The effects of social media on instructional leadership according to executive opinions

Cultural and technological developments that occur in the social process are also reflected in educational environments, and this situation constantly changes the functioning and roles of educational institutions. The rapid inclusion of social media in social life, one of the technological developments, has also been reflected in educational organizations. Thus, it has caused a transformation and change in the instructional leadership identities of the administrators who lead the school administration. Instructional leaders, who are responsible for the transfer and organization of knowledge, have come to use social media at every stage, from producing, transferring, organizing and distributing knowledge with the spread of social media. With this research, it is aimed to reveal the effects of developments in communication technologies and especially the widespread use of social media on the instructional leadership skills of administrators. The research is important in terms of revealing the digitalized duties and responsibilities of school administrators working in primary schools. This research, in which qualitative research methods and techniques were used, was carried out using a phenomenological design in order to reveal the changes that social media caused in the instructional leadership roles of administrators. In order to be suitable for the purpose of the research, easily accessible case sampling was chosen. The study group of the research consists of 20 school administrators working in primary schools affiliated to Gaziantep Provincial Directorate of National Education. The study group of the research was selected by the easily accessible sampling method due to temporal and spatial limitations. The interview technique was applied to the participants, and a semi-structured interview form was chosen as the data collection tool. Content analysis, one of the data analysis methods, was used. According to the research data, the participants emphasized that social media caused changes and transformations in the behavioral dimensions of instructional leadership. According to the research findings, it has been concluded that social media affects the dimensions of instructional leadership in the management of the vision mission of the school, the management of the school program and teaching, the evaluation of student development, the development of the school staff, the management of the school climate and culture and the management of the school environment. In this context, stakeholders should be provided with vocational and technical training in areas such as correct use of social media and content creation, managers should take an active role in social media groups, and they should convey current developments and announcements about management to stakeholders.