The Interplay Between Instructional and Entrepreneurial Leadership Styles in Cyprus Rural Primary Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how school principals combine instructional and entrepreneurial aspects of leadership in their effort to build capacity for student learning. Four cases of successful school principals in rural primary schools in Cyprus are described as part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). Purposive sampling was used in a multiperspective research methodology employing a semistructured interview protocol. The findings of the case studies formed the basis of a framework of successful school leadership, according to which instructional and entrepreneurial leadership are two vital and complementary constituents of successful leadership. The specific framework holds unique importance since it illustrates that successful leadership can promote learning both within the school itself but also through the utilization of its wider environment. Findings suggest that practitioners and policymakers need to think and act in a systemic manner by taking into account all the forces that impact student learning.