At the Helm of School Leadership: Perspectives, Practices and Challenges of School Heads in Coaching, Mentoring and Feedback

Effective, efficient, and transformative public education requires quality school heads who are entrusted with various challenging, demanding, and key responsibilities in their respective jurisdictions. As agents of change, they significantly impact schools through their coaching, mentoring, and feedback (CMF) skills. Hence, they must be equipped with the essential and relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities to succeed in their endeavors and foster a shared understanding and sustainable learning culture. The absence of clear and appropriate planning and implementation of CMF may result in failure to achieve desired outcomes. This study aims to fill the gap in the limited research on the CMF perspectives, practices, and challenges of Filipino school heads. Data were gathered from school leaders serving as principals, head teachers, and master teachers. Descriptive statistical analyses revealed that respondents held strongly positive perspectives toward CMF, affirming its central role in teachers’ holistic development and in strengthening professional collaboration within school communities. School leaders likewise reported extensive engagement in CMF practices that support instructional improvement, professional growth, effective adult communication, and the cultivation of a collaborative school culture characterized by shared decision-making and continuous improvement. Findings further indicated a high level of confidence among school leaders in key CMF competencies, including reflective dialogue, communication, relationship-building, and formative assessment of teaching, reflecting alignment with Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads domains on leading people and building connections. Despite these strengths, time constraints emerged as the most prevalent challenge in conducting CMF, alongside gaps in preparation and formal training. These challenges point to systemic and structural constraints in fully operationalizing DepEd leadership standards and underscore the need for sustained institutional support and targeted professional development to strengthen the consistent and effective implementation of CMF practices in schools.