As school leaders navigate the complexities of accountability, teacher support, and student success, principals and instructional coaches are often positioned “in the middle,” balancing the expectations of district-level administrators with the needs of teachers and students. This role requires a mindset shift—from managerial oversight to collaborative leadership. This was highlighted by Rochester, MN Public Schools’ initiative to reframe principals as “head teachers” rather than managers. Principals are being encouraged to spend more time in classrooms, engaging directly with teaching and learning. According to an article from the Post Bulletin, this shift aims to empower principals to lead through instructional expertise and relationship-building rather than focusing solely on operational tasks.
Instructional coaches play a parallel role, bridging the gap between school district initiatives and classroom implementation by working side-by-side with teachers to enhance instructional practices. I explored “leading from the middle” on a podcast with Dr. Katie Pekel, the Executive Director of Educational Leadership at the University of Minnesota. She leads the Minnesota Principal’s Academy, the Executive PhD program, the Principal Support Series, and the Urban Leadership Academy. She identified that middle leaders must skillfully advocate for the goals of upper management while fostering trust and collaboration with teachers. To succeed, they need to develop dual capacities: the ability to “push up” by influencing district policies and “push down” by supporting teachers in meaningful ways.
Dr. Pekel shared results from a survey of MN principals which identified that principals are spending their time in places they wish that they didn’t have to…. administrative tasks. The area where they prefer to spend their time is instructional leadership. They’re overwhelmingly telling us that they’re not spending as much time there as they would like. However, the place where they want to spend their time, instructional leadership, is actually the area where they feel the least efficacious. We asked questions about their own confidence: How confident do they feel in carrying out tasks? The tasks that they feel most confident in carrying out are those that fall into the domain of management and decision making, which really doesn’t come as a huge shock because that’s what we really focus on in principal training or preparation. But the area that’s really the most important, which is instructional leadership, is the area that they tell us they feel the least confident.
Consider the following scenario:
A district mandates a new literacy initiative, requiring every teacher to implement a specific instructional strategy. The timeline is tight, and teachers express frustration, feeling overwhelmed by the lack of training and support. At the same time, district leaders emphasize the urgency of improving literacy scores, expecting swift compliance.
As a principal, Ms. Ramirez recognizes the validity of both perspectives. She convenes a meeting with her instructional coach, Ms. Turner, to develop a plan. Together, they decide to:
- Advocate for Teachers: Ms. Ramirez communicates with district leaders, providing feedback on the challenges teachers are facing. She requests flexibility in the timeline and additional resources for professional development.
- Build Teacher Capacity: Ms. Turner organizes a series of coaching sessions focused on the new literacy strategy. These sessions include modeling lessons, collaborative planning, and opportunities for teachers to share successes and challenges.
- Maintain Focus on Outcomes: While addressing teacher concerns, Ms. Ramirez keeps the focus on the district’s ultimate goal: improving literacy outcomes. She and Ms. Turner work with grade-level teams to analyze student data and set achievable benchmarks.
- Celebrate Progress: As teachers begin to implement the strategy, Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Turner highlight successes, fostering a sense of collective achievement.
Through this approach, Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Turner balance district expectations with teacher needs, building trust and ensuring the initiative is implemented effectively.
In the podcast, Dr. Pekel stated, “I see the instructional coaching roles as not just the improvement of the classroom teacher. I see them as the improvement of the system because they’re really also coaching the principal at the same time. They are really developing the principal’s knowledge and helping to grow that.” She added, “I have a hypothesis that I think we are going to see a different generation of school leader and school principal, because so many of them are now coming through the ranks of instructional coaching.”
