Leading Schools in Challenging Times: Factors Influencing Instructional Leadership

• In Event: Enhancing Instructional Leadership and Supervision: Insights Into Teacher Development, Decision-Making, and Perceptions

Abstract

This paper examines how school sector and type and school principals’ gender, years of leadership experience, and leadership preparation influence the exercise of leadership in Portuguese state schools. The paper draws on survey findings from a government-funded, mixed-methods study of the impact of school leadership on student outcomes in state-owned schools in Portugal. This study shows that leadership practices, in general, result from a combination of personal, professional and contextual factors with implications for the exercise of instructional leadership as well as for principals’ preparation.

Author

• Maria A. Flores, University of Minho