From expert teacher...
...to instructional leader.
Hello all. Welcome to the 182nd edition of TEPS Weekly!
Every school has a few teachers whom others naturally turn to. They explain difficult ideas clearly. Their lessons are well planned. They know where students may get confused, and they can change their approach when a lesson is not working.
So, when a school needs a Subject Coordinator, Head of Department, mentor or Academic Coordinator, these teachers are often the first choice. That makes sense. A good instructional leader should understand teaching. They should know what it feels like to plan a lesson, manage a classroom, check understanding, and deal with the unexpected things that happen every day.
But does being a very good teacher automatically make someone a very good instructional leader?
Strong teaching is a very good foundation. But instructional leadership asks for something more. A teacher has to think deeply about their own classroom. An instructional leader has to help other teachers think deeply about their classroom. And this needs a different set of knowledge, skills and attitudes as compared to those needed for teaching well.
Specific to general
A classroom teacher asks: How do I teach this well?
An instructional leader has to ask: How do I help another teacher teach this well?
Both questions are about student learning. But the second question adds another layer. Now the leader has to understand the teacher, the students, the subject and the classroom situation. They cannot simply copy what worked in their own class and expect it to work everywhere.
This is what many strong teachers find challenging. They have a large bank of good ideas that have worked for them. They may have developed excellent routines over many years. But instructional leadership is not just about sharing good ideas. It is about helping another teacher make better decisions.
For example, imagine a very good Biology teacher who is teaching photosynthesis. They know how to make the topic clear.
They begin by asking students about plants.
They use a simple diagram.
They ask questions like, ‘Where does the carbon in the carbohydrates made by photosynthesis come from?’.
They explain each step of the photosynthesis process.
They ask questions to check if students have understood
Now imagine that the same teacher becomes an Academic Coordinator. A History teacher comes to them for help. The students can remember facts about the Revolt of 1857, but they cannot explain how the different causes are connected. What does the Biology teacher converted to Academic Coordinator do? They cannot say, “This is how I teach photosynthesis.” That would not help much.
Instead, they have to think about why their own lesson works. Maybe the real principles are these:
Students learn better when we connect new ideas to what they already know.
Complex ideas are easier to understand when there are learning aids (like diagrams in Biology), and when we break them into parts.
Misunderstandings should be identified early by asking questions at different times during the lesson.
Students need to explain their thinking, not just repeat facts. Teachers need to check understanding before moving ahead.
Now what a Biology teacher did in their class can be applied in a History class, or a computer science class, as well. This is one of the most important shifts in instructional leadership: Practice → Generalise → Communicate → Spread
In essence, a good teacher often knows, “This works in my class.” A good instructional leader asks: Why does it work? What problem does it solve? Where else might this principle be useful?
Short-term to long-term solutions
There is another shift. Strong teachers usually know many strategies. So when another teacher asks for help, the temptation is to give a quick answer.
“My students do not participate.” “Try think-pair-share.”
“My students are not remembering the content.” “Give them a worksheet.”
“My lesson is too slow.” “Use smaller groups.”
Sometimes these suggestions may help. But good instructional leadership starts one step earlier. Before giving a solution, the leader needs to understand the problem.
Why are the students not participating?
Maybe they do not understand the question.
Maybe they are afraid of giving a wrong answer.
Maybe only a few students get enough time to think.
Maybe the question is too easy.
Maybe it is too difficult.
Maybe the teacher is answering the question before students get a chance.
These are very different problems, and they need different responses. So, an instructional leader becomes less of a person who gives tips and more of a person who helps diagnose problems.
From improving a lesson to improving a teacher’s judgement
This may be the most important shift of all. Suppose a teacher brings a weak lesson plan to the Academic Coordinator. The Coordinator can fix it. They can improve the questions, change the sequence, add better examples, and suggest an assessment. And the lesson becomes much better.
But what happens next week? If the teacher comes back with another lesson plan that needs to be fixed again, then the leader has improved the lesson, but not necessarily the teacher’s thinking. Instructional leadership has a bigger goal. It should help teachers become better at making their own decisions.
So,
Instead of saying, “Change this question,” the leader might ask, “What do you want this question to help students think about?”
Instead of saying, “Add an activity here,” they might ask, “What difficulty are students likely to face at this point?”
Instead of saying, “This lesson is too difficult,” they might ask, “What prior knowledge are you assuming students already have?”
These questions take more time. They may also feel slower. But they build something important: instructional judgement, which will make the teachers less dependent on the instructional leader, which in turn makes the team stronger, and frees up the instructional leader to work on, say, more strategic academic plans.
Shift in identity
A good teacher is often recognised because of what their students can do and know. A good instructional leader is increasingly successful because of what other teachers can do and know.
The role and expectations change. The leader should not try to have the best answer, but have the best questions. They may need to move from “Watch how I do it” to “What do you think is not working?”
Instructional leadership is less about being the best teacher in the room and more about helping the room become better at teaching.
So what does this mean for schools?
Schools should still look to strong teachers for instructional leadership. Their classroom experience matters. Their understanding of students matters. Their knowledge of teaching matters. But schools should not assume that a new title will automatically create a new capability.
The move from classroom expertise to instructional leadership needs to be learnt. And school leaders need to look for something beyond excellent classroom performance. They need to look for teachers who can understand problems before giving solutions, teachers who can explain why a strategy works, teachers who are curious about other classrooms, and teachers who help colleagues think more clearly.
And it should follow that if a school leader needs to look for the above qualities in teachers, they need chances to explain their own decisions, observe other classrooms, co-plan, give feedback, mentor colleagues, and support team learning.
And that leads to the next challenge for schools: How do we identify teachers with the potential to become instructional leaders, and how do we help them build these skills before giving them the role? Watch this space for part II of this in the coming weeks.
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Edition: 5.37
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