Instructional Leadership Practices in Public Secondary Schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: A Descriptive Assessment of Teachers’ Perceptions

Abstract

This study examines teachers’ perceptions of instructional leadership practices in public secondary schools across five districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Using the final analytical dataset of 441 male teachers from boys’ public secondary schools in Karak, Kohat, Hangu, Bannu, and Lakki Marwat, the study provides a descriptive assessment of eight instructional-leadership practices, including goal setting, mission communication, monitoring student progress, feedback, instructional resources, professional development, classroom observation, and teacher collaboration. The analysis summarizes the proportion of respondents selecting “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” for each practice. Across the eight items, the average positive-response proportion was 79.8%. Mission communication (83.9%) and defining school academic goals (83.7%) received the highest positive-response proportions, while monitoring students’ academic progress (73.9%) and constructive feedback (76.2%) received comparatively lower proportions. The findings suggest that teachers generally reported positive perceptions of several leadership practices, while instructional monitoring and feedback represent areas for further attention. The paper contributes a focused descriptive account of instructional leadership and is distinct from a separate model-testing paper examining mediation and moderation. Because the study uses self-reported, cross-sectional data from male teachers in boys’ schools, findings should not be generalized uncritically to female teachers, girls’ schools, or other school levels.

Keywords: instructional leadership; secondary schools; teachers’ perceptions; school leadership; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Pakistan