Contextual Intelligence in School Leadership

Instructional Leadership Challenges in Rural Multigrade Schools

“…To achieve this aim, strong leadership is needed for the school to be successful, and the school principal is in a strategic position to ensure the delivery of quality education. Principals are regarded as instructional leaders which refers to role the principal plays in the management of curriculum and instruction (Gunawan, 2017), thus the teaching and learning processes Hallinger et al, 2020;Marishane, 2011). Direct involvement in these processes means that the principal's leadership becomes an important and deciding component in improving the quality of the school.…”

“…The school principal, as an instructional leader, should demonstrate leadership qualities by communicating the school's vision and mission to ensure that the school reaches its vision, carries out its mission, clearly outlines the instructional goals to reach targets, and effectively carries out teaching and learning activities by creating a school culture and climate conducive to learning (McEwan, 2003). Principals' involvement in monitoring learner progress within individual classrooms and across grades is a potent but underemphasised principal activity (Marishane, 2011) and executing this role effectively is a mammoth task placed on the principals' shoulders (Bafadal et al, 2019) and the contexts in which principals often find themselves in hamper them from effectively carrying out their duties (du Plessis, 2017). Principals have complex multi-faceted roles to play and regarded as team builders, instructional leaders, capacity builders, vision builders, resource managers, and instructional programme designers and directors (Marishane, 2011).…”

“…Principals' involvement in monitoring learner progress within individual classrooms and across grades is a potent but underemphasised principal activity (Marishane, 2011) and executing this role effectively is a mammoth task placed on the principals' shoulders (Bafadal et al, 2019) and the contexts in which principals often find themselves in hamper them from effectively carrying out their duties (du Plessis, 2017). Principals have complex multi-faceted roles to play and regarded as team builders, instructional leaders, capacity builders, vision builders, resource managers, and instructional programme designers and directors (Marishane, 2011). School context can influence, define and shape the school principals' leadership practices.…”

“…Instructional leadership is conceptualised as a model of instructional leadership that focuses on improving the quality of teaching and learning (Gunawan, 2017). According to Marishane (2011), the term instructional leader entails the principal's primary role in the quest for educational excellence. Based on the instructional leadership view of the school principal, the principal takes a strong and directive approach to curriculum activities and instructional development.…”

Understanding Teacher Identity as an International Teacher: An Autoethnographic Approach to (Developing) Reflective Practice

“…Through differing professional experiences, it becomes imperative for international teachers to understand culture as both the ‘complex whole’ and a means towards control in the form of regulations, curricula, and traditions through what Matsumoto (1996) sees as cultural transmission, and what Apple (1981) called the ‘hidden curriculum’. As Marishane (2020:65-67) argued, schools have a number of internal and external forces that play a large role in the overall school organisation and leadership; as such, the institutional culture of a school becomes ‘context-bound’. These external and internal political-sociocultural-historical-economic forces may clash with the international teacher’s expectations of ‘what a school looks like’ based on their prior experience and, in turn, may lead to tensions between teacher and the school, teacher and their colleagues, teacher and their students, and teacher and their teaching.…”