ABSTRACT
Since the early 1970s, the government of Kenya has enacted policies to increase access to quality education with limited success. With a growing emphasis on decentralization of decision-making and greater accountability, capable head teachers are critical. This evolving policy environment has changed the role expectations of head teachers. Yet policymakers and researchers in non-Western countries, like Kenya, have paid limited attention to the role head teachers can play in educational development. Therefore, this study examines head teacher time use within the Kenyan context. Using data from the Kenya 2012 Snapshot of School Management Effectiveness (SSME) and policy documents directly relevant to primary school leadership roles and responsibilities, this study seeks to understand primary school head teachers' role expectations. And how these head teachers use their time within this new policy environment. The study's findings support the notion of head teachers as managers because they spend less than 10% of their time providing instructional support to their teachers and less than 30% teaching. This study represents an initial step toward increasing the research base on educational leadership in Africa, a region with limited educational leadership research.
