Making Sense of Principal Leadership in Content Areas: The Case of Secondary Math and Science Instruction

ABSTRACT

We drew upon sense making and leadership content knowledge to explore how high school administrators’ understanding of content areas informed their leadership. We used math and science to illustrate our interpretations, noting that other content areas may pose different challenges. We found that principals’ limited understanding of these content areas prompted them to reframe challenges in ways that did not require them to possess content-area expertise. Principals relied upon their ability to hire classroom teachers and secure external professional development providers to improve instruction. We conclude the article by noting how the findings expand upon existing understandings of instructional leadership.