Teacher perceptions of the instructional leadership roles of the cluster teacher leader: A case of Masvingo district, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The concept of teacher leadership is relatively new in the instructional leadership discourse and is scantly publicized and practiced in developing countries. This paper seeks to trouble the terrain of teacher leadership much as it appears in inter school collaboration settings. Thus, the paper aims to capture the views of teachers and heads on how they perceive the instructional leadership roles of the cluster teacher leader. The qualitative study of two Better schools clusters of Zimbabwe (BSPZ) interviewed six teachers and two principals all purposively selected. The interviews focused on how such a leader should be selected, his /her roles as well as what local education authorities should do to promote teaching and learning in the cluster. The study established that participants conceive of a meritocratic leader, who is dedicated, innovative and command the respect of stakeholders. The study recommends that local authorities should find ways of motivating hardworking teacher leaders if they are to influence positively instructional leadership in schools. The argument of the paper is that effective clusters instructional leadership can only be realized once both the teachers’ and teacher leader’s perceptions are established.

Key words: school cluster; cluster resource teacher; Teacher leader; instructional leadership; distributed instructional leadership; perceptions