The Effect of Principals’ Instructional Leadership on the 21st Century Teaching Competencies as Perceived by Teachers in New Generation Schools in Cambodia.

Abstract

This aims of this study were to 1) study the level of principals’ instructional leadership of New Generation Schools, 2) study the level of teachers’ 21st century teaching competencies in New Generation Schools, and 3) examine the effect of principals’ instructional leadership on teachers’ 21st century teaching competencies in New Generation Schools. This study employed a quantitative research design with a survey technique. The questionnaires were designed in 5-points Likert scale. The research informants consisted of 223 teachers of New Generation Schools in Cambodia and were selected by using proportional stratified random sampling method. Descriptive statistical analysis showed that the level of principals’ instructional leadership of New Generation Schools is high and the level of teachers’ 21st century teaching competencies in New Generation Schools is also high. Furthermore, the multiple regression analysis showed that the principals’ instructional leadership contributed a positive significant impact on teachers’ 21st century teaching competencies in New Generation Schools (R2 = .677, p = .000). The finding also revealed that the three components, including Managing Curriculum and Instruction, Driving Data to Make Instructional Decision and Sharing Leadership are the best predictors respectively. Thus, this study suggests that school principals should focus their instructional leadership practices on managing curriculum and instruction, driving data to make instructional decision and sharing leadership with their teachers, which subsequently improve and enhance the 21st century teaching competencies of teachers.