School Leadership, Teaching Practices and Student Learning

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ARTICLE

Julius G. Gamis

School leadership is now an education policy priority around the world. Increased school autonomy and a greater focus on schooling and school results have made it essential to reconsider the role of school leaders. There is much room for improvement to professionalize school leadership, to support current school leaders and to make school leadership an attractive career for future candidates. The ageing of current principals and the widespread shortage of qualified candidates to replace them after retirement make it imperative to take action.

Effective education leadership makes a difference in improving learning. There’s nothing new or especially controversial about that idea. What’s far less clear, even after several decades of school renewal efforts, is just how leadership matters, how important those effects are in promoting the learning of all children, and what the essential ingredients of successful leadership are. Lacking solid evidence to answer these questions, those who have sought to make the case for greater attention and investment in leadership as a pathway for large-scale education improvement have had to rely more on faith than fact.

As the proponent of this research began examining his practice and how it affects both student learning and teaching practices, a critical question evolved: How does the proponent improve his practice if he can’t define it? To find answers, he researched the topics of school leadership and transformational change to acquire a deeper understanding of effective school leadership and guidance for his own practice. His review of the literature on educational leadership underpins his research study. His quest for a comprehensive definition of school leadership leads him to the thought that educational leadership is in crisis. Few studies examined the correlation between school leadership and student success, and the scant research that is available offers limited insights (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2012) while there is an intensified demand for improvements in student performance and outcomes. If school leaders cannot clearly define their educational role, then their ability to effectively helmet societal expectations to improve student success becomes very ambiguous.

This examination and his ensuing reflection result in finding a new leadership model for the schoolhouse – professional learning community leadership. This evolving form of school leadership I will offer as a possible solution: one that shifts much of the instructional leadership role away from the principal to share with teachers, making the heavy responsibilities associated with school leadership more manageable. The ‘how’ to share and distribute leadership leads him to review educational theories to frame his study.

Furthermore, the findings of the study support school improvement as well as individual professional development, the school heads need to be on board. As a novice school head, the researcher identified best practices of experienced school leaders of Tarlac City Schools Division through a correlational study on school leadership, teaching practices and student learning.

In a nutshell:

This study investigated the relationship of school leadership to teaching practices and student learning among school administrators of Tarlac City Schools Division for the school year 2017-2018 as key to school improvement on this underpinning entitled “School Leadership, Teaching Practices and Student Learning.”

Using a descriptive correlational design, the researcher probed the relationship of school leadership to its two important components such as teaching practices and student learning. The findings on such will give a new view on effective school leadership especially to neophyte school heads.

A clustered sample were considered encompassing 50 school heads and 50 master teachers within Tarlac City Schools Division.An adapted and modified instrument was used comprising 95 items based on the Living Educational Theory of Whitehead and Teaching and Learning Instructional Survey (TALIS) created by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Furthermore, the validity and reliability of the instrument was assured through the aid of experts.

Through the aid of statistics, data from the respondents were analyzed and interpreted. The school heads’ leadership styles along their role as agents of change. As clearly reflected, all mean computations had equivalent verbal descriptions of “often” interpreted as “very satisfactory.” This indicates that the school heads possessed the characteristics of being agents of change where they are assigned. In addition, the school heads always added value as guides to what really matters (4.0). Amidst massive global information explosion, schools were bombarded with complex issues and demands. But the school heads expressed that they were able to discriminate and delineate between what is urgent or priority over what can be kept aside for a while. They claimed to know what the school needs are -especially those that learners must experience to make them functional and productive in the community where they live. Culture has been addressed as an influential factor of human information behavior. In the study of Yeh (2017), he found that cultural and social norms affect ways in which people choose to respond. Through living and working, people discover, shape, or create information during the process of interacting with the environment or other people. The interaction specifies or shapes what the information is, what makes sense and what information is sought out or neglected. School heads must study the culture of the school stakeholders, especially the pupils, in order to understand their individual behavior.

The grand mean generated is 3.59, which indicates that school heads were very satisfactory as advocates of contextual framework of culture. This implies that school heads are able to capitalize on culture to keep the schools running smoothly. This is an application of what Ellison (2018) stated that “Cultural responsiveness in schools starts at the top; it starts in the principal’s office. If school leaders are not attuned to the students walking the halls and sitting the classroom, students will never experience a truly personalized education. If school leaders are not attuned to the needs of students, teachers will not receive the supports needed to effectively personalize student learning. Principals must lead from an informed, culturally responsive orientation to ensure success for all.” The grand mean computed is 3.60, which means that generally, the school heads were very satisfactory in discharging their role as ethical leaders. This implies that conflicts are minimized and prevented because schools observe proper political, social, economic, legal, and cultural ethics.

The findings of this study brought understanding on the practices and roles of school leaders particularly on improving student learning and ensuring motivating and flexible teaching practices. That will help non-performing schools and neophyte school heads to build an improved school leadership. Henceforth, it would also entail significance to develop model of an effective and efficient leadership experiences

About the Author

Julius G. Gamis, Ed.D.

Principal 1, Laoang Elementary School

City Schools Division of Tarlac