Examining shifts in educational leadership students’ perceptions of the inhibitors to instructional leadership: insights from Israel

Research has identified various inhibitors preventing principals from implementing instructional leadership. This qualitative study examined how educational administration students' perceptions of these inhibitors change after completing a course on instructional leadership. The participants were 21 students enrolled in a graduate educational leadership programme at an Israeli college who attended an instructional leadership course. The study identified four types of shifts in perspective: maintaining opposition to instructional leadership; adjusting the understanding of instructional leadership requirements to better align with pre-existing beliefs; reinterpreting the nature of instructional leadership to better align with pre-existing beliefs; and reformulating beliefs about school leadership. The study suggests that overcoming resistance to instructional leadership does not necessarily require a complete overhaul of existing assumptions. Instead, students can address their initial opposition by reinterpreting the requirements and meaning of instructional leadership, aligning it more closely with their existing views on school leadership.