The preparation and development of school leaders is now considered to be fundamental to school and system improvement. In the pursuit of educational change and reform, the leadership of the principal is deemed to be of critical importance. This qualitative study is part of a large scale research project that is exploring principal preparation and development in seven different countries. In particular, this article focuses on how public secondary school principals in Indonesia are prepared, developed and selected for their role. Disappointingly little is known from the empirical literature about being a principal in Indonesia or about principal preparation and development. Therefore this contemporary, descriptive, non-experimental qualitative study focused on a purposive sample of 18 public secondary school principals in four different provinces in Indonesia. The initial findings reveal that even though principal training has been standardized in Indonesia and is now a compulsory part of a principal certification process, micro-political influences still currently govern the appointment of school principals.

The primary question of this research was how educators implement values education at Junior High Schools in Bangka Belitung Province, Indonesia. This research is a qualitative research with phenomenology type. Data analyzing technique used in this research was in-depth interviews, observation, and document analysis. Data analysis was done through data display, data reduction, and conclusion. The result showed that values education at Junior High School in Bangka Belitung started with the preparation of school vision based on values, and then the achievement of vision through the preparation of values education strategy. Habituation of values and values role model became the most dominant strategies used by principals and teachers to cultivate values. The results also showed that the values derived from religious teachings, namely the values of iman-taqwa (faith-piety) and good akhlaq (morals) were the most important values serve as a foundation in developing values education in schools. The big role of iman-taqwa (faith-piety) and good akhlaq (morals) values constitutes the effort done by the school to contribute in achieving the purposes of national education and curriculum of 2013. The final purpose of K-13 implementation and the national education system achievement is the formation of Indonesian whose strong faith and good morals.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of multimedia-based learning on the academic achievement of science subjects in junior high school students. The method used in this research is descriptive. This study involved 40 junior high school students in Malaysia. The research sample was divided into two groups, namely conventional (control) and experimental (based on multimedia). Data obtained by providing pre-test and post-test to students. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A normality test is performed to determine the distribution of data. Data were analysed with a 5% T-test. The results of the analysis on the pre-test scores indicate that students in conventional and experimental teaching have the same level of knowledge, whereas in the post-test scores there are significant differences between traditional teaching scores and multimedia teaching. The finding of this study also showed that the student-centered learning approach was suitable for learning science subjects for secondary education. Students were found more active in engaging themselves in their learning and contribute to higher academic achievement in the post-test result. In conclusion, the use of multimedia elements in learning materials enables students to learn at their own pace. Through learning with the integration of multimedia-mediated content, student achievement in science subjects is enhanced, and it has helped students to develop a better understanding of science concepts and ideas.

Malaysia is estimated to become an "aging society" country by 2030 due to the increase in the number of senior citizens in the country. This is expected to lead to issues relevant to the welfare of the elderly when there is an outflow of guardians to the urban cities. Thus, this study was conducted to explain the pattern of caring for the elderly among their guardians. This qualitative study was conducted in Yan, Kedah, involving 26 respondents among the elderly. Face-to-face interviews have been conducted by researchers using semi-structured interview forms related to demographics and elderly care patterns. Moreover, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) has also been conducted with the subjects to find out more about the issues being studied. The data obtained has been analyzed descriptively and thematically to answer the research questions. The results showed that there has been migrations of the elderly"s guardians from rural areas to urban areas. Most respondents live with their spouse or alone in the village because of their guardian"s job commitments. The results also demonstrated that respondents chose to live in their own homes rather than their children's homes. The study also suggested that authorities need to provide social support for the elderly who live in rural areas, especially to care for the welfare of these groups.

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