Teachers’ Followership Behaviours and Principals’ Leadership Effectiveness in Malaysian Public Secondary Schools: A Case Study in Sarawak Southern Region

Abstract

Improving leadership effectiveness in schools is a crucial priority across organizations. However, ineffective attempts to enhance leadership effectiveness often led to wasted resources and fail to improve student performance. These failures are typically attributed to an excessive focus on leaders while neglecting other organizational factors, including followers. Unfortunately, few studies have examined the impact of followership on leadership effectiveness in schools. This study aimed to investigate the followership behaviors of teachers and the leadership effectiveness of principals in Malaysian public secondary schools, using a follower-centric approach. The study employed a quantitative survey method, utilizing Google Forms to collect data. Respondents were selected from five public secondary schools in Sarawak's Southern Region through purposive sampling. A total of 108 valid questionnaires were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 27.0 statistical software. The findings indicated that teachers exhibited high levels of followership behaviors, including Assuming Responsibility, Serving, Taking Moral Action, and Participating In Transformation. However, their levels of Challenge were only moderate. Additionally, teachers reported that their principals demonstrated all five components of effective leadership: Modeling the Way, Inspire A Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, And Encourage the Heart, at a high level. These findings provide valuable insights for academics and practitioners interested in understanding how followership actions can contribute to the success of leadership development efforts. The study contributes significantly to the field of educational leadership and management by exploring the emerging concept of educational followership. It serves as a reliable reference for those seeking to enhance leadership effectiveness in schools, offering new perspectives in this area of research.