"The instructional capacity of the principal is critical to the success of effective schools. The conceptualization of principals as leaders of learning is an emergent concept that distills the significance of the role and function of principals as instructional leaders. This qualitative case study sought to examine and chronicle the key dispositions and practices that distinguish principals as instructional leaders. More specifically, this case investigated a principal-led professional development model that sought to determine the efficacy of an approach to teacher development through microteaching, espousing inquiry-oriented feedback. More specifically, this study investigated the lived experiences of teachers participating in a principal-facilitated professional development microteaching protocol, and to examine how teachers' experiences participating in this protocol impacted their teaching practice. Guided by the primary research questions, "Is principal-led microteaching a viable tool to facilitate professional development within schools?" and "To what measure does hermeneutic reflection in the case of a principal-led microteaching protocol impact teachers' pedagogical practice?," this study investigates both the positionality of principals as leaders of learning and the impact of this role on a professional development protocol for teachers. Phenomenology served as the theoretical and methodological framework for this study, and is central to the conceptual framework and interpretive analysis of this study's findings. More specifically, hermeneutic phenomenology was used to explore the subjective experiences of teachers as it related to a principal-led professional development protocol employing microteaching. Narrative data were collected through video-recorded observations and interviews, and reported using a phenomenological approach to provide insight into significant themes. In vivo coding was employed to analyze and report subsequent findings, and to explore a broader context of implications centering the theoretical and pragmatic functions of instructional leadership qua the principalship. Findings established in this study address methods to develop alternate models of contiguous, job-embedded professional development designated to enhance teacher efficacy through microteaching and inquiry-oriented feedback. Additional findings offer recommendations for a framework to promote more efficacious professional development models in high school contexts, as well as recommendations for future study of principals as instructional leaders."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.
