Perceptions of teachers on the instructional leadership behaviours of secondary school principals in Rwanda

Abstract

This article draws on data collected from a wider PhD study conducted in the Nyamagabe district of Rwanda in 2017. The main purpose of that study was to identify instructional leadership behaviours enacted by secondary school principals, and investigate the extent to which these behaviours influence professional practices of teachers. This article focuses only on identifying instructional leadership behaviours of school principals from the perceptions of the teachers in the district using the survey questionnaires. Data collected were analysed using SPSS software and means and standard deviations were computed to determine the extent to which school principals enacted instructional leadership behaviours. The findings suggest that, as perceived by the teachers, principals to a large extent do engage in instructional leadership behaviours in their schools. These behaviours included supervising instruction, providing feedback and discussing this feedback with teachers. It was observed that defining and communicating shared goals, promoting teacher professional development, providing teaching and learning resources and reviewing curricula were also enacted. Teachers ranked their principals as moderately enacting instructional leadership behaviours. Although these findings are not generalisable across the country, they can serve as a roadmap for school principals and policy makers to improve instructional leadership in Rwandan secondary schools.