you assign the teacher to teach Science?

2. Why or why not?

3. What problems would you expect from this decision?

4. Given that he has no other option, what do you suggest he should do?

In most cases, principals like Mr. Jing are “forced” to recruit teachers to teach subjects which are not
in their areas of expertise. This is due to a lack of available teachers who are trained in certain
subjects. Because of these inappropriate assignments to other subjects, teachers are expected to
manifest lesser competence in teaching. Hence, student learning also suffers. If Mr. Jing has no other
choice, he has to make sure that his newly-hired teacher undergoes training and supervision in the
subject area that he/she is to teach. This allows for continuous training in the new subject area.
However,
this does not guarantee “expert-level” competence in some cases.
 Don't forget to print your answers
before proceeding to the next page.

Let's Read
Improving Teacher Competence

Because of the realities that many Southeast Asian schools face, like teacher shortage and lack of
resources, educational quality suffers. You saw this in the experience of Mr. Jing. The lowering of
educational quality happens through several ways. For example, an educational research study done
by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2002 has shown that the Philippines, in most cases, suffers
from inadequate teacher in-service training, low teacher salaries, and the misallocation of teachers
(Chapman and Adams, 2002). Misallocation means that for one reason or another, teachers are not
teaching their subjects of specialization. Being required to teach a subject you are not adequately
trained or prepared for is often due to the lack of teachers for that specialization or an oversupply of
teachers in one field. As a principal, it is an important responsibility for you to assign teachers
according to their areas of competence.

While it is true that subject expertise is an important requirement to achieve instructional goals, given
realities may not always allow this to happen. In many cases, principals are just thankful that a
teacher comes along. To “assign teachers to their area of competence” is the ideal. But oftentimes,
principals are asked not to be too choosy and should rather focus more on developing a teacher’s
competence in a new field where he/she is needed. To do this, as a school head, you need to pay
attention to the more important role: coaching and mentoring teachers to raise their competency
levels.

How do the school heads deal with teachers mis-assigned to areas not of their specialization? What
suggestions can you offer? What other modules can you refer to? Go back to the list of modules on
page 2 and see what modules in the LEARNTECH eXCELS program for principals and school heads
could be used for this purpose. Write your ideas on the space below.

Don't forget to print your answers

before proceeding to the next page.

Let's Read
The School Head as Coach and Mentor
The word competency came from the Latin word “competere” which means to be suitable or
appropriate. It is an observable behavior that indicates that the person is qualified for a job. Mentoring
and coaching teachers is one way to help them to be competent and to contribute in achieving your
school’s instructional goals.

What is mentoring and what is coaching? Are they the same? Although both are important leadership
roles of a school head, they are different. According to Starcevich (2009), mentorship is a power-free,
two-way mutually beneficial relationship. As a mentor, the school head acts as a facilitator and
teacher who allows the schoolteacher or staff being mentored to discover his/her own direction. The
school head focuses on the school teacher, his/her career, and provides support for individual growth
and maturity and long term development. The context does not have specific performance objectives.

On the other hand, coaching is the process of setting an agenda to reinforce or change skills and
behaviors. The principal who acts as a coach develops specific teacher competencies for the task,
challenges and performance expectations at work. Towards this, the principal-coach has objectives/
goals for each discussion with the teacher being coached. He/she tries to direct the teacher to some
end result. The schoolteacher being coached may choose how to achieve his/her objectives, but the
school head strategically assesses and monitors the teacher’s progress, giving advice for effectiveness
and efficiency whenever appropriate.

The table summarizes the differences between mentoring and coaching.

  Mentoring Coaching

Focus Individual Performance

Role Facilitator with no Specific agenda

agenda

Relationship Self selecting Comes with the job

Source of Perceived value Position

influence

Personal returns Affirmation/learning Teamwork

performance

Arena Life Task related

Let's Try This (Activity 2.1)

Can you differentiate between a mentor and a coach? On the space opposite the characteristics
and activities enumerated below, write whether they pertain to mentoring or coaching. Number
one has been done for you.

coa ching Mrs. Sabah assisted Mr. Ho in preparing an individualized

 1.
program (IP) for a child with a special need in his class. Once the
IP has been prepared, Mrs. Sabah will demonstrate to Mr. Ho how
to implement the IP.
Miss Phung approaches Dr. Srisakda asking her help and guidance
 2.
towards her professional and personal development.
Mr. Cruz is able to elicit his teachers cooperation in implementing
 3.
 the teaching strategies he patiently taught them because he is
the principal.
A school teacher clearly understands what her school head meant
 4.
when he said, “The feedback I’m giving you are inputs to improve
your performance as a teacher and not as an affront to you as a
person”.
For Dr. Habiba, the best reward is knowing that the teachers she
 5.
guided have become what they want to be.
The teachers find very motivating Dr. Hartoyo’s invitation for
 6.
them to feel free to approach him for any work-related or
personal concerns.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

If you scored 5, congratulations! You could really tell whether what you are doing is part of
mentoring or coaching. If you scored 4 or lower, you should study the lesson again and discuss
with your Flexible Learning Tutor concepts that need further explanation.

Don't forget to print your answers

before proceeding to the next page.

Let's Read
The School Head as an Instructional Supervisor

Providing instructional supervision is an important facet of your role as a school head. How effective is
supervision in facilitating instruction? Raudenbush and Bhumirat’s (1991 p 36, in Chapman 2002)
research among Thai teachers has shown that  “There is clear evidence of a link between the intensity
of internal supervision a teacher receives (supervision provided by the principal or designated
teachers) and the academic achievement of that teacher’s students”. Indeed, as teachers are the
school’s frontliners in providing instruction, preparing them well for their role as knowledge provider
and facilitator of learning is an important part of your responsibility.
There are many ways of providing supervision. You will learn more about them if you study the
following LEARNTECH eXCELS modules:

 Provide Developmental Supervision

 Provide Differentiated Supervision
 Provide Clinical Supervision
 Conduct a Post-Supervisory Conference
 Prepare an Instructional Supervisory Plan

You may also get ideas from other LEARNTECH eXCELS modules such as the ones below in helping
your teachers teach better.

 Rate Teacher’s Performance

 Introduce Innovation in Instruction

  

Let's Read
Indicators of Effective School-Level Management

After implementing the curriculum, coaching, and mentoring your teachers, what could be
some indicators to help you gauge whether you are doing the right thing? Chapman (2002)
suggests the use of the following criteria:

Some indicators of effective school level management:

 Instructional supplies are ordered and arrive on time.

 Teachers come to school on time.
 Teacher absenteeism is low.
 School facilities are in good repair.
 Teachers have copies of syllabi.
 Teachers receive instructional supervision.
 The school has a functional parent-teacher association.
 Parents know how their children are progressing in their studies.

In the case of mis-assigned teachers, the principal must be aware of their difficulty in the
current situation and must find ways to address their concern. The best solution is still to
come up with a new teacher who has specialized in a subject he/she handles and reassign the
former teacher to his/her real field of specialization. Nevertheless, if teachers cannot be
assigned to their areas of specialization, you may do the following:

 Provide supervision and coaching to enhance competence.

  Suggest enrichment activities (You may study LEARNTECH eXCELS Module 2, Lead
Curriculum Implementation and Enrichment, for more information on this).
 Explore the possibility of team teaching.
 Encourage the teacher to engage in self-study.
 Provide teacher development opportunities like seminars and lectures to empower the
teacher to adjust to his/her new task.

Let's Try This (Activity 2.2)

Read this letter sent by a recently graduated student to his former principal.
(Adapted from Mahle, 1989)

Dear Mr. Prang,

I was very angry when the year started, and you saw that. I know
that you talked to my counselor and found out that I was working
nights and my mother was sick. You asked me to do my best until
things got better and just use my time well in class and I’d pass.
That was fair. Some of my other teachers were nagging me about
falling asleep and not doing my homework. I wanted to quit
school. You’re the reason I stayed.

David

The principal referred to in the letter was also David’s teacher for some time.
What did the principal exhibit in handling this student’s case? Did the
principal go the extra mile to help his student?

Principals have different personalities, too. This is reflected not only in the
way they handle individual student cases, but also in how they play their
roles as lead administrator and school head.

Study the characteristics of the principals described below:

 Mr. Po

Mr. Po is a school head in Cambodia. He is very businesslike in

handling his role. He is known for having clear, longrange policies
and goals for his school and he works hard to translate goals into
reality. He makes decisions in terms of what is best for students,
not necessarily the easiest or what will make teachers happy. Mr.
Po has strong expectations of both students and teachers. He is
always prepared to assume leadership and will make things
happen if they were in the best interest of the school. He
implements central and regional directions or policies to suit the
needs of the school.

If you were to describe Mr. Po, his leadership style would be that of…

 a. An Initiator
 b. A Manager
 c. A Responder

Explain why you chose your answer.

Mr. Han

Mr. Han is very good in providing basic support to his staff. He keeps
teachers informed about decisions and is always sensitive to their needs. He
is teacher-centered and defends them from unreasonable external requests.
He does not typically initiate change but will follow through if given a high
priority by others.
If you were to describe Mr. Han, his leadership style would be that of…

 a. An Initiator
 b. A Manager
 c. A Responder
Explain why you chose your answer.

Mrs. Khan

Mrs. Khan sees her role as a school head primarily as an

administrator. She allows teachers and others to lead in decision
making because she perceives them as professionals. She strives
for a strong personal relationship with the school staff. She does not
focus on long term plans but rather makes decisions in terms of
immediate issues. She is flexible and willing to make changes at
 short notice to solve immediate problems
If you were to describe Mrs. Khan, her leadership style would be that of…

 a. An Initiator
 b. A Manager
 c. A Responder

Explain why you chose your answer.

Don't forget to print your answers before proceeding to the next

page.

Let's Read
Principal Styles and Their Impact on Students and Teachers

You learned from the previous activity that principals have different approaches in addressing school
concerns. Ideally, a school principal should be competent in all the domains related to school functions
such as handling finances, addressing faculty concerns and making sure that students learn well.
However, the realities of schools today can put the principal under stress. Typically, a principal will
adopt a particular leadership style that emphasizes certain domains and downgrades others. This
reflects how the principal copes with the demand of his/her work (Marsh 1992).

The principal who is primarily a responder puts emphasis on maintaining good relations with staff.
He/she tends to delegate responsibilities and listens to others rather than initiate ideas. He/she is low
key and nondemanding. This principal provides help to teachers who seek assistance. He/she does not
anticipate future problems nor is concerned with long term goals. This is the case of Mrs. Khan.

The principal who is primarily a manager, concentrates on getting tasks achieved rather than placing
emphasis on personal relations. He/she is orderly and well-organized, preferring to use established
procedures to accomplish tasks. Long hours are put in to complete administrative tasks and to be
available to teachers. Managers are prepared to directly intervene directly with staff over school
matters. They use memos often to communicate with teachers. An example of this is Mr. Han.

The principal who is primarily an initiator tends to be very secure and confident. He/she is
businesslike in his/her relations. The initiator states his/her expectations clearly and emphasizes
student outcomes. There is a conscious aim to achieve increasing academic standards. An example of
an initiator is Mr. Po.

If you were to choose, which principal style would you prefer? To achieve the goals of instructional
leadership, Marsh (1992) said that each is helpful for your improvement, but the initiator style is the
most successful. Can you think of reasons why this is so? Write your ideas below:

The more specific characteristics of each principal style are shown below.

Responders

 See their role as mainly administrative

 Allow teachers and others to lead in decision making
 Perceive teachers as professional
 Do not interfere with teachers’ instructional role
 Strive for strong personal relations with staff
 Make decisions in terms of immediate issues
 Do not consider long-term goals and plans
 Flexible and willing to make changes at short notice to solve
immediate problems

Managers

 Provide basic support to staff

 Keep teachers informed about decisions
 Are sensitive to teachers’ needs
 Defend teachers from unreasonable external requests
 Do not typically initiate change but will follow through if given a
high priority by others

Initiators

 Have clear decisive long-range policies and goals for their school
 Work hard to translate goals into actual practice
 Make decisions in terms of what is best for students, not necessarily
the easiest or what will make teachers happy
 Have strong expectations from students, teachers, and even
themselves
  Are prepared to take the lead and will make things happen if they
are in the best interest of the school
 Will implement central and regional directions or policies to suit
the needs of the school

Obviously the personal style of the principal will have an effect on the way teachers and students
respond. As the school head functions much like the captain of a ship, his/her temperament and work
styles will determine how well people would work with him/her.

Indeed, principals vary in the way they approach their tasks. Being familiar with these styles will help
you gauge your own strengths and limitations in empowering your teachers and students towards
achieving your school’s instructional goals. As a 21st century school leader, we encourage you to try
to become more of an initiator.

Don't forget to print your answers

before proceeding to the next page.

Let's Remember

 School heads generally have responsibility for

school management, school communications,
school community relations, and instructional
supervision. Many Southeast Asian school
heads view the responsibility of school
management as their primary responsibility,
often ignoring others. You are advised to pay
more attention to instructional supervision to
strengthen curricular implementation.

 The principal is expected to be a curriculum

leader. The curriculum is basically what
students are expected to learn in the
classroom and how the lessons are taught. In
other words, it is like a master plan that serves
as guide for what educational goals are to be
achieved and through what teaching methods.
Curriculum leadership is defined as the
exercise of functions that enable the
 achievement of a school’s goal of providing
quality education to learners.

 Curriculum leadership involves the following

simplified tasks:

√ Ensuring curriculum quality and applicability

√ Integrating and aligning the curriculum
√ Implementing the curriculum efficiently
√ Regularly evaluating, enriching, and
updating the
    curriculum

 Mis-assigned teachers are a source of concern.

In this case, and in most cases where teacher
competency needs to be raised, the principal is
expected to serve as a coach and mentor to
teachers and to provide instructional
supervision.

 Effective school management is observed or

measured in many ways. Some of the
indicators of good management in schools are
the following:

 Instructional supplies are ordered and arrive

on time.
 Teachers come to school on time.
 Teacher absenteeism is low.
 School facilities are in good repair.
 Teachers have copies of syllabi.
 Teachers receive effective instructional
supervision.
 The school has a functional parent-teacher
association
     (PTA)/parent-teacher-community
association (PTCA).
 Parents know how their children are
progressing in their
    studies.

 A principal will adopt a particular leadership

style that emphasizes certain domains and
downplays others. In terms of personal
leadership style, the principal could be a
responder, manager, or initiator. As a 21st
century school head, you are encouraged to try
to become more of an initiator.

How Much Have You Learned?

1. Choose the appropriate domain of responsibility in the box to which the following tasks of
school heads belong. Write only the letter of the domain referred to.

A. Instruction
B. School management
supervision

C. School D. School community

communications relations

Class observations

Ordering supplies

Hiring teachers

Basic record keeping

Writing to alumni

Assessment of student performance

Coordination with national education officials

Involvement in PTA/PTCA

Attending meetings of local organizations

Teacher supervision
 Joining community councils

Curriculum planning

2. Enumerate five indicators of effective school management

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

3. Name the three personal styles of principals.

a.

3b.

c.

o In what settings or situations would each personal style be most appropriate? Why?
 o Why is the initiator style deemed as the most appropriate by many education
researchers?

Don't forget to print your answers before proceeding to the next page.

Reference: LEARNTECH eXCELS flexible instructional leadership program for school heads and other
instructional leaders. (http://www.seameo-innotech.org) (http://www.seameo-
innotech.org/learntech/learntech.htm)