Digital instructional leadership in schools facing different levels of challenging contexts: A survey study during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study highlights the growing significance of integrating digital technology into instructional leadership in schools. Educational administration research cannot ignore the fact that digital technology has become an integral part of human interactions and organizational processes in twenty-first-century workplaces. This paper aims to explore digital instructional leadership behaviours of principals during the COVID-19 pandemic and explain behavioural differences in leadership related to different levels of socio-economic school settings. Data were collected through an online study from 380 teachers in Bahrain. We used a series of two-sample t-tests between percentages to compare differences in digital instructional leadership behaviours. The study revealed that means of principals’ digital instructional leadership behaviours were generally higher in schools serving student populations with a high rather than low socio-economic background. Principals in schools serving student populations with low socio-economic background were higher than their peers only in one digital instructional leadership behaviours, and this was related to socio-economic gaps. The study contributes to better understanding of digital instructional leadership, an approach that is becoming highly prevalent because of the pandemic, and sheds light on how levels of principals’ behaviours vary in different circumstances. Overall, the findings attest to the presence of a digital instructional leadership divide.