Ushering Change in 21st Century Schools and Who Should Lead

Abstract

In the fast-paced field of education, change in school settings has reached its momentum and the debate on who is supposed to lead the change in school settings has been intensified. Leading change in a 21st century school engages the school principal, teachers, students, the community, and the government. In driving the change, a learner's achievement should be the ultimate goal for every school leader, since learning is the core business of every educational institution. Beyond the school community, parents and people in the community have a major role to play in their child's education, success of implementing change in school, as well as government providing sponsorship/strategic support to facilitate teaching and learning. In light of this collaboration in making schools better, this research has chosen qualitative methods to explore teacher's understanding in Northern State Malaysia of the role of school principals, teachers, students, the community, and the government in leading change in 21st century school settings.