Using Bureaucratic and Cultural Linkages to Improve Instruction: The Principal's Contribution

Principals can influence instruction by working through the linkages that govern teacher behavior. What these linkages are, how they affect instruction, and the impact of the principal on them are the focus of this article. Two kinds of linkages are distinguished: bureaucratic and cultural. Past research has attended extensively to bureaucratic linkages without analyzing cultural linkages. It is argued that the principals have access to weak linkages of both kinds. The task for the principal is to consistently employ the full range of linkages through a multitude of major and minoractions to generate a common purpose and effect in the school.