Abstract

The latest corona pandemic that has hit the country has brought changes in principals' leadership practices in Malaysia. This global phenomenon requires the principals to think futuristically, out from the common practices, and dare to make necessary changes in practicing instructional leadership at schools. Thus, this qualitative study aimed to explore the virtual instructional leadership behaviours among school leaders. The findings showed that principle practices virtual instructional leadership behaviours by integrating mobile device technologies and new mediums of virtual communication in practicing instructional leadership. The use of these new virtual communication mediums such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook has shaped the instructional leadership practices of principals in this challenging phase. The findings also showed that virtual instructional leadership behaviour practiced by the principals is already practiced in schools before this pandemic hit the country. The educational experts suggested that principals seize the opportunities of the information and communication technology advancement in empowering the virtual instructional leadership of school leaders. This study also validated 41 virtual instructional behaviours of school leaders from the previous researchers. This study will contribute as the basis of understanding of the virtual instructional leadership among Malaysian principals. However, it is recommended to conduct further in-depth studies to strengthen virtual instructional leadership.

Key words: Instructional leadership, virtual instructional leadership, virtual communication, social media, communication applications, web applications