Pedagogical leadership is a smart balance between short-term management (managerial leadership) of administrative functions and a long-term vision (visionary leadership) of teaching functions. While leaders cannot neglect certain managerial functions, teaching and learning are areas of academic leadership where effective educational leaders must consistently allocate the majority of their time. Teaching and learning are at the top of your priority list.
Managers, most of the time, have enough freedom to set these priorities in their institutions.
Pedagogical leadership is, above all, leadership focused on learning. This leadership does not have a concern, if not a passion, for learning that makes this concept vital for actors in the education sector, which implies a transfer of knowledge rather than a conception of their activity as a builder or creator of knowledge.. In this perspective, school leadership is very complex because the system has an emergent property that resides in a teaching team within a group or network of people who share their experience and whose teaching potential is released during a mission.
Pedagogical leaders are intensely involved in school issues that directly affect students' learning performance. This important role goes beyond the scope of school leadership because it involves others. The main actors in educational leadership are:
- Administrative office staff (mayor, curriculum coordinators, etc.)
- Directors and Deputy Directors.
- Masters of the teachings.
Pedagogical leaders are knowledgeable about pedagogical and scientific reading references to assist them in the selection, recommendation, and implementation of teaching materials. The participation of educational leaders in professional development sessions or professional conferences also helps them stay alert and this gives them the opportunity to develop and implement monitoring work. essential reading references
Hallinger (2003) has defined a pedagogical leadership model with several categories of practice, three of which are outstanding:
- The definition of the school's mission that includes framing and communicating the school's goals.
- Management of the teaching program that includes the supervision and evaluation of teaching, the coordination of the program and the monitoring of the student's progress.
- Promote a positive learning environment that includes incentives for teachers (promote professional development, preserve class hours, educational transparency) and provide incentives for self-study.
