Roles and Challenges of Secondary School Instructional Leadership for the Achievement of Student Learning: The Case of South Gondar Administrative Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Integrated leadership for coherent school improvement in Ethiopia: The moderating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between instructional leadership and student academic achievement mediated by school improvement process

“…This finding contradicts the Ethiopian literature, which claims that school principals' leadership and teaching experience do not define their capability to practice the advised leadership behaviors (Dessalegn et al, 2016), and it is in line with the latest study of primary schools that echoed our finding (Demozie & Dessie, 2022). The exciting finding is that those principals who have obtained only a degree, particularly in EDLM with no PGDSL training, exhibit and acquire solid leadership knowledge and skills, which is reflected in their practice of substantial IL and TL that foster their corresponding SIP implementation (Gedifew, 2020; Gurmu, 2020; Tsegaye, 2018). The rationale for this finding is that principals with EDLM have acquired a university bachelor's degree in educational leadership and management, with a minimum of 42 courses (114 credit hours) that intensively focus on preparing an educational or school leader; meanwhile, only 28 credit hours from two summer courses are required to be a principal with PGDSL training, which emphasizes the efficient production of school principals (Gurmu, 2020, p. 3).…”

“…Meanwhile, the MOE administered professional development for several principles to improve their leadership roles through instruction‐oriented behavior, but the principals have failed to adopt leadership practices (Ahmed, 2016; Demozie & Dessie, 2022; Gedifew, 2020; MOE, 2013; Solomon, 2016). Meanwhile, a great deal of literature has shown that school principals in Ethiopia are trained to reflect the political stance of the country and to be professionally oriented (Ahmed, 2016; Gurmu, 2018, 2020; Tsegaye, 2018; Yohannes & Wasonga, 2021), not focusing on discipline, which makes school principals lack substantial wisdom for improving teachers' instructional practices (Alemayehu, 2021; Angura, 2020; Gurmu, 2020; Haile & Smit, 2021). Most interestingly, emerging evidence affirms that mainstream principals obtain their positions not because of their competent educational attainment, solid educational leadership experience, and skills (Yohannes & Wasonga, 2021); instead, they obtain their positions from their teaching positions due to their political participation (Alemayehu, 2021; Dabesa & Cheramlak, 2021; Fekadu, 2009; Feseha, 2005; Haile, 2020; Haile & Smit, 2021; Tsegaye, 2018), which jeopardizes the professionalism of school principalship in Ethiopia (Gurmu, 2018, 2020).…”

“…On the other hand, the latest evidence demonstrated that principals practice TL more than IL and other leadership behaviors (e.g., Kene et al, 2021; Yohannes & Wasonga, 2021); the study illustrates that no significant improvement in student academic achievement was observed throughout the years (Kene et al, 2021). Although school principals are exhaustively engaged in political activities that disregard instructional and curriculum practice by involving teachers, staff members, and community members of the school (Dabesa & Cheramlak, 2021; Ebuy, 2010; Haile, 2020; Meresa et al, 2019), they are also involved in repetitive political meetings and paperwork (Alemayehu, 2021; Edamo & Netshitangani, 2018; Elias, 2020; Geleta, 2017; Haile & Smit, 2021; Mitchell, 2015; Tsegaye, 2018).…”