Principal’s Coalition Building and Personal Traits Brings Success to a Struggling School in Malaysia

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a single site case study of a school in a rural part of Malaysia. Based on data collected through semi-structured interviews of the principal, teachers, students and parents, and observations, document scanning and field notes, the study attempts to identify the context under which the school operates, the core practices of the school principal and the enactment of these core practices. The data analysis was carried out through data reduction resulting in initial themes which were further refined several times until consensus was achieved. The themes were then discussed under the light of theories resulting in the final categories. The findings reveal that personal traits of the principal and her strength of building strong coalitions enabled her to successfully meet her contextual challenges. In conclusion, we argue that leadership practices are multidimensional and although successful principals draw from the similar repertoire of core practices, they enact these core practices in response to their own unique contexts to bring success. The findings would provide important insights for principals and future researchers who might be interested in conducting similar studies to enrich the successful school leadership literature from Malaysian context.

The entrepreneurial leadership practices of Malaysian secondary school principals in fundraising

“…Body (2017) discovered that the PTA’s relationship with a school has a very positive effect on helping schools to maintain fundraising activities. This collaboration, combined with the principal’s ability to implement entrepreneurial leadership, is certainly a requirement for the success of school fundraising (Body, 2017; Borasi and Finnigan, 2010; Yemini et al, 2015; Noman et al, 2017; Yemini and Sagie, 2015).…”

“…Hence, the school principals do communicate with the parents as a method to involve them with the school. Indeed, parental involvement with the school stimulates the school fund and helps the school to survive in crucial circumstances (Eyal, 2003; Noman et al, 2017). Therefore, entrepreneurial leadership practices such as PTA collaboration for external networking brings several benefits, such as school bonds with the parents, which persist while the external networking continues (Eyal, 2003).…”

“…Meanwhile, Noman et al (2017) discovered that the success of a school was dependent on the school’s coalition network. While the study did not highlight the leadership of a specific school principal, the researcher believes that the school principal clearly took initiative to include the community and parents – a good example of entrepreneurial leadership (Thornberry, 2006).…”

“…In addition, school principals who practice entrepreneurial leadership in school management must be knowledgeable leaders (Zaidatol et al, 2014) with good communication skills (Radzi et al, 2010; Wan Ali, 2014). This is because school principals need to be intimately involved in managing their schools and be able to handle an array of issues within the school administration, meaning that school principals in Malaysia are expected to successfully handle both internal and external school issues, as discovered by Noman et al (2017). The demographic diversity of the Malaysian secondary school system as a whole further contributes to the challenges of entrepreneurial leadership practice among school principals in Malaysia.…”

Leadership approaches of principals heading National Strategy Learner Attainment Schools in South Africa

“…Principals stated rather than being autocratic, they tried to be democratic, getting the 'buy in' of their teachers and developed a shared vision for their schools. The studies in Malaysia by Suraya and Yunus (2012) and Norman et. al.…”