Instructional Leadership in Inclusive Secondary Schools of Zimbabwe: Balancing Multiple and Competing Expectations

Edson Muresherwa,Loyiso C Jita

doi:10.13189/ujer.2021.091003

Abstract

This article explores school heads' enactment of instructional leadership practices in inclusive secondary schools in Zimbabwe. It provides answers to the central question: How do school heads enact instructional leadership practices in inclusive secondary schools and how does sense-making by school heads explain instructional leadership practices in this instructional environment? The article forms part of a larger study on the challenges of and opportunities for instructional leadership in inclusive secondary schools of Zimbabwe. The study employed a qualitative multiple case study research approach and was informed by the enactive sense-making theory. The cases comprised three secondary school heads purposively sampled in line with the extent to which they embraced inclusivity in terms of serving differently abled learners. Data were collected using a combination of semi-structured interviews on instructional leadership thought and practices, non-participant observation and documents analysis. The data were analysed using the interactional narrative analysis approach and presented using the case-by-case method. The study revealed that participants understood instructional leadership in their schools in the morphed sense of the concept as a multidimensional and stakeholder-based social activity built on equity principles. However, the concept of

Highlights

The call for schools to embrace an inclusive approach to education continues to dominate academic discourse and educational policy internationally [1]
Our study provides answers to the central research question: How do school heads enact instructional leadership practices in inclusive secondary schools and how does sense-making by school heads explain instructional leadership practices in this instructional environment? This study is considered relevant at a time when inclusivity and secondary school education are increasingly becoming key components of basic education internationally
It will be recalled that the purpose of this article was to explore school heads’ enactment of instructional leadership practices in inclusive secondary schools and how this sense-making explains instructional leadership practices in this instructional environment

Summary

Introduction

The call for schools to embrace an inclusive approach to education continues to dominate academic discourse and educational policy internationally [1]. According to Haug [5], regardless of the sound ethical and policy foundations upon which inclusive education is grounded, full inclusion in most countries internationally has remained unfinished business The reason for this discrepancy is still a subject for debate [5], more so in the secondary-school department. It is clearly understood that school leadership, in particular, instructional leadership, is the key to the success of any school programme that is meant to improve student learning [6], and that sense-making is the key to human action [7] It is not clear how school heads enact instructional leadership in inclusive secondary schools and how this enactment explains instructional leadership practices in this school setting. A number of studies have been conducted on inclusive education and instructional leadership, as stand-alone areas for research, very little research has been conducted focusing on instructional leadership by school heads in inclusive secondary schools [8]

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Conclusion