Instructional leadership encompasses "those actions that a principal takes, or delegates to others, to promote growth in student learning" (Debevoise, 1984, pp. 14-20) and comprises the following tasks: defining the purpose of schooling; setting school-wide goals; providing the resources needed for learning to occur; supervising and evaluating teachers; coordinating staff development programmes; and creating collegial relationships with and among teachers. (Wildy & Dimmock, 1993, p. 44)
The term instructional leader clearly describes the primary role of the principal in the quest for excellence in education. To achieve this quest, it will take more than a strong principal with concrete ideas. According to Richardson et al. (1989), he or she must lead toward educational achievement, must be a person who makes instructional quality the top priority of the school, and must be able to bring that vision to realization.
Most writers acknowledge there is no single definition of instructional leadership nor specific guidelines or direction as to what an instructional leader does (Flath, 1989). However, they create their own definitions and, as a result, meanings vary considerably from one practitioner to another and from one researcher to another. This lack of consistency in definition then becomes part of the problem. As Cuban (1984) expresses it: "Road signs exist, but no maps are yet for sale" (p. 132). However, to enlarge our understanding, the discussion now turns to examine the role of an effective instructional leader in today's schools.
