Leading Beyond Compliance: Teachers' Lived Experiences of the Instructional Leadership of an Education Program Supervisor and Its Influence on Professional Growth in the Schools Division Office of Santiago City

Abstract

The role of Education Program Supervisors (EPSs) has evolved from ensuring policy compliance to fostering instructional excellence, professional collaboration, and continuous teacher development. Despite the growing emphasis on instructional leadership within educational systems, limited qualitative studies have explored how teachers experience the leadership practices of Education Program Supervisors and how these practices influence their professional growth, particularly in the Philippine basic education context. This study explored the lived experiences of teachers regarding the instructional leadership of an Education Program Supervisor and its influence on their professional growth in the Schools Division Office of Santiago City. Employing a transcendental phenomenological research design, the study involved twelve purposively selected public school teachers who had extensive engagement with instructional supervision, technical assistance, curriculum implementation, and professional development initiatives facilitated by an Education Program Supervisor. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's Seven-Step Phenomenological Method. The findings revealed that teachers perceived instructional leadership as a transformative process that extends beyond monitoring compliance, emphasizing mentoring, instructional support, collaborative learning, reflective practice, and continuous professional development. Teachers attributed improvements in instructional competence, curriculum implementation, leadership capacity, confidence, and professional identity to the supportive and developmental leadership demonstrated by the Education Program Supervisor. The study proposes an Instructional Supervisory Leadership Enhancement Framework (ISLEF) to strengthen supervisory practices that promote teacher excellence and sustainable professional growth. The findings contribute to the growing body of educational leadership literature by providing contextual insights into instructional supervision within Philippine basic education and offering practical implications for educational leaders, policymakers, and future researchers. Recent evidence likewise underscores that instructional leadership functions—particularly providing professional learning opportunities, curriculum coordination, and instructional supervision are strong predictors of teachers' professional development.