Between center and periphery: instructional leadership in Israeli rural schools
International Journal of Educational Management
ISSN: 0951-354X
Article publication date: 2 August 2021
Issue publication date: 4 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Instructional leadership is a major part of the responsibility of principals who achieve promising results in school improvement. This paper aims to explore the inhibiting factors for instituting instructional leadership in elementary schools located in rural areas in Israel.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants of this qualitative study were a diverse sample of 64 rural school principals. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis proceeded in a three-stage process that involved condensing, coding and categorizing.
Findings
This study revealed that rural principals refrain from practicing instructional leadership because of two specific inhibiting factors: relationships within the community, which make it difficult for them to implement a school leadership policy that includes monitoring and control and characteristics of parents, who disagree with the instructional leadership's emphasis on learning and achievement.
Originality/value
The findings of this reinforce argument that propose context as an under-used theoretical lens for understanding differences in principals' practices across different contexts.
Keywords
Citation
Shaked, H. (2021), "Between center and periphery: instructional leadership in Israeli rural schools", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 35 No. 7, pp. 1361-1374. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-04-2021-0147
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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