Private School Parents’ Expectations of School Directors’ Instructional Leadership
Phd Student Faika Yelda Acarbay & Prof. Dr. Ali İlkerGümüşeli
Abstract
The concept of “instructional leadership”, which is a leadership type specific to education, has been defined and given dimension through research. Although there are many researches about instructional leadership from the point of view of teachers and administrators, there are few studies that question school principals’ instructional leadership role from the perspective of parents. Parents' expectations of schools have increased currently due to the increasing competition among schools. It is within the responsibility of the school principal to make plans to ensure the educational objectives of their school at the highest level and to supervise the academic and administrative processes. How far does the role of instructional leadership fulfill these expectations? Parents' opinions were collected using the qualitative research method. This study, conducted by interviewing participants, provided an opportunity for parents to take a deeper look at school principals’ instructional leadership skills. The research in Istanbul, Turkey, was conducted with 11 women and 4 men, a total of 15 parents. As a result of the study, it was determined that parents' expectations of school principals’ instructional leadership were quite high and that they expected principals’ primary duties to be education and teaching.