School Principal Leadership in Fostering Students’ Character Development: Discipline, Responsibility, and Independence at SMP Negeri 4 Pekanbaru

School organizational culture in Islamic education requires ethical foundations that can support teachers' professional responsibility without neglecting their well-being. This article develops an analytical framework for examining the internalization of amanah (trustworthiness and accountability) and ihsan (excellence and care) in relation to teachers' organizational commitment at SDIT Ar-Raihan, Pagar Alam, Indonesia. A qualitative single-case study is proposed, involving purposively selected school leaders, teachers, and educational staff, with semi-structured interviews, nonparticipant observations, document analysis, and reflexive thematic analysis. A synthesis of recent scholarship indicates that value-based culture may influence affective and normative commitment through trustworthy leadership, professional meaning, organizational justice, and collegial support; continuance commitment also depends on employment conditions. These relationships are presented as propositions requiring field verification, not as empirical findings from the school. The framework offers an ethically grounded direction for examining teacher commitment and improving Islamic school management.

Madrasah leadership is increasingly expected to translate educational regulations and institutional visions into accountable practices that strengthen teaching, organizational culture, and Islamic character formation. This study is designed to examine how ethical, servant, spiritual, and authentic leadership are interpreted and enacted in educational policy at MTs Darussalam Lubuklinggau. A qualitative single-case study will be conducted. Purposively selected participants are expected to include the madrasah principal, vice-principals, teachers, educational staff, committee representatives, and selected students, subject to access and ethical approval. Data will be generated through in-depth interviews, non-participant observations, and analysis of institutional documents. The analysis will combine iterative data condensation, display, and conclusion verification with theory-informed and inductive thematic coding. Source and method triangulation, participant checking, and an audit trail will be used to strengthen trustworthiness. Since fieldwork has not yet been conducted, this manuscript does not report empirical findings. Its intended contribution is an analytical framework connecting four complementary leadership perspectives with the stages of madrasah policy formulation, communication, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

This study investigated the challenges facing head teachers in providing leadership support for the implementation of the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) in public primary schools in Muleba District, Tanzania. The study was guided by one specific objective: to identify the challenges faced by head teachers in providing leadership support for CBC implementation. Grounded in Hallinger and Murphy's (1985) Instructional Leadership Theory, the study adopted a pragmatic paradigm with a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. The target population comprised 2,166 individuals from 237 public primary schools. Data were collected using structured questionnaires from 112 respondents (100 classroom teachers and 12 heads of schools), semi-structured interviews with head teachers and one School Quality Assurance Officer, and document review. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics through SPSS Version 22, while qualitative data were analysed thematically following Braun and Clarke's (2006) framework. The findings revealed seven interconnected challenges: inadequate CBC training for head teachers themselves (84.8%), inadequate funding preventing leadership support (81.3%), heavy administrative workloads (76.8%), unclear government support (76.8%), financial constraints generally (67.9%), overcrowded classrooms (64.3%), and teacher resistance to CBC changes (52.7%). The study concluded that head teachers' effectiveness in leading CBC implementation is systematically undermined by systemic factors beyond their control. The study recommends mandatory CBC training for head teachers, reduction of administrative workloads, increased capitation grants with CBC-specific allocations, clear national implementation guidelines, and investment in school infrastructure.

ABSTRACT Character development at the elementary school level plays an important role in shaping students’ attitudes and behaviors in accordance with educational values. This study aims to describe the role of teachers in fostering discipline, responsibility, compliance with norms, and fulfillment of obligations through Pancasila Education among fourth-grade students at UPTD SD Negeri 077272 Lolofaoso Tabaloho. This study employed a qualitative approach with a descriptive design. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentation, involving the school principal as the key informant, the fourth-grade teacher as the main informant, and three students selected through purposive sampling as additional informants. Data analysis consisted of data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that teachers foster character development by integrating character values into classroom instruction and daily school routines. These efforts are implemented through role modeling, guidance, appreciation, motivation, assignments, and the enforcement of school rules to cultivate discipline, responsibility, compliance with norms, and fulfillment of obligations. Thus, Pancasila Education serves as a means of character development through role modeling and habituation, encouraging students to apply these values in their daily lives. ABSTRAK Pembinaan karakter pada jenjang sekolah dasar berperan dalam membentuk sikap dan perilaku siswa sesuai nilai-nilai pendidikan. Penelitian ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan peran guru dalam membina karakter disiplin, tanggung jawab, kepatuhan terhadap norma, dan pelaksanaan kewajiban melalui pembelajaran Pendidikan Pancasila pada siswa kelas IV UPTD SD Negeri 077272 Lolofaoso Tabaloho. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan jenis deskriptif. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi dengan kepala sekolah sebagai informan kunci, guru kelas IV sebagai informan utama, serta tiga siswa yang dipilih melalui purposive sampling sebagai informan tambahan. Analisis data meliputi pengumpulan data, reduksi data, penyajian data, dan penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa guru membina karakter melalui integrasi nilai-nilai karakter dalam pembelajaran dan pembiasaan di sekolah. Upaya tersebut diwujudkan melalui keteladanan, bimbingan, apresiasi, motivasi, pemberian tugas, serta penerapan tata tertib untuk melatih kedisiplinan, tanggung jawab, kepatuhan terhadap norma, dan pelaksanaan kewajiban. Dengan demikian, pembelajaran Pendidikan Pancasila menjadi sarana pembinaan karakter melalui keteladanan dan pembiasaan yang mendorong siswa menerapkan nilai-nilai tersebut dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.

ABSTRACT. The relationship between instructional leadership behaviours and lecturers’ job performance is important in higher education. Understanding this relationship can help academic leaders support lecturers and improve teaching, research, and academic development. Therefore, this study determines how instructional leadership behaviour of heads of departments (HoDs) influences lecturers’ job performance at the major public universities in Kumasi, Ghana. A cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data from lecturers in public universities at a single point in time. The sample includes public university lecturers. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 155 lecturers to provide quantitative data. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations, along with the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The findings indicate that HoDs demonstrate active involvement in setting institutional direction, monitoring instruction, and supporting staff development. However, the findings reveal insufficient mentorship to support lecturers’ professional learning and performance. This lack of mentorship could limit opportunities for developing leadership potential among teachers and supporting their career growth. Lecturers displayed effectiveness in their teaching practices. The statistical results confirmed a significant effect of instructional leadership behaviours on lecture delivery (F(4,98) = 20.382, p < 0.01). It was recommended that HoDs should communicate departmental goals clearly and ensure that lecturers understand their teaching, assessment, research, and administrative responsibilities. Additionally, the strong positive correlation between the communication of institutional objectives and lecturer effectiveness highlights the need for university goals, teaching expectations, and performance standards to be communicated clearly across departments.