UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP STYLE AND TEACHERS' JOB SATISFACTION IN A PRIVATE SCHOOL

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1 UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP STYLE AND TEACHERS' JOB SATISFACTION IN A PRIVATE SCHOOL ERNIIRDAYANTIBINTI AHMAD Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Education (Educational Management and Leadership) Faculty of Education August 2014

2 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the regulations of Universiti Teknologi MARA. It is original and is the results of my own work, unless otherwise indicated or acknowledged as referenced work. This topic has not been submitted to any other academic institution or non-academic institution for any degree or qualification. I, hereby, acknowledge that I have been supplied with the Academic Rules and Regulations for Post Graduate, Universiti Teknologi MARA, regulating the conduct of my study and research. Name of Student Student I.D. No. Programme Erni Irdayanti Binti Ahmad Master of Education (Educational Management and Leadership) Faculty Dissertation Title Education Relationship between School Principal Leadership Style and Teachers' Job Satisfaction in Private School Context: A Case Study Signature of Student Date June 2014 M... ii

3 ABSTRACT Leadership is a process where a leader attempts to influence the behavior of subordinates to achieve the organizational goals. Organizational success and effectiveness lies in the hands of effective leaders displaying effective leadership styles. By adopting the appropriate leadership styles, leaders can affect employee job satisfaction. Therefore this case study aimed to investigate the relationship between school principal leadership style and teachers' job satisfaction level. This was a descriptive correlation study using a mixed-methods research design. The study was conducted in a randomly selected private school located in the Klang valley and involved the total population of 62 teachers and the school principal. Data was collected through the use of a questionnaire and semi structured interviews with 6 randomly selected teachers from the total population of 62 teachers. The findings of the study revealed that the school principal fairly often practiced the transformational leadership style and sometimes practiced the transactional leadership style. The results also showed that transformational leadership style of the principal had a weak and significant relationship with job satisfaction. Hence the teachers expressed an overall moderate level of job satisfaction working in the school highlighting that they were most satisfied with the nature of their work and their co-workers. Besides that, the principal also pointed out that the main challenges that she faced in maintaining teachers' job satisfaction level was related to issues surrounding pay, rewards, working conditions, supervision and communication. The findings of this study imply that transformational and transactional leadership style is deemed suitable for not only maintaining teacher job satisfaction levels but also school effectiveness. Henceforth, it is pertinent that authorities in private schools also look into leadership training initiatives for private school principals. Such a move would enhance teachers' job satisfaction levels as teachers are often viewed as agents of change contributing to school success and school effectiveness. iii

4 ABSTRAK Kepimpinan adalah satu proses di mana pemimpin cuba untuk mempengaruhi tingkah laku orang bawahan untuk mencapai matlamat organisasi. Kejayaan dan keberkesanan organisasi terletak di tangan pemimpin yang memaparkan gaya kepimpinan berkesan. Dengan mengamalkan gaya kepimpinan yang sesuai, pemimpin boleh memberi kesan kepada tahap kepuasan kerja para pekerja. Oleh itu kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji hubungan antara gaya kepimpinan pengetua sekolah dan tahap kepuasan kerja guru. Ini adalah satu kajian deskriptif korelasi yang menggunakan campuran kaedah reka bentuk penyelidikan. Kajian ini dijalankan di sebuah sekolah swasta yang terpilih secara rawak terletak di Lembah Klang dan melibatkan jumlah sejumlah 62 orang gum dan pengetua sekolah. Data dikumpul melalui penggunaan soal selidik dan temu bual berstruktur separa dengan 6 orang gum yang dipilih secara rawak daripada jumlah keselumhan populasi gum iaitu 62 orang. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa pengetua sekolah agak sering mengamalkan gaya kepimpinan transformasi dan kadang-kadang mengamalkan gaya kepimpinan transaksional. Keputusan juga menunjukkan bahawa gaya kepimpinan transformasi pengetua mempunyai hubungan yang lemah dengan kepuasan kerja. Melalui kajian ini, gum-gum menyatakan tahap sederhana bagi keselumhan kepuasan kerja. Gumgum tumt menyatakan bahawa mereka amat berpuas hati dengan ciri-ciri kerja itu sendiri dan rakan sekerja mereka. Di samping itu, pengetua sekolah juga menegaskan bahawa cabaran utama yang dihadapi dalam mengekalkan tahap kepuasan kerja gum adalah berkaitan dengan isu-isu gaji, ganjaran, keadaan kerja, pengawasan dan komunikasi. Hasil kajian ini tumt mengambarkan bahawa gaya kepimpinan transformasi dan transaksional dianggap sesuai bukan sahaja untuk mengekalkan tahap kepuasan kerja tetapi juga keberkesanan sekolah. Setemsnya, amat penting bagi pihak berkuasa temtama bagi sekolah-sekolah swasta melihat inisiatif latihan kepemimpinan pengetua atau latihan pembangunan profesionalisme pengetua di sekolah swasta. Langkah sedemikian akan meningkatkan tahap kepuasan kerja gum kerana gum sering dilihat sebagai ejen pembahan yang menyumbang kepada kejayaan dan keberkesanan sekolah. IV

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Assalamualaikum w. w and Salam 1 Malaysia. The production of this thesis involves many valued contributions from a number of persons. First and foremost, I do declare my outmost gratitude to My Lord Allah, The All Mighty, The Most Merciful and The Most Graceful. Alhamdulillah, finally I managed to complete this thesis by the praise of Allah and His guidance and blessings. This project would not have been possible without the support of many people. I would like to express my special gratitude and thanks to my supervisor, Prof. Gurnam Kaur Sidhu, who provided me with many valuable lessons and gave me the encouragement and guidance needed to complete my dissertation within this semester. My special appreciation also goes to my course mates and lecturers at the Faculty of Education, UiTM, Shah Alam. They were a motivating force as they supported me throughout my journey. Special thanks also goes to the teachers and school principal of Sri Laila House School Klang for their patience, commitment and cooperation in helping me complete this dissertation for my Masters in Educational Management. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my immediate family, my husband, Mohd. Rafaee Ambo and my parents, for their patience and continuous support and encouragement while I was on my journey to obtain my postgraduate degree. Thank you. v