The instructional leadership approach requires school principals to give top priority to the continuous improvement of teaching quality and academic outcomes. This study explored how principals of elementary schools in Israel fulfilled their instructional leadership role during COVID-19. Data collection comprised semi-structured interviews with a diverse sample of 36 principals. Data analysis identified three different theories of action. In this study, a theory of action is the conscious or unconscious set of assumptions that explain how principals act professionally in a given situation. According to the first theory of action, moratorium, principals temporarily abandoned instructional leadership. According to the second theory of action, adaptation, principals changed instructional leadership to suit the specific conditions of COVID-19. According to the third theory of action, determination, principals uncompromisingly continued to demonstrate instructional leadership. These findings expand the available knowledge on how school leaders respond and what forms of school leadership practice emerged during COVID-19.
AbbottA (2004) Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences. New York, NY: Norton.
2.
ArgyrisCSchönDA (1997) Organizational learning: a theory of action perspective. Reis77/78: 345–348.
3.
AymanRLauritsenM (2018) Contingencies, context, situation, and leadership. In: AntonakisJDayDV (eds) The Nature of Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 138–166.
4.
AzorínC (2020) Beyond COVID-19 supernova: is another education coming?Journal of Professional Capital and Community5(3/4): 381–390.
5.
BeauchampGHulmeMClarkeL, et al. (2021) ‘People miss people’: a study of school leadership and management in the four nations of the United Kingdom in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Management Administration & Leadership49(3): 375–392.
6.
BerkovichI (2014) Neoliberal governance and the “new professionalism” of Israeli principals. Comparative Education Review58(3): 428–456.
7.
BiestaG (2009) Good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation, & Accountability21(1): 33–46.
8.
BiestaG (2014) Cultivating humanity or educating the human?Two Options for Education in the Knowledge age. Asia Pacific Education Review15(1): 13–19.
9.
BiestaG (2016) Good Education in an age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy. Boulder, CO: Routledge.
10.
BoyceJBowersAJ (2018) Toward an evolving conceptualization of instructional leadership as leadership for learning: meta-narrative review of 109 quantitative studies across 25 years. Journal of Educational Administration56(2): 161–182.
11.
Capstones – The Israel Institute for School Leadership (2008) Perception of the Principal’s Role in the State of Israel: Report by the Professional Committee to Formulate Policy Recommendations for the Ministry of Education. Jerusalem, Israel: Avney Rosha.
CreswellJWPothCN (2018) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches, 4th ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
DayCGuQSammonsP (2016) The impact of leadership on student outcomes: how successful school leaders use transformational and instructional strategies to make a difference. Educational Administration Quarterly52(2): 221–258.
15.
DelckerJIfenthalerD (2021) Teachers’ perspective on school development at German vocational schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology. Pedagogy & Education30(1): 125–139.
16.
GedikSBellibasMS (2015) Examining schools’ distributed instructional leadership capacity: comparison of elementary and secondary schools. Journal of Education and Training Studies3(6): 101–110.
GlickmanCDGordonSPRoss-GordonJM (2017) Supervision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach, 10th ed.New York: NY: Pearson.
19.
GroomsAAChildsJ (2021) We need to do better by kids: changing routines in US schools in response to COVID-19 school closures. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR)26(2): 135–156.
20.
HallingerP (2003) Leading educational change: reflections on the practice of instructional and transformational leadership. Cambridge Journal of Education33(3): 329–352.
21.
HallingerP (2012) A data-driven approach to assess and develop instructional leadership with the PIMRS. In: ShenJ (ed) Tools for Improving Principals’ Work. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, pp. 47–69.
22.
HallingerP (2018) Bringing context out of the shadows of leadership. Educational Management Administration and Leadership46(1): 5–24.
23.
HallingerPGümüşSBellibaşMŞ (2020) ‘Are principals instructional leaders yet?’: A science map of the knowledge base on instructional leadership, 1940–2018. Scientometrics122(3): 1629–1650.
24.
HallingerPMurphyJ (1985) Assessing the instructional management behaviour of principals. Elementary School Journal86(2): 217–247.
25.
HallingerPWangWC (2015) Assessing Instructional Leadership with the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.
26.
HallingerPWangWCChenCW, et al. (2015) Assessing Instructional Leadership with the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.
27.
HargreavesABraunH (2013) Data-driven Improvement and Accountability. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center.
28.
HargreavesAFullanM (2020) Professional capital after the pandemic: revisiting and revising classic understandings of teachers’ work. Journal of Professional Capital and Community5(3/4): 327–336.
29.
HarrisA (2020) COVID-19: school leadership in crisis?Journal of Professional Capital and Community5(3/4): 321–326.
30.
HarrisAJonesM (2021) COVID 19: School leadership in disruptive times. School Leadership & Management40(4): 243–247.
31.
HolmesAGD (2020) Researcher positionality: A consideration of its influence and place in qualitative research - A new researcher guide. Shanlax International Journal of Education8(4): 1–10.
32.
HouYCuiYZhangD (2019) Impact of instructional leadership on high school student academic achievement in China. Asia Pacific Education Review20(4): 543–558.
KaparouMBushT (2016) Instructional leadership in Greek and English outstanding schools. International Journal of Educational Management30(6): 894–912.
36.
KeleşHNAtayDKaranfılF (2020) Instructional leadership behaviors of school principals during the COVID 19 pandemic process. Milli Egitim49(1): 155–174.
37.
KoelschLE (2013) Reconceptualizing the member check interview. International Journal of Qualitative Methods12(1): 168–179.
38.
KvaleSBrinkmannS (2009) Interviews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing, 2nd ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
39.
LongmuirF (2021) Leading in lockdown: community, communication and compassion in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432211027634.
40.
LopezAEHossainF (2021) Exploring possibilities and challenges of instructional leadership in challenging times. Journal of School Leadership31(4): 271–273.
41.
LouisKSLeithwoodKWahlstromKL, et al. (2010) Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning: Final Report of Research Findings. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.
42.
McLeodSDulskyS (2021) Resilience, reorientation, and reinvention: school leadership during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Education6: 1–13.
43.
MerriamSBTisdellEJ (2016) Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation, 4th ed. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.
44.
MilesMBHubermanMASaldañaJ (2014) Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook, 3rd ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
45.
MinerJB (2015) Organizational Behavior 4: From Theory to Practice. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
46.
NetolickyDM (2020) School leadership during a pandemic: navigating tensions. Journal of Professional Capital and Community5(3/4): 391–395.
47.
NetsM (2017) Professional development of school principals in the pilot program of ‘pedagogical flexibility’: the Israeli case. Economics and Culture14(2): 12–21.
48.
NeumerskiCM (2012) Rethinking instructional leadership, a review: what do we know about principal, teacher, and coach instructional leadership, and where should we go from here?Educational Administration Quarterly49(2): 310–347.
49.
OplatkaILapidotA (2018) Novice principals’ perceptions of their mentoring process in early career stage: the key role of mentor-protégé relations. Journal of Educational Administration and History50(3): 204–222.
50.
OrtlippM (2008) Keeping and using reflective journals in the qualitative research process. The Qualitative Report13(4): 695–705.
51.
ParkJHamS (2016) Whose perception of principal instructional leadership? Principal-teacher perceptual (dis)agreement and its influence on teacher collaboration. Asia Pacific Journal of Education36(3): 450–469.
52.
PollockK (2020) School leaders’ work during the COVID-19 pandemic: a two-pronged approach. International Studies in Education48(3): 38–44.
53.
PritchardD (2013) Epistemic virtue and the epistemology of education. Journal of Philosophy of Education47(2): 236–247.
54.
PutnamRSmithDMArgyrisC (2014) Theories of action. In: CoghlanDBrydon-MillerM (eds) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 778–781.
SaldañaJOmastaM (2018) Qualitative Research: Analyzing Life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
57.
ShakedH (2018) Why principals sidestep instructional leadership: The disregarded question of schools' primary objective. Journal of School Leadership28(4): 517–538.
58.
ShakedH (2020) Social justice leadership, instructional leadership, and the goals of schooling. International Journal of Educational Management34(1): 81–95.
ShakedHBenolielPHallingerP (2021) How national context indirectly influences instructional leadership implementation: The case of Israel. Educational Administration Quarterly57(3): 437–469.
61.
ShatzerRHCaldarellaPHallamPR, et al. (2014) Comparing the effects of instructional and transformational leadership on student achievement: implications for practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership42(4): 445–459.
62.
StrongeJHRichardHBCatanoN (2008) Qualities of Effective Principals. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
63.
ThorntonK (2021) Leading through COVID-19: New Zealand secondary principals describe their reality. Educational Management Administration & Leadership49(3): 393–409.
64.
VarelaDGFedynichL (2020) Leading schools from a social distance: surveying south texas school district leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. National Forum of Educational Administration and Supervision Journal38(4): 1–10.
