Investigating School Principals’ Learning Leadership Practices in Three Indonesian Excellent Schools

Abstract

Purpose: The present study sought to investigate school principals’ practices in enhancing learning leadership quality in three Indonesian excellent schools. Method: The study employed a case study design. A research sample of 15 participants was taken from three excellent schools, consisting of principals, vice-principals, teachers, education staff, and students’ parents. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit the participants, which was further developed by the snowball sampling technique. Data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews using open-ended questions based on instruments or questions that were examined and validated by experts in qualitative research. Findings: The findings of this study suggest that systemic learning leadership improvement involves (a) formulating the learning conception; (b) stimulating teachers to receive and perceive the learning conception; (c) developing an efficient learning culture, and (d) developing a conducive learning environment. Through input-process-output/outcome system, along with the stages of designing, organizing, mentoring, determining, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and continuous-sustainable feedback provision, a learning leadership process that develops schools’ capacity in enhancing their teachers’ competency has been identified. Implications to Research and Practice: These results can be adopted as a new model for learning leadership enhancement that will establish school capacity in improving teachers’ quality, constituting effective learning, and improving the students’ learning process.