International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications ISSN (Online): 2581-6187 165 Maria Celeste G. Vasquez, Ariston G. Vasquez, Mary Joy A. Magdale, Deasy Ann B. Adorna, “Elementary School Heads’ Instructional Competencies and Management Capabilities Towards an Improved School Management,” International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications (IJMRAP), Volume 5, Issue 6, pp. 165-169, 2022. Elementary School Heads’ Instructional Competencies and Management Capabilities Towards an Improved School Management Maria Celeste G. Vasquez 1 , Ariston G. Vasquez 2 , Mary Joy A. Magdale 3 , Deasy Ann B. Adorna 4 1,3-4 Damayan Bliss Elementary School, Palawan, Philippines 5303 2 Palawan State University, Palawan, Philippines 5303 Email address: 2 avasquez@psu.palawan.edu.ph Abstract—The role of an instructional leader differs from that of a traditional school administrator in several meaningful ways: whereas the conventional head of school spends the majority of his/her time dealing strictly with administrative duties, the head of school who is an instructional leader is charged with redefining his/her role to become the primary learner in a community striving for excellence in education. As such, it becomes the head of the school’s responsibility to work with teachers to manage the instructional program. Utilizing a descriptive research design, this study involved all the school heads of the 17 elementary schools of Narra del Norte district, Narra, Palawan. Data were gathered through an adopted survey questionnaire administered by the researchers. More than half of the school heads were females, had ages between 46 to 50, were married and had units in master’s degrees. They also had 10 or fewer teachers being supervised and had 1 to 10 years of experience as school heads. It was found that the school heads’ level of instructional competencies is very competent, and their management capabilities are highly effective. Results of the study imply that instruction and support provided to teachers were given much priority with the aim of strengthening the school’s instructional goals and objectives. More so, the management behaviors and functions are being performed by the school heads in a very satisfactory manner. Keywords— Instructional competencies, management capabilities school heads, school management. I. INTRODUCTION Instructional leadership is an educational leadership that focuses on the core responsibility of a school, namely teaching and learning, by defining the school vision, mission, and goals, managing the instructional program, and promoting the school climate. It is very closely related to the role and duty of a school principal such as developing and disseminating school aims, setting targeted standards, coordinating curriculum, supervising and evaluating teachers’ classroom instructions, encouraging students to study, and increasing teachers’ and administration staff professional development (Ismail, 2018). The role of an instructional leader differs from that of a traditional school administrator in several meaningful ways: whereas the conventional head of school spends the majority of their time dealing strictly with administrative duties, the head of school who is an instructional leader is charged with redefining their role to become the primary learner in a community striving for excellence in education. As such, it becomes the head of the school’s responsibility to work with teachers to manage the instructional program. Instructional leaders know what is happening in the classrooms and develop the capacities of their staff by building on their strengths and reducing their weaknesses (Manaseh, 2016). One goal of instructional supervision is to evaluate teachers and find ways to improve their pedagogical strategies and procedures inside the classroom. The teacher's development is dependent on the quality of instructional supervision that they are receiving. The school's performance in terms of teaching and learning is primarily geared toward how it is being supervised. Its effectiveness depends mainly on the school heads’ ability to monitor the teachers, clarify instructional goals, and work collaboratively to improve teaching and learning (Capadngan, 2020). The issue of how school leaders practice instructional leadership to increase teachers’ efficacy, beliefs, and competency; and improve teachers’ classroom instructions need to be addressed. Thus, this study will identify the level of instructional competencies and management capabilities among school leaders and the relationship between these variables and their dimensions. Instruction is perhaps one of the most basic building blocks of teacher leadership. Leadership in instructional practice means something more than being the best possible teacher within the four walls of one classroom—it means reaching out and sharing excellent teaching with others, including fellow educators, and extending to a broad range of stakeholders. Successful teacher leaders do not keep their effective practices to themselves; they share that knowledge with others to benefit all students (Manaseh, 2016). Management competencies and leadership skills are essential in different types of organizations. The organization aims to move the performance of its employees still further and further. They can make the differences and significance and create evaluation between average and excellent managers. Perhaps the potential power of an organization is to possess outstanding or above-average employees by eliminating average employees with continual education and developing their personalities. Although there is a lot of