Arab Women as Instructional Leaders of Schools

• In Event: Leadership

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the definition of instructional leadership and how the 22 Saudi and 16 Qatari female principals had prepared to become school instructional leaders. Using an open-ended survey, female school leaders from these two countries were the focus of this study, because the national education initiatives in these nations have opened up new avenues for women in the field of educational leadership (Arar & Oplatka, 2016; Nasser, 2017). Adding to the small amount of research regarding Arab female principals and instructional leadership, the findings from this study indicated that prior teaching experience was viewed as the primary knowledge base for becoming an instructional leader, closely followed by individual courses taken in order to develop instructional leadership skills.

Authors

• Linda R. Vogel, University of Northern Colorado

• Ahlam Alhudithi, University of Northern Colorado