Rishichand Sookai Budhal

Instructional Leadership of the School Principal: Its Impact on the Culture of Learning and Teaching at Schools Rishichand Sookai Budhal

THE IMPACT OF THE PRINCIPAL'S INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP ON THE CULTURE OF LEARNING AND TEACHING IN THE SCHOOL: Recently it had been noticed that there was a marked decline in the culture of teaching and learning in many schools throughout the world. An investigation was therefore undertaken to check whether the type of instructional leadership displayed by the school principal was a contributory factor to this decline. A literature study and an empirical investigation was done to identify if any relationship existed between the instructional leadership of the principal and the culture of learning and teaching at schools. From the findings, it became apparent that such a relationship did exist. Schools where principals neglected such instructional leadership roles were more susceptible to perpetuate the erosion of the culture of teaching and learning, whereas principals who demonstrated strong instructional leadership roles helped to prevent such erosion. The educational implications of the findings are discussed and guidelines are provided to assist school principals in executing their roles as effective instructional leaders.