Entrepreneurial Leadership Among Headmasters in Malaysian Primary Schools (Kepimpinan Keusahawanan Guru Besar Sekolah-sekolah Rendah di Malaysia)

Abstract

The Malaysian Education Quality Standard 2010 ( SKPM 2010 ) which has been implemented in the Malaysian education administration emphasize on creative and innovative leadership in cultivating excellence in Malaysian schools. From the literature, leadership style that has creative and innovative elements is known as entrepreneurial leadership. This survey aimed to determine Malaysian primary school teachers’ perception on headmasters’ entrepreneurial leadership level, and the difference in the levels according to school type. A total of 324 teachers from 36 primary schools in Peninsular Malaysia participated in the study. Data was analysed descriptively and inferentially. Findings show that according to the teachers, National Schools ( SK ) and National-type Tamil Schools ( SJK(T) ) headmasters practice high level of entrepreneurial leadership, while National-type Chinese Schools ( SJK(C) ) headmasters practice moderate level of entrepreneurial leadership. In addition, findings also revealed that the level of entrepreneurial leadership of SK and SJK(T) headmasters are significantly higher than SJK(C) , and there is no significant difference in the level of entrepreneurial leadership in SK and SJK(T) . The findings of this study implicates that the practice of entrepreneurial leadership is confirmed to be already in place in Malaysian primary schools. This provides a new insight as there are lack of empirical evidence related to entrepreneurial leadership in Malaysian school administration prior to this research. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Leadership; School Performance; Malaysian Primary Schools; Teacher’s Perception Standard Kualiti Pendidikan Malaysia 2010 ( SKPM 2010 ) yang telah dilaksanakan dalam pentadbiran pendidikan Malaysia menekankan kepemimpinan kreatif dan inovatif dalam memupuk kecemerlangan di sekolah-sekolah Malaysia. Dari literatur, gaya kepemimpinan yang mempunyai unsur kreatif dan inovatif dikenali sebagai kepemimpinan keusahawanan. Kajian tinjauan ini bertujuan untuk menentukan persepsi guru sekolah rendah Malaysia terhadap tahap kepemimpinan keusahawanan guru besar, dan perbezaan tahap mengikut jenis sekolah. Seramai 324 guru dari 36 sekolah rendah di Semenanjung Malaysia mengambil bahagian dalam kajian ini. Data dianalisis secara deskriptif dan inferensi. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa menurut guru, guru besar Sekolah Kebangsaan ( SK ) dan Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil ( SJK(T) ) mengamalkan kepemimpinan keusahawanan di tahap yang tinggi, sementara guru besar Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina ( SJK(C) ) mengamalkan kepimpinan keusahawanan di tahap yang sederhana. Di samping itu, hasil kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa tahap kepemimpinan keusahawanan guru besar SK dan SJK(T) adalah secara signifikan lebih tinggi daripada SJK(C) , dan tidak terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan tahap kepemimpinan keusahawanan di SK dan SJK(T) . Hasil dapatan kajian ini mengimplikasikan bahawa amalan kepemimpinan keusahawanan adalah disahkan sudah diamalkan di sekolah-sekolah rendah di Malaysia. Ini memberikan pandangan baru kerana terdapat kekurangan bukti empirikal yang berkaitan dengan kepemimpinan keusahawanan dalam pengurusan sekolah di Malaysia sebelum penyelidikan ini dijalankan. Kata Kunci: Kepimpinan Keusahawanan; Prestasi Sekolah; Sekolah Rendah Malaysia; Persepsi Guru