Influence of School Heads' Innovative and Instructional Leadership on the Classroom Practices of Teachers
Judy Ann Padasas | Maedel Joy Escote
Discipline: Education
Abstract:
Inconsistencies in classroom practices and leadership effectiveness remain pressing challenges in Philippine
elementary education, particularly in rural districts. These issues often result in varied instructional delivery, uneven
student outcomes, and limited teacher support. Resolving these concerns requires a deeper understanding of how
school leadership affects teaching quality. This study examined the influence of innovative and instructional
leadership of school heads on the classroom practices of teachers in the Montevista District, Davao de Oro Division.
Anchored in Transformational Leadership Theory, the research was driven by challenges in instructional consistency
and leadership effectiveness in Philippine elementary schools. Utilizing a descriptive-correlational design, data were
gathered from 130 elementary teachers through adapted survey questionnaires. Results revealed that school heads
demonstrated very high levels of innovative leadership, with mean scores of 3.57 for action patterns, 3.58 for
innovative thinking, and 3.60 for strategic thinking. Instructional leadership was also rated very high, particularly in
coordinating the curriculum with a mean of 3.59 and framing school goals with a mean of 3.58. Teachers exhibited
very high levels of classroom practices, with educational skills scoring the highest with a mean of 3.81, followed by
classroom management and subject matter mastery with a mean of 3.77. Correlation analysis revealed a moderate
positive relationship between innovative leadership and classroom practices (r-value = 0.400, p < 0.001), as well as a
stronger positive relationship between instructional leadership and classroom practices (r-value = 0.468, p < 0.001).
Regression analysis identified instructional leadership with a β of 0.459 and a p-value of 0.002 as the most significant
predictor of classroom practices. In contrast, innovative leadership showed no significant predictive value, as seen in
a β of 0.011 with a p-value of 0.939. These findings emphasized the role of instructional leadership in enhancing
teaching quality and suggested that strategic supervision and curriculum coordination are key drivers of effective
classroom practices.
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