Amalan kepimpinan transformasi pengetua sekolah berprestasi tinggi di Malaysia

Abstract

Transformational Leadership refers to the ability of leaders to encourage subordinates to change values and attitudes, so that they have a commitment to achieve the vision and mission of an organization such as a school. The Ministry of Education has set up guidelines to ensure that leaders are appointed from among those who are knowledgeable, skilled and competent but many related studies have found that some of the principals in Malaysia do not fulfil the criteria. On the contrary, there are High Performing School (HPS) with exceptional principals who have proven their leadership by sustaining their performance over several years. Thus, characteristics and practices of these HPS principals should be investigated and be used as a guide by other school principals to attain success for their own schools.This study aims to identify the characteristics and leadership practices of HPS principals. Besides that, it is also important to identify strategies used by them that have led to the success of the schools. This study used a qualitative methodology with a case study design. The key subjects were three principals of three selected HPSs in Malaysia. There were also three groups of HPS informants comprising a senior assistant, teacher, school staff, student and chairman of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) from each school. Data were collected through interviews, observations and analysis of relevant documents and reports and analyzed through several stages of coding, categorizing, cross-case analysis and interpretation using NVIVO10. The findings of the study revealed that the characteristics of HPS principals are charismatic, proactive and accountable. As leaders, they emphasize positive values and beliefs (religion). Furthermore, they practise Transformational Leadership by using strategies such as setting the direction, developing people, redesigning organization and managing instructional process or programme. These principals practise high performing management which comprise aspects of working system management, curriculum, co-curriculum, financial and discipline in the schools. Based on the findings of the study, a model of HPS principal leadership practices for Malaysian schools has been developed and be used as a guide to assist school principals who aim to achieve HPS status.