Instructional Leadership Among Principals in Sabah, Malaysia: A Quantitative Study on Teachers’ Perceptions

Abstract

The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions of instructional leadership among school principals in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 63 teachers from two primary and four secondary schools in Sabah were required to respond to a questionnaire on Google Forms. Results from Kruskal-Wallis H test revealed nonsignificant differences in teachers’ perceptions of instructional leadership in relation to age and job experience, while those of Mann-Whitney U test showed nonsignificant differences in terms of gender and type of school. Results from Wilcoxon signed rank test indicated significance in six of the items at p < 0.001, while another six items were significant at p < 0.05. Additionally, 90.5 percent of teachers indicated that principals protected classroom instructional time from outside interruptions. Another 87 to 89 percent agreed that principals were visibly present at school for teachers and students, ensured that all students were present in class during lessons, and ensured that teachers taught the required curriculum. However, low percentages of teachers agreed that principals (1) recommended resources to them, visited classes regularly to observe teaching and learning, (2) planned faculty meetings for professional development, (3) met them individually to discuss student progress issues, (4) provided them with verbal or written feedback, and (5) met them to get reports about curriculum development. Lastly, in light of the findings, some recommendations were made to enhance instructional leadership among principals in Sabah, Malaysia.