The value of empathy as an instructional leadership competency for school principals

Abstract

AbstractIn this exploratory study, the value of empathy as an instructional leadership competency for school principals was investigated. This research explored the principals’ perceptions of their emotional competency of empathy that can link their academic studies with their experiences in their schools. It focused specifically on the adequacy of the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) school leadership (SL) programme offered by a higher education institution (HEI) to develop the work-integrated learning competency (WILC) of empathy of these principals. To achieve this objective, the qualitative research approach was used. The research methods comprised five focus groups (FG) interviews with ten principals in each group, as well as ten single in-depth interviews. The principals’ responses indicated that they valued empathy as an instructional leadership competency. Furthermore, the findings from this research confirm that they strongly believe that their in-service training by HEIs must continuously...