Teachers’ Perceptions of Principals’ Instructional Leadership Roles and Practices (Persepsi Guru terhadap Peranan dan Amalan Kepimpinan Instruksional Pengetua)

Abstract

As a part of Malaysia’s education transformation, the Ministry of Education expects all principals to be instructional leaders. In response to this call, this study attempts to describe teachers’ perceptions on instructional leadership roles and practices of principals, as well as examine the relationship between the teachers’ gender and their perception of instructional leadership roles and practices. A total of 105 primary school teachers from five primary schools in Alor Gajah, Malaysia participated in this quantitative study. The data was collected randomly through distribution of a survey questionnaire containing 35 items adapted from the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data using SPSS (V.22). Results from teachers’ responses reveal the following: i) a moderate level of perception of instructional leadership functions related to defining the school’s mission; ii) a moderate level of perception of functions related to managing instructional program; iii) a low level of perception of functions with respect to promoting a positive climate; and iv) no relationship between gender and the perception of instructional leadership. The results from this study will bring forth the current state of instructional leadership in Malaysian primary schools and keep the Malaysian government abreast with this scenario to improve training programs and make continuous training in principal leadership compulsory.Keywords: Instructional leadership, Principal, Gender, Teachers’ perceptions, Primary school, Education, Malaysia. Sebagai sebahagian daripada transformasi pendidikan Malaysia, Kementerian Pendidikan menjangka semua pengetua menjadi pemimpin instruksional. Untuk bertindak balas kepada panggilan ini, kajian ini menggambarkan persepsi guru tentang peranan dan amalan kepimpinan instruksional para pengetua, serta mengkaji hubungan antara jantina guru dan persepsi mereka tentang peranan dan amalan kepimpinan instruksional. Sejumlah 105 guru sekolah rendah dari lima sekolah rendah di Alor Gajah, Malaysia mengambil bahagian dalam kajian kuantitatif ini. Data dikumpul secara rawak melalui pengedaran soal selidik tinjauan yang mengandungi 35 item yang disesuaikan daripada Skor Penilaian Pengajaran Utama (PIMRS). Kedua-dua statistik deskriptif dan inferens digunakan untuk menganalisis data menggunakan SPSS (V.22). Dapatan menunjukkan perkara berikut:(i) persepsi tahap sederhana berkaitan fungsi kepimpinan instruksional yang berkaitan dengan penentuan misi sekolah; ii) persepsi tahap sederhana berkaitan pengurusan program pengajaran; iii) persepsi tahap rendah untuk fungsi yang menggalakkan iklim positif; dan iv) tiada hubungan antara jantina dengan persepsi kepimpinan instruksional. Hasil kajian ini mengetengahkan keadaan semasa kepimpinan instruksional di sekolah rendah di Malaysia dan memastikan kesedaran kerajaan Malaysia tentang senario ini untuk meningkatkan program latihan dan membuat latihan berterusan dalam kepimpinan utama yang wajib.Kata kunci: Kepimpinan instruksional, Pengetua, Jantina, Persepsi Guru, Sekolah Rendah, Pendidikan, Malaysia.