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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Principals’ Instructional Leadership in Small School-A Preliminary Study

Nitce Isa Medina, Azlin Norhaini Mansor, Jamalul Lail Abdul Wahab, Sharmini Siva Vikaraman

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i8/4623

Open access

The challenges faced by principals in small schools are unique due to its context. Small schools which has less than 150 enrolments of students are mostly located in rural areas. Yet, educators are concerned about the ability of the principal to adapt to this context considering many limitations and multitasks at the same time. This paper discusses the principals’ instructional leadership practices in three different types of small schools which are Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK), Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) and Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) in Perak state. The purpose of this preliminary, quantitative study was to examine how their instructional leadership practices differ in these schools. Through the use of a cross-sectional survey, responses made by 92 teachers from nine schools were compared. The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) Teacher Short Form was used for data collection. Findings showed that principals’ instructional leadership practices in this study is at moderate level. Although the principals’ instructional leadership practices level is the lowest for SK principals, the findings also showed that there is no significant difference in principals’ instructional leadership practices level among all schools. Nevertheless, the areas of significance identified by this study showed that despite all challenges, the principals from different types of schools are practicing instructional leadership at their best.