paper text:

Association between Perceptions on Principals Instructional Leadership and

Employee Engagement among Teachers in a Primary School in Cheras, Selangor.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
The notion of leadership is prevalent asserted as the interaction process between a leader
and his adherents. Under the semblance of such interaction, leaders influence followers to
achieve the same extent of a predefined common goal such as leading the way and giving a
positive image to their subordinates. In the light of this, this study seeks to examine whether
changes stimulated by leaders amongst followers constitute vital managerial-centric
elements. This paper also probes into the inquest on the significance of leadership in
catalysing and bridging changes. We often come across a variance between the
performances of schools around Malaysia. School achievements and popularity come in two
continuums, either they perform extremely well or perform rather poorly. It is important to look
into the factors that contribute to the disparity in the performances of these schools.
According to Horng & Loeb (2010) in the Kappan Magazine, many extensive researches
have been carried out across the past thirty years, linking leadership style with school
outcomes or performances. One of the widely employed leadership style is instructional
leadership, where it focuses on principal as the leader among the other school office
personnel. There are 5 major elements involved in the implementation of this leadership
model, which includes (1) prioritizing teaching and learning by allocating more time in these
areas, (2) to achieve the vision of the school, (3) ensuring the leader is familiar with the
instructional materials to be able to educate fellow teachers and monitor its implementation to
focus on aligning the curriculum and assessments in an on-going basis based on an agreed
standard because any disjoint may affect the students achievements, (4) to analyse the
relevant data to make conclusions or plans to improve leadership and produce instructional
changes and lastly (5) to promote continuous learning culture among teachers. Looking back
at the history of education in the USA, instructional leadership was famous in the 1980s, later
moving towards the transformational leadership in 1990s, before reverting back to
instructional leadership in these recent years (Hallinger & Bryant, 2013). The principal is
actually not the sole decision maker in instructional leadership, because the decision still
needs to be discussed between the other leaders. Only decisions that are unanimously
consented and agreed amongst leaders will be implemented in the school and be taught to
the teachers. Despite that, it is important to select a pragmatic principal that can guide the
teachers. Many schools in the USA have adopted a more in depth process of assessing and
recruiting school leaders (Horng & Loeb, 2010). In this research, the researcher would like to
focus more on the opinions of the teachers regarding their principals leadership styles, and if
this makes any difference in the engagement at work among the teachers in a Primary
School in Cheras, Selangor.

1.1 Background of study

The existing model in Malaysia exerts immense reliance towards the ability of a principal to
shoulder the responsibility to implement an attainable and feasible vision augmented by
strategic plan in the realm of achieving intended outcomes as highlighted retrospectively.
Problems can arise if the principal is incompetent or lack the ability in identifying major
problems and relevant interventions that are needed. Moreover, there are instances where
the principal may not have enough authority as compared to the superiors in the district
offices, or may have conflicting opinions with the parents and teachers (Stewart, 2006). This
instructional leadership model also did not take into consideration the emotional and mental
well-being of the teachers in the school, who are the ones dealing directly with the students.
Any conflicting opinions or misunderstandings may affect their motivation and engagement at
work. Malaysia has a collectivistic society, thence good rapport between the principal and the
teachers is necessary to produce a good working environment. As mentioned previously, the
researcher would like to focus more on the response of the teachers to their principals
leadership styles, and if this makes any difference in the engagement at work among the
teachers. Therefore, the researcher has come up with the following research questions.

2In this research, elementary school principals instructional leadership behavior was
evaluated based on the perceptions of elementary school teachers. The research is believed
to contribute to the development of instructional leadership behavior of elementary school
principals for the development of school organization. A semi- structured interview
technique, one of the qualitative research methods in the literature was used in the research.
The study group was made up of elementary school teachers working in Cheras, Selangor.
For the2study sample, one teacher from each school was selected at random, resulting in
group of twenty elementary school teachers. Based on the content analysis, five themes of
instructional leadership behavior were found.

1.2 Problem Statement

Alluding to the fact that schools have been assuming a pivotal role in nurturing the future
generation and materializing the dreams of many, stakeholders including but not limited to
parents, students, educators and government are increasingly observed to be striving for a
school that delivers unparalleled and distinctive learning conduits. Nurturing and dedicated
educators devoted towards unleashing the potential of students are prevalently observed to
acknowledge the dreams and contend with the concerns of these students. Pursuant to
Donaldson (2006), schools are established as the wagon to cultivate both social and
economic progression through the haul and materialization of dreams for communities within
the societal setting. Creation of schools revolves around the objective in training competent
and knowledgeable future labours. Yavuz (2011) asserted that continuous refinement and

enhancement of teaching quality is imperative in the drive to achieve such objective. In the
capacity of a leader, the principal of any given school holds the obligation to consistently
oversee and manage the school operation and school modules via the philosophy of success
in both learning and school operation holistically. By this virtue, the success of a school
hinges largely on the principals ability as a leader. The legitimate power of a schools
principal, in isolation, is deemed insufficient to manage a school nor to propel it to success .

Furthermore, it can be stated that school principals have several competency

areas. In essence, a school principle should both equip with the raiment of a good leader
and instructional leader (Sisman, 2014). In the aftermath of globalization, there is an
increasingly pervasive expectation for leaders such that for instance leaders are to be
relatively more enthusiastic and proactive in the realm of leading a school and managing its
resources to garner enhancement of performance amongst staffs and students (Dimmock,
2013). It is paramount for principals to enlighten staffs, educators, students and parents the
purposes and vision of a school. Akgn (2011) postulation suggested that the mission of a
school should comprise both the behaviour and roles of principals in the light of this. Many
educators yielded similar opinion in the issue afore-conferred, where attention were exerted
in identifying and disseminating the purpose of a school itself to its constituents. The issue
ensued boils down to the debate of whether the instructional-centric principle leadership
concept secure acceptance or not by the committee in school. The standardized test results
suggested there is an extension towards the obligations a principal shoulders, where these
obligation should not be limited to merely monitoring, evaluating and improving development
of students but instead concerting efforts with teachers in grasping the evaluation and
development progress of students. Hinging on this, a competent principal, in the raiment of
an instructional leader should be striving towards propelling the school to soar to greater
heights whilst upholding the current reputation and success thus-far accomplished. A
competent instructional leader (principal) with meritorious success are determined to be
continuously ascribing higher expectations regardless of the extent of current success
(Andrews & Soder, 2012). However, it is deemed deficient of that in a school principals
capacity to merely refining the process of teaching, development of teachers and
development of students. To evoke a highly effective and conducive educational environment,
constantly monitoring and evaluation are vital. In spite of growing recognition and
acknowledgement in this domain, existing literatures discoursing such area have been
relatively scant in Malaysia. In the light of that, this study is conducted to content with this
gap.

1.3 Significance of study

This study shed lights in a few areas. It is very important for the future studies related with the
topic and with similar educational objectives. Practically, it is deemed insufficient for a school
principal to solely assume the role of an instructional leader monitoring the development of
instructional based process in the school while providing relevant resources to educators and

students. It is momentous for a school principal to warrant attention on professional

development amongst the well-being of teachers and tutors on top of recognizing the
relationship between professional development of teachers and ensuing development of
students. Academically, this study helps researchers, educators and principals to better
comprehend the notion of leadership and its significance in the success of an educational
institution. It also contributes to existing literatures in Malaysia, further enlightening gaps
examined sparsely and providing contemporary evidences.

1.4 Conclusion
This chapter discusses the introduction of the study, which includes the research problem,
purpose

of

the

study,

importance

of

the

study,

research

scope

and

the dissertation organization.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction
This chapter identifies and critically review past postulations that are deemed relevant in the
context of this study.

2.1 Leadership & Management

Leaders are born not made. While management is essentially learned, leadership on the
other spectrum, originates from the personalities and traits within an individual. There are a
few types of leadership. Leaders advocating the autocratic orientation are of best fit in the
circumstance of team games. On the hand, leaders employing a task-oriented style are of
best fit in the field of athletics. It is paramount to not overlook the fact that all leadership
orientations are accompanied by both advantages and disadvantages, it all hinges on a
leader to serve as the beacon of guidance and inspiration in different circumstances,
irrespective of the leadership orientation advocated. Here the author1pointing out different
definitions of the two concepts. Drucker (2001) described the notion of management as a
social based regimen in dealing with human behaviours and institutions. In Druckers (2001)
precedential research, a manager involves in inscribing of objectives, organizing, motivating,

communicating and developing people, which is deemed to be the core driver and catalyser
of an organization. Fundamentally, management locusts around the efficient allocation,
distribution and utilization of resources within an organization to accomplish pre-defined
common objectives (McMahon, 1992). In accordance to the postulation by Northouse (2004),
the notion of leadership is momentous across all sports categories owing to the fact that it
exert influence of behaviours. Leadership qualities can be found within captains of teams,
managers and team coaches, amongst both men and women with inherently different
inspirations. It is important to note that the notion of leaders is not constrained to team
captains, it can be attributed to coaches of teams and even an athlete himself or herself.
Within a team, all its constituents strive and work towards a common goal collaboratively and
thus it is not a daunting fact that both the manager and captain of a team share common
aspirations. It should be recognized that autocratic and task oriented leaders are inherently
different, and are respected in varying manners.

In a compendium, it plausible to identify management as a process in fulfilling the goals of the

organization via the utilization of human, tangibles and intangibles and financial resources in
accordance to allocation and priorities while taking into account of the external environment.
According to dictum with respect to management highlighted by Goodwin (2006), the concept
of management is unique as it has a contingent nature as opposed to universal, particularly in
application where there is no parallel or equivalent substitute for the science of management.
Dorros (2002) reinforced upon similar assertion, suggesting that the management of any
organization essentially boils down to its policies, organizational structures, processes and
cultures, which are acclimated to the context of which the organization aspires to attain its
objectives.

Moore (2012) identified management approach in 4 broad categories:

Traditional bureaucracy emphasized on vivid structure, hierarchical span of autonomy,
succinct accountability in terms of performance (Taylor, 2011);
New Public Management focused on steering organization to be analogous to firms,
market operation hinges on competition for performance enhancement (Hood, 2010);
Japanese organization model or clan a solidarity model identifying with and taking pride
in the citizenship of the organization as the crux of motivation.
Professionalism synonymous to Japanese models assumption, in which it advocates
that performance improves when trust is granted and performance is not tightly monitored. In
terms of identification of citizenship, it may be within profession or organization, or two-folded.

Mintzberg (2010) classified the concept of management and leadership into three major types
which stated as below:

1. Informational monitor (seeking information associated to task), disseminate (distributing

information to others in an organization) and public relation (relaying information externally)
2. Interpersonal encompasses representation (fulfil both social obligations and legal
obligations, assuming the role of a symbolic leader), leading as leader (directing, empowering
and training subordinates) and liaison (eliciting and managing contacts both internally and
externally)
3. Decisional entrepreneur (seeking and determining novel, new and innovative ideas on
top of initiating improvement-based measures), conflict management (resolving issues or
disputes and crisis) and resource allocation (identify, set forth and allocate resources based
on priorities)

Differences pertaining to the concept both of management and leadership are intellectually
discoursed. Similar to management, leadership hails upon another widely debated concept
with respect to organizational performance. Even though it seems a straightforward and
simple concept it is quite hard to say precisely what it refers to, that is why such as
management, there is an abundance of definitions regarding leadership. The understanding
of the three Ms will be largely determined by one perspective on organizational learning.
According to Ortenblad (2002), there are 2 fundamental perspectives under the concept of
leadership and these perspectives lead leaders to different paths. The perspectives are
identified as futuristic perspective and interpretive perspective. Under the semblance of
futuristic perspective, individuals are essentially agent of learning in the context of the
organization. A positive culture of learning and environment is provided for these individuals
and knowledge garnered through such process is retained outside of the individual under the
organizational memory. On the other continuum, the interpretive perspective conceptualizes
upon the idea that reality is recognized as a subjective phenomenon, knowledge depends on
context, learning as societal practice as interaction between individuals. Knowledge however,
is not storable as it arises and is determined by circumstances. In a nutshell, management
and measuring the learning organization is a predicament. Under interpretive perspective,
such task is interpolated between relativism and contextualization. Due to constant change in
norms, measurements are rendered difficult due to relativism. Learning is ultimately oriented
on circumstantial basis rather than truth should the situation or context is the determinant of
knowledge. The implications of such a perspective are widespread including

business ethics and cultural morality. The bandwagon of this popular paradigm
should not be jumped upon too quickly.

2.2 Instructional Leadership

According to Glickman (2002), instructional leaders are able to succinctly comprehend the
participation of teachers in terms of professional practice decision making should they hear
out, seek clarity, encourage two-way communication on top of reflect and verifying

perceptions among teachers. In essence, instructional leaders are actively involved and
drenched in the teaching and learning process. Withal to that, teachers are most often than
not, deeply attuned to teaching and process of learning, thence they are well entrenched with
the experience of designing a more conducive learning climate and a more robust teaching
process for students (Gmeli, 1996). As such, the employment of shared instructional
leadership, where concerted efforts between principal and teachers on the domain of
curriculum is highly epitomized. Under Glickmans (2002) scholarly articles, this model
proposed that the principal seek ideas, new insights and experience of teachers and
collaborates with them. High autonomy in terms of control is given to the teachers, while the
leader is given lower control in the realm of actual decisions Glickman (2002). Albeit school
principals are obligated to perform varying duties depending on the environment and other
underlying factors, existing literature suggested that a handful of fundamental works
pertaining to instructional leadership development have been probed into (iman, 2014). It
should warrant our attention that the behaviour of instructional leadership varies across
different studies. With respect to the same authors postulation, the roles of a principal
advocating instructional leadership are: (1) defining mission of a school, (2) managing
curriculum and teaching, (3) supervising and evaluating instructions, (4) monitoring
development of students and (5) developing appropriate school environment. Principals are
capable of managing schools in an effective manner should they employ instructional
leadership behaviours. Alluding to this, it is deemed crucial for principals to meet the
essences of an instructional leader in the quest of development of students and training of
teachers (Akgn, 2001). Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the instructional
leadership roles of school principals from the viewpoint of elementary school teachers.
School leaders or principals, do not deal directly with the students, but indirectly affect the
students performances via recruiting high-performance teachers, assigning classrooms
suitable to their majors, and encouraging professional development among the teachers.
Instructional leadership is indeed an essential part of providing necessary resources to
ensure effectiveness in the classroom, leading to good students outcomes (Horng & Loeb,
2010). However, it is important not to overlook that the teachers are the direct link to the
students, which will help in the students learning process. The two must come together; good
instructional leadership and good quality teachers. Looking at previous researches done,
different instructional management styles are linked to different levels of job satisfaction. For
a change, this present research will explore the relationship between the opinions of the
teachers regarding their principals leadership styles, with the level of the teachers
engagement at work, irrespective of their level of job satisfaction. This is because some
teachers may not be satisfied with their superior but still maintain good quality work due to
their sense of responsibility, while some may choose to act up and not want to do their job
properly. As described by the Oregon Primary Care Association, employee satisfaction is the
situation when the employees work in a content environment that makes them happy.
However, employee engagement is more multi- dimensional, relating to how enthusiastic and
committed the employee is. Therefore, an important element in this present research is that

the researcher is going one step ahead because even job satisfaction is sufficient to retain
employees, it does not boost productivity; while employee engagement increases productivity
among employees. Thus, this research can give light to the future of schools to improve their
performances by implementing instructional strategies that can promote employee
engagement among teachers. In addition to that, when a principals instructional
management is perceived as relevant and appropriate by teachers, these teachers will be
able to grow in terms of commitment, professional involvement, and willingness to innovate
as mentioned by Sheppard (as cited in Hallinger, 2015).

2.3 Related Literature Review

According to Northouse (2004), "a leadership skill and knowledge is inextricably related to the
application and implementation of problem-solving skills in organizations. Darf (2010)
highlighted that the ability of leaders in determining complicated organizational issues and
subsequently formulate a solution hinges on their knowledge. Knowledge is recognized as
the gathering of information and mental configuration, also known schema, in organizing the
accumulated information. Once a leader formulates information into knowledge, Individuals
are observed to be more inclined in following leaders that demonstrate expertise power.
Greenberg & Baron (2013) discovered that the power of information has diminished because
of the advent of technology, resulting in higher availability and accessibility of information in
the millennium era. It was the stark opposite in the decades back then where information was
accessible by the top management and only disseminated to relevant parties on a need-toknow basis. Drenched in information and knowledge this era, leaders should actively use
these information and knowledge to benefit followers, along with the organization as opposed
to for the purpose of power accumulation. Kluge (2011) research yielded that knowledge
management is the emerging leadership challenge. Taking the vantage point of leadership,
knowledge management is interpreted in general as a science. Due to the nature of
knowledge, managers find it a predicament to determine conduits that are capable of
improving performance on top of fostering a learning organization where knowledge flows
both horizontally and vertically. Kluge (2011) also asserted that chief executive should
demonstrate knowledge and ensure it is dispersed throughout the entire organization. To
reinforce this, an organization is likely to meet dire consequences should a senior manager
failed to embrace knowledge management as opined by experts (Rosenburg, 2014). The
leadership model conceptualizing on dynamic personalities is deemed infeasible in the wake
of this new era and should not be epitomized upon. It is important for the leaders in the
millennium to garner knowledge and display adequate competency in convincing followers as
subordinates in this era frames not only on a solid common goal but also the expertise of
leaders, in addition to how the expertise is derived from. In essence, learning is an integral of
leadership in a contemporary view. On the other hand, McCollum & Zhao (2012) proposed
that leaders are accountable for 3 basic tasks: creating strategies to adapt [the] organization
to the environment, building a structure that is capable of implementing [the organizations]

strategy, and building the capacity of the members of the organization (Spears, 2012). It is
not a daunting fact that these tasks requires continuous organizational learning through
exchange for information and knowledge tacitly and explicitly. Holmqvist (2014) suggested
that in a learning organization with knowledge management, leaders should reshape and
reform their perspectives for drive of establishing a more human oriented organization not to
mention enriching the lives of its constituents. Leadership and Knowledge Management

(KM) intermingle the vision and influence of leadership with the available
knowledge base within the organization. When effective leadership elicits and
draws upon the myriads of experience, wisdom, understanding, and knowledge
inherent in the work force in synergistic fashion creating shared vision, the
organization sits like a space shuttle ready begging for launch. Under a dynamic
and highly competitive marketplace, it is imperative for organizations that have achieved
current success to embark on the pursuit of knowledge harnessing and potential alignment.
By this virtue, Goldsmith, Morgan & Ogg (2014) propounded that,"Nothing is more important
to the success of knowledge management initiative than the support of leaders and the
visibility of KM role models. Generally speaking, the higher up in the organization these role
models are the better". Mark Effron (Goldsmith, Morgan, & Ogg, 2014) contended that the
sheer concept of knowledge management is fundamentally flawed it involves neither
knowledge nor management and therefore cannot be expected to succeed. Conversely, he
proposed that there is a vested need to help organization in truly sharing intellectual capitals
workers possess.

2.4 Summary
In summary, the author outlined the difference between leadership and management
concepts. Also the author critically reviewed past literatures pertaining to the notion of
leadership and management, along with their underlying implications and impacts. Past
literatures similar or related to this study were also delved into in the subsequent section. A
conceptual framework is then developed on the basis of reviewed literatures, in addition to
hypothesis development.
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter probes into the methodologies employed by this research, including the
research design, the studys context and sampling method, instruments used, data collection
procedure, and the methods for analysing the data. According to Leedy and Ormrod (2005a),
a studys research methodology is crucial as it will determine the type of instruments and
tests that will be used in the study. In a nutshell, the research methodology will help to guide
the researchers in conducting the research. In addition, it also aims to investigate whether
this perception will influence the teachers work engagement in the school leadership styles,

and if this makes any difference in the engagement at work among the teachers. The
proceeding sections will further discussed the research methodology of this current study.

3.1 Research Design

Research design is defined by Kerlinger & Lee (2000) as the blueprint for research of a study,
hence, in line with Selltiz (1986), a good research design will assist the researchers in
identifying and explaining the variables as well as in subsequent collection and analysis of
data. As this study focuses to investigate the teachers opinions regarding their principals
leadership styles and the influence of these perceptions on their engagement in their works,
this study adopts a mixed method study because it not only focuses on a real life
phenomenon, but also the link between perception and engagement on work. By adopting
this design, the researcher believes that it will provide more comprehensive analyses of the
research topic.

3.1.1 Mixed Method Research Design

Creswell (2007) described the mixed method research design as a blend of both qualitative
and quantitative research administration. As mentioned in Sage (2007), the convergent
mixed method research design is a research design that adopts a data collection approach in
the orientation both qualitative and quantitative manner concurrently. In the context of this
study, the first and third research question will be answered using the quantitative method
while the second research question will be answered quantitatively. The chosen quantitative
instrument is a set of survey questionnaire while interviews will be conducted with the
respondents to gather the qualitative data to answer the second research question. The
proceeding section will describe the research questions, research hypotheses as well as the
qualitative and quantitative data collection methods adopted for this research.

3.2 Research Questions and Hypotheses

3.2.1 Research Questions As mentioned earlier, the primary data for this postulation
are sourced both qualitatively and quantitatively. The data for qualitative analyses are
obtained from the responses from the interviews and the data are mainly used to answer the
second research question. Meanwhile, quantitative data to answer research questions one
and three. To recall, the research questions for this study are as follow:
RQ

1:2

What

are

the

perceptions among

the teachers

on their

principals instructional leadership in a primary school in Cheras, Selangor?

RQ 2: How can the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) be altered to fit
a collectivistic culture?
RQ 3:13 What is the relationship between the teachers perceptions on their

principals management style and their levels of engagement at work?

3.2.2 Research Hypotheses

According to Franken, Wallen & Hyun (2012), the hypothesis developed for a research
predicts the possible outcomes of the study. By incorporating the hypotheses of a study, the
researcher can make the intended reader to think more deeply on the possible research
outcomes. Furthermore, stating a researchs hypotheses can build up the anticipation for the
readers, hence, making them more engaged and involved in the paper. Parallel to other
research, this paper will state the null hypotheses for this research. The null hypotheses refer
to the hypotheses which the research will try to reject, instead of accept. This is because the
null hypotheses state the negative outcome of the study. In line with this, the null hypotheses
for this study are as follow: Ho1 = There is a negative perception among the teachers on their
principals instructional leadership. Ho2= The Principal Instructional Management Rating
Scale (PIMRS) cannot be altered to fit a collectivistic culture. Ho3=13There is no

relationship between the teachers perceptions on their principals management

style andtheir levels of engagement at work. Consequently, the research questions and the
research hypotheses determine the type of instrument and data analysis method that can be
used to obtain and analyse the data for research. The research methods for both quantitative
and qualitative research design are presented in the proceeding section.

3.3 Quantitative Research Method

3.3.1 Survey Questionnaires
This study also adopts the quantitative survey research design as described by Creswell
(2007) where a set of questionnaire is used to probe answers from the sample. The research
uses this method because it can help elicit specific answers from the respondents. In this
study, the respondents answer the questionnaire by rating the statements given using a 5
point Likert scale (Franken, Wallen & Hyun, 2007). The use of the Likert scale will help the
respondents to determine their specific perspective on the statement given as the scale
ranged from 1 (truly disagree) to 5 (very agree). To avoid neutral and undetermined
responses, the research replaces neutral as the middle scale with agree. The 5 point likert
scale that will be used for the questionnaire is as follow:18Strongly Disagree

(1) Somewhat Disagree (2) Agree (3) Somewhat agree (4) Strongly Agree (5)
The questions

in thequestionnaire

are

based

on

the34Principal

Instructional

Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) framework by Hallinger (2003). This framework

rate the quality principals instructional management rating. Even though the teachers
themselves can use the framework to rate their principal, the elements in the framework will
be reconstructed into a set of questionnaire for easier data collection and analyses. This is
because by putting these elements into a questionnaire form, the research can direct the
respondents responses to help answer the research question. In general, this set of
questionnaire will help to answer the first and third research questions. This research method

is chosen for these two questions as they probe on perceptions and relationship use which
require more precise, focused inputs from the respondents. As mentioned earlier, the use of
the questionnaire format will help steer the respondents answers so that they correspond
with the research questions. The sets of questionnaire will be distributed among the samples,
who are teachers serving in a primary school in Cheras, Selangor. These teachers are
teaching various subjects and levels in the school. The survey questionnaire has 50 closed
ended questions which are divided into 3 main sections, based on the elements in the PIMRS
framework. The aims of the questions are first, to elicit the teachers perception on the
principals leadership styles and second, determine the relationship between the teachers
perception with their work engagement in the school. An example of the questions in the
questionnaire is as follow; Focus 2: Managing the instructional program ( PIMRS) The
principal is able to coordinate the curriculum accordingly. SD 1 SWD 2 A 3 SA 4 SWA 5 The
principal is able to supervise and evaluate the instructions. SD 1 SWD 2 A 3 SA 4 SWA 5
Adopted from: Hallinger (2003)

3.3.1.2 Sampling for Quantitative Survey

As mentioned earlier, the samples for the quantitative survey comprise of the teachers
teaching in the selected school and the sampling method used for this survey is convenience
sampling, as mentioned in Franken, Wallen & Hyun (2007). It was argued that convenience
sampling cannot be representative of the whole population of teachers in Malaysia, hence,
the result of this study will only applicable to the specified school and principal studied. Even
though this might be problematic, this is unavoidable since for time, cost and logistical
reason, the study is only focused on one particular school. Therefore, the researcher decides
to adopt convenience sampling anyway for economical and logistical reasons. According to
Sage (2007), the sample size for a study can be determined using this formula, Z 2 * (p) * (1p) ss = c2 Figure 3.1 Formula for sample size8Where: Z = Z value (e.g. 1.96 for 95%

confidence level) p = percentage picking a choice, expressed as decimal (.5

used for sample size needed) c = confidence interval, expressed as decimal
(e.g., .04 = 4) Based on the population of 120 teachers, the optimum sample sizeis
54 for the confidence level of 95%, which means the researcher is determined that there is
only 5% probability that the results are obtained through chance. Here the confidence interval
is 10, which signifies the research is sure that the results will be similar if the30questions

are asked to the sample size within the margin of10 higher or lower value, for instance,
either 44 (54-10) 0r 64 (54+10 in this case.

3.4 Qualitative Data Collection Method

3.4.1. Interviews
To obtain the qualitative data to answer research question number two, a series of interviews
will be conducted with the respondents. As the questions will be based on the adoption of the

PIRMS framework in rating educational leadership, the respondents will be selected from
teachers who answered the survey questionnaire mentioned previously. After they are
selected, the research will brief the respondents of the framework, its benefit and how it can
be used to improve their working environment and how it can be altered to fit the collectivistic
culture in the school. Since the researcher considered the topic on opinion and perceptions
as a private matter and to ensure confidentially as the subject matter is their superior, the
interviews conducted will be face to face, individual interviews. As its name suggests, during
the structured interviews, teachers will be asked a predetermined set of questions which has
been designed to answer the research questions, especially research questions number 2.
The use of the structured questions is beneficial for researches as it can save time by
maintaining the focus on the topic and help in obtaining a more refined and focused as
mentioned in Frankel, Wallen & Hyun (2007). The interview responses will be recorded and
all the inputs will be transcribed. The interviews will be conducted in mainly in English, but
provisions will be given for teachers who are not fluent or not confident to use English to
answer the questions in Malay. The responses in Malay will be translated for the purpose of
data analysis.

3.5 Data Analysis

As mentioned earlier, this study adopted a mixed methods research design. Hence, the data
analysis will be done qualitative and qualitatively. First, the data from the qualitative data
analysis, as mentioned in Creswell (2007), will be analysed through a series of coding while
the quantitative data obtained through questionnaires are analysed via SPSS software.

3.5 Quantitative Data Analysis

The data obtained from questionnaires are analysed using SPSS software. There were two
types of data that were obtained through the SPSS analyses. These data can be categorised
as descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Basically, the descriptive

statistics are on the surface data that helps describe the data, for instance, the samples
demography and the frequency of specific elements. On the other hand, inferential statistics
were drawn from the descriptive statistics to make inferences either to accept or reject the
hypotheses of the study.

3.5.1.1 Descriptive Statistics

The descriptive statistics are used to give an overview about the demography of the samples,
such as their years of teaching, their teaching experiences and their capacity of knowing the
principal. The descriptive analyses include finding the age of teachers and the mean years for
teaching. The analyses will also look at the capacity of their relationship with the principal
(e.g; in what level have you worked with principal?), the frequency of contact as well as other

variables. The data provided are crucial as they provide a general overview on the nature of
the relationship between the teachers and the principal, as well as being used to obtain the
inferential data to answer the research questions. The data from the analyses are also used
to supplement and support the qualitative data from the interview.

3.5.1.2 Inferential Analysis

Inferential statistics are procedures which allow the researchers to use data obtained from
the sample to make inferences, or assumption about the whole population (Hall, 2010).
These statistics show if the findings can be generalised into the whole population, therefore in
this research determine whether the data are significant enough to be generalised into the
entire population of businesses in the UK. However, as mentioned earlier, the population of
the study is only 120, which is the total number of the school and the determined sample size
is 54. Since the nature of the research is based on opinions on the principals leadership
styles, which is subjective, it is important to note that the findings can only be generalized to
the population of the school, rather than the whole population of teachers in Malaysia. In
inferential statistic, it is considered ideal to have a big sample size, this is because a large
sample size will most likely represents the result for the entire population. For this study, the
sample size that has been determined is 54 from the population of 120. In addition, the size
of the differences, or the effect size also determine the significance of the inferential statistics
analysis results. In interpreting the results for this study, the significance level of the
inferential statistics analysis actually determine whether the null hypothesis can accepted or
not. Hence, when there is a low significance level, the null hypothesis is accepted. The
inferential statistical test that will be conducted is the Pearson correlation (r). The Pearson
correlation test is a parametric technique for the analyses of the significance of the
relationship between the independent and dependent variables in the study. The data
obtained

from

survey

and14analysed

using

the

SPSS 19

software. The

data obtained from the questionnaire responses will be categorized and tested to measure
the relationship between the variables categorical data, which is essential to answer the
research questions 1 and 3 and to test the hypotheses. Here, the relationships between the
responses in the questionnaires (which signify the independent and dependent variables)
were tested for their significance, a respond is significant if the alpha value is less than 0.05
(<0.01) , which means that there is less than 5% probability that the respond is not true and
the null hypothesis is accepted. If the value in the test was more than 0.05, then the null
hypothesis is rejected.

3.5.2 Qualitative Data Analysis

3.5.2.1 Data Conceptualisation and Coding
To answer research question number 2, the transcription of the recorded video will be
analysed to look for specific codes that can help to answer this research questions. This,

according to Sage (2011) is the most crucial part of qualitative data analysis. This process
involved breaking down, or coding the contents into small chunks of themes that are used to
answer the research questions. As mentioned in Mayring (2000), qualitative data analysis can
be done through two categories of procedures, which are inductive category development
and deductive category development. This study applied the deductive category
development, and followed the step model as shown here: Figure 321.2 Step Model of

deductive category application (Mayring, 2000) Pursuant to this model, the

researcher formulates a prior theoretical derived aspect for analysis, which is the research
questions, and the analysis will be conducted in connection to the text. To deductively
analyse the data, a three step coding method as mentioned in Saldana (2008) will be used as
the preliminary coding procedure. The coding was conducted in three phases, as shown in
the table below: Column 1 (Raw Data) I think the PRIMS is very good model to adopt in this
school. This is because it can help us to be more organised and help the administration 1.1.1
Column 2 (Codes) very good model Column 3 (Themes) Applicability of the PIMRS in school
can be adopted A tool for organisation Administrative tool. can help us to be more organised
help the administration Table 3.2 Coding procedure of the data ( adapted from: Saldana
(2008). The coding process for this study will be conducted manually without the use of any
coding software. This is done by using the hard copy of the columns shown earlier, where the
transcription of the interview responses will be put into the first column. The research will
analyse the responses and the emerging codes will be identified and written down in the
second column, lastly the theme of the research, in this case the applicability of the PIMRS
model un the school will be constructed based on the codes obtained in column 2. This
process will be done manually coding as it enables the researches to search for more refined
codes from the contents. In this process, the results can be obtained by revising the
categories and coding agenda for formative check of reliability and working through

the for summative check of reliability (Mayring, 2000). Furthermore, the codes and
results from this process can also be used to supplement the quantitative findings to answers
research questions 1 and 3.

3.6 Validity and Reliability

3.6.1 Formative and summative check of validity and reliability
Validity and reliability are often the main concerns for the researchers in every research,
including this study. This is because a research needs to be valid in order to demonstrate that
it measures what it intended to do (Golafshani, 2003). Meanwhile, the reliability of a research
illustrates the trustworthiness level of the research findings (Creswell, 2007). Basically,
validity and reliability tests for a mixed method research like this addresses the questions of,
How can the reader be convinced that the research fulfil its objectives and the results
obtained are representative of the truth?

3.5.2 Validity Check

3.5.2.1 Qualitative Validity Check
Potter & Levine-Donnerstein (1999) mentioned that validity check for qualitative data, as
obtained from the interview to answer research question number 2, can be made through the
use of a coding scheme as shown in the preceding section of this chapter. This coding
scheme, as mentioned earlier, will lay out the variables for this study. Therefore, prior to the
analytical process, the researcher has constructed a coding schemes on the basis of
research question number 2 of. This coding scheme provide the fundamental key concepts
which will guide the analysis such as the applicability use of the PIRMS model and the
challenges for the adaptation the model. By using these phrases as guidelines during the
coding process, the researcher had made sure that the coding process was able to come up
with the answers for the research questions.

3.5.2.2 Quantitative Validity

One of the methods to ensure the validity of the quantitative instrument is through a validity
tests to check for the external and content validity for the questionnaire. Prior to distribution,
the questionnaire was sent to an editor to checking the contents and the words used.

3.5.3 Reliability Check

3.5.3.1 Reliability Test for Quantitative Instrument
The main for testing the reliability of a quantitative instrument is to measure whether the
instrument can consistently obtain the similar responses from the respondents. In order to
test the reliability of the questionnaire, it will be pilot tested with a group of 10 teachers, who
will not be involved in the real research. The responses from this pilot group will be analysed
and tested to obtain the Cronbach Alpha (), or the alpha coefficient of the questions.
The12Cronbach alpha is shown as a function of the number of items in a

test (50),the average covariance between item pairs and the variance of the
total score oftest taken. This test is conducted through the SPSS 19 software and the for
each item will be noted and the item with low internal consistency of 0.7 need to modified
while items below 0.5 will either be dropped and replaced. The table below shows the
margins for9internal consistency; Cronbach alpha external consistency 0.9

Excellent 0.9 0.8 Good 0.8 0.7 Acceptable 0.7 0.6 Questionable
0.6 0.5 Poor 0.5 Unacceptable Table 3.3 Cronbach alphaexternal
consistency (Source: Bonnet, 2010)

3.6 Conclusion

This

chapter

delved

into methodologies employed

in

conducting the research. The

researcher has decided to adopt the28mixed methods research design, which entails
using both quantitative and qualitative content analysis research design. Both of these
designs were chosen because it can reduce the time consumed and cost for conducting this
research. The data were obtained from distributing a set of questionnaires which focuses on
that the teachers perceptions on the principals leader style and the relationship between the
teachers perception of the leaders style with their engagement at work. This questionnaire
will be distributed to 54 respondents who are the teachers teaching in the school. In addition
as series of individual, structured interview will be conducted with the teachers involved in the
survey. Their responses will be recorded transcribed and the data obtained will be analysed
through the procedure mentioned in the preceding sections. In addition, the SPSS software
will be used to analyse the quantitative data while the coding process was conducted to
obtain the desired answers for the research questions. A series of validity and reliability
checks were also conducted to ensure the research is valid and reliable.

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