Download - STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY & EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY &PRACTICES IN HIGH-PERFORMING

EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

Institut Aminuddin Baki Ministry of Education Malaysia

ByEDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT (ERDD)

INSTITUT AMINUDDIN BAKI GENTING HIGHLANDS BRANCH

ii

Published by:

Publication UnitINSTITUT AMINUDDIN BAKIMinistry of Education MalaysiaKompleks Pendidikan Nilai71760 BANDAR ENSTEKNegeri Sembilan Darul KhususTel: 06-7979 200 Faks: 06-7079 300www.iab.edu.my

Copyright @ 2020 Institut Aminuddin Baki

Institut Aminuddin Baki Main Campus, Bandar Enstek, 71760 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmit-ted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a license from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licenses for reproduction may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd. MyIpo.

Publication Managers:Nik Karimah binti Nik HassanMeriam binti Allias

Graphic Design and Layout:Nurasyikin Binti Mat

Printed by:Perniagaan NormahsNo. 3, 4 dan 5, Jalan 12/10Taman Koperasi Polis Fasa 168100 MUKIM BATUKuala LumpurPhone: 0361875904 / 61888940 / 61869863 Handphone: 01123747413 / 0192633114 Faksimili: 03-61870954E-mail: [email protected]

iii

STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY & PRACTICES IN HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

PatronHon. Dato’ Haji Tajuddin bin Mohd Yunus, Ph.D

Director Institut Aminuddin Baki

Haji Abd. Razak bin Manaf, Ph.DSeniour Deputy Director (Professional Services)

Institut Aminuddin Baki

Datuk Haji Mohd Kassim bin Haji Mohd Ibrahim, Ph.D Seniour Deputy Director (Training Services)


AdvisorsHaji Abd. Razak bin Manaf, Ph.D

Seniour Deputy Director (Professional Services)Institut Aminuddin Baki

Datuk Haji Mohd Kassim bin Haji Mohd Ibrahim, Ph.D Seniour Deputy Director (Training Services)


Ekerim a/p Din, Ed.DHead of The Department of Publication and Documentation


Zainuren bin Haji Mohd NorDirector IAB Genting Highlands Branch

AuthorsAbdul Wahab bin Muda, Ph.D

Hajjah Nor Hasimah binti Hashim @ Abd. Manaf Jamelaa Bibi binti Abdullah, Ph.D

Nakoo bin Mustan, Ph.DHamidon bin Abdul Rahman, Ph.D

Nazeri bin Mohamad, Ph.D

EditorsHajjah Nor Hasimah binti Hashim @ Abd. Manaf

Meriam binti Allias

iv

Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders Self Assessment Instrument

xi xii vi-ixABOUT

THE BOOKvi-viii

- List of Tables- List of Figures- List of Diagrammes- ABBREVIATIONS

Foreword

1 3 14Background

Chapter 1

Introduction andBackground ofthe Standards

1-15

Process of DevelopingHigh Performing

Educational LeadershipStandards Based on

Personality andPractice

Conclusions

17 32The Concept of

High-PerformingEducational

Leader

Chapter 2Literature Reviewon Standards ofPersonality and

Practices in High-PerformingEducational

Leaders17-34

Summary on theStandards of

Personality andPractices Of High-

PerformingEducational Leaders

35 56The Concept of


Leaders’ Personality

Chapter 3The Personality

in the High-PerformingEducational

Leaders35-56

ConclusionsHigh-Performing

EducationalLeaders’

Personality

Acknowledgements

TABLE OF CONTENTS

v


57 65The Concept ofPractices in the


Leaders

Chapter 4The Practicesin the High-PerformingEducational

Leaders57-65

Conclusions on theHigh-Performing

EducationalLeaders’ Practices

71 85References

APPENDICES71-118 Standards of

Personality andPractices in High-

PerformingEducational

Leader’s Self-RatingInstrument

67 68The Applicability ofThe Standards of

Personality Practicesin the High-Performing

EducationalLeader

Chapter 5Applicability of the

Standards ofPersonality and

Practices in High-PerformingEducational

Leadersin Malaysia

67-70

Summary andRecommendations

for Using theStandard Personality

and inHigh-Performing

EducationalLeader

vi


LIST OF TABLES

ITEMS Page Table 1.1

Draft of the criteria of high-performing leaders competencies

Table 1.2

Indicators and items representing the practice and personality domain

Table 2.1:

The Contents of the Malaysian School Principals Competency Standards (MSPCS)

5 - 6

8 - 10

Table 1.3

The Findings of the Development Phase forPractice and Personality Domain 11 - 12

Table 1.4

The Reliability of the Personality and PracticesDomains and Its Indicators 13

Table 1.5

The Details of Research Questions, DataCollection Techniques and Analysis of Findings 14 - 15

28

vii


LIST OF FIGURES

ITEMS Page Figure 1.1:

The Conceptual Framework adapted from Ridhuan (2017)

Figure 1.2:

The Design and Development Phase using Fuzzy Delphi Method and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).

Figure 2.4:

The Domains in the new Malaysian Education Quality Standards Wave 2 (MEQSWave2)

4

10

30

Figure 2.5:

Behavioural Change Model by Prochaska andDiClimente (1983) 33

Figure 5.1:

Standards of Personality and Practices inHigh-Performing Educational Leaders Indigenous Model

70

viii


LIST OF DIAGRAMMES

ITEMS Page Diagramme

2.1: Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (2015)

Diagramme 2.2:

Australian Professional Standard for Principals (2015)

Diagramme 2.3:

The Content of the Integrated Assessment of the Educational Services Officials (IAESO)

19

22

27

ix


ABBREVIATIONS

MEDP Malaysian Education Development Plan

MSPCS Malaysian School Principalship Competency Standards

MEQSWave2 Malaysian Education Quality Standards Wave 2

FDM Fuzzy Delphi Method

EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis

IAESO IntegratedAssessmentoftheEducationalServicesOfficials

DEO DistrictEducationOffice

SED State Education Department

HEI Higher-Education Institutions

NGO Non-Governmental Organisations

PTA Parent Teacher Association

HPEL High-Performing Educational Leadership

PSEL Professional Standards for Educational Leader

ISLLC Interstate School Leader Licensure Consortium Standards

AITSL Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership

TS25 School Transformational Plan (2025)

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

xi


Foreword

Director Institut Aminuddin Baki

Bismillahhirrahmannirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

The publication of the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders book is an ardent effort of Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB) in documenting its research findings and disseminating them for the benefit of all educators. In as much, it is our contention that the publication of this book would be utilised by academicians, researchers, leaders in the world of education to assess their own leadership performances against the standards as aspired by the Malaysian Educational Development Plan (MEDP 2013-2025). This book also served as guidelines in the school administration and management.

It is our hope that the publication of the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders book will not only be a platform for sharing knowledge corpus and practices among educational leaders and practitioners but also serve as guidelines for the implementation of the development programme in IAB. We believe that the findings from these research will help raise the quality of our delivery in the aforementioned discipline and add value to our programmes in line with the six functions of IAB as the centre for training, consultation, research, publication, assessment and think tank.

Finally, I wish to convey my heartiest congratulations to the Director of IABCGH, Deputy Director of IABCGH and all the members of the research team who have contributed whole-heartedly and tirelessly in the research and making the publication of Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders book a success.

HON. DATO’ Dr. HAJI TAJUDDIN BIN MOHD YUNUSDIRECTORINSTITUT AMINUDDIN BAKIMINISTRY OF EDUCATION MALAYSIA

xii


xiiStandards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders Self Assessment InstrumentStandards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders Self Assessment Instrument

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All praise be to Allah the Al-Mighty Creator that with His blessings and perfections the

publication of the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational

Leaders book has finally been completed and published. Alhamdulillah, we are indeed

grateful for His Grace, we have managed to complete the book successfully. We wish to

extend our deepest appreciation to the top Management of IABCGH for their believe and

trust in the Department of Educational Research and Development in conducting the

research at the national level in line with the motto “One Branch, One Research,” that is

the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders. The

book is being translated into other languages to disseminate the findings of the research

amongst the academicians, practitioners and educational leaders far and wide. We are

indebted to all our research team who have shown their full commitment and greatest

support in seeing through the book till the end, especially to Dr. Abdul Wahab bin Muda,

the Head of Department of Educational Research and Development Department,

Dr. Hamidon bin Abdul Rahman, Dr. Nakoo bin Mustan, Hajjah Nor Hasimah binti

Hashim, Dr. Jamelaa Bibi binti Abdullah and Dr. Nazeri Bin Mohammad. We would also

like to extend our appreciation to other team members Dr. Wee Eng Lee,

Dr. Kamaruzaman bin Moidunny, Mr. Abdul Razak bin Alias, Mr. Muhammad Khalil bin

Yahaya and proofreaders team Dr. Lim Siew Hui, Dr. Teh Kim Peng, Miss Wong Kwai

Cheng and Meriam binti Allias for their collaboration and contribution of ideas. We wish

to extend our thanks to the State Education Department and the District Education of

Malaysia, Principals and Headteachers, Middle Leaders and teachers who have given

their full support in the data collection and in making this book possible. We hope that all

your good deeds are acknowledged by Allah s.w.t. We also wish to thank all lecturers in

IABCGH for your continued support for us to move on. We hope that all our efforts in

sharing the knowledge corpus is an investment in itself for us and blessed by Allah s.w.t

in the thereafter.

CHA

PTE

R 1

- In

trod

uctio

n

1

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 is an education development plan that

outlined 11 shifts to produce the desired change for all Malaysians. The 5th shift in

particular is to ensure that high-performing leadership is placed in each school. Based on

the need to improve leadership competencies for the nation's education system, the

ministry has devised an array of transformations blueprint, namely the Malaysian

Education Development Plan (2013-2025) to be implemented in three (3) waves with

several initiatives aimed at ensuring high-performing leaders emplaced in Malaysian

schools. However, since the completion of the first wave of initiatives, the question on the

percentage of such leaders being successfully trained and the measurement of what

makes such a leader remains unanswered.

The Fifth Shift of the Malaysian Blueprint, namely the Malaysian Education

Development Plan (MEDP), which is to be realised by 2025, was assigned to the Institut

Aminuddin Baki (IAB), the principal organisation in Malaysia set up in 1979 specifically to

train the nation’s educational leaders. Yet, after four decades, there are uncertainties if it

has achieved its objective of training prospective and current leaders to become high

performers in their own organisations to achieve the level of high-performing educational

leaders? If so, how do we measure it? The studies conducted in Malaysia, thus far,

generally only examine Principals' and Headteachers’ practices in high performance

schools rather than examining high-performing leadership.

The results of the literature review revealed that existing studies, especially that of

Jamilah and Yusof Boon (2011) merely looked at leadership practices at high-performing

schools and transformational-leadership-based model development (Leithwood, et al.,

2


2

2003, 2007). On a similar note, the study by Rosnah Ishak, Muhammad Faizal, and

Saedah (2014) focused on the practice of organisational learning leadership in high-

performing schools in Malaysia. Additionally, Sufean (2014) made comparisons of school

culture and instructional leadership in high-performing and low-performing schools while

Zanariah Aziz Omar, Kamaruzaman Jusoff, Sharina Tajul Urus, Salina Salleh, and

Zarinah Abdul Rasit (2011), had reviewed leadership performances among primary

schools in Malaysia. Meanwhile, recent research by Yahya Don, Yaakob Daud, Abd Latif

Kasim, Zuraidah Juliana, and Siti Noor Ismail (2016) found that high-potential leadership

at school was influenced by emotional competence and situational leadership which

consisted the elements of intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, adaptation

and general feelings.

The studies listed above indicate that the focus which is more focused on

principals' practice in high performance schools which does not exhibit a standard

practice. High-performing school’s entails diversified situational leadership

characteristics. However, does this indicate that high performance school’s leader is high-

performing educational leader as well? According to Blasé, Blasé and Philips (2010),

there are seven elements of high-performing educational leader: (1) Learning; (2) Role-

Modelling; (3) Staying Focused; (4) Leading for Achievement; (5) Improving teaching; (6)

Developing Instructional Leadership; and (7) Teaching and Learning (Instructional

Leadership). Delaney (2016) observed that there are eight (8) elements or characteristics

of a high-performing educational leader: (1) Possessed positive attitude combined with

energy; (2) Courageous and Confidence; (3) Disciplined; (4) Reflective; (5) Patient; (6)

Resilient; (7) Visionary; and (8) Trustworthy.

Based on the studies along with scholars’ opinions on high-performing leaders,

Principals’ and Headteachers’ practices in high performance schools does not fulfill the

criteria of high-performing educational leadership standard (HPEL) entirely. Therefore, a

study should be carried out to elicit the actual criteria of a high-performing principal or

headmaster. The literature review had indicated that there is no single standard that can

measure the criteria of high-performing educational leaders. In this regard, research has

3


3

to be carried out to develop a HPEL standard in order to be used as a guide for measuring

high performance educational leaders in accordance with the Malaysia's standards.

PROCESS OF DEVELOPING HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP STANDARDS BASED ON PERSONALITY DAN PRACTICE

According to Cavaleri (2008), in order to produce a standard or model, consideration must

be given to the context and requirements of the organization to reflect a practice, that is

in line with the needs of the organisation. To create a standard that can gauge high-

performing educational leaders uniformly, hence this research employed Design

Development Research (DDR) method.

In so doing, Richey and Klien (2007) stated that there are three (3) main phases

involved: the need-analysis phase; the design and development phase and the evaluation

phase. Although this study is using type II which entails only two or three phases but in

order to demonstrate the perfection of DDR, hence reference was made upon Tracey's

(2002) who had conducted her study in four phases namely the need-analysis phase

using literature review followed by the design phase using Delphi; the development phase

and evaluation phase to secure model application effectiveness .

By and large, this study demonstrated the perfection of DDR (Tracey, 2002), involving

four phases of DDR in five steps. The first step – meta analysis through literature review;

second step - need-analysis phase; third step - design phase; fourth step - development

phase and the fifth step - evaluation phase. The conceptual framework was shown in

Figure 1.1.

4


1.6 METODOLOGI KAJIAN

1.Leading Professional Development Programs2.Role Models,3.Establishing Relationships And Networks, 4.Developing School Systemic Systems, 5.Trusting Subordinates , 6.Data-Based Decision Making.,7.Focus On Teaching And Learning, 8.Create A Positive Culture, 9.Continually Improve Schools And Use Effective 10.Communication Methods And 11.Personal, Social And Interpersonal Skills

High Performing Educational Leaders(Preliminary Criteria - Literature Review)

STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY

AND PRACTICES IN HIGH-

PERFORMINGEDUCATIONAL

LEADERS IN MALAYSIA

Figure 1.1: The Conceptual Framework adapted from Ridhuan (2017)

PRACTICE1. Clear Direction 2. Empowering Teachers3. Networking and Linkages 4. School Culture and Climate 5. Learning Leaders 6. Leading and Managing Changes

PERSONALITY1. Self-confidence 2. Emotional stability 3. Organizational Awareness 4. Communication 5. Challenging Status Quo 6. Conceptual Thinking 7. Proactive 8. Change Catalyst 9. Team leadership10. Drive Creativity and

Innovation 11. Coaching and mentoring 12. Optimising Relationships 13. Motivator14. Believe 15. Courage 16. Initiative

Developing High-Performing Educational Leader’s Standards Among Principals’ and Headteachers’ Practices In Malaysia

Design and Development Approach (Richey & Klien, 2007)

Interview

Fuzzy Delphi

EFA(SPSS),

Rasch Modelling, SEM (CFA)

Phase 2 – Design and Development

Phase

Phase 3 – Evaluation Phase

Phase 1 - Needs-Analysis - Primary

Performance

High-performing Educational leader’s criteriaBlasé.J, Blasé.J & Philips.D.Y (2010), Delaney.L (2009),

Effective Leader Standards• National Policy Board for Educational

Administration (2015), • Australian Institute for Teaching and School

Leadership (2015) • SKPMg2 (2016) • (MSPCS (2012)

5


5

STEP ONE: META-ANALYSIS

The meta-analysis begins with a literature review that was divided into two main elements:

namely operational definition of high-performing educational leader in reference to Blasé,

J, Blasé. J & Philips, D.Y (2010) and Delaney, L (2009) as well as domains and indicators

in existing standards of the National Policy Board For Educational Administration (2015),

Australian Institute For Teaching And School Leadership (2015) and Malaysian Education

Quality Standard Wave 2 (MEQSw2, 2018). The conclusions drawn from this analysis had

produced a preliminary criteria draft of high-performing educational leaders as shown in

Table 1.1 which consisted the construct of leading professional development

programmes, role models, establishing relationships and networks, developing school

systemic systems, trusting subordinates, data-based decision making, focus on teaching

and learning, create a positive culture, continually improve schools and use effective

communication methods and possess personal, social and interpersonal skills.

Table 1.1: Draft of the Criteria of High-Performance Leaders

No Construct Elements1. Leading

Professional Development Programs

i. Developing self and other

ii. Learningiii. Knowledge and understandingiv. Curiosity

2. Role Models i. Role model

3. Establishing Relationships and Networks

Linkagesi. Cooperation With Teachers to Improve Teachingii. Professional capacity of school personneliii. Professional community for teachers and staff iv. Appreciation for teachersv. Collaboration with schoolsvi. Give and take/ win-win situation

Networkingsi. Meaningful Engagement of Families and

Communityii. Engaging and working with the community iii. Building and maintaining collaborative relationships iv. Community of care and support for students v. International cooperation

4. i. Stay focusedii. Purposeful

6


6

Developing School Systemic Systems

iii. Imaginativeiv. Operations and managementv. Vision and valuesvi. Living a mission and vision focused on results vii. Solving complex thinking problem and critical

problemsviii. Curiosity and imaginativeix. Leading the management of the school x. Mission, vision and core values xi. Appointing strong individuals,xii. Challenging the status quoxiii. Dialoguexiv. Take action based on the procedures and circulars

5. Trusting Subordinates

i. Empowerment

6. Data-Based Decision Making

i. Accessing and analysing informationii. Results based on the findings / facts / dataiii. Setting goals based on data.

7. Focus On Teaching And Learning

i. Curriculum, instruction and assessmentii. Leading teaching and learningiii. Improving teaching and learningiv. Setting Teaching Goals

8. Create A Positive Culture

i. Equity and cultural responsivenessii. Creating and sustaining a culture of high

expectationsiii. Conducive school climate

9. Continually Improve Schools

i. Leading improvement, innovation and change ii. Leading and managing systems change iii. Creativityiv. Innovationv. Data-based improvements

10. Use Effective Communication Methods

Effective oral and written communicationSpiritual quotient (sq), emotional quotient (eq) and adversity quotient (aq)

11. Possess Personal, Social and Interpersonal Skills

i. 2C - courage and confidentii. Disciplineiii. Have patienceiv. Have perseverancev. Ethics and professional norms vi. Leading with integrity and professionalismvii. Positive attitude is combined with energyviii. Initiativeix. Entrepreneurshipx. Quick action and adaptation

7


7

A literature review was conducted by 10 researchers using local and foreign sources. A

total of 11 constructs were discussed in detail to draw consensus from each researcher.

The agreed-upon criteria draft was used as a guide to the interview thereafter.

SECOND STEP: NEED-ANALYSIS PHASE

The next step is the need-analysis phase, data were collected through interviews among

high-performing educational leaders (Principals and Headteachers) and the data were

analyzed using Nvivo data analysis software. The aim is to discover to what extent the

main performance of the school leaders in pursuing high-performing educational

leadership and is it in line with the views of scholars delineated in the literature review?

This was consistent with the view of Limbrey, Meikle and Berggren (2012), whom argued

that the primary performance of leadership in an organization needs to be identified before

setting a standard for educational high-performing educational leader. This is to avoid the

standards that were set being difficult to adhere by Principals and Headteachers of in

Malaysia schools in the future.

Thus, the need-analysis was carried out in selected schools in Malaysia in the form

of exploration to identify key performance leadership based on the criteria established

through interviews and observations. The outcome of the exploration was built upon the

views of four selected high-performing Principals whom had showcased remarkable

Malaysian Education Quality Standards (MEQS, 2010) composite score and outstanding

school turnaround performance in a district. During this phase, eight Seniour Assistants,

eight teachers and eight School Improvement Partner (SIP+) / District Education Officers

(PPD) / State Education Department Officers (JPN) also provided feedback. A total of 32

respondents were involved in this step altogether.

8


8

STEP THREE: DESIGN PHASE

The third step in this study is the design phase which is the most important phase through

using Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) for the creation and construction of the domain,

constructs as well as key elements for each indicator. According to Hsu and Brian, (2007)

the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) is an approach that has been widely used and adopted

in collecting data for a study based on the agreement of an expert group regarding on an

issue being studied. The strength of this method had drawn diversification of techniques

in obtaining empirical data.

FDM is a modified measurement method based on the Delphi method. This method

was introduced by Kaufman and Gupta in 1988. FDM is a combination of the fuzzy

numbering set and the Delphi method itself (Murray, Pipino, & Vangigch, 1985). For the

HPEL standard design phase analysis, a total of 100 experts were selected using

purposive sampling method. The experts consist of high-performing educational leaders

(HPEL) Ministry of Education (MOE) Officers and Seniour Assistants with high expertise

in respective fields. A total of 370 items across 22 indicators representing the practice

domain (166 items) and personality (204 items) were developed in the form of HPEL

questionnaires as shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2: Indicators and Items Representing the Practice and Personality Domain

CONSTRUCTNO.

ORIGINALITEMS

1st Condition Proposed Number of

Items Removed (d Value

Threshold >0.2)

2nd ConditionProposed

Number of Items Removed

(expert agreement NOT ACHIEVE 75%)

3rd Condition Items

(a - cut off value

THRESHOLD >0.5)

No.Nett ITEM

PRACTICE

Clear Direction 28 A3.1 A2.11, A3.1, A4.4 > 0.5 25

Empowering Teachers 25 B1.3 > 0.5 24

9


9

Networking and Linkages 44 C2.6, C2.8,

C2.9C1.11, C1.13, C1.15, C1.16 > 0.5 40

School Culture and Climate

13 D1.6 > 0.5 12

Learning Leaders 40 E2.26 > 0.5 39

Leading And Managing Changes

16 F1.8F1.1, F1.2, F1.3, F1.5, F1.8, F1.11,

F1.14, F1.16> 0.5 8

TOTAL 166 items 18 items NONE 148item

PERSONALITY

Self-confidence 15 G3.1, G3.2,G3.3,

G4.1, G4.3, G5.1 > 0.5 9

Emotional stability 22 H1.3, H1.4, H2.3,

H2.4 > 0.5 18

Organizational Awareness 13 I1.1, I1.3 I1.5, I2.1

I3.1, I4.1 > 0.5 7

Communication 21 J2.11J1.4, J2.5, J2.6, J2.7, J2.8, J2.10,

J2.11> 0.5 14

Challenging Status Quo 5 K1.5 > 0.5 4

Conceptual Thinking 10 0 > 0.5 10

Proactive 11 M2.2, M4.1 M1.3, M4.1 > 0.5 9Change Catalyst 13 0 > 0.5 13

Team leadership 25 O1.1, O1.2, O5.4,

O6.1, O6.2, O6.4 > 0.5 19

Drive Creativity and Innovation

13 P1.1 > 0.5 12

Coaching and mentoring 19 Q1.1, Q1.2 > 0.5 17

Utilising Relationships 6 0 > 0.5 6

Motivator 18 S1.3, S1.4, S2.1, S2.2, S2.7, S2.8 > 0.5 12

10


10

Believe 5 T1.4, T1.5 > 0.5 3

Courage 4 0 > 0.5 4

Initiative 4 V1.4 V1.4 > 0.5 3

TOTAL 204 items 44 items NONE160

items

STEP FOUR: DEVELOPMENT PHASE

The fourth step, the standard development phase, was carried out as soon as the design

phase was completed. As shown in Figure 1.2, this stage involved Exploratory Factor

Analysis (EFA).

Figure 1.2: The Design and Development Phase using Fuzzy Delphi Method(FDM) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).

In this phase, each element from the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was further

developed using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) approach. The questionnaire was

modified to test the validity or the quality of the data obtained from the instrument to ensure

HPEL

HPEL

11


11

it measures what should be measured (Mohd Ghani et al. 2008, 2009 and Pandiyan

Cozby, et. al., 2009). The construct validity was examined to determine it measure the

actual value of what is desired. According to Chua (2006), the validity test is employed to

see the correlation in the measurement of a variable with the actual value of the variable.

The questionnaire was further refined after Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) to ensure the

construct validity of these items actually represent the constructs that were studied. The

EFA was conducted to obtain items with sound factor loadings. According to Pallant

(2007), the desirable factor loading should be more than 0.3 and less than 0.9, with

Bartlett's test of Sphericity significant at the p<0.05 and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) which

measures the adequacy of the sample, exceeds the value of 0.5 in order to allow for factor

analysis. Hence, items that have value of less than 0.3 and more than 0.9 were dropped

to avoid confound relationship among the items (Chua, 2006). A total of 498 respondents

were involved in the development phase. Details of the findings was shown in Table 1.3.

Table 1.3: The Findings of the Development Phase for Practice and Personality Domain

CONSTRUCTNOS.

ITEMS NOS. ITEMS AFTER FDM

OVERALL - TOTAL 308 items 297 itemsPRACTICE TOTAL PRACTICE 148 items 145 items

Clear Direction 25 25

Empowering Teachers 24 21

Networking and Linkages 40 40

School Culture and Climate 12 12

Learning Leaders 39 39

Leading And Managing Changes 8 8

12


12

PERSONALITY TOTAL PERSONALITY 160 items 152 itemsSelf-confidence 10 16Emotional stability 18 10Organizational Awareness 7 12Communication 14 19Challenging Status Quo 4 9Conceptual Thinking 10 12Proactive 9 13Change Catalyst 13 17Team leadership 19 12Drive Creativity and Innovation 12 6Coaching and mentoring 17 3Utilising Relationships 6 4Motivator 12 4Believe 3 6Courage 4 6Initiative 3 3

STEP FIVE: STANDARD EVALUATION

The final step is the evaluation phase to examine the conformance of the standards. For this phase Rasch modelling analysis was used to see the level of difficulty and the suitability of each item to the respondents which Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to determine the validity of the items and standard indicators. A total of 242 respondents were involved in the evaluation phase. Eventually, leading indicator of the high-performing educational leadershipstandards were produced in which the reliability of each indicator exceeds 0.6 as shown in Table 1.4.

13


13

Table 1.4: The Reliability of the Personality and Practices Domains and Its Indicators

ConstructTotal

of itemsAlpha

Cronbach Valuei. PRACTICE 145 0.990Clear Direction 25 0.952

Empowering Teachers 21 0.935

Networking and Linkages 40 0.973

School Culture and Climate 12 0.948

Learning Leaders 39 0.983

Leading and Managing Changes 8 0.946

ii. PERSONALITY 152 0.907Self-confidence 16 0.899

Emotional stability 10 0.844

Organizational Awareness 12 0.967

Communication 19 0.940

Challenging Status Quo 9 0.907

Conceptual Thinking 12 0.903

Proactive 13 0.911

Change Catalyst 17 0.954

Team leadership 12 0.870

Drive Creativity and Innovation 6 0.926

Coaching and mentoring 3 0.934

Utilising Relationships 4 0.954

Motivator 4 0.884

Believe 6 0.968

Courage 6 0.886

Initiative 3 0.892

14


14

The high reliability for the two (2) domains with its 22 indicators indicates that the

entire 297 items can be used for self-rating purpose by School Educational Leaders.

CONCLUSIONS

Standards development using Design Development Research (DDR) research is a

concept that promotes systematic approach (Ridhuan, et. al., 2014). Data collection and

validation of the study was shown in Table 1.5. Overall, three research questions

involving a total of 857 respondents were investigated various expertise and insights were

gained through two methods of data collection. Qualitative and quantitative data along

with six (6) types of data analysis were used to produce the Standards of Personality and

Practices in High-Performing Educational Leader (SPPHPEL).

Table 1.5: The Details of Research Questions, Data Collection Techniques and Analysis of Findings

Research Phase

Research Question Respondent Data Collection

TechniquesData Analysis Techniques

First PhaseNeed-

Analysis Phase

What are the elements of the practices and personality of high-performing Principals and Headteachers in Malaysia based on the views of high-performing school leaders, teachers and DEO/SED?

Principals, Headteachers,

SeniourAssisstant, Teachers,

SIP+, DEO/SED

Interview Transcript and Nvivo (32

respondents)

Second PhaseDesign and

Development Phase

What is the appropriate design and development of the HPELStandard to be implemented in Malaysian schools based

High-Performing

Principals andHeadteachers

Sub design phase Questionnaires

i. 166 items Practice Domain ii. 204 items Personality Domain

i. Content Validity-Fuzzy Delphi Method (100 respondents High-Performing Principals And Headteachers

15


15

on an expert agreement?

Principals and Headteachers

Sub developmentQuestionnaires i. 148 items Practice Domain ii160 items Personality

ii. Face validityEFA (483 respondents)

Third Phase -Evaluation

Phase

What is the appropriateness of high performing standards among principals and teachers in Malaysia based on the views of school leaders, teachers and DEO/SED?

Principals, Headteachers,

SeniourAssisstant, Teachers,

SIP+, DEO/SED

Questionnaires –i. 145 items Practice Domain ii. 152 items Personality Domain

i. Validity and RealibilityRasch Modelling (483 respondents)ii. CFA (242 respondents)iii. Realibility -

Cronbach Alpha

TOTAL 3 research questions

857respondents

2 methods(quantitative

and qualitative)6 types of data

analysis

Various data collection and analysis techniques were used to produce the Standard

of High-Performing Educational Leader’s Personality and Practices. The standard

consists of two (2) main domains of personality and practice for high-performing

educational leader which can be used as a guide to enhance educational leadership and

management in Malaysian schools. The indicators for the personality domain are: i. Self-

confidence, ii. Emotional stability, iii. Organisational Awareness, iv. Communication, v.

Challenging Status Quo, vi. Conceptual Thinking, vii. Proactive, viii. Change Catalyst, x.

Team leadership, ix. Drive Creativity and Innovation, xi. Coaching and mentoring, xii.

Utilising Relationships, xiii. Motivator, xiv. Believe, xv. Courage and xvi. Initiative. The

indicators for the practice domain are: i) clear direction, ii) empowering teachers, iii)

networking and linkages, iv) school culture and climate, v) learning leaders, and vi) leading

and managing changes. This study was conducted from January 2017 to July 2017.

17


CHA

PTE

R 2

- S

tand

ards

Of P

erso

nalit

y an

d Pr

actic

es in

Hig

h-Pe

rfor

min

gEd

ucat

iona

l Lea

der

in M

alay

sia

16

CHAPTER 2STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY AND PRACTICES IN HIGH-PERFORMING

EDUCATIONAL LEADER IN MALAYSIA

The Concept of High-Performing Educational Leadership

The significance of High-Performing Educational Leadership for successful operation of

schools has been increasingly acknowledged during the twenty-first century and has

earned enhanced appreciation of the importance of managerial competence for

educational leaders locally and in many other parts of the world. However, what does

high-performing educational leadership mean? Blasé., J, Blasé., J & Philips, D.Y (2010)

defined High-Performing Educational Leadership as a combination of administrative

leadership and instructional leadership which consists of 14 criteria of best practices in

the high-performing educational leaders.

Administrative Leadership comprises learning, role modelling, adhering to the

leadership standards, focusing on improving and optimising their students’ overall

achievements, improving the delivery system in collaboration with their teachers,

developing an efficient system, appointing responsible and reliable individuals who are

able to work with other colleagues and making decision based on data-driven.

Instructional Leadership, on the other hand, focuses on the teaching and learning,

culture of teaching through coaching and mentoring, dialogues on their delivery methods

and measures, action research and professional development. However, Delaney (2009)

contested that high-performing educational leadership refers to practices that portray the

personality of the Principals/Headteachers who have positive attitude coupled with the

energy, resilient and self-confident, disciplined, imaginative, initiative, emotional

intelligence, patient, perseverance, visionary and trusting.

18


17

The standards of high-performing educational leaders have been widely established

in several countries around the world and among the standards that set the best examples

are high standards of high-performing school leaders from the Australian and the United

Kingdom. These are the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)

(2015) and Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL/ISLLC) (2015). The

high-performing school leaders' standard emphasizes the professional practices of

principals to produce quality school leadership in improving the student learning

outcomes.

This standard has been translated into the HPEL Standard model to help achieve

the Malaysian Educational Development Plan (MEDP) goals, that is, student success, so

that the school leaders would highlight the individuality of the 16 indicators to achieve high

levels of leadership dimension that embrace the concepts of high level performances that

include the following aspects such as emotional stability, conceptual thinking, creativity

and innovation-driven, team leadership, self-confidence, catalyst for change,

communication, coaching and mentoring, dynamic, proactive, trusting, challenging the

status quo, courage, leveraging relationships, organisational awareness, and initiative.

The HPEL personality further influences the six indicators found in the domain of

‘practices’ to achieve the high-performing educational leaders’ status, that is, clear

direction, empowering teachers, collaboration and networks, school culture and climate,

learning leaders, and leading and managing change.

Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL/ISLLC)

The National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015) of the United States has

developed a standard called Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL)

formerly known as Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards (ISLLC)

standards. This standard sees that holistic leadership relationships influence the

improvement of student learning by promoting student learning, student achievement, the

development and well-being of each student. The construction of standards is also based

19


18

standards is also based on the quality and value of the school leadership. The 10

standards developed in Diagramme 2.1 focus on student education and learning leadership.

Diagramme 2.1: Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (2015)

a. Standard One focuses on the mission, vision and core values of the Mission

(Mission, Vision and Core Values). It is in this standard that effective school leaders

jointly develop, support, and formulate the mission, vision and core values of high

quality education and the academic success and well-being of each student.

17

The standards of high-performing educational leaders have been widely established

in several countries around the world and among the standards that set the best examples

are high standards of high-performing school leaders from the Australian and the United

Kingdom. These are the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)

(2015) and Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL/ISLLC) (2015). The

high-performing school leaders' standard emphasizes the professional practices of

principals to produce quality school leadership in improving the student learning

outcomes.

This standard has been translated into the HPEL Standard model to help achieve

the Malaysian Educational Development Plan (MEDP) goals, that is, student success, so

that the school leaders would highlight the individuality of the 16 indicators to achieve high

levels of leadership dimension that embrace the concepts of high level performances that

include the following aspects such as emotional stability, conceptual thinking, creativity

and innovation-driven, team leadership, self-confidence, catalyst for change,

communication, coaching and mentoring, dynamic, proactive, trusting, challenging the

status quo, courage, leveraging relationships, organisational awareness, and initiative.

The HPEL personality further influences the six indicators found in the domain of

‘practices’ to achieve the high-performing educational leaders’ status, that is, clear

direction, empowering teachers, collaboration and networks, school culture and climate,

learning leaders, and leading and managing change.

Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL/ISLLC)

The National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015) of the United States has

developed a standard called Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL)

formerly known as Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards (ISLLC)

standards. This standard sees that holistic leadership relationships influence the

improvement of student learning by promoting student learning, student achievement, the

development and well-being of each student. The construction of standards is also based

S6: ProfessionalCapacity of School

PersonnelS7: Professional Community

for Teachers and Sta�S8: Meaningful Engagementof Families and Community

S9: Operations andManagement

S4: Curriculum, Instruction,and Assessment

S5: Community of Careand Support for Students

S1: Mission, Vision andCore Values

S2: Ethics andProfessional Norms

S3: Equity and CulturalResponsiveness

S10: School Improvement

StudentLearning

20


19

b. Standard Two focuses on ethics and professional norms (Ethics and Professional

Norms). It is in this standard that effective educational leaders act ethically and

adhere to professional norms to promote the academic success and well-being of

each student.

c. Standard Three focuses on equity and cultural sensitivity (Equity and Cultural

Responsiveness). It is in this standard that effective education leaders strive for

equitable educational opportunities and culturally responsive practices with the

aim of promoting the academic success and well-being of each student.

d. Standard Four focuses on curriculum, teaching and assessment (Curriculum,

Instruction and Assessment). It is in this standard that effective educational leaders

develop and support intelligently on coherent systems in curriculum, teaching, and

assessment to promote academic success and individual well-being.

e. Standard Five focuses on community involvement to safe-guard and give moral

support to students (Community of Care and Support for Students). In this

standard effective school leaders cultivate inclusive, pastoral care, and community

support to encourage academic achievements and the well-being of every student.

f. Standard Six focuses on professional capacity building among staff (Professional Capacity of School Personnel). Effective school leaders develop the

professional capacity and practice of school staff to promote the academic success

and well-being of every student in this standard.

g. Standard Seven focuses on professional community for teachers and staff (Professional Community for Teachers and Staff). Effective school leaders

help to develop professional teachers’ community and other professional staff to

promote student achievement and student well-being in this standard.

21


20

h. Standard Eight focuses on family involvement and community (Meaningful Engagement of Families and Community). It is in this standard that effective

school leaders engage families and communities in a more meaningful, reciprocal,

and mutually beneficial way, encouraging the academic success and well-being of

every student.

i. Standard Nine focuses on the operation and management (Operations and Management). In this standard school leaders effectively manage school

operations and resources to promote the academic success and well-being of

every student.

j. Standard Ten focuses on school improvement (School Improvement). It is in

this standard that effective school leaders act as agents of continuous

improvement promoting the academic success and well-being of every student.

Each element in this standard is interrelated and ultimately leads to student

learning.

Australian Professional Standard for Principals

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2015) has also developed a

standard known as the Australian Professional Standard for Principals focusing on the

professional practice of principals to produce quality school leadership in enhancing

student learning outcomes. This standard is an integrated model that recognises good

leaders and high-performing leaders always with quality and capability. It is illustrated in

three basic terms of leadership and five areas of professional practice as shown in Figure

2.2.

22


21

Diagramme 2.2: Australian Professional Standard for Principals (2015)

The three basic requirements stated are that school leaders must have:

a. Vision and Values.Principals lead the development of the school's vision and are committed to the

learning and development of young people and adults based on justice, ethical

practices, democratic values and lifelong learning. Principals also understand,

lead, mediate and provide the best service to the local community. To disseminate

a strategic vision, school culture, tradition and positive ethos to the school

community as well as local community.

i. Principals become models of "lifelong learning" through their professional

practice and promote it through interactions with students, staff, families and

caregivers and the wider community.

23


22

ii. Principals inspire and motivate themselves, students, staff and the school

community to encourage them to set high standards.

iii. Principals demonstrate a moral integrity and are exemplary beings who

demonstrate ethical values in schools through organizational practices. They

promote the values of democracy among the citizens.

b. Knowledge and Understanding. The principal understands the theory and practice of contemporary leadership and

applies the knowledge gained in school improvement. Principals are well-versed

in research and are always up to date on the latest developments in pedagogy,

curriculum, assessment and student well-being. In school, principals understand

the implications of child safety, health and well-being, human resource

management, financial management and accountability and other legal needs and

policies related to serving the wider community.

c. Personal Qualities, Social and Interpersonal Skills.Understand the importance of emotional intelligence, empathy, resilience and

personal well-being in the leadership and management of the school and its

community. Principals regularly reflect on their practices and make changes in

leadership and management practices using a situation-appropriate approach. In

addition, they manage themselves well and use ethical practices and social skills

to effectively resolve conflicts. Principals also work to build trust within the school

community and create a positive learning and environment for students and staff

in the local community.

These three basic requirements guide the Principal to become a high-

performing leader in the top five standards of professional practice in the school.

The professional practice leadership model is a cycle that involves principles,

working with stakeholders in planning, taking actions, evaluating, making

24


23

decisions and making reflection. The five main standards of professional practice

are as follows:

a. Standard One is to prioritize teaching and learning. The principal focus of the

Principals is to create a positively competitive culture and to provide continuous

support in ensuring effective teaching to enhance the spirit, self-reliance and

commitment to lifelong learning. Principals are also responsible for developing

effective teaching culture by leading, designing and managing the quality of

teaching and learning and ensuring student achievement in all aspects. In addition,

principals also play a role in setting high expectations for schools through

collaboration, planning, monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of learning.

Principals also set high standards for behavior and attendance.

b. Standard Two is developing self and others. The fundamental focus of the

Principal is to work together to build a professional learning community that

focuses on continuous improvement in teaching and learning. In addition,

principals also work together in managing performance, continuous effectiveness

of professional learning and providing regular feedback. The principal also ensures

that all staff reach high standards and develop their leadership capabilities.

Moreover, the principal also supports, builds capacity and treats stakeholders with

fairness and respect. Principals also act as effective leadership models and are

committed to continuous professional development for themselves apart from

maintaining personal health and well-being in managing any conflict within their

capabilities.

c. Standard Three is leading improvement, innovation and change. The main focus

is the Principal working together in order to develop and implement a clear

evidence-based plan and improvement policy for the development of the school

and its facilities. The principal also recognizes that the most important element is

to lead and manage innovation and change to ensure that the strategic vision and

plan can be realized.

25


24

d. Standard Four is leading the management of the school. The primary focus is on

principals using a variety of data and technology management methods to ensure

that school and staff resources are managed efficiently, and capable of managing

an effective, safe and valuable learning environment. This includes delegating

tasks to staff and monitoring their accountability. Principals strive to build

successful schools through effective collaboration with school boards, governing

authorities, parents and others. They also use various technologies efficiently and

effectively to manage schools.

e. Standard Five is engagement and collaboration with the community (Engaging and

working with the community). The main focus is on accepting and building a

standard of high culture taking account the richness and diversity of the school

community, its systems and education. The principal also develops and maintains

positive partnerships with students, families and caregivers, and everyone

connected with the school community (stakeholders). They also create a school

ethic that takes into account the intellectual, spiritual, cultural, moral, social, health

and well-being of students. Promote lifelong learning from pre-school to adulthood.

They recognize the multicultural nature of Australian society and foster

understanding and acceptance of Native culture. Principals are also aware of and

use a variety of languages and cultures in the school community. In addition,

principals also ensure the support of students, families and caregivers and the

community in facing complex challenges.

Established standards such as the Australian Institute for Teaching and School

Leadership (2015) and Professional Standards for Educational Leaders

(PSEL/ISLLC) (2015) are in line with the study of the High-Performing School

Leaders’ Personality and Practice Standards, which have been developed in

accordance with Malaysian mold and found success in six school leaders practices

in setting clear direction, empowering teachers, building relationships and

networks, building culture and climate, acting as learning leaders and leading and

managing change influenced by school leaders’ 16 personality traits: self-

26


25

confidence, emotional stability, organisational awareness, communication,

challenging status quo, conceptual and proactive thinking, catalysts for change,

team leadership, driving creativity and innovation, coaching and mentoring,

leveraging relationships, motivators, trust, courage and initiative.

These practices and personality traits will influence the school leaders to boost the

school performance and student outcomes in accordance with the Malaysian High-

Performing School Leaders’ Standard triggered via the brainstorming session by

the high-performing educational leaders that can be used as a paragon of the

Malaysian model. In addition, the standards that have been tested for its internal

consistency have also beencited as the main sources of reference for the

Malaysian School Principalship Competency Standard (MSPCS) and the

Malaysian Education Quality Standard Wave 2 (MEQSw2).

The Malaysian School Principalship Competency Standard (MSPCS)

The leadership role of a school is very complex and challenging. Principals and

Headteachers as prime movers must be ready to equip themselves with the knowledge

and skills to overcome the challenges of the educational world in order to produce quality

education and effective schooling. In this context, the Malaysian School Principalship

Competency Standard (MSPCS) can be set as the minimum standard for school principals

and headteachers.

This is in line with the Fifth Thrust of the Malaysian Education Development Plan

(MEDP, 2013-2025), which is to ensure that high performing leaders are placed in every

school. Therefore, the Integrated Assessment of Educational Services Officials (IAESO)

and (MSPCS) has been referred to for assessing the instrument. Descriptions related to

the (MSPCS) are taken from Institut Aminuddin Baki (2006), Kamaruzaman (2012), and

Saharah & Kassah, (2015).

27


26

Diagramme 2.3: The Content of the Integrated Assessment of the Educational Services Officials (IAESO)

The Malaysian School Principalship Competency Standards (MSPCS) are formulated

in accordance with the National Pillar, Vision 2020, the National Education Policy and the

National Philosophy of Education, and are in line with current education-related theories.

The MSPCS provides competency standards in nine areas:

01 MALAYSIAN TEACHERS STANDARD

03 INSTRUMENT OF THE SCHOOL LEADERS’ COMPETENCY

02 MALAYSIAN SCHOOL PRINCIPALS COMPETENCY STANDARD

04 INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

26

Diagramme 2.3: The Content of the Integrated Assessment of the Educational Services Officials (IAESO)

The Malaysian School Principalship Competency Standards (MSPCS) are formulated

in accordance with the National Pillar, Vision 2020, the National Education Policy and the

National Philosophy of Education, and are in line with current education-related theories.

The MSPCS provides competency standards in nine areas:

01 MALAYSIAN TEACHERS STANDARD

03 INSTRUMENT OF THE SCHOOL LEADERS’ COMPETENCY

02 MALAYSIAN SCHOOL PRINCIPALS COMPETENCY STANDARD

04 INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

28


27

Table 2.1: The Contents of the Malaysian School Principals Competency Standards (MSPCS)

Nos. Areas of the Competency Standards

1 Organisational Management and Leadership

2 Curriculum Management

3 Co-Curriculum Management

4 Management of the Student Affairs

5 Financial Management

6 Office Administration Management

7 Physical Facilities and Environmental Management

8 Human Resource Management and Development

9 External Relations Management

(IAB, 2006)

Areas (1) of the Organisational Management and Leadership are generic

competencies while fields (2) through (9) are more specific attributes in the related

context. Based on MSPCS, principals and headteachers are able to grasp and master the

standards of leadership competency when they are knowledgeable, acquire professional

values and perform best practices in all nine areas.

However, several other features are also important in the process of enhancing the

leadership of the school manager. These include personal qualities such as interest and

positive thinking, knowledge of theory and management practices such as strategic

management; skills such as decision-making and change management techniques.

The combination of these will foster a leadership style based on teamwork, appreciation

of pure values and positive attitude as a lead learner. This is the key ingredient of a

29


28

MSPCS is a list of minimum competencies for school principals and headteachers

towards excellence in school management and leadership. However, MSPCS is not an

instrument for assessing the effectiveness of school principals and headteachers. As a

guide for improving the professionalism of principals and headteachers, MSPCS can be

expanded to meet other special needs such as the criteria for selection of outstanding

principals and outstanding service awards.

It should be noted that the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing

Educational Leaders are designed and developed to serve as a self-rating tool for

Principals/Head teachers to place them as high-performing educational leaders in line with

the Malaysian Educational Development Plan (MEDP) 2013-2025.

In other words, MSPCS can be used as a basis in the development of other related

instruments for the purpose of assessing the competency of the school's Principal and

Headteacher's professionalism. The Standards of Personality and Practices in High-

Performing Educational Leaders coupled with the established MSPCS not only serves as

a stand alone self-rating instrument, but also a guide or creating other self-rating

instruments. The MSPCS is a fundamental competency that Principal/Headteacher must

assimilate prior using the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing

Educational Leaders, bearing in mind that these developed standards only serve as a self-

rating tool for Principals/Headteachers to mobilise them as successful or high-quality

educational leaders in line with the goals of the MEDP (2013-2025).

30


The Malaysian Education Quality Standards 2 Wave

The Board of Inspectors of Quality Assurance (2016) has improved the Malaysian Education Quality Standards published in 2013 with the Malaysian Education Quality Standards Wave 2 (2018). However, there are only five standard domains revealed in the MEQS wave 2 as shown in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4: The Domains in the new MEQS Wave 2 (2018)

THE FIVE (5) MEQS Wave 2 STANDARDS

Standardfor

Operational

Standardfor StudentOutcomes

LeadershipOrganisationalManagement

Curriculum Management

Co-curriculumManagement

Management of StudentAffairsLearning andFacilitation

Academic AchievementCo-CurriculumAchievementPersonal Dispositions

31


30

a. Standard One is focusing on the Leadership of the Principals/Headteachers to

assume the leadership role of high impact leaders who has the capacity to mobilise

the school in an integrated manner in improving the schools’ quality in learning

and facilitation, specifically in the leadership aspects as leaders, mentors and

motivators.

b. Standard Two is focusing on organisational management and leadership of the

high-performing educational leaders whose emphasis is on carrying out their

onerous responsibilities on school operations successfully, seeing through the

potentials and organisational needs, and managing resources to improve the

school operations. The aspects in the organizational management include human

resource management, asset management, finance management and resources,

educational resources management, organisational climate, management of

harmony and unity and strategic concordance.

c. Standard Three comprises the curriculum management, co-curriculum

management and management of student affairs. This is to ensure that the

academic, co-curriculum and student affairs are managed efficiently and

effectively in developing all rounded individuals in line with the organisation’s

mission and vision. The aspects contained in the curriculum management, co-

curriculum management and Management of Student Affairs are as follow:

i. Curriculum Management includes curriculum implementation

decisions, subject management, instructional time management and

student assessment management.

ii. Co-Curriculum Management consists of co-curricular activities

implementation decisions, management of clubs or society,

management of uniform, management of sports and recreations,

management of co-curricular excellence programme, sports

management for all and co-curricular assessment management.

32


31

iii. Management of Student Affairs comprises decisions on the

implementation of student affairs, student discipline management,

student safety management, student health management, student

assistance management, and guidance and counseling services

management.

d. Standard Four focuses on learning and facilitating of teachers to effectively

implement teaching and learning in developing students’ potentials as a whole as

well as to continuously improvement on students’ achievement at the optimum

level. The learning and facilitation aspects contained the teachers’ roles and

responsibilities as planners, ‘supervisors’, coach and mentors, assessors and

coaching students as active learners.

e. Standard Five is students’ becoming in academic, student achievement in co-

curriculum and student personality development.

SUMMARY ON THE STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY AND PRACTICES OF HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka (2017) defined Standards as a document that states the

specifications, procedures and guidelines. This paper explains the design and

development of the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing

Educational Leaders from the practices domain that include setting a clear direction,

empowering teachers, building networking between and within organisations, creating

conducive climate in the school, applying learning leadership, as well as leading and

managing change.

The success and effectiveness of these practices is guided by high-performing

personality which is emotional stability, conceptual thinking, driving creativity and

innovation, team leadership, self-confidence, catalyst for change, communication,

33


32

coaching and mentoring, motivator, proactive, trusting, challenging the status quo,

courage, leverage relationships, organisational awareness, and initiative.

Figure 2.5: Behavioural Change Model by Prochaska and DiClimente (1983)

The findings of this study coincide with the Behavioural Change Model by Prochaska

and DiClimente (1983) as depicted in Figure 2.5. It describes a behavioural change which

begins from the inner-self (i.e. sense of awareness), attitude, knowledge which is known

as enablement zone, and followed by engagement zone, that is behaviour change/action

and reinforcement. Therefore, it is very crucial for a high-performing educational leader

to have internal strength before leading the organisation and implementing continuous

school improvement.

The standard does not contradict the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

which led to a radical shift because technology would dominate human life. The education

system is also experiencing a paradigm shift because school leaders need to be creative

and innovative in order to keep pace with global change. The personality of an educational

leader needs to be strong because the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is

enormous not only focusing on technological advances or economic productivity but also

human beings, society and the environment.

According to the World Economic Forum (https: //www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/leadership-challenges-of-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/ 26 June 2016) leaders today need to have a shared vision on how technology can provide better benefits to the economy, society and have the ability to curb the flow

34


33

of negative trends. This shows that a high-performing educational leader has a conceptual thinking, that is capable of thinking strategically and conceptually as well as reflecting from various angles to create awareness of rights and responsibilities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution which in turn affects school practices.

Fullan (2001) touches on the moral need of an effective leader, that is, whether the individual is driven by egoistic (self-centeredness) or altruistic (unselfishness) and the fact that all effective leaders are guided by both. This coincides with the five Goleman elements namely leaders forcing subordinates to obey, leaders moving subordinates towards organisational goals, leaders creating harmony and building emotional bonds, leaders demanding consensus through participation, leaders setting high standards on performance and leaders developing individuals for future. The views of Fullan and Goleman are also in line with the 16 elements of personality that have been expressed in this writing. Fullan (2003) asserts that one of the most important reasons schools do not achieve excellent achievement is because of the gap that exists between educational and moral leaders, This shows that the personality of an education leader is very important to ensure the success of students through high imperative morals. High, performing educational leaders see organisational change as a whole and are able to help subordinates see new possibilities and new situations, see something new that touches emotions and changes behaviour.

The proposed standard has been translated into the Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leadership model to enable the achievement of the national goals as measured in terms of student achievement. Thus, Principals/Headteachers should adopt six (6) indicators in the domain of practice namely,clear direction, empowering teachers, building networks with potential stakeholders, creating culture and conducive school climate, learning leaders, and leading and managing change. This can only be achieved optimally if the Principals/Headteachers have 16 high performance leadership personality indicators namely, self-confidence, emotional stability, organisational awareness, communication, challenging the status quo,conceptual thinking, proactive, catalysing change, team leadership, driving creativity and innovation, coaching and mentoring, leveraging relationships, motivators, trust, courage and initiative.

35


CHA

PTE

R 3

- T

he p

erso

nalit

y in

H

igh-

Perf

orm

ing

Educ

atio

nal L

eade

rs

Chapter 3

PERSONALITY TRAITS IN HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

THE CONCEPT OF HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS’ TRAITS

The concept of high-performing educational leaders’ personality in the educational

context is defined as an educational leader who projects self-confidence, emotional

stability, organisational perceptiveness, conceptual thinking, proactive, catalyst of

change, team leadership, effective coach and mentor, drive for creativity and innovation,

building connections with stakeholders, challenging the status quo, effective and

considerate communicator, acts as role model and motivate others, and believes in the

subordinates’ talents and initiatives. Proshaska and DiClimente (1983) which was

mentioned in previous chapters, posit the importance of educational leaders to have the

high-performing personality in becoming an educational leader.

Self-ConfidenceIt is incumbent for high-performing educational leaders to possess self-confidence and

self-competence in completing tasks and upholding responsibilities and overcoming new

challenges in the organisations. In the context of the 21st Century education, educational

leaders must be knowledgeable, competent and self-contained to solve problems and

performing self-reflection upon accomplishing a certain task. This is done with clear and

strong conviction, the anticipation of carrying out the task successfully, willingness to

undertake new challenges and being bold enough to take high risks as they confront

issues among various stakeholders in the process to make the team in the organisation

stronger.

The high-performing educational leaders are willing to go the extra miles in

addressing challenges and fulfilling the organisational goals. The Malaysian Educational

36


Development Plan (2013-2025), in the Fifth Paradigm, aims at placing high-performing

educational leaders in every school. Among the values that these leaders are supposed to

have is high self-confidence. These high-performing Headteachers and Principals are

capable of making decisions to bring on the schools successfully now and in the future.

Evidently, there are several interviews that explain the views held by educational

leaders as far as self-confidence is concerned, especially in achieving the school’s targets

which include 21st. Century education approach while facing new challenges.

“So, my readiness, when I first started in this school, means I have to be prepared to face new challenges. I am happier if I was sent to a low-performing school and that means I can immediately do something but this school has a history of high achievements and has increased in performance. The school needs to be brought up again and I am ready. Nevertheless, the teachers here already in the comfort zone for so long.”

“We have already known…. if it’s not 21st. Century learning and teaching, we must focus on the students. So I want to change the old ways. How to do it? When we mentioned 21st. Century Teaching and Learning, the students are quiet but when the teacher only distribute activity sheets. That is not enough, I want my students to be able to speak, speak in front. I really want my students to speak.”

The high-performing educational leaders have to be confident and are able to

inculcate and assimilate all new programmes introduced by the Ministry of Education to

strengthened The Malaysian Educational Development Plan (2013-2025) through the

School Transformation Programme (TS 25), the School-Based Assessment, professional

dialogues and other programmes.

Emotional StabilityHigh-performing educational leaders portray emotional stability and according to the

review of literature, emotional stability can be defined as the state of emotional

management while understanding other’s emotions that will affect the school’s leadership

37


by being an inspiration to subordinates. These leaders are capable of managing and

controlling their emotions such as anger, melancholic, stressed or easily influenced by

others. On the other hand, socially matured individuals would be portraying

self-confidence, remain calm and collected attitude even in the conundrums of managing

school, to be able to respond effectively, to maintain harmony among the subordinates in

the school by building rapport and relations, to avoid conflicting situations, to listen and

understand of what others are going through (empathy), persuade subordinates to

perform and abide with the Ministry’s policies, rules and regulations.

The high-performing educational leaders are able to show maturity respond tp the

school’s mayhem by challenging the process. On the othre hand should a number of

school staff were facing adversity, for example death in family, separation, and other

emotional situations then the leader’s role is to take conrol and show empathy and

manage the situation considerably in order to win the hearts of the subordinates. A leader

who can control his/her emotions is generally able to communicate effectively with

stakeholders thus, eliminate negative assumptions and ill-feelings among the

subordinates. As a result, communications with the teachers or students comes naturally

when solving problems or even engaging normal conversations.

Consequently, the ability to control one’s emotion is crucial for educational leaders

in order to gain their subordinate’s confidence and emotional support, subsequently, offer

their full support and cooperation in attaining the organisational goals and objectives.

Hence, this will result in a conducive working environment. These following interviews

illustrate the point:

“(I) have to win over their hearts; they need to build good rapport and relationship, because without it, he is incapable to create a better working environment in the school. Thus, form good relationships with each other. We cannot rule like a dictator like in the traditional era; we cannot be laissez-faire or too democratic, rather act in accordance to the needs of the current situations. Times have changed and you can no longer use the conventional ways, and so has leadership styles. You have to win over their hearts so that they are comfortable with us.”

38


Organisational AwarenessHigh-performing educational leaders display organisational awareness with their

awareness of the formal structure, policies, and/or procedures, understand about power

and its connections, culture and climate, take action on a flexible and fair education

ecosystem among the stakeholders. They are capable of translating national agenda and

stakeholders’ role and importance; understand the organisation’s responsibilities at all

ministerial levels while considering all stakeholders in making organisation’s decisions,

abide with Ministry’s instructions and policies that are suitable with the environment of the

school. Leaders are perceptive of the present environment while recognising

opportunities and challenges and how they can be utilised for the organisation. Leaders

are also seen as fair to all subordinates and stakeholders in giving instructions.

As we all know, an organisation is usually a place where a number of people work in

the same place and organisation’s leaders have to make sure that all subordinates have

the awareness about their importance and responsibility in the organisation. Without this

awareness, it will be difficult for leaders to achieve the objectives and the District

Education Office, the State Education Department and the Ministry of Education. High

performing school leaders have to be sensitive to situations to be able to assess an issue

with observing themselves or collecting solid evidence.

It is important to avoid any misunderstanding or conflicts in the organisation.

These reflections have been said by high performing principals on the need of

organisational awareness:

“...Whatever it is, I will never assess teachers according to others’ perceptions, I will assess teachers’ work based on my own assessment. That means if anyone tells me anything I would not accept it because it wouldn’t be fair to that person.”

39


There are high-performing headteachers who think that every individual who

works together must be ethical, sincere and responsible towards organisations.

“…another thing about integrity… Teachers have to realise the responsibility that he or she carries as an example to focus on the teaching time. This will make sure that learning happens and time will not be wasted. Teachers have to be present during the teaching period to fulfil the required instructional time.If teachers want to go out, then they have to ask permission from me.”

In addition, all decisions and actions taken by the Principals/Headteachers have to

be based on facts in order to maintain a conducive environment, making sure that all staff

are performing well and ensuring the school system operates more efficiently at all times.

They have to be aware that their role is to make all staff realise that the success of the

organisation is their hands and hence, the responsibility of all staff. With this awareness,

it will encourage all staff to work in tandem to achieve the collective objectives in the

organisation. All of the current changes in the education system should be analysed and

adapted in the school environment to be ahead in the “game changer”.

Conceptualised ThinkingIt is important to realise that high-performing education leaders have conceptualised

thinking in their ability to solve problems, and the ability to detect patterns and flow of

events, apply concepts in accordance with the analysed situations as they see fit. They

must be able to recognise the problems at hand, and later take corrective actions

respectively. Principals and Headteachers could identify the problems through cause and

effect analysis, generate new ideas in order to address the problems tactfully, and use the

data to do predict future trend-analysis based on theories, concepts, knowledge and

present experiences in a dire need. They are encourage to use the latest quality tools to

explain the issues and make decisions for here and now as well as the future needs.

As high-performing education leaders, Principals and Headteachers should

employ futuristic thinking and bridging the gap between the present and the future by

promoting the school’s potential further. In retrospection, leaders must exercise strategic

40


thinking and create conceptual mental model in order to capture the big picture after which

they employ strategic thinking through realisation of programmes and activities to

enhance the school’s achievements in all areas. The following vignette illustrates how

educational leaders who could employ conceptualised thinking in strengthening their

schools below:

“Being a pioneer in the school; my team and I have the onus to design and develop the school niche within the existing capacity, that is, to place our focus first on student learning outcomes. This can be done by setting clear goals and targets. Once the issue has been identified, task forces were formed to push through an array of programmes in synergy to improve our delivery system to achieve the set targets. However, with every good thing comes challenges and of course the question is always money.”

Furthermore, educational leaders must possess the ability to think strategically:

analysed the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges that the school is

facing. Challenges should be turned into opportunity to move ahead. Thus, school leaders

have to be aware of and explore new technologies and start thinking outside the box how

to turn around challenges into opportunities and deliver. The trend analysis approach can

be utilised to examine all issues or problems and used to upgrade decision making in the

future.

Basically, high-performing educational leaders have to think far with making

continuous changes to the school environment. This will help them in deciding their

placement among other schools in the district or at an international level. The changes

brought upon their school to a higher level will propel them to a new high as an example

one Principal in one school states that conceptualised thinking is important in the success

of the school:

“The principal has to analyse what are the issues in the school. Come up with a suitable intervention to solve the issue. Do not just follow what others are doing. You have to search for issues and not wait for it to come. Do not just sit in your room. You have to ask students, teachers. Planning has to be systematic. Share and refer back to strategic planning I will explain what is supposed to be achieved. I have to know first then the school can implement.”

41


In conceptualised thinking as high-performing educational leaders, they have to find

possible alternatives to make decisions, lead changes for others in relation to school’s

achievement.

ProactiveAnother characteristic of high-performing education leaders is proactive. Being proactive

means being strict and sensitive towards current issues and continuously searching for

potential opportunities, making plans on issues in search for potential solutions. These

leaders are quick to recognise the source of the problem and execute the solution; they

are bold, clear and a quick in certain situations. They make their own decisions in an

attempt to find immediate actions to current problems that might have an impact towards

future solutions. They are quick in analysing a problem in order to find quick solution and

anticipate the impact and finally overcome weaknesses to achieve targetted objectives in

a short period of time

High-performing education leaders personality of proactivity and futuristic thinking

will enable them to recognise opportunities that might happen in the future instead of

waiting for instructions from the authority. Thus, high-performing educational leaders can

be benchmarked as the role model for other Principals and through shared knowledge

with their colleagues, together they are on their way to bring about their schools towards

success. These leaders have to realise the importance of making an informed decision

and moving quickly to solve the problems. This can be illustrated with these reflections

by school leaders:

“When I went to another school in Labuan the other day, I met with aheadteacher from one of the Cluster Schools headteachers. I have made connections with them, and I learnt from them some tips on how they managed to turn the school into cluster schools…”

“Because I practice a One-Minute Manager concept, I was always ahead of the game changer. Let no one get scolded by anyone. There are people who were angry with me. I was frustrated too until now but that is normal in life.”

42


In addition, a proactive high-performing educational leader is able to make decisions

not only to solve current problems, but also suggesting solutions on how to address the

needs for future outcomes. These proactive practices indirectly promote the organisation

to the limelight and become the expert reference for other similar problems in the future.

Thus, the school’s staff must be ready and be prepared for it when the need arises.

Educational leaders are also capable to predict the future needs and will always be

ready to address new challenges posited by the stakeholders. As high-performing

education leaders, they must act actively and aggressively move on in line with the Fifth

Paradigm set in the Education Development Blueprint (2013-2025) in order to bring about

the success for their schools.

Catalyst of Change High-performing education leaders are also regarded as the catalyst of change. Catalyst

of change means having an open mind and ready to take control of changes by adapting

their behaviours and plan strategically when they are confronted with one. These leaders

are open to new ideas and suggestions, and late analyse the situation using the

appropriate quality tools from the existing data in SWOT analysis before adopting strategy

for change. This can be done in the form of observations, engaging in professional

dialogues. Principals and Headteachers of high-performing school are generally open to

discussions, capable to resolve challenges effectively, able to adjust behaviour with

others’ thinking, at the same time, motivate others to embrace change, and set the ground

rules before applying school procedures with current situations. Besides that, they show

enthusiasm in implementing changes to solve problems, they are able to assess the

degree of impact of the changes, and realign the weaknesses with new strategies. They

can also widen the scope of the strategies while thinking about other alternative strategies

to eliminate uncertainties and reducing calculated risks. Thus, high performing education

leaders need to listen to other views and be resourceful and lead through engaging

creativity and innovation.

43


The high-performing educational leaders are exceptionally skillful in persuading

subordinates to adapt a more effective pedagogy, which cater for the needs of the 21st.

Century classrooms to ensure the success in student learning outcomes, as opposed to

conventional teaching and learning practices. Educational leaders are able to promote

and improvise this new approach of teaching repertoire to their teachers. Educational

leaders who possess the dexterity to change the mind-set of their teachers to embrace

this new approach was reflected with these interviews with their school leaders:

“Now the problem is teacher…they do not want to change. Their pedagogy is still using the old traditional chalk and talk approach through the use of text books. The current focus is on the students and not teachers. That is my problem. I prefer to be in the hot field to teaching in classroom. For teachers, teaching is their core business. Teachers have to focus on the students and do activities with them. I teach History and I can do Gallery walks, why can’t the teachers do it. That is my challenge in changing the mind-set of my teachers. I have planned it carefully. I told them I will check their teaching plans. They have to understand document standards, performance standards, and content standards. When I asked them about these standards, some show uncertainties of the definitions. I knew then, they do not understand elements of the 21st. Century Teaching and Learning, so I have to demonstrate and facilitate them what it is all about.”

The high-performing educational leaders are usually observed as someone who can

bring upon change in the teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics (STEM) at the secondary school level. A variety of efforts can be taken to

increase the performance of these subjects. They can utilise different online programmes

to be used by students or follow the School Transformation Programme (STP25),

Professional Learning Community (PLC) and Professional Dialogue Programme to name

a few.

Team LeadershipThe team leadership is one of the highly ranked personality in high-performing

educational leaders. As team leaders, they have the knowledge, skills and dexterity to

set an example to others in the team, building an effective team, encouraging

co-operation among its members and create a great team. School leaders have vast

44


knowledge in the leadership and management knowledge corpus and are concerned and

voluntarily to help the member in the team. Team members can share knowledge,

exchange ideas and brainstorm on relevant ideas to make decisions collectively.

On the other hand, these leaders have the privillege to be looked up for as role

model and idols who have the people in their hearts. They are an example of the

community leader and often seen to be engaged as think tank. They are humble, a team

leader who built team according to work specifications while inculcating the esprit de corp

mentality, have democratic discussions to arrive at a collective decision while addressing

policies, procedures and practices, get help from stakeholders, move in unison with team

members, encourage new ideas and views from others to facilitates the process in

decision making and building ties with other members to strengthen the organisation’s

objectives.

It was the practice of a high-performing educational leader to involve seniour

leaders and teachers and empower them to take the responsibility to make school

improvement. In the process of delivering, they are seen to be humble and open to all

ideas and relentlessly, facilitate the team not only to come up with collective decisions but

to fruition. Here are some reflections to illustrate this point:

“I called all Seniour Assistants - all three of them. Some are older than me and have more experience than I do. So, I told them that I am inexperience in some aspects and voluntarily seek for their assistance.”

“I want to stress here that as the Headteacher and the Seniour Assistants, we are in one team… I always state to the teachers that whatever the SeniourAssistants decide I will follow. If there is anything they wanted to do or improve,they just have to tell me and I would consider. I told them that I am a very open person that means teachers can give suggestions.”

High-performing educational leaders are able to lead in school activities at every

level that include Seniour Assistants, middle leaders and other teaching staff.. They are

45


the task forces whom I have created to implement different programs at school, thus

represent the backbone of the school teams’ success.

Coaching and MentoringIn making sure that education organisations are strengthened and continuously improved,

high-performing educational leaders have to contribute and ensure that coach and

mentoring is practiced in the organisations. Coaching and mentoring functions as the

frontliners of the future leaders in the school’s succession plan in human resource. It

entails the development of future leaders, self-development, and encouragement by

exploring self-potentials. When high-performing educational leaders interact with their

teaching staff, they are indirectly building rapport with other teachers by using the

coaching and mentoring approach, where they have agreed upon certain targets for their

group as well as self-setting targets, explore current realities, guide teachers to plan and

resolve their problems creatively.

Moreover, high-performing educational leaders have the role for developing plans

and strategies to transform the middle managers’ image by highlighting the individual’s

strengths, giving responses to what needs to be improved, allowing rooms for team

members to learn from their mistakes from which they can possess awareness of the

various thinking strategies available. Leaders have the role to execute the follow-up and

follow-through activities via the coaching and mentoring approach, giving the chances to

upskilling their professional developmental needs to the teaching staff, holding several

sessions on coaching and mentoring session to others to monitor in the long term, assess

the needs of the school while strengthening the leadership competencies in the coaching

and mentoring skills.

Below is a high-performing Principal interview on his experiences at school. He

shares his experiences on how to respond to the teachers’ ideas, how to praise teachers

on a job well done platform to motivating teachers, and giving support towards the

teachers if they come upon a stumbling block.

46


“If I find an error at that time, I will mention it because I foresee myself as a one-minute manager person. It will be best to mention it at that moment when the mistake is being done. If they are good, then you will praise them. If not, then you can ask the teacher to consult you at the office to discuss what he or she has done wrong so we can learn from one another , hence we can make incremental improvement…”

“…as someone new, I received a lot of guidance from my mentor.. if he does not approve of what I am doing, he would guide us through a step by stepapproach until I hear myself saying, ‘Ah ha’. This means I have learnt something new through the discussions and I like it when he gave us advice at every step in the process..”

The high-performing educational leaders have to be sensitive towards tasks being

done by subordinates. There will be subordinates who are incapable to do some tasks and

some like to procrastinate. Those who are in this situation will need coaching and

mentoring by the leaders. This usually happens in many schools and leaders have to

realise that they are responsible for their development. A high-performing leader on the

contrary will handle this challenge effectively.

Drive for Creativity and InnovationThe high-performing educational leaders must have the drive to lead in creativity and

innovation. They are able to manage and interpret complex data and information and

then explain pertaining issues from which he will attempt to seek opportunities for further

improvements creatively. They are also able to analyse data gap and draw conclusions on

pattern of issues and situation that needs intervening while relating to another situation by

making comparison, such as, recognising similarities and differences or even simplifying

complex issues.

47


Besides, high-performing educational leaders are capable to identify innovative

opportunities by initiating competitive projects, and challenging the current processes in

order to develop new applied theories or ideas, which will bring about positive changes

and able to influence stakeholders on the significance of introducing the newfound

innovation in order to accelerate change for the organisation to remain relevant and stand

tall in the era of competitive edge, the fourth industrial revolution. These innovative

leaders are capable in solving organisational problems through inventing and developing

new modules by engaging research and development.

To ensure creativity and innovation are accelerated among the teachers, school

headteachers need to create a group of think-tanks in accordance to the school’s needs.

Empowerment is exercised among Senior Assistants as they are given the

responsibilities and target datelines and they are free to give ideas and decide to employ

the best strategy to address tasks at hand. This will significantly improved the teachers

self-confidence to become more creative and innovative within their own team.

Alternatively, the team may embark on Action Research method to make school

improvement and inculcate values on creativity and innovation among the teachers. This

has been confirmed by a headteacher who has been innovative and creative to solve the

school problems.

“A Senior Assistant gave an account on how a headteacher created a form that serve as a means to track students’ performance development and a guide for other teachers… in which the previous form only show the overall students’scores.”

It was noted that the administrative circulars from the Ministry of Education are

mandates on how the Headteachers should carry out their tasks. However, they are not

suggesting for the headteachers to be tied down by them nor wait for instructions from

the higher-ups before they are able to bring about change for the betterment of their

schools.

48


For example, how does a high-performing educational leader solve the problem of his new school through the Action Research approach? Atwo-session school system is having a problem with shortages of Senior Assistants to manage the administration of the afternoon session. Every morning, the classes will be disrupted by the noise made by the afternoon session students. This has caused discomfort for teachers and students in the morning classes. Students in the afternoon sessions were loitering around the classes and talked loudly while playing near the catchment area because there are no activities spared for them. Based on the researcher‘s observations, questionnaires and interviews conducted with the students and teachers, the findings revealed that there exist several administration issues between the morning and afternoon the session in the school.

Among the issues identified are the students’ chaotic movement, level of safety and weak control on students’ discipline, students’ inappropriate activities has resulted in disturbances in the morning sessions had created a chaotic environment. An action committee was formed to identify suitable intervention to solve this problem. After a series of questionnaires and interviews were analysed, it was decided to implement a program for the third period activities. The teachers, students and parents were briefed on the program. Movements will be limited to special lanes and areas around the school. Book huts will be equipped with books so that students can read and join the NILAM program. Prefects would make sure that students are quiet and were stationed at the huts or assigned area . Teachers or Senior Assistant would monitor the students too. Discipline teachers and counsellors were asked to deal with the troublesome students individually. Through continuous,monitoring, the problems on the noise were resolved.

In the effort of achieving this high responsible environment, school leaders have to be

open towards a more creative and innovative approach. School leaders have to have that

connection with subordinates in order to interact with them. It would be an advantaged for

an educational leader to perceive a counselling knowledge and skills so as to act as coach

and mentor to nurture the staff on high culture at school when the need arises (MEDP

blueprint, 2013-2025).

49


Optimising ConnectionsA high-performing educational leader must maintain good rapport by engaging them in

activities to collaborate with his/her subordinates not only to earn their respect but also to

build better connections in order to achieve the organisation’s goals. Thus, it is imperative

for the educational leader to get to know and understand their front liners or the key

personnel better and develop healthy relationships with them to ensure a smooth sailing

operation in the school system. Educational leaders need to create the space for the staff

to air their grievances, encouraging them to raise their concerns and views through

befitting their front liner’s experiences and widening their network from time to time. The

high-performing educational leaders will be highlighted with their ability to maintain and

make use of connection with stakeholders. Educational leaders must be able to motivate

middle managers to be resilient and eliminate the gap between school leaders and the

teachers. This openness or connection will create a warm environment without fear, favour

and prejudice as illustrate in this school below:

The headteacher knows the front liners personally as early as when they report to work in the morning. Consequently, he would know the administration staff, cleaners, social workers and security guards. Any changes implemented will be faced with challenges, especially by teachers who have been too long in the comfort zone. Resistance is at first indicated with silence but after watching the success, the number of followers started to rise. This is affirmed by the headteachers who listen to their grievances at the beginning when he suggested the involvement of parents in the school activities. For the teachers are not operating the open door policy towards outsiders that include PTA They anticipated that negative things would happen if they open the school to outsiders.After building rapport with the parents through PTA meetings, the headteachersuccessfully convinced the teachers to accept parents to be involved in the school activities. From then on, parents started to come to the school and lending ahelping hands to the teachers. The parents sometimes come to help make the school a happy place while the teachers are just facilitating in the class. Suggestions from teachers to improve the program were considered by the headteacher. There exists a win-win situation. This has been helped by the senior teacher who convinces the teacher to support the program.”

The high-performing educational leaders are continuously searching for opportunity to make connections with the stakeholders to achieve the school’s targets. The Ministry

50


of Education Malaysia has outlined in The Malaysian Education Development Plan (2013-2025) that the parental involvement in the school programmes as one of the strategies to support the school performances. The high-performing educational leaders would take into consideration parents’ support in accordance to the Epstein Model (2002) which states that openness in the parent’s involvement, communication, volunteerism, learning at home, leadership and collaboration could ensure the success of the parents’ programme in their attempt to help raise funds for the school’s programmes.

Challenging the Status QuoIn the globalisation era, the high-performing education leaders must challenge the status quo by willing to try something new and question the normal practices. Moreover, they should challenge their comfort zone by turning around the current situation into a better environment. They should set high expectations on their subordinates and empower them to aim for higher achievements in tandem with addressing personal development and expect positive outcomes throughout these uncertain era. Consequently, high-performing educational leaders should challenge the teachers and students to move out of their comfort zones by encouraging them to make pertinent adjustments and investing on their human resources towards a more future-ready employees in the future job market. Eventually, they will create subordinates who are not only more confident or are sure of themselves and eloquent, but also create on-becoming future leaders among their youths. The narrative below is an account of a headteacher’s experiences in exploring a new niché area and proceed to the next level and excel at the international level:

"My school has never been involved in the co-academic contest in Mathematics, Science and English before. Nevertheless, when we put our hearts into it, we had managed to successfully placed our school name at the pedestal; the national level. This great achievement in the newly-found arena has greatly boost the teacher’s morale, and they had decided to make co-academics activities as theniché area for their key targets. I have full confident that, with this success, we could do more, and thus, challenged my teachers to proceed to the next level and registered our school choir team at the International Choir Competition.”

51


"Besides that, the special needs teachers too were facing with the problem of low-morale. They felt that they have been sidelined by the mainstream teachers. Their classes were often placed farther away from the mainstream classes, and eventually, they felt secluded. I had persuaded the special needs teachers to participate and collaborate with the mainstream teacher in several programmes. The collaboration with the mainstream teachers had opened up their insights and began to understand the needs of the special needs teachers and students. I, then, challenged the special needs teacher to choose a niché area that their SEN students can excel. They had come up with this wonderful project on cottage industry plantation. With the support from the parents and the stakeholders, the special needs teachers and students had engaged in and worked with the Agriculture Department to plant vegetable, namely cucumbers. Within months their efforts on their cucumber project had come to a fruitful and their cucumbers were sent to the local markets, and thus, the SEN department had successfully generated an income for themselves. The teachers and students also won several national contests for the special needs category.”

This successful encounter of the above-mentioned high-performing educational

leaders has ultimately cast out the perceptions and the old beliefs that changing the status

quo of the SEN class was unfeasible, hence the teachers’ image and the students’

confident had been uplifted in spirit and there is no turning back. The school had since

continued to be successful at the national level.

CommunicationEffective high performing education leaders are able to communicate orally in a clear and

professional manner. Furthermore, they can communicate the schools’ objectives clearly

while maintaining good relation with school subordinates and stakeholders. They are able

to control the subordinates abide by procedures and regulations, display an ethical

behaviour to the teachers, persuade teachers to make lead changes while inculcating

positive values. Besides, high performing leaders always keep the relationship and closes

the gap between teachers, PIBG and the communities to work together, listen to students’

grievances, to motivate subordinates, empower middle managers, solve a problem

through consensus while optimise the latest technology to communicate with the

subordinates. Views and latest experiences to communicate with teachers. These two

52


scenarios and experiences of two headteachers illustrate the importance for educational

leaders to realise their roles and taking charge of change.

The Headteacher stood at the entrance of the school and greeted all the parents who sent their children in the morning. He shook hands with them and introduced himself as the newly appointed headteacher and began his mission by communicating with the parents. After a few days greeting them by the gate, he started distributing invitation cards for his first Parents and School board meeting,with a catchy statement “An Hour with the Parents.” The hour was utilised wholly with discussions with the parents in which he related his vision, mission and hopes to the parents. He welcome all the parents to their children’s classroom to see what their children are facing every day in class. Finally, a committee was formed with the parents to find ways to upgrade the classroom. After a few weeks, through earnest efforts by the parents, the classroom was finally transformed into a 21st

century equipped classroom and it is all thanks to the parent’s contributions.

The Headteacher built rapport with the parents by communicating with them ethically and pleasantly. Apart from listening attentively to the students or teachers, he is also involved in educational development programmes at the district and state level. On the first day he reported to the new school, he introduced himself at his first speech at the general assembly in a friendly manner to his students and asked his students to convey his regards to their parents. His subtle mannerism was liked by the students as he was soft-spoken, humble, funny yet firm. The Senior Assistants and teachers respected him for his knowledge and practiced a charismatic style of leadership, and thus, led an amazing sense of relationships with his teachers and students. His traits as high-performing educational leaders really stood out when he tried to correct a teacher in a suitable manner. He would never raise his voice to the teachers or students. He resolved issues and problems through discussions with the teachers and he monitored the teacher’s progress and development closely. Because of his patient and tireless efforts, the school has won several competitions at the district and national level.

MotivatorThe high-performing educational leaders act as “motivators” to the parents, teachers and

students. A high-performing educational leaders motivate the students by encouraging

them to learn and possess the thinking skills. They created the space for the students to

have accessibility to build the rapport with the students in order to understand their

problems in learning. Besides that, a high-performing educational leader would act as a

coach and mentor to his/her teachers by motivating and encouraging the teachers to

embrace technology and quickly adapt to the use of technology in the classroom as part of

the game changing agenda, as well as guiding them as future leaders.

53


Apart from that, the high-performing educational leaders also act as motivators to the

community. They encourage parents to assert their roles and responsibilities by taking

charge of change in their lives in accordance with their children’s needs in ensuring their

academic success. They motivate the communities to possess positive mind-sets and

welcome to contribute by expediting their expertise to support the schools’ programmes.

They inspire the parents to make sure the success of their children. The following scenario

and experiences illustrate the importance of motivation among the subordinates:

This scenario on motivation is captured through the school’s general assembly or special programmes that are organised by the school. The Principal will encourage and motivate the students in assemblies for them to be more discipline and successful in academics. The Principal would use every opportunity to meet with the parents to communicate his views briefly even at the school entrance. As high-performing education leader, he would praise the parents for sending their children to the school. During official meetings, the principal would always encourage the parents to help the school in providing for their children’s learning processes. He would even invite the parents to come to the classroom and observe how their children behave in class. Sometimes teachers realised they mistakes but the principal jokingly mentioned it to ease the tension. The Principal is willing to share his knowledge and expertise with the teachers.

Another critical element of the high-performing educational leaders is that he or she

would share the updates on the school performances weekly and would express his/her

sense of pride towards his/her teachers and parents every time at the general assembly.

This practice is a way to motivate the parents and students to do better in lieu with the

Malaysian Quality Leadership Standard 2nd. wave or SKPMg2. In sum, the Principal acts

as a motivator to increase the performances of their teachers and students to do their

rules and responsibilities.

TrustA high-performing educational leaders built trust among their teachers, parents and

students as well as the stakeholders as the key players in building closer relationship.

Furthermore, this will develop trust among senior teachers and teachers in general in order

54


to improve the school performances. They will increase their knowledge, competencies

and performance. The principal will empower the teachers to plan implement a suitable

school’s programme.

The Practices of high performing school leaders can build team work with the

school teacher giving trust to the principal in guiding them toward achieving the school’s

objectives. This teacher will in turn trust the students to carry out the activities in class. As

high performing school leaders, they believe in working collectively because they belief

that by working this way, the outcomes will be better than working alone. Besides that,

school leaders believe that the involvement of stakeholders in the school’s program will

further support the school.

According to a principal a guide was written for principal to explain them on what to do before handing over a project to teachers. After everything is explain, the principal hand over the project to the teacher and giving the trust to them to complete the project. The principal will only monitor the development of the project and will only interfere if the teacher is faced with professional problems. As a principal, he will make sure that the Senior Assistants are monitoring the teachers too. The Principal considers the Senior Assistants like the engine in a machine that supports the smooth running of the system.

CourageThe high-performing educational leaders display boldness in developing the school. They

are bold in taking action as a catalyst to bring about changes; they are bold in doing

something new and never have been done before and brave enough to take calculated

risk in order to achieve his/her organisational goals. It is implemented by using creativity

and innovation in mind in collaboration with the stakeholders.

Sharing from a headteacher based on his observation on the conformance of teacher working hours. On the first day while he was in a meeting, he asserts that teachers can continue to implement projects from the previous headteacher but there will be changes soon. As a high-performing educational leader, the principal is bold in making change even though he knows that there will be resistance. At first there are resistance from several teachers but the principal met with the parents and explains to them the reason for the change and soon they agreed. This is evident where he discusses with a class teacher concerning the students underachieving performance. The principal did not agree with the teacher’s

55


suggestion of streaming because it will create more problems but suggest for the teachers to do more activities. At first the teacher did not agree but when showed the student’s performances the teacher agrees to multiply the activity. Teacher’s anxiety on parent’s concern was eliminated when parents gave consent to the activities.

InitiativeA high-performing educational leader’s role is to engage in various initiatives to make

changes happen such as, making an effort to improve the school programmes through

funds rising activities. This concept of the initiative will be materialised when school

leaders are pressured to find funds for a school project. Furthermore, by engaging in

these initiatives more teachers who are already in their comfort zone would be energised

should they want to remain in the system.

The scenario at school that has been successfully handled by a principal was selecting a few teachers responsible for several rooms but seldom in that room but rather at the teacher’s room. They are asked why they are not in that room and the condition of the room is not good. Most of the special rooms are facing with the same problems. Teacher’s room are full with student’s book and are packed with teachers. As high performing school leaders, the principal instructed the teachers to move to the special room. He gave a dateline for the move and to make the room clean and presentable. The Principal held PLC among the teachers for the usage of the rooms and the equipment. Teachers are given the opportunity to show their expertise whereas nobody knows about it before. In the end, the teacher’s room is no more as teachers are transfer to the special rooms. This initiative creates a new normal among the teachers and a new environment that works towards the smooth running of the classes.

CONCLUSIONSThe high-performing educational leaders regard organisational change as the whole is

more than the sum of its parts that are capable to help subordinates to explore new era of

possibilities in different situations, emotion and behaviour. Fullan (2001) stated for a new

moral imperative to be effective, leaders are either persuaded to lead or lead in order to

satisfy his egoistic traits. Some leaders are altruistic in nature but most effective leaders

are driven by both traits. This is in accordance with five elements delineated by Goleman

where charismatic leaders used emotional persuasion than force subordinates to abide to

56


rules and regulations; leaders move subordinates towards organisational objectives;

create harmony and building emotional ties; make consensus through participation, and

set high standards for performance through rigorous participation.

The findings of this research are parallel to Fullan and Goleman’s view in which

the 16 elements of personality traits were yielded. Fullan (2003) asserted that one of the

main reasons why schools did not achieve high performance is due to the gap and

mismatch between leaders’ personality and the moral imperatives. This indicated that a

leader’s traits might have left an impact on the student’s outcomes through high moral

imperatives whereby emotional stability was the dominant element that influences the

performance of the school leaders.

The ability to control emotions is a crucial element in order to determine the

success of the school (Yahya Don & Yaakob Daud, 2012) because emotional leaders will

effect the emotion of the subordinates which in turns could create the rippling effect of

dissatisfaction among the school community. Similar findings were observed by Lencioni

(2002), Wilson (2005), Woo (2007) Blackmore (2012) which stated that leadership

success depends on the leader’s emotional stability to deliver student outcomes coupled

with effective best practices adopted in the school. (Grobler, 2014 as cited in Zuraidah,

Yahya dan Siti Noor, 2014).

57


CHA

PTE

R 4

- T

he H

igh

Perf

orm

ing

Educ

atio

n Le

ader

’s P

ract

ices

CHAPTER 4THE HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATION LEADERS’ PRACTICES

THE CONCEPT OF PRACTICES IN THE HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONALLEADERS

In the context of education leadership a high-performing educational leader is defined as a

leader who has clear targets, enable teachers, create networks, create positive

environment and climate, lead in teaching and learning and manage change. According to

Leithwood, et al. (2008), an effective high performing leader has the following qualities

and doability. He is able to:

1. Establish vision and mission – One who establishes a collective agreement to

achieve the agreed aims and objectives.

2. Have an understanding of humans’ behaviour and development – One who not

only develops his subordinates’ knowledge and competencies but also encourages

commitment, capacity and resilience in self development.

3. Allow the organisation to adapt – One who is able to create an organisation that

gives space to teachers, students and community to develop personally and

professionally.

4. Manage teaching, learning and facilitation in classrooms. One who is able to

prepare a conducive surrounding for teaching and learning.

Based on the above, high performing education leaders must have clear aims,

think strategically and have a clear vision and mission in setting school objectives. Such

leaders will conduct environmental analysis and strategic planning to list down the

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges for the improved performance of the

58


organisation. They would also be able to enable teachers and encourage them to go the

extra mile in any given situation. They would also be able to acknowledge and show their

appreciation for their teaching staff and students and ensure professional development for

them.

“I give you an example as a leader, he must be creative, and must beinnovative in managing change. Every leader when he first becomes aleader, he must have clear aims, which means he is the organisation’sdriver.”

Besides that, high performing education leaders network by creating internal and

external connections to explore new opportunities. High performing leaders also lead in

teaching and learning and encouraging the use of data for quality pedagogy while

adapting to the ever changing environment for school improvement. This environment will

create a conducive climate for students’ development and outcome.. Fullan (2006)

posits that inculcating intrinsic values is more crucial than academic achievement

because values stay with students long after they have left the education system.

Clear Aims and TargetsClear aims is defined in this narrative as strategic thinking, having clear vision and mission

in setting school objectives, conducting an analysis of the environment in strategic

planning. It is connected with planning a school management system (Planning,

Organising, Leading and Controlling), solving critical problems, disseminating vision and

mission to teachers and setting up projected indicators for achievement based on planned

strategies (Leithwood, et.al. 2008).

As for school targets, school leaders will also have to have clear vision and mission in

setting and achieving targets as per the Key Performance Indicator (KPI), and school

output. This will involve all subordinates and stakeholders who ideally must help to

improve school performance, ensure the quality of examination results, analyse school’s

needs, improve the school’s infrastructure, solve internal issues, get the latest policies

59


and procedures from the Ministry of Education, share information with the teachers and

students, encourage student engagement and ensure acculturation of values with daily

practices.

Additionally, high performing leaders when emplaced in a new educational

organisation will typically scan a new school environment if they were to draw up a

blueprint for a strategic plan. In doing so, they will begin to know their teachers’ and

students’ strengths and weaknesses, get to know the staff’s reaction to the new

headteacher or principal, and manage any risks based on internal and external factors.

“My hope as I enter the school was to make this school great in all aspects. I saw that this school has the potential to hit new heights based on its strength in community, its teachers and students. The main thing that I will do after reporting to the school is to scan its environment and analyse its strengths and weaknesses.”

The high-performing educational leaders will head in the strategic planning team

and atthe same time empowering them conduct the analysis of an environment scanning

(Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats or SWOT analysis), examined the

school’s resources, solve critical problems in order to achieve its vision, mission, targets,

values and objectives (Robinson, 2008).

Enabling TeachersIn this narrative, to enable teachers simply means to effectively distribute resources, work

in a team, give due acknowledgement and appreciate school’s staff and ensure

professional development among the subordinates. To help distribute the resources

effectively, school leaders will select middle managers based on their expertise and

competencies. Leithwood and Riehl (2003), state that school leaders have the role of

supporting, building and assessing all under him. Consequently, leaders will be set a good

examples for teachers and students.

60


“When we wanted to introduce the flipped classroom concept for pre-schoolers, the teachers did not know how to do it. So to give them an example, I taught all the classes first. I taught four preschooler classes and the teachers observed. I showed them how to do flipped classrooms. After that, the teachers are encouraged to teach and I would then assist.”

Enabling teachers also means getting the school leaders to work in a team while

creating an effective environment of co-operation among seniour teachers, teaching staff

and students. In addition, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and community are an

integral part of the school achievement. The leader’s practices sharing leadership and

management in curriculum, student’s affairs, collective decision-making and

empowerment of senior teachers. (Smith and Peele, 1989).

Besides that, these school leaders acknowledge and appreciate the teachers,

students, parents and community. They also give due praise their achievements orally

(during assembly, events or special announcements) or in black and white (appreciation

letters, certificates and social media).

In the process of enabling teachers, school leaders develops teachers’

competencies (professional development) based on their needs by organising programs

or engaging in the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to increase their

competencies, and encouraging teachers to further their studies.

NetworkingNetworking in this narrative is defined as having internal links with the Ministry of

Education (other schools, District Education Office and States Education Department) to

close the gap while exploring new opportunity by getting to personally know teachers,

students and staff through rapport building.

61


“So far we have successfully shared within the district, a speaker willing to give a talk and a coach for 9 schools agreed to come to the school. We have expert teachers from other school willing to help us. We have other teachers from other schools who agreed to come and give talks about how to succeed in certain weak subjects. Besides that, we invited teachers who mark exam paper to give a talk on how to answer exams papers. Officers from the District Education Office will come to coach and motivate us.

Another type of networking in this narrative is defined as developing external

contacts with organisations outside of the Ministry of Education to explore partnership and

helping opportunities. School leaders will establish ties with Parent Teacher Association

(PTA), community, institute of higher learning and non governmental organisations in

Malaysia. Beside that, this type of networking will foster good ties between the school and

those in the community. Schools are considered as a closed organization to other non

education organisations. With networking, schools will be open to plentiful opportunities.

Today school and networking has been facilitated via technology, i.e., social

media like Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or conventional communication tools:

telephones, e-mail or letters. School objectives and educational policies disseminated

quickly and efficiently because of this. The community and concerned stakeholders are

well aware of the school happenings and this hopefully will cater for the students and

school eventually. In addition, networking will also benchmark best practices at other

schools or organizations i.e. high-performing schools, private organisations, etc.

Networking also means encouraging student participation of students in

competitions at National or International levels with the support of the Parent Teacher

Association (PTA), Community, Non Governmental Organisations, Ministry of Education,

Alumni and Institutions of Higher Education (University, Colleges, Politechniques). With

this, knowledge can be shared with the support of coaches, expert teachers, District

Education Office, SIP+ Officers, etc.

62


School Culture and Climate

School culture and climate in this narrative is defined as building positive culture and

climate among the teachers, staff and students. This conducive climate will create an

environment where three (3) things are possible 1. Cleanliness 2. Security and 3.

Ambience. This is in accordance with the Ministry’s recommendation of creating a

conducive environment or ecosystem in schools to facilitate teaching and learning.

(Ecosystem Kondusif Sektor Awam) which in turn will provide space for 21st. Century

teaching and learning.

School culture and climate can be understood as the acculturation of expectations

in the output objective setting among teachers and students. This will entails the

inculcation of values, change, creativity and innovation, maintenance culture and

entrepreneurship.

“From the cleanliness aspect, I can see there is interest to create a right conducive climate at school. I always monitor this aspect of cleanliness or ambience and security. I will monitor early in the morning and so far the cleaners understand that I place importance on cleanliness. So if they understand it will make my easier. All is geared towards ensuring student safety. At first we have to give strict guidelines but later they will know what is required. Some do not know what is needed, so I have to explain the three concepts of Cleanliness, Security and Ambience.

Learning LeaderLeader in learning in this narrative is defined as how leaders encourage the use of data to

accelerate the teaching and learning process with all the policies in mind in line with the

Malaysian Education Development Plan (MEDP). Leaders are also able to analyse

students’ academic achievement through headcount, setting high indicators to encourage

teachers and students to excel in subjects chosen.

63


“The other day I was monitoring a class in Block A. I entered the class and observe a teacher and for ten minutes and realised thepedagogy needed to be improve…”

A leader in Teaching and Learning also can be defined as a school leader who

analyse data using the Headcount approach: to set the Take-off Value (TOV) monitor

students’ performance, focus on the critical subjects, implement intervention, and finally to

note how the assessment is done. As a curriculum leader, you must prepare suitable

alternative approach to facilitate tracking, data reference, planning for student output with

the school’s think tank.

In this scenario, a leader in teaching and learning will track the class development

using technology. Among other things to look out for is the use of 21st. century

approaches, teacher attendance, class materials, replacement teachers, lesson plans,

students’ attendance, students’ outputs, students learning problems and home learning.

Leaders in teaching and learning will lead and guide teachers in making decision to

improve their pedagogy which include doing remedial and enrichment activities and

utilising new 21st century approaches. School leaders who lead will guide the teachers to

the latest approach in teaching and learning. The coaching session is a crucial part of

leading and school leaders can implement it during Professional Learning community

session (PLC) (Louis and Walstrom, 2010).

Leaders in teaching and learning also encourage students to become young

leaders. Active learning is a preparatory stage for student for tertiary education in the

future. Leaders are to make sure that teaching time will not be disturbed with non

academic matters.

64


Lead and Manage Change

This narrative defines leading and managing change as taking the lead towards change

for the continuous improvement of the school. School leaders will have to possess the

competencies in managing change before he or she can lead others. Leaders are able to

guide and adapt to the new paradigm before hand before leading others into it. Leaders

motivate and persuade subordinates to make the change and move out from their comfort

zones. Leaders use their own experience as a starting point, disseminate information

about the change which is going to happen and reassure subordinates of the validity of the

move. Then, when the change is in full swing, leaders are vigilant in pulling in the minority

who are still doubtful of the change and show its full advantages.

“…Given the responsibility as a school leader I must lead and that involves a change. I am not saying the previous headteacher did not do any change but I need to make changes towards for progress. If there is anything that will have great impact on the students then I will do it. Otherwise, I would improve on it.

Even though, the headteacher has been transferred to that new school, he does

not blame the previous headteacher for not making any change. A high performing school

leader will do an environmental scanning and will check to see the subordinates’

capabilities to implement intervention programmes. Usually, the school’s programmes will

be geared toward improving academic achievement and the student outcomes. Besides

that, school leaders will interact with the community especially parents as it is the

collective effort of the community and the school will bring about excellence.

Fink (2001) explains that school leaders have to learn like how a teacher learns to

manage a school. The process is slow and will eventually create the environment you

need. Eventually, school leaders will inculcate the responsibility trait in the teachers

psyche.

65


“For my library……for the outcomes of the students, we want to create 21st. century students because nowadays not like the olden times. But the barrier to change the teachers from PSIC to PSC… My problem in the class… We have 25 mainstream classes. Even though we have told them.. We have written to them…nevertheless the school is the only place to inculcate this. How to achieve 6 good students if the teacher cannot change. Teachers are difficult to change. My school is big, if my senior teacher is teaching at one end I will teach at another end. I don’t monitor some teacher will be absent from class.”

CONCLUSIONS ON THE HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS’ PRACTICES

The High-Performance Educational Leaders’ Standard on Practices state that

high-performing educational leaders possess these characteristics: having a clear aim or

target, is a teacher, enabler can create networking, create culture and climate, become a

leader in teaching and learning, and manages change. In the context of educational

leadership, to ensure positive student outcomes, these school leaders traits will influence

practices in setting of objectives, build networking, creating culture and climate, lead in

curriculum and manages change.

As a conclusion, 16 indicators: emotional stability, conceptual thinking,

accelerate innovative and creativity, team building, self-confidence, catalyst for change,

communication, coaching and mentoring, influencer, proactive, trust, challenge the

status-quo, boldness, utilising connections, organisational awareness and initiative will

influence the practices of high performing school leaders. This will aid in the achievement

of the outcomes of the students according to the Educational Development Plan

(2013-2025).

67


CHA

PTE

R 5

- A

pplic

abili

ty o

f The

Sta

ndar

dsof

Per

sona

lity

and

Prac

tices

in th

eH

igh-

Perf

orm

ing

Educ

atio

nal L

eade

rs

CHAPTER 5

APPLICABILITY OF THE STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY AND PRACTICESIN THE HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

THE APPLICABILITY OF THE STANDARDS OF PERSONALITY ANDPRACTICES IN THE HIGH-PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

The development of the standards of personality and practices in the high-performance

educational leaders have brought some positive implications. The standards were

designed and tested in accordance with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School

Leadership (2015) and the Malaysian Principalship Competency Standard (MPCS)

framework that emphasised the professional practice of principals to produce quality

school leadership in improving student learning outcomes. This standard is an integrated

model that recognizes good leaders and high-performing leaders through the quality and

abilities they possess.

The high-performing educational leaders are described in three basic terms of

leadership and five areas of leadership practices. The three basic requirements of

Principals/Headteachers personality consists of values and vision, knowledge,

understanding and personalities, social and inter-personal skills (personal qualities, social

and interpersonal skills). The five areas of professional practice are giving priority to

teaching and learning, developing self and others, learning leader, drive for innovation

and creativity, leading and managing change and fostering engagement and collaboration

with the community (having networking and linkages). The success in the practice of the

high-performing educational leaders is influenced by the three elements of personalities of

the Principal and the Headteacher.

68


Standards that were developed by other leadership institutions abroad also

observed similar patterns on practices of high-quality educational leaders that are trained

in Malaysia. The above standards explain six practices of high-performing educational

leaders in the making on their way to success namely, setting clear directions, building the

capacity of the teaching staff, having networks and linkages, building school culture and

climate, learning leaders, and leading and managing change by focusing on 16

personality elements namely, self-confidence, emotional stability, awareness in

organisation, communication, challenging the status quo, conceptual thinking, proactive

thinking, catalysts of change, team leadership, driving creativity and innovation, coaching

and mentoring, leveraging relationships, motivators, trust, courage and initiator.

The elements of personality and practices in the high-performing educational

leaders would serve as a guide to Principals and Headteachers which will eventually

influence the Principals’ and Headteachers’ thoughts and actions in order to bring about

incremental change to improve school excellence and student learning outcomes. This

standard of personality and practice of high-quality educational leaders is triggered by the

support of the high-performing Principals and Headteachers, thus suggests it can serve

as exemplary in Malaysia. Questionnaires from the right sources that combine the

existing practice of Principals and Headteachers in the Malaysian context, and examples

of standards abroad had contributed to this writing.

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USING THE STANDARD OF PERSONALITY AND PRACTICES IN HIGH PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

The Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB) was given the task to ensure that the 5th shift of the

Malaysian Education Development Plan or Blueprint is realized by 2025. According to

Hammond (2007), high-performing educational leaders are not only born but they can be

trained or nurtured. The function of IAB is to train educational leaders. However, to what

extent are they really preparing the educational leaders as high-performing leaders for the

future remain questionable. How then do we measure it? This study, therefore, provides

69


the basis for developing a Higher Education personality and Leadership Standards as a

guide to measuring the extent to which the Principals and Headteachers in Malaysian

schools have reached the top performing leaders. This standard can be recommended to

be used in ranking the Principals and Headteachers’ readiness in troubleshooiting

low-performing school in Malaysia, especially the aspiring education leaders’ training

programme, such as the eNPQEL graduates whether they are up for the challenge to be

categorised as the aspired high-performing educational leaders in the future. Therefore,

this study can also capture the real picture on the process, and provide proper guidance

for principals and teachers and other related parties, such as the Research and

Development Officials, District Education Officers (DEO) and Ministry of Education

Officers (MOE) on the importance and fundamental aspects that need to be emphasized

or focused on in developing high-performing Principals and Headteachers.

In conclusions, the high-performing educational leaders can be categorised into

two main domains, 22 indicators and 274 items were restructured to produce the

Standards of the Personality and Practices in the High-Performing Educational

Leadership. The six practice indicators include: i) setting clear directions, ii) empowering

teachers and building capacity of the teaching staff, iii) having networks and linkages with

stakeholders, iv) setting high culture in the school culture and climate, v) learning leaders,

and vi) leading and managing adaptable changes to see how they are affected by the

following 16 personality indicators, that is, i) self-confidence, ii) emotional stability, iii)

organisational awareness, iv) communication, v) challenging the status quo, vi)

conceptual thinking, vii) proactive, viii) catalysts of change, ix) team leadership, x) driving

creativity and innovation, xi) coaching and mentoring, xii) leading and managing change,

xiii) driving or inspiring others, xiv) trust, xv) bravery (being bold), and xvi) initiative.

These guidelines or standards will help school leaders to take few steps forward to

pursue the national education aspirations and achieve student learning outcomes in

accelerated manner by adopting the six indicators in the domain of practices, such as,

clear direction, empowering teachers, networks and networks, school culture and climate,

learning leaders, leading and managing change and this can only be achieved if the

Principals and Headteachers possess, as well as the 16 personality indicators in the

70


high-performing Principals and Headteachers’ personalities are self-confidence,

emotional stability, organizational awareness, communication, challenging the status quo,

conceptual thinking, proactive, catalyst for change, team leadership, driving creativity and

innovation, coaching and mentoring, leveraging relationships, motivating, trusting,

courageous and innovative.

Figure 5.1: Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders

Indigenous Model

The Principals and Headteachers throughout Malaysia may utilise these

indicators to reexamine and develop their leadership styles against the standard of

personality and practices in the high-performing educational leaders self-rating

instruments.

68

Figure 5.1: High-Performing Educational Leadership Indigenous Model

The Principals and Headteachers throughout Malaysia may utilise this indicators to reexamine and develop their leadership style against the standards of personality well practices in High-Performing Educational Leadership self-rating instrument.

HIG

H-P

ERFO

RM ING E D UCATIONAL LEA

DERS

P E R S O N A L I T Y

Leading &

Managing

Change

Setting ClearDirections

Building C

apacityof Teacher

Networking

&Lingkages

SchoolCulture &Climate

Lear

ning

Lead

er

StudentSuccess

Student’sLearning

Outcomes

71


69

REFERENCES

Abas Haji Awang. (2006). Kepimpinan instruksional. Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Pelajaran

Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur.

Amani Dahaman. (2014). Pembangunan Modul m-Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab di Institut

Pendidikan Guru. (Unpublished Ph.D thesis). Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti

Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Anderson, T. W., & Rubin, H. (1956). Statistical inference in factor analysis. In J. Neyman

(Ed.), Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics

and Probability (pp. 111-150). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Arrindell, W. A., & van der Ende, J. (1985). An empirical test of the utility of the

observations-to-variables ratio in factor and components analysis. Applied

Psychological Measurement, 9, 165 - 178.

Australian Institute For Teaching And School Leadership. (2015). Australian Professional

Standard for Principals and the Leadership Profiles. Carton South, Autralia.

Education Services Australia.

Avolio, B. J. & Bass, B. M. (1988). Transformational and Leadership, Charisma, and

Beyond. In Emerging Leadership. Vistas, J. G. & Hunt, et. al. (eds)., Lexington,

MA: Lexington Books.

Barrett, P. T., & Klin, P. (1981). The observation to variable ratio in factor

analysis. Personality Study in Group Behavior, 1, 23-33.

Barth, R. (1980). Run School Run . Cambridge: MA, Harvard University Press.

high-performing Principals and Headteachers’ personalities are self-confidence,

emotional stability, organizational awareness, communication, challenging the status quo,

conceptual thinking, proactive, catalyst for change, team leadership, driving creativity and

innovation, coaching and mentoring, leveraging relationships, motivating, trusting,

courageous and innovative.

Figure 5.1: Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing Educational Leaders

Indigenous Model

The Principals and Headteachers throughout Malaysia may utilise these

indicators to reexamine and develop their leadership styles against the standard of

personality and practices in the high-performing educational leaders self-rating

instruments.

72


70

Barth, R. (1986). On sheep and goats and school reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 68(4),

293–296.

Barth, R. (1990). Improving Schools from Within. San Francisco: CA, Jossey-Bass.

Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: The

Free Press.

Bennis, W. G. & Nanus, B. (2003). Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. New York:

Harper Collins Publishers.

Blasé. J, Blasé J., & Philips, D.Y. (2010). Handbook for School Improvement: How High-

Performing Principals Creat High Performing Schools. California: Corwin Press.

Bossert, S.T., Dawyer, D.C., Rowan, B., & Lee, G.V. (1982). The instructional

management role of principal. Education Administration Quarterly, 18(3): 36-34.

Bryant, F. B., & Yarnold, P. R. (1995). Principal components analysis and exploratory and

confirmatory factor analysis. In L. G. Grimm & R. R. Yarnold (Eds.), Reading and

understanding multivariate statistics (pp. 99-136). Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association.

Cattell, R. B. (1978). The Scientific Use of Factor Analysis. New York: Plenum.

Chin, Hai Leng. (2009). Pembangunan dan penilaian laman portal pembelajaran

tatabahasa Bahasa Melayu Tingkatan Dua. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations).

Jabatan Kurikulum dan Teknologi Pengajaran, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti


Comrey, A. L., & Lee, H. B. (1992). A first Course in Factor Analysis. Hillsdale, NJ:

Erlbaum.

73


71

Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. W. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis:

Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical

Assessment Research & Evaluation, 10 (7). Retrieved July 3, 2008

from http://pareonline.net/pdf/v10n7a.pdf.

Cuban, L. (1988). The Managerial Imperative and the Practice of Leadership in Schools.

New York: State of New York Press, Albany.

Delaney, L. (2009). 10 Traits of high performance leaders. Retrieved 10 December 2016

from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/

articles/10-traits-of-high-performance-leaders-1/.

Everitt, S. (1975). Multivariate analysis: The need for data, and other problems. British

Journal of Psychiatry. 126, 2S7-240.

Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the

use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological

Methods, 4, 272-299.

Fadzilah Haji Amzah. (2007). Pembinaan modul pengajaran sajak berlandaskan

pendekatan respons pembaca. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations), Fakulti

Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Fink, E., and Resnick, L.B., (2001). Developing Principals as Instructional Leaders.

Accessed from www.researchgate.net on 8 August 2018.

Ford, J. K., MacCallum, R. C., & Tait, M. (1986). The application of exploratory factor

analysis in applied psychology: A critical review and analysis. Personnel

Psychology, 39, 291-314.

74


72

Fullan, M., (2006). The Change: Educational Leadership. Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development. Canada: University of Toronto

Fullan, M. (2009). Leadership development: The larger context. Educational Leadership

Journal. 67 (2).

Garson, D. G. (2008). Factor Analysis: Statnotes. Retrieved March 22, 2008, from North

Carolina State University Public Administration

Program, http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/factor.htm.

Gazilah Mohd. Isa. (2012). Pembinaan dan penilaian modul pengajaran pola ayat Bahasa

Arab. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Jabatan Bahasa Arab dan Bahasa-

bahasa Timur Tengah, Fakulti Bahasa dan Linguistik, Universiti Malaya, Kuala

Lumpur.

Gorsuch, R. L. (1983). Factor analysis (2nd. Ed.). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.

Guadagnoli, E., & velicer, W. F. (1988). Relation of sample size to the stability of

component patterns. Psychological bulletin, 103, 265-275.

Guilford, J. P. (1954). Psychometric methods (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hair, J. F. J., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black,W. C. (1995). Multivariate data

analysis (4th ed.). Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Hallinger, P & Murphy, J. (1985). Assessing the instructional management behavior of

principals. The Elementary School Journal, 86 (2).

Hallinger, P. (2005). Instructional leadership and the school principal: A passing fancy that

refuses to fade away. Leadership and Policy in Schools Journal. 4: 1-20.

75


73

Hallinger, P. (2011). A Review of Three Decades of Doctoral Studies Using the Principal

Instructional Management Rating Scale: A Lens on Methodological Progress in

Educational Leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 47(2), 271–306.

Harris, A. (2002). School improvement. London. Routledge Falmer.

Hatcher, L. (1994). A Step-by-Step Approach to Using the SAS® System for Factor

Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. Cary, NC: SAS Institute, Inc.

Henson, R. K., & Roberts, J. K. (2006). Use of exploratory factor analysis in published

research: Common errors and some comment on improved practice. Educational

and Psychological Measurement, 66, 393-416.

Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. H. (1969). Life cycle of leadership. Training and Development

Journal. 23(2). 26-34

Hoerr, T. (2008). What is instructional leadership. Educational Leadership Journal. 65 (4)

Hogarty, K. Y., Hines, C. V., Kromrey, J. D., Ferron, J. M., & Mumford K. R. (2005). The

quality of factor solutions in exploratory factor analysis: The influence of sample

size, communality, and overdetermination. Educational and Psychological

Measurement, 65, 202-226.

Hoi, Sim Min. (2009). Pembentukan modul pengajaran pecahan menggunakan komputer

bagi pengembangan nilai untuk murid Tahun Lima. Unpublished Master’s

Dissertation (M.Math.Ed.ICT.)). Jabatan Pendidikan Matematik dan Sains, Fakulti

Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Hoy, A.W & Hoy, W.K. (2003). Instructional leadership: A learning-centered guide. Boston:

Allyn and Bacon.

76


74

Hutcheson, G., & Sofroniou, N. (1999). The multivariate social scientist: Introductory

statistics using generalized linear models. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Publications.

Ibrahim Taib. (2012). Pembinaan model resiliensi remaja sekolah. (Unpublished Ph.D

dissertation). Jabatan Psikologi Pendidikan dan Kaunseling, Fakulti Pendidikan,

Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB). (2006). Standard Kompetensi Kepengetuaan Sekolah

Malaysia. Genting Highlands: Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia

Jabatan Perdana Menteri. (2010). Pelan transformasi kerajaan: Pelan hala tuju. Putrajaya:

Unit Pengurusan Prestasi dan Pelaksanaan.

Jamil Ahmad & Norlia Goolamally. (2009). Kriteria pemilihan kepimpinan sekolah antara

realiti dan retorik. Kertas Kerja 21 – 24 Julai. Seminar Nasional Pengurusan dan

Kepimpinan ke 16.

Jamelaa Bibi Abdullah. (2012). Amalan kepimpinan instruksional dan sikap terhadap

perubahan dalam kalangan pengetua sekolah menengah di Negeri Pahang.

(Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Kebangsaan

Malaysia, Bangi.

Joyce. L, Epstein, M.G., Sanders, B.S., Sion, K.C., Salinas, N.R. Jansorn & F.L.Voorhis.

(2002). School, Family and Community Partnership: Your Handbook for Action 2nd

edition. CA. Thaousand Oak.

Kamaruzaman Moidunny. (2012). Standard Kompetensi Kepengetuaan Malaysia

((MSPCS). http://kamaruzamanmoidunny.blogspot.com/2012/09/standard-

kompetensi-kepengetuaan.html (20 April 2017)

77


75

Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. (2013). Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia

(2013-2025). Putrajaya: Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.

Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. (2007). Memperkasa kepimpinan instruksional sekolah.

Putrajaya: Bahagian Sekolah, Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia.

Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. (2010). FAQs program pembangunan prestasi sekolah.

Lampiran Informasi Am. Putrajaya: Bahagian Sekolah, Kementerian Pelajaran

Malaysia.

Kline, P. (1979). Psychometrics and Psychology. London: Academic Press.

Kunce, J. T., Cook, W. D., & Miller, D. E. (1975). Random variables and correlational

overkill. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 35, 529-534.

Lambert, L. (1998). Building leadership capacity in schools., Alexandria. VA: ASCD.

Lambert, L. (2002). A framework for shared leadership. Educational Leadership Journal.

May.

Latip Muhammad. (2006). Kepimpinan pengajaran pengetua di sekolah-sekolah Negeri

Selangor. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti

Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.

Lawley, D. N., & Maxwell, A. E. (1971). Factor analysis as a statistical method. London:

Butterworth and Co.

Leithwood, K., Harris, A. and Hopkins, D., (2008). Seven strong claims about successful

school leadership. School Leadership and Management, Vol 28,No. 1, Feb 20018,

pp 27-42.

78


76

Leithwood, K. and Riehl, C., (2003). What we know about successful school leadership.

Philadelphia PA: Laboratory for Student Success, Temple University. USA.

Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (1999). Transformational school leadership for full-scale reform

: Effects on students, teachers and their classroom practices. School Effectiveness

and School Improvement. Vol.17. No. 2, June 2006, pp. 201-227.

Louis, K.S., Dretzke, B. & Wahlstrom, K., (2010). How does leadership affect student

achievement? Results from a national US survey. School Effectiveness and

School Improvement. Vol. 21, No. 3, September 2010, 315-336.

Low, Suet Fin. Pembinaan dan pengujian model pencapaian akademik pelajar Tingkatan

Empat di Daerah Klang. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Jabatan Psikologi

Pendidikan dan Kaunseling, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya, 2012.

MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K. F., Preacher, K. J., & Hong S. (2001). Sample size in

factor analysis: The role of model error. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 36, 611-

637.

MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K. F., Zhang, S., & Hong S. (1999). Sample size in factor

analysis. Psychological Methods, 4, 84-99.

Marascuilo, 1.. A., & Levin, J. R (1983). Multivariate statistics in the social sciences.

Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

McDonald, R. P., & Krane, W. R (1979). A Monte Carlo study of local identifiability and

degrees of freedom in the asymptotic likelihood ratio test. British Journal of

Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 32, 121-132.

79


77

McDonald, R. P., & Krane, W. R. (1977). A note on local identifiability and degrees of

freedom in the asymptotic likelihood ratio test. British Journal of Mathematical and

Statistical Psychology, 30, 198-203.

Mitchell, C., & Castle, J.B. (2005). The instructional role of elementary school principals.

Canadian Journal of Education. 28 (3).

Mohd Khalit Othman (2016). Pembangunan model penerimaan dan penggunaan

Ekhidmat Awam berdasarkan UTAUT. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations) Jabatan

Teknologi Maklumat, Fakulti Sains Komputer dan Teknologi Maklumat, Universiti

Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. .

Mohd Ridhuan, M.J, Saedah, S., Farazila, Y., Nurulrabihah, M.N., Zaharah, H., & Ahmad

Arifin, S. (2015). Aplikasi Teknik Fuzzy Delphi Terhadap Keperluan Elemen

Keusahawanan Bagi Pensyarah Kejuruteraan Politeknik Malaysia. International

Journal of Business and Technopreneurship, 5(1), 135–150.

Mohd Ridhuan, M.J, Saedah, S., Farazila, Y., Nurulrabihah, M.N., Zaharah, H., & Ahmad

Arifin, S. (2014). Keperluan Kemahiran Generik dan Nilai Bagi Program

Kejuteraan berasaskan Work-Based Learning Politeknik Malaysia. Jurnal Isu

Dalam Pendidikan, 38(2), 73-88.

Mohd Ridhuan, M.J., Shariza, S., & Mohd Ibrahim, K. A. (2014). Kompetensi Guru

Terhadap Pengurusan Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran: Suatu Pendekatan Teknik

Fuzzy Delphi. Jurnal Kepimpinan Pendidikan, 1(3), 77–88.

Mohd Ridhuan, M.J., Saedah, S., Zaharah, H., Nurulrabihah, M.N., & Ahmad Arifin, S.

(2014). Pengenalan Asas Kaedah Fuzzy Delphi Dalam Penyelidikan Rekabentuk

Pembangunan. Kuala Lumpur: Minda Intelek. ISBN: 978-967-1283-05.

80


78

Mohd Ridhuan, M.J., Nurulrabihah, M.N., Zaharah, H., Ahmad Arifin, S. & Norlidah, A.

(2013). Application Of Fuzzy Delphi Method In Educational Research. In Saedah,

S., Norlidah, A., DeWitt, D.,& Zaharah, H. (Eds). Design and Developmental

Research: Emergent Trends in Educational Research. Kuala Lumpur: Pearson

Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. ISBN: 9789673492831, 85-92

Mohd Ridhuan Bin Mohd Jamil. (2016). Pembangunan Model Kurikulum Latihan Skives

Bagi Program Pengajian Kejuruteraan Pembelajaran Berasaskan Kerja,

(Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Institut Pengajian Siswazah Universiti Malaya,

Kuala Lumpur.

Muhammad Faizal A.Ghani. (2008). Pembentukan model keberkesanan dan

penambahbaikan sekolah di Malaysia. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Jabatan

Pengurusan, Perancangan & Dasar Pendidikan, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti


Murphy, J. (2001). The changing face of leadership preparation. School Administrator

Journal. 58 (10).

National Association Secondary School Principal @ NASSP. (2010). 21st. Century

Leadership.

National Policy Board For Educational Administration. (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders. Reston. VA: Author.

Ngu, Kee Shing. (2016). Pembangunan modul kurikulum intergenerasi berasaskan

perkongsian kemahiran. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Jabatan Kurikulum dan

Teknologi Pengajaran, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

81


79

Norlia T. Goolamally. (2010). Pembinaan dan pemeriksaan ciri-ciri psikometrik instrumen

pemilihan pemimpin sekolah. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Universiti

Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

Noor Azli Mohamed Masrop. (2000). Pembangunan dan penilaian formatif perisian

kursus (courseware) bagi matapelajaran aplikasi komputer di Kolej Islam Darul

Ehsan (KISDAR). (Unpublished Masters dissertations). Fakulti Pendidikan,


Noraini Hamzah. (2014). Pembentukan kerangka kualiti pengurusan pembinaan projek

perumahan dalam mengurangkan kecacatan perumahan teres baru siap.

(Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Fakulti Alam Bina, Universiti Malaya, Kuala

Lumpur.

Norlidah Alias. (2010). Pembangunan modul pedagogi berasaskan teknologi dan gaya

pembelajaran Felder-Silverman Kurikulum Fizik Sekolah Menengah.

(Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Jabatan Kurikulum dan Teknologi Pengajaran,

Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Noruis, M. J. (2005). SPSS 13.0 Statistical Procedures Companion. Chicago: SPSS, Inc.

Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Osborne, J. W., & Costello, A. B. (2004). Sample size and subject to item ratio in principal

components analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 9(11).

Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp? v=9&n=11.

Osman Hashim. (2005). Pembinaan dan pengesahan instrumen saringan bacaan kanak-

kanak pra sekolah. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Fakulti Pendidikan,


82


80

Paezah Abd Halim & Faridah Yunus. (2017). Kepentingan penglibatan ibu bapa dalam

aktiviti pembelajaran kanak-kanak di prasekolah. Retrieved 15 Ogos 2018.

http://conference.kuis.edu.my/pasak2017/images/prosiding/pendidikan/ 14-

PAEZAH-ABD-HALIM.pdf.

Preacher, K. J., & MacCallum, R. C. (2002). Exploratory Factor Analysis in Behavior

Genetics Research: Factor Recovery with Small Sample Sizes. Behavior

Genetics, 32, 153-161.

Richey, R., & Klien, J. (2007). Design and development research: Method, strategies and

issues. London: Erlbaum.

Rindskopf, D. (1984). Structural equation models: Empirical identification, Heywood

cases, and related problems. Sociological Methods and Research, 13, 109-119.

Robinson. V.M.J., (2008). School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identfying What

Works and Why. ACEL Monograph Series. University of Melbourne, Australia.

Rosidah Hamid. (2014). Pembangunan dan penilaian TeLMOVA untuk Pendidikan Seni

Visual Tingkatan Empat. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Jabatan Asas

Pendidikan dan Kemanusiaan, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya, Kuala

Lumpur.

Rosnah Ishak. (2013). Pembinaan profil amalan terbaik organisasi pembelajaran untuk

sekolah Malaysia. (Unpublished Ph.D dissertations). Jabatan Pengurusan,

Perancangan dan Dasar Pendidikan, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya, Kuala

Lumpur.

Saharah Hj Said & Kassah Hj. Masrah. (2015) Standard Kompetensi Kepengetuaan

Malaysia. Retrieved 20 April 2017 http://gurubesarcorner.blogspot.com/

2015/05/standard-kompetensi-kepimpinan- sekolah.html.

83


81

Shafinaz Bt A. Maulod Chua Yan Piaw Hussein Bin Ahmad Shahrin Bin Alias (2017).

Kecerdasan Emosi Dan Kepimpinan Instruksional Pengetua Sekolah Emotional

Intelligence and Instructional Leadership of Secondary School Principals.

Siti Zuraida Maaruf. (2014). Pembangunan Modul Pedagogi Responsif Budaya Kraf

Tradisional Pendidikan Seni Visual Sekolah Menengah. (Unpublished Ph.D

dissertations). Jabatan Kurikulum dan Teknologi Pengajaran, Fakulti Pendidikan,


Smith., Stuart C., Ed.: Piele, Phillips K., Ed. (1989). School Leadership: Handbook for

Excellence. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. University of

Oregon, USA.

Spillane, J.P., (2006). Distributed Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey Bass

Wee. E.L et al. (2016). NPQEL: Modul asas. Institut Aminuddin Baki. Enstek. Kementerian

Pendidikan Malaysia.

Velicer, W. F., & Fava, J. L. (1998). Effects of variable and subject sampling on factor

pattern recovery. Psychological Methods, 3, 231-251.

Vilsteren, V. (2006). Managing schools towards high performance: linking school

management theory to the school effectiveness knowledge base. (Ed.) London:

Taylor & Francis.

Zaidatol Akmaliah, Lope Pihie, Teng Lung Kiu, Foo Say Fooi, Zakaria Kasa dan Jegak Uli

(2000). Hubungan Kepemimpinan Transformational Pengetua dengan Efikasi

Kendiri Guru.

82

Zuraidah, Juliana Mohamad Yusoff, Yahya Don dan Siti Noor Ismail. (2004). Kompetensi

emosi pemangkin keberkesanan amalan kepimpinan guru. Jurnal kepimpinan.

Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya.

85


Standards of Personality and Practices in High-Performing

Educational LeadersSelf-Rating Instrument

HIG

H-P

ERFO

RM ING E D UCATIONAL LEA

DERS

P E R S O N A L I T Y

Leading &

Managing

Change

Setting ClearDirections

Building C

apacityof Teacher

Networking

&Lingkages

SchoolCulture &Climate

Lear

ning

Lead

er

StudentSuccess

Student’sLearning

Outcomes

87


By,Abd Wahab bin Muda, Ph.D

Head of Department,Educational Research and Development Department

Institut Aminuddin Baki Genting Highlands Branch

Research Team:Jamelaa Bibi binti Abdullah, Ph.DHamidon bin Abd Rahman, Ph.D

Nakoo bin Mustan, Ph.DHajjah Nor Hasimah binti Hashim @ Abd. Manaf

Muhammad Khalil bin YahayaWee Eng Lee, Ph.D

Kamaruzaman bin Moidunny, Ph.DAbd Razak bin Alias

Standards of Personality and

Practices in High-Performing

Educational Leaders

Self-Rating Instrument

Standards of Personality and

Practices in High-Performing

Educational Leaders

Self-Rating Instrument


88

86

INTRODUCTION

The Standards of Personality and Practices in High-performing Principals/

Headteachers contains two main domains namely, Practices and Personality, with 22

elements. This standard will serve as a benchmark in the performance of high-

performing Principals/Headteachers in line with the IAB's role/function in ensuring that

HPEL is placed in all schools by 2025.

This standard has been translated into the High-Performing Principals and

Headteachers Standard indigenious model which delineates the criteria to help achieve

the organisational goals envisage in the MEDP Blueprint (2013-2025) whose aspiration

is focused on the students’ well-being and success. There are 16 indicators to achieve

high levels of leadership performances: emotional stability, conceptual thinking, drive,

creativity and innovation, team leadership, self-confidence, catalyst for change,

communication, coaching and mentoring, driving, proactive, trusting, challenging the

status quo, courage, leveraging relationships, organizational awareness, and initiative.

The High-Performance Principal/Headteachers’ (HPPH) personalities further influence

the six indicators found in the practice domain to achieve high-performance leaders that

is clear direction, empowering teachers, building collaboration and networks, school

culture and conducive school climate, learning leaders, and leading and managing

change.

89


87

PERSONALITIESDo you have these personalities as a high-performing educational leaders?

Personalities Measurement Levels:

Scale Level of Personalities

Interpretation of Personalities

Ranking of High-Performing EducationalLeaders

1. Very low Very Negative HAS NOT REACHED THE LEVEL OF HIGH-

PERFORMING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

2. Low Negative

3. Average Neutral

4. High Positive HAS REACHED THE LEVEL OF HIGH-PERFORMINGEDUCATIONAL LEADERS

5. Very High Very Positive

Sum up the number of scores for each scale to map your level of personality.

Example:

Nos. Items 1 2 3 4 51. I'm a person …………… /2. I'm a person …………… /3. I'm a person …………… /4. I'm a person……………. /Total 1 3

Interpretation of Score: The data show that you have a positive personality

person.


90

88

Diagram 1: The Personalities Drive in the High-Performing Educational Leaders

# Transfer the numbers of your maximum score for each of the sub-domain of the Personalities into this diagram.

Diagramme 1: The Personalities of the High-Performing Educational Leaders

Emotional Stability

Conceptual Thingking

Drive for Creativity and Innovation

Team Leadership

Self-Confidence

Catalyst of Change

Communication

Leading and MentorityDrive

Proactive

Trust

Challenging Status Quo

Courage

Optimising Connections

Organisational Awakeness

Initiative

91


90

STANDARD PT1: EMOTIONAL STABILITYOperational Definition: managing personal emotions and understanding the emotions of others that impact school leaders’ performance by inspiring others to develop.

Educational leaders can:Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 5

1. manage and control self-emotion (example: anger, extreme frustration, pressure, influenced) for self-achievements.

2. show calmness in managing school.3. responding more wisely and calming the

emotions of teachers and students.4. be humble in establishing relationship with

teachers and students in getting their trust.5. show indifferent towards actions that can create

anger and control emotion while conducting duties.

6. show concerned about what is happening to others.

7. take steps in developing others through:a. appreciating the stakeholders for their

assistance.b. showing respect to the stakeholders. c. showing concern about the welfare of the

stakeholders.d. appreciating the service rendered by the

stakeholders.e. recognizing the public contribution.f. highlighting the pride in the teacher for

the success s/he has achieved.8. persuade teachers to take responsibility.9. emphasize on ensuring that the school is

implementing the policies and guidelines set up by the Ministry of Education Malaysia.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT1: EMOTIONAL STABILITYScale 1 2 3 4 5

Interpretation of Scale

Very Negative Negative Neutral Positive Very

PositiveNumber of

Score


92

91

STANDARD PT2: CONCEPTUAL THINKINGOperational Definition: Describe problems, possess the ability to see patterns and flows (trends), applications of concepts in analysing situations

Educational leaders can:

Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. identify the problems that are faced; who is

responsible for it; and where it happened?.2. relate to each problems on the basis of

causation3. generate new ideas to make sure

issue/problem/situation that look difficult become mild, clear, and accurate.

4. able to do trend analysis when it comes to issue/problem/situation.

5. make decision on school performance based on trend analysis.

6. use theory, concept, knowledge and existing experience when it’s applicable.

7. use current examples in explaining issue/problem/situation.

8. make decision for current and future needs. 9. able to think strategically and conceptually,

furthermore do reflections from various perspectives.

10. perform futuristic thinking and predict future needs by setting high expectations.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT2: CONCEPTUAL THINKINGScale 1 2 3 4 5



PositiveNumber of

Score

93


92

3: DRIVE INNOVATION AND CREATIVITYOperational Definition: Establishing creative thinking in the long term perspective to fulfil the needs of innovations in the organisation. Apparently with this it is helpful in identifying trends, can interpret data or complex situations.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. accumulate information’s concerning issues and

make better decision out of it.2. able to analyse the pattern and deepness of an

issues/situation that needs intervention.3. see the relationship with the unconnected

situation by at looking at the similarities and differences.

4. make the ideas or complexes situation be easy and clear.

5. determine and recognise opportunity in developing competitive innovation.

6 challenge the ordinary methods in developing new ideas.

7. able to act based on the symptom that can be seen.

8. act creatively to brings positive changes.9. able to influence the concerning stakeholders

the need of relevant direction of innovation for the future.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT3: DRIVE INNOVATION AND CREATIVITYScale 1 2 3 4 5



PositiveNumber of

Score

STANDARD PT


94

93

STANDARD PT4: TEAM LEADERSHIPOperational Definition: Possess extensive knowledge and a samplecharacteristic in team leadership, developed and sustain an effective groups, encourages teamwork in groups, providing a strong team.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. have in-depth knowledge in school management

and leadership that can assist the school community.

2. share knowledge and experiences, idea and opinion from others and used the relevant information in facilitate in the process of making group decisions.

3. groom talented leader always concerning the public and behave in humble way so that s/he become model of thought leadership for thecommunity.

4. form a group based on the field of work in fostering a sense of belonging

5. discuss in democratic way in enhancing collaborative decision.

6 make the employees understand the important of policies, procedure and practices in doing thing.

7. drive groups for the same goal by getting support from the stakeholders.

8. move forward together by upholding and protecting its members in certain situation.

9. encourage ideas and opinions from others helpful in the process of making decision.

10 put extra efforts in upholding relationship with external parties in keeping up the organisational performance.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT4: TEAM LEADERSHIPScale 1 2 3 4 5

Interpretation Scale

Very Negative

Negative Neutral Positive Very Positive

Number of Score

95


94

STANDARD PT5: SELF-CONFIDENCEOperational Definition: Show confidence to others by examining oursubordinates’ abilities and potentials in carrying out their duties and responsibilities in a positive way even though facing the challenges.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. able to expose our self-confidence through

knowledge, experience and potentials. 2. reflect clearly and firmly in performing one's

duties and responsibilities.3. feel excited with the possibilities of solving

challenges successfully.4. perform new duties willingly and face its risk

daringly.5. face openly/directly with many parties in up

keeping the organisation. 6. able to place organisational needs above self-

interest in order to maintain harmony for all at school level/state/nation through the age of disruptions.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT5: SELF-CONFIDENCEScale 1 2 3 4 5



PositiveNumber of

Score


96

95

STANDARD PT6: CATALYST OF CHANGEOperational Definition: Be open to change and adapt to behaviour and to develop strategies in keeping with the evolving environment inside and outside the school and to effectively manage uncertainty.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. accept other people’s opinion openly and in

good faith without fears and favours.2. able to solve challenges effectively.3. alter our behaviour/actions based on other

people opinion.4. follow school regulations according to situation.5. revel the seriousness in doing changes in

tackling issue.6. assess the effect of changes immediately.7. alter or replace the planned strategic if the

achievements below expectation.8. adjust and change the strategic for wider scope

parallel to educational development that taking place.

9. diversify the strategic plan and perform risk management to overcome the unexpected situation.

10. consider and assimilate various opinion and source of data when doing planning.

11. lead and manage change creatively and innovate.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT6: CATALYST OF CHANGEScale 1 2 3 4 5


Very Negative


Number of Score

97


96

STANDARD PT7: COMMUNICATIONOperational Definition: Able to communicate verbally, effectively, amicably and politely among school societies, communities through various media.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. communicate politely with the following intentions:

a. Giving confidence to teachers.b. Working together it reduce the differences between

parentsand teacher’s associations (PIBG) and communities.

c. Persuading teachers to collaborate in achieving organisational goals.

d. Maintaining relationships with other schools.e. Exhibiting ethics and professional norms.f. Controlling the school societies and obliged with school regulations.g. Getting closer to students; understanding their problems and interest.

2. communicate effectively through:a. delegating tasks according to assignments and

responsibilities through group leaders.b. trying to understand things by engaging with the

school and community.c. making decision in solving school issues.d. developing and enhancing relationships with

stakeholders.e. encouraging and implanting positive working culture

good among communities.f. portraying our advancement in communication

technology when communicate with communities.TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT7: COMMUNICATIONScale 1 2 3 4 5



PositiveNumber of

Score


98

97

STANDARD PT8: COACHING AND MENTORINGOperational definition: Develop future leaders through mentorship and advice on personal development needs, provide individual feedback and encouragement, encourage exploration by demonstrating the ability to enhance personal potential.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. build rapport with individuals in the mentoring process.2. guide subordinates in setting desired goal.3. explore the reality for individual developments.4. have a good intention towards school communities.5. guide teachers in doing planning.6 give guidance based on experience to solve problems

creatively.7. develop plans and strategies to transform the self-

image of middle leaders.8. give attention to the strengths of individuals.9. respond to what has been done.

10. allow the team to learn from mistakes.11. trigger awareness of different ways of thinking and

acting.12. perform follow-up activities in the guidance process.13. give opportunity in professional development among

school community.14. provide guidance to others on long-term development

needs.15. assess the current and future needs of the school in

strengthening school leadership.TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT8: COACHING AND MENTORINGScale 1 2 3 4 5



PositiveNumber of

Score

99


98

STANDARD PT9: MOTIVATOROperational Definition: Be a catalyst for change in schools, Parents-Teachers’ Associations and local communities.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. provide encouragements to students in special

programs.

2. motivate students to develop ability in thinking skills.3. approach and solve student problems.

4. apply the use of technology in the class room.

5. guide teachers as co-leaders.6 motivate teachers and encourage parents in their

responsibilities.7. demonstrate persuasive skills to school society, parents

and the community.8. give encouragements towards Parents Teachers Associatio

(PTA) and community to implement change.

9. strive to convince the Parents-Teachers Associations (PTA) and the Community for positive achievements.

10. utilize existing expertise in the school and inspire in line with the national agenda in education.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT9: MOTIVATORScale 1 2 3 4 5



PositiveNumber of

Score


100

99

STANDARD PT10: PROACTIVEOperational Definition: Act of creating or controlling a situation rather than just responding to it after it has happened.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. act decisively, accurately, and quickly under

certain circumstances.2. make your own decisions in desperate

circumstances.3. plan not only solves the current problem but

also solves the problem in the future.4. act quickly to identify issues/opportunities that

may occur within a specific time period, as well as their impact.

5. understand the need for prompt action and adaptation to resolve the issue of school personnel

6. consider the probability of what is expected to happen and ultimately reducing the risk and maximizing return of investments to the organisation.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT10: PROACTIVEScale 1 2 3 4 5

Interpretation Scale

Very Negative


Number of Score

101


100

STANDARD 11: TRUSTOperational Definition: Give trust to the school communities and stakeholders.

Educational leaders:

Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. have believes in students’ abilities in improving

knowledge, skills and attitude with the appopriate values.

2. delegate tasks and empower Senior Assistants andteachers.

3. place confidence in the expertise of teachersto improve students’ performance.

TOTALSCORE

STANDARD PT11: TRUSTScale 1 2 3 4 5


Very Negative


Number of Score


102

101

STANDARD PT12: CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUOOperational Definition: Determine to try something new by going beyond existing practices and facing risks.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. challenge the comfort zone by changing the existing

situation for the better.2. place high expectations on the school community for

higher achievement.3. develop our self and our organization with

knowledge and skills that can anticipate positive results even when uncertain.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT12: CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUOScale 1 2 3 4 5


Very Negative


Number of Score

103


102

STANDARD PT13: COURAGEOperational Definition: An act of boldness in developing schools or educational organisations.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. act as a catalyst in bringing about changes.2. dare to employ new ideas by taking calculated

risk.3. dare to make improvement in the school

creatively and innovatively.4. dare to involve stakeholders in the school

programmes.TOTAL

STANDARD PT13: COURAGEScale 1 2 3 4 5


Very Negative Negative Neutral Positive Very Positive

Number of Score


104

103

STANDARD PT14: LEVERAGE THE RELATIONSHIP Operational Definition: Leverage relationships by gaining individual and organisational trust.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. know the frontliners and continue to have good

relationship with all parties.2. know the importance of having relationships

with the potential stakeholders in developing organisation.

3. encourage openness in building relationships. 4. optimize the views and experiences of the

school front liners.5. trying to expand the network over time

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT14: LEVERAGE THE RELATIONSHIPScale 1 2 3 4 5


Very Negative Negative Neutral Positive Very Positive

Number of Score

105


104

STANDARD PT15: AWARENESS OF ORGANISATIONOperational Definition: Constantly aware of formal structures, policies and procedures, understanding power relations, culture and climate and taking action on issues of a more flexible education ecosystem.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. translate the national agendas and the interest

of the stakeholders in schools management.2 understand the functional standing of various

stake holders. 3. understand the responsibilities of organization

towards all levels of Ministry of Education Malaysia.

4. involve and consider the various stakeholders in making the best decision for the organization

5. follow the instruction of Ministry of Education Malaysia and it can be also adjusted to the current environment.

6. identify opportunities and challenges in depth and how they are used to benefit the organization

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT15: AWARANESSS OF ORGANISATIONScale 1 2 3 4 5


Very Negative


Number of Score


106

105

STANDARD PT16: BE CREATIVE Operational Definition: Shows the initiative in organizational management.


Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 51. intent to make changes for school improvement.

2. intent to gather additional funds to ensure a smooth running of the school’s activities when the needs arise.

3. accept communities involvement in the school programmes.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD PT16: BE CREATIVE Scale 1 2 3 4 5


Very Negative


Number of Score

107


106

PRACTICES

How would you rate yourself in terms of practices as a High-Performing Educational Leaders?

Practices Measurement Levels:

Scale Level of Practices

Interpretation of Practices

Ranking of High-Performing Educational Leaders

1. Very low Very Negative HAS NOT REACHED THE LEVEL OF HIGH-


2. Low Negative

3. Average Neutral

4. High Positive HAS REACHED THE LEVEL OF HIGH-PERFORMING

EDUCATIONAL LEADERS5. Very High Very Positive

Sum up the number of scores for each scale to map your level of practices.

Example:

Nos. Item 1 2 3 4 5

1. I'm a person …………… /

2. I'm a person …………… /

3. I'm a person …………… /

4. I'm a person……………. /

Total Score 1 3

Interpretation of Score: The data show that you have positive statements in favour on your Practices.


108

107

Radar Diagramme of The High-Performing Educational Leaders Practice

# Transfer the numbers of your maximum score for each of the sub-domain of the Practices into this diagram.

Diagramme 2: Practices of the High-Performing Educational Leaders

Setting Clear Directions

Leading and Managing Change

School Culture & Climate Networking and Linkages

Empowering Teachers

Setting Clear Directions

School Cultureand Climate

EmpoweringTeachers

Leading andManaging Change

LearningLeader

Networking andLinkages

109


108

STANDARD P1: SETTING CLEAR DIRECTIONSOperational Definition: Strategic thinking; having clear vision and mission in setting school goal, conduct environmental analysis in strategic planning and leading strategic planning.

Educational leaders are able to:

Nos. ITEMS 1 2 3 4 51. develop a school management system. (Example:

POLC).2. solve critical problems.3. communicate the school’s vision and mission to

the school communities that include teachers, students, staff as well as parents and other stakeholders..

4. Aiming for high school achievement based on well-planned strategy.

5. Set clear vision and mission for the school goals based on:a. school key results area.b. involvement of school community and

stakeholders in the setting of school Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

c. improving school performance to a more holisitic level.

d. the quality of the current exam results (CGPA).e. needs-analysis in the school.f. improvement of school infrastructure.g. recent policies and procedures (MEDP

blueprint, MSLQ consists of 9 areas of school management, MEQSwave2)

h. recent policies and procedures (MEDP blueprint, MSLQ consists of 9 areas of school management, MEQSwave2)

i. sharing goals with school community and stakeholders.

j. holistic student’s engagements in academic, non-academic and extra- curricular activities.

k. uphold the values of the school community through daily practices.

6. Perform an environmental analysis strategically based on:


110

109

a. the data on the school performance and school strategic planning after the Principals/Headteachers reported to the school.

b. strengths and weakness of the school climate.c. teacher acceptance of the school

Principals/Headteachers.d. school environment constantly.e. risk management based on internal and

external factors.7. Leading planning:

a. build school planning with teamwork and teamwork and empowerment.

b. perform needs-analysis (SWOT) c. view existing resrouces in the school.d. solving critical problems (gap analysis) to

improve school key results area.e. To achieve vision, mission, goals, values and

objectives.TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD P1: SETTING CLEAR DIRECTIONSScale 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Scores

Interpretations of scores

HAS NOT REACHEDTHE LEVEL OF HIGH-

PERFORMING EDUCATIONALLEADERS

HAS REACHED THE LEVEL OF HIGH-

PERFORMINGEDUCATIONAL LEADERS

111


110

STANDARD P2: TEACHERS’ CAPACITY BUILDINGOperational Definition: efficient deployment of human resource, team work, give recognition and appreciation to staff (celebrate small wins), and practice professional development among the staff.

Educational leaders are able to:

Nos. ITEMS 1 2 3 4 51. efficiently select and recruit the human

resources based on their expertise and skills to hold the positions as Seniour or Middle-leaders teams such as academic, co-academic and student affairs.

2. build team work by:a. creating an effective culture of collaboration

within the Seniour Assistants, Middle-Leaders teams, Parents-Teachers’ Association (PTA) and communities.

b. exercising distributed leadership concept in curriculum management, co-curriculum management and management of student affairs.

c. making collective decision with the Seniour Assistants when dealing with school matters.

d. honouring the teachers the space and opportunity to contribute their ideas.

e. practicing empowerment among Seniour Assistants (distributed leadership)

3. recognise and appreciate the school community by:a. showing respect to the school community.b. praising the teachers, students and support

staff for a job well-done.c. providing souvenirs/awards/certificates to

motivate and boost the morale of the school community (teachers, students and support staff).

d. using social media to recognise and appreciate school community (teachers, students and support staff).

e. celebrating small wins the school community (teachers, students and support staff)


112

111

f. accepting ideas and suggestions of school community (teachers, students and support staff).

g. providing pastoral care and well-being of the school community. (teachers, students and support staff).

4. develop teachers’ competencies through professional development (Professional Learning Communities) in accordance to the teachers’ needs conducted by either the Principals/Headteachers, attending courses or inviting experts (outsourcing).

5. encourage teachers to further studies to enhance their knowledge and skills.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD P2: TEACHERS’ CAPACITY BUILDINGScale 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Scores




HAS REACHED THE LEVEL OF HIGH-PERFORMING

EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

113


112

STANDARD P3: NETWORKING AND LINKAGESOperational Definition: Establish internal and external linkages through affiliation with Ministry of Education.


Nos. ITEMS 1 2 3 4 51. identify with the members of the school community

by personally building rapport with the teachers, students and support staff.

2. build rapport with the Parents-Teachers’ Association and other stakeholders in the local community, District Education Office (DEO)/State Educationa Department (SED)/Higher Education Institute (HEI) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO).

3. bridge the gap between the school and community by understanding local socioeconomic backgrounds, accepting suggestions from parents, engaging with Parents and Teachers Association, and engaging communities in school programs such as home schooling.

4. communicate school goals and MOE policies with stakeholders to develop schools through technology (phone, email, fax etc) and social media (whatsapp, facebook, instagram twitter, telegram, etc).

5. create a community atmosphere that nurtures and supports students in their learning.

6. establish best practices for building relationships and networks with excellent Teachers and Parents Association, excellent schools (high performance/clusters), private/ international on a continuous basis.

7. encourage student participation in international competitions in collaboration with Teachers & Parents Association, Community, NGOs, MOE, Alumni and Tertiary Institutions (Universities, colleges, polytechnics and others).

8. establish collaborative relationships with private and international schools.

9. share expertise for student success through the collaboration of master Trainers, excellent teachers, expert teachers, out-sourcing, SIP+


114

113

District Education Office/State Education Department/Ministry of Education.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD P3: NETWORKING AND LINKAGESScale 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Scores





EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

115


114

STANDARD P4: SCHOOL CULTURE AND CLIMATEOperational Definition: Establish a positive culture and high expectations among school community to create a conducive climate.

Educational leaders need to:Nos. ITEMS 1 2 3 4 5

1. Create a conducive school environment with the power of imagination and appreciation in 3’K’ policies (Student safety, liveliness/exuberant and hygiene).

2. Implement civil administration directives circular for improvement of infrastructure facilities (Conducive Ecosystem for the Government Sector (CEGS))

3. Employ fun-oriented learning in academic activities (mural, reading hut, etc.).

4. Monitor school environment in 3’K’ policies (Student safety, liveliness/exuberant and hygiene).

5. Provide the space and opportunities for 21st.Century learning.

6. Cultivate:a. high expectations in setting the targets

and school objectives for the school community.

b. universal values and identity among school community.

c. positive changes based on current needs in education.

d. creativity and innovation practices.e. maintenance culture.f. entrepreneurial practices.

TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD P4: SCHOOL CULTURE AND CLIMATEScale 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Score

Interpretation of Score






116

115

STANDARD AM 5 : LEARNING LEADERSHIPOperational Definition: Promote data-driven decision making and drives quality in teaching and learning towards excellence.

Educational leaders must:

Nos. ITEMS 1 2 3 4 51. subscribe to all mandates, policies and

procedures delineated in the national curriculum by the Ministry of Education (MEDP, the nine discipline in MSPCS,MEQSwave2).

2. make decision in accordance to the latest MoE policies and procedures in the national curriculum such as the MEDP, the nine discipline in MSPCS, and MEQSwave2.

3. analyze data on students’ achievements and perform headcount in setting the academic targets.

4. set higher targets to move on the students and teachers to work harder.

5. optimise the use of the headcount data for: a. set baseline targets as Take Of Value

(TOV).b. monitoring student achievements.c. giving priority to critical subjects.d. implement intervention.e. make an assessment.

6. engage appropriate alternatives approach such as technology-based approach to make monitoring facilitation much easier.

7. plan student outcomes in the Curriculum , Student Affairs, Co-Curriculum area with reference to MEQSwave2 by forming think tanks and synergising task forces from the school community and parents’ support system.

8. monitor by using various approaches(technology) on the following aspects:a. repertoire of teaching and learning in the

21st. Century.b. teacher presencec. teaching aides for relief/susbtitute teachersd. Daily lesson plans

117


116

e. students’ attendancef. Students’ workg. Student learning issues (student voice)h. student homeworki. student achievements

9. lead and guide teachers in:a. making decisions for teaching and learning

improvements.b. implement rehabilitation, consolidation and

enrichment.c. Implement teaching and facilitation

creatively and innovatively using the 21st.Century approach (ICT)

10. supervise and guide teahcers using variety approaches (ICT): a. 21st century supervision.b. coaching dan mentoring c. professional learning communityd. team teaching.e. buddy system (employing expert teachers)

11. encourage students to partake young leader programme.

12 encourage students to be active learners.13. teach critical subjects based on teacher’s

specialisation and expertise.14. monitor the safety, health and well-being of the

students in the school.15. encourage parental involvement to improve

students’ academic performances.TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD P5 : LEARNING LEADERSHIPScale 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Score





EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

118


117

STANDARD P6: LEADING AND MANAGING CHANGEOperational Definition: Leading change for continuous school improvement.

Educational leaders must:

Nos. ITEMS 1 2 3 4 51. acquire appropriate knowledge prior making

changes. 2. learn to adapt first before initiating any

changes. 3. guide the school community to embrace

change (out of the comfort zone). 4. use personal experiences as a basis for

initiating change.5. spread the words to the school community.6. apply creativity and innovation in leading

change in school.7. initiate change to shape the school values

and culture.TOTAL SCORE

STANDARD P6: LEADING AND MANAGING CHANGEScale 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Score




