INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP AND SUPERVISORY COMPETENCE OF PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HEADS: A DESCRIPTIVE-CORRELATIONAL STUDY
Keywords:
instructional leadership, supervisory competence, school heads, public elementary schools, PhilippinesAbstract
This descriptive-correlational study assessed the instructional leadership and supervisory competence of public elementary school heads in the Districts of Daram I, Daram II, Talalora, and Zumarraga, Schools Division of Samar, Philippines, during School Year 2023–2024, as perceived by the school heads themselves and by their teachers. Respondents comprised the complete population of 103 school heads and 187 teachers across the four districts, surveyed using a standard three-part questionnaire adapted from established instructional-leadership and supervisory-competence scales. School heads rated their own instructional leadership as “often” practiced across all four skill areas — resource provider, instructional resource provider, communicator, and visible presence in school — while teachers rated school heads even more favorably, including “always” for visible presence. Both groups rated supervisory competence (decision-making, planning and organizing, promoting optimal performance, and professional knowledge and expertise) as at least “highly competent,” with teachers again rating school heads higher than school heads rated themselves. Independent-samples t-tests showed statistically significant differences between school head and teacher perceptions for resource provider and visible presence (instructional leadership) and for all four supervisory-competence indicators, but not for instructional resource provider or communicator. No school head- or teacher-related profile variate (age, sex, civil status, income, education, tenure, training, or performance rating) was significantly associated with perceived instructional leadership or supervisory competence, and no significant relationship was found between school heads’ self-perceived supervisory competence and their instructional leadership. The findings point to a consistent perception gap: teachers view their school heads more favorably than the school heads view themselves, and suggest that leadership-development efforts should broaden beyond self-assessment to include structured teacher feedback and cross-skill (instructional and supervisory) capacity building.
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