Perceptions of elementary teachers on the instructional leadership role of school principals

In this research, elementary school principals’ instructional leadership behavior was evaluated based on the perceptions of elementary school teachers. The research is believed to contribute to the development of instructional leadership behavior of elementary school principals for the development of school organization. A “semi-structured interview technique”, one of the qualitative research methods in the literature was used in the research. The study group was made up of elementary school teachers working in Nigde, Turkey, during the 2008-2009 academic year. For the study sample, one teacher from each school was selected at random, resulting in group of twenty elementary school teachers. Based on the content analysis, five themes of instructional leadership behavior were found. These themes are: (1) determination of the school’s purpose; (2) management of instruction; (3) evaluation of students; (4) support to teachers; and (5) creation of a regular learning-teaching environment. (1. Department of Educational Administration, Supervision, Planning and Economics, University of Selcuk, Konya 42090, Turkey; 2. Department of Educational Sciences, University of Selcuk, Konya 42090, Turkey)