Browsing by Author "Suzana Suhailawaty Md. Sidek, Ph.D"

This study explores Malaysian school leaders’ effective practices to solve problems and make decisions in times of crisis. The study employed a qualitative research design with a multi-site case study. The data is obtained through semi-structured interviews with six secondary school leaders in a northern Malaysian state. Each participant has at least 30 years of educational experience and has served as a school leader for at least three years. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) Six-Phase Thematic Analysis is utilised to analyse the interview data. The findings of the study are presented using Bazeley’s (2009) D-C-R: Describe, Compare, Relate. The findings reveal school leaders’ practices for responding to and managing crises. During the crisis, school leaders used a variety of effective problem-solving and decision-making strategies. The findings then revealed the use of an eclectic style of leadership during the crisis. The personalised leadership practices revealed a combination of models and theories that were helpful for effective problem-solving and decision-making during the crisis. Major challenges such as learning disruptions, digital gaps and ensuring equity in learning are also highlighted by school leaders. The findings also suggested that leading a school during a crisis requires significant moral, financial, and professional support. Additionally, school leaders need better training programmes on crisis management, problem-solving, and decision-making. The findings also revealed that school leaders need empowerment and autonomy to effectively solve problems and make decisions during a crisis. Overall, the study adds to the field of education by giving useful insights for school leaders, policymakers and other stakeholders looking to improve leadership effectiveness in crisis management and how to cope with crises in educational settings in the future. Keywords: School leaders, educational leadership, problem-solving, decision-making, crisis management, educational policy.

Ability group system (AGS) can be understood as grouping students according to their academic abilities. There are pros and cons of the ability group implementation in schools. This system is still practised in modern national educational systems, and Indonesia is among such countries. The present study explored the impact of students’ socioeconomic status (SES) and the AGS implementation on selected primary students’ academic achievement in the North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. The research utilised the qualitative method and followed a case study design confined to a selected primary school that implemented the ability group system in their teaching and learning process. A total of 12 informants were selected using the purposive sampling technique. The sample consisted of four teachers with experience adopting ability groups in the teaching and learning process and eight parents who have children in different ability level classes. Data was obtained using semi-structured interviews, non-participant classroom observation, and document analysis. The findings suggest that ability group implementation in the North Sumatra Province of Indonesia has widened the academic gap among students of different social classes. Students placed in high ability groups benefited more from AGS than students placed in low ability groups in terms of learning duration, quality of teaching and learning, and care, which is reflected in the academic achievement of all ability groups. The teachers believed that there are advantages and disadvantages to ability group implementation. They showed a varied attitude towards it, with some of them in favour of the system while others rejected it. The findings demonstrate that SES background and AGS could impact students’ academic performance. Teachers who lack the competence and the training in the teaching and learning process for AGS will face challenges regarding the system. Parents with children in high ability classes were supportive of the ability group while the rest believed that students should study in heterogeneous ability classes. Overall, most of the parents agreed that SES could impact their children’ academic achievement. Therefore, the findings provide an invaluable resource for designing a proposed framework for ability group implementations. This framework would be a step forward in ensuring equal learning opportunities and benefits for students of all ability groups. Besides, the research finding gathers empirical evidence about the issue related to ability group implementation. Also, this contributed to the analysis provided by the conflict paradigm in general and the critical theory in particular regarding the relationship between social class and educational attainment, especially the application of ‘ability group.’

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of school leaders’ Strategic Leadership Practices (SLP), Quality Assurance System Practices (QASP) and School Culture (SC) on selected Risky Secondary Schools (RS) in Malaysia. The sample comprised 472 principals and deputy principals from 141 risky secondary schools across Malaysia. A set of 157-item survey questionnaire were administered among the respondents to seek their views and opinions about their own practices of strategic leadership, quality assurance system, school culture and the management of Malaysian risky schools. Being quantitative in nature, this study used descriptive statistics, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and full-fledged Structural Equation Modeling to address its seven research questions and six research hypotheses. Through the application of CFA, the study had confirmed the presence of multidimensionality of SLP, QASP and SC as being represented by a nine-factor, four-factor and three-factor model, respectively; while SC was revealed represented by four-dimensional constructs. The results revealed the absence of direct causal effects of SLP and QASP on RS, but there was strong evidence of significant causal link or influence of SC on RS. SC appeared to mediate the influence of SLP and QASP on RS. The originality of this study rests on the strength of its hypothesised models and the causal relationships found among all the variables of interest. This particular study was considered as Malaysian indigenous and first of its kind in Malaysia’s system of education. It offers practical insights to stakeholders and practitioners in the educational leadership and management field who are interested in designing, creating and developing safe school environments for Malaysia’s future schools. This study also provides opportunities for prospective researchers to verify and investigate the Strategic Leadership Quality Management RISKS Model (SLQM-RISKS model) by taking into account other variables of interests, besides SLP, QASP and SC.

The topic of service quality has been of great concern for educational institutions around the world, as it is considered the main introduction for developing and improving the educational systems of those institutions. This study aimed at investigating the impact of service quality in training centers on the practice of teaching quality through professional development for public school teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. The researcher has used the analytical descriptive approach for its suitability for the nature and objective of this research. The study community has included all teachers of the Sultanate of Oman in the academic years 2018 and 2019. The sample was chosen using the random cluster method and reached (382) male and female teachers. To achieve the objectives of the study, the study tool was built, which is a questionnaire of (69) items. Statistical analysis programs were used for data analysis including SPSS and Smart PLS. Descriptive data analysis has been conducted, and the results have been discussed based on the responses of the study sample. The study model has been checked using confirmatory factor analysis. The study results showed a direct effect for service quality in the training centers on the professional development of teachers in the public schools of the Sultanate of Oman.

This study aimed at investigating the extent of the relationship between post-basic education teachers’ practice of human relations and its effect on students’ learning motivation and their psychological health in the Sultanate of Oman, according to students’ gender variable. The study population represented eleventh and twelfth grades' students of post-basic education(11-12) in government schools of South Al Batinah Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman for the academic year 2019/2020 with a total of(10591) students. The study sample consisted of(1156) students from South Al Batinah Governorate, representing 10% of the study population. To achieve the study's goals, the researcher used the descriptive analytical correlative approach and designed a questionnaire for human relations, consisting of six axes and two scales for learning motivation and mental health. The study showed that the post-basic education teachers’ practice of human relations in the educational process came to a high degree which is(3.98). The results also showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between post-basic education teachers ’practice of human relations and students’ motivation towards learning, and there is a statistically significant relationship between post-basic education teachers ’practice of human relations and students’ mental health. The study also showed that there are statistically significant differences between the sample individuals’ estimates of students’ motivation towards learning according to the gender variable(male\ female) which came in favor of females, and there was no statistically significant differences in mental health according to the gender variable. Therefore, the researcher recommended the importance of employing human relations' teachers for students’ motivation towards learning, their mental health, changing their attitudes positively, and modifying their behavior. The researcher also recommended providing teachers, administrators, social and psychological workers in schools with educational publications related to human relations, the importance of these relationships, and their role in motivating students’ learning and mental health. The researcher also recommended, conducting a similar study on teachers’ practice of human relations in the educational process across other educational stages in the Sultanate(such as the first cycle and the second cycle), besides running workshops for the target group(teachers) via pre-planned programs