Teacher Self-Efficacy and Psychology as a Mediator Between the Role of Professional Learning Leaders and the Professional Learning of Boarding School Teachers in the South Zone

Abstract

One of the focuses of Malaysia Education Blueprint (2013-2025) is continuous professional learning to enhance the quality of the teaching profession. With this intention, the school principal needs to carry out their role as a learning leader to provide focus on learning and ensure teachers and students receive new knowledge and skills in line with the education of today. Professional learning for teachers is activities that are essential to enhance knowledge, skills, and values to improve the teachers’ teaching and learning practices. This research attempted to determine the correlation between the school principals’ role as professional learning leaders, teachers’sense of self-efficacy, and the teachers’ professional learning at South Malaysia’s boarding schools. Additionally, this research identifies the teacher’s self-efficacy as a mediator between the school principals’ role as professional learning leaders and the professional learning of teachers at South Malaysia’s boarding schools. This research is quantitative-based with a survey method of 1,033 respondents and 285 sample teachers. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data that was obtained. The research questions and hypotheses have been answered using descriptive and inferential analysis. The result shows a significant correlation between principals’ role as professional learning leaders, teachers’ self-efficacy, and teachers’ professional learning. Furthermore, teachers’ self-efficacy is a mediator between the principals’ role as professional learning leaders and the professional learning of teachers at South Malaysia’s boarding schools. The results of this study have implications for how self-efficacy in teachers functions as a mediator between the principal's position as a learning leader and the teachers' professional learning. This indicates that enhancing the principal's leadership responsibilities will boost teachers' self-efficacy, which will ultimately help to enhance teachers' professional development.