The Roles, Challenges, and Needs of Principal Supervisors: A Case Study

A crucial component of boosting, maintaining, and improving school performance is instructional leadership. In order for instructional leadership to thrive, leaders must be thoroughly supported and well-trained in the best practices of supervision. This chapter dives into the initiatives that the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) launched over a decade ago in the United Arab Emirates to help principal supervisors grow from being traditional enforcers of district policy to being supervisors involved in helping their principals develop their instructional leadership practices. A case study design will be employed to investigate principal supervisors’ perceptions of their day-to-day operations in leading the principals to whom they are assigned. Three overarching themes, which derived from a thematic analysis of the interview findings, will serve as a guide for the presentation of information contained in this chapter: (1) the duties and responsibilities of principal supervisors, (2) the obstacles principal supervisors face in fulfilling their obligations, and (3) the circumstances principal supervisors require for optimal leadership performance. At the close of the chapter, the authors offer suggestions to improve principal leadership practices as well as implications for further research