School clusters as sites for instructional leadership: a case of the better schools programme of Zimbabwe

[摘要] English: Inter-school collaborations or clustering has a long history, dating back to the 1940s inNepal and Great Britain and it has spread across many parts of the world. Zimbabwe is noexception to this trend of adopting inter-school collaborations as a reform strategy forimproving teaching and learning in schools. This innovation, which was initially meant tobring together disadvantaged rural schools, has spread to include urban schools. Despite itspromise, however, the utility of clusters or inter-school collaborations in terms ofimproving the quality and efficacy of teaching and learning remains a matter of scholarlydebate and inquiry. The present study adds insights to the debates on the utility of clustersfor improving teaching and learning in schools. The efforts to improve teaching andlearning in schools are what this study defines as instructional leadership.Whilst many studies have been conducted to understand instructional leadership practicesat either the school or district levels, very few of these studies have explored instructionalleadership within a school collaborative or cluster specifically. This study took thechallenge by exploring whether and how the Better Schools Programme of Zimbabwe(BSPZ), an example of a school cluster or collaborative, serves as a site for instructionalleadership for the participating schools and teachers.The investigation took a pragmatic stance and adopted a mixed methods approach in orderto take advantage of the strengths of both the qualitative and quantitative approaches.Using a multiple case study of four BSPZ clusters in the Masvingo district of Zimbabwe,the study employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods design where a sample of 101participants responded to a questionnaire on the range and depth of instructional leadershippractices and artefacts that are used by their clusters, as well as their perspectives on theutility of clusters for improving teaching and learning. In the qualitative phase of the study,purposively selected groups of participants that included two heads of school (orprincipals), two teacher leaders and two ordinary class teachers from two of the selectedclusters were interviewed and observed. The qualitative phase was designed to confirm theparticipants' perspectives and get an inside picture of how instructional leadership operatesin practice within the clusters.The study has established that school clusters do carry out some activities that qualify to beclassified as instructional leadership for the teachers in the participating schools. The drivefor the instructional leadership programme of the clusters, however, is very moderate atbest, and considerably weak in terms of its conception and influence on teaching andlearning in schools. The dominant practices of instructional leadership at the cluster levelinclude the administration of cluster tests, supervision of classes, as well as the conduct ofsome professional development workshops for the teachers. Significantly, the study alsoestablished that instructional leadership within the clusters is sometimes distributed, albeit by default, to include teacher leaders and other non-formal school leaders. The incentivesfor participation in general and for leadership of teaching and learning within the clustersare rather poor to non-existent, something that needs the urgent attention of educationalleaders and policymakers in Zimbabwe. The study concludes by arguing that schoolclusters, especially the BSPZ clusters, are in a relatively good position to provideopportunities for instructional leadership to schools and teachers even though it isinevitable that their leadership activities will vary based on the will and capacity of eachcluster. The study thus recommends the involvement of local school authorities, such asdistricts and provincial authorities in providing much needed support to ensure effectiveinstructional leadership within the school clusters.Further research on the agendas of school clusters and how they are carried out in differentcontexts (and countries) is needed in order to understand how it may be possible toinstitutionalise instructional leadership practices within such school collaboratives orclusters.

[发布机构] University of the Free State