Bottling fog? The quest for instructional management

TLDR

Instructional leadership is widely recognized as linked to more effective schools and is generally accepted as the central platform for learning‑centered leadership. The study presents a more critical perspective on instructional management. The authors explain that learning‑focused leadership remains a limited domain for school and district leaders, and that professional culture and schooling realities account for only marginal gains. The paper concludes by outlining potential future paths for instructional management. Keywords include instructional leadership, school improvement, and leadership, and the authors note that the views expressed are theirs and not necessarily those of the sponsor.

Abstract

AbstractElsewhere, the authors have unpacked instructional leadership and have documented that such leadership is associated with more effective schools. Indeed, there has been for a considerable time nearly universal acceptance that learning-centered leadership should provide the central platform on which leadership is enacted. In this paper, a less sanguine narrative is provided on instructional management. Specifically, it documents that for all the evidence and recognition of importance, learning-focused leadership remains a small domain of action for leaders at the school and district levels. It then focuses on both the culture of the profession of school administration and the nature of schooling to explain why in the face of considerable energy and effort only marginal improvements have been realized in deepening instructional leadership. It closes with an analysis of possible paths going forward.Keywords: instructional leadershipschool improvementleadership Disclosure statementThe contents expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsor.