Administrator as a Change Leader: As an Instructional Leader

Principal as Instructional Leader

Facilitating Change for Instructional Improvement

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Glickman et al. (2000) state that facilitating change for instructional improvement is a supervisory function. They identified five tasks of supervision: "initiating a clinical supervision program (direct assistance), assisting teachers in deciding on schoolwide instructional improvement goals (group development), delivering a skill-development program in which teachers learn new models of teaching (professional development), moving from a discipline-based to an interdisciplinary curriculum (curriculum development), and assisting teachers as they conduct research on a new classroom management system (action research)" (p. 447).

Sergiovanni (1991) states that teachers make the day-to-day decisions that influence most what happens to students. Therefore, changes in the workflow of teaching must directly be linked to changes in teaching behavior and eventually to changes in attitudes and beliefs.

A credible change agent, such as an administrator, often facilitates the diffusion of any innovation by serving as a liaison between the adopters of the innovation and the stakeholders who want to see the change occur (Dalton, 1989). The administrator can act as the change agent by facilitating the changes needed in the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of the teachers (Dooley, 1999). Often what affects the implementation of a program is the diverse ways in which individuals react to change. Rogers (1995) identifies five categories relevant to how open individuals are to an innovation and change:

Innovators tend to be risk-takers, able to deal with uncertainty, and have access to financial resources.
Early adopters tend to serve as role models for their colleagues and are often influential based on respect from their colleagues.
Early majority tend to interact frequently with peers and are willing to adopt new ideas but within their own time frame.
Late majority tend to approach new ideas with some skepticism and don't tend to adopt new ideas until there is some pressure from peers.
Resisters tend to be more isolated and reluctant to try something new unless they are sure they won't fail.

Administrator as a Change Leader