THE PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF PRINCIPALS AS INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS IN SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Principals in the twenty first century face new demands, more complex decisions, and additional responsibilities than those of the past. Their day is usually filled with diverse management functions such as handling relations with parents and communities, and dealing with unexpected multiple teacher and student crisis. However, it has become imperative for principals to facilitate best practices and keep their schools focused on curriculum, instruction, and assessment to meet students' learning needs and enhance achievement. The principal as instructional leader should possess the requisite skills, capacity and commitment to lead an effective school. The professional lives of school principals have increasingly impinged on their personal well-being, and resources have continued to shrink. It is therefore worthy to explore the rarely examined experiences of principals and how they can become effective instructional leaders. By understanding their perceptions and experiences, one would be able to determine what aspects of leadership preparation are useful and what aspects need to be re-conceptualized and changed. This study investigated how principals of public schools perceived and experienced their roles as instructional leaders. There thus exists a gap between what the actual functions of principals are (the current reality), and what their ideal role (desired state) should be. Using an open ended questionnaire and personal interviews with eight principals in the Ekhuruleni District of the Gauteng Province, the study found that most principals experienced difficulty in balancing their managerial responsibilities with their instructional responsibilities. Even though they understand the impact instructional leadership can have in enhancing student achievement they are still hindered by the plethora of administrative responsibilities. Those principals that placed high priority on instructional leadership have undoubtedly made positive impact on teacher and student performance.