Review of conceptual models and methodologies in research on principal instructional leadership in Malaysia. A case of knowledge construction in a developing society
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2017-0025 |
| Date | 05 February 2018 |
| Published date | 05 February 2018 |
| Pages | 104-126 |
| Author | Philip Hallinger,Donnie Adams,Alma Harris,Michelle Suzette Jones |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
Review of conceptual models and
methodologies in research on
principal instructional leadership
in Malaysia
A case of knowledge construction in a
developing society
Philip Hallinger
Center for Research on Sustainable Leadership,
Mahidol University College of Management, Bangkok, Thailand and
Department of Educational Leadership and Management,
University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Donnie Adams
University of Malaya Institute of Educational Leadership,
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and
Alma Harris and Michelle Suzette Jones
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy,
University of Bath, Bath, UK
Abstract
Purpose –Over the past several decades, instructional leadership has gradually gained increasing currency
as a key role of school principals throughout much of the world. This is also the case in Malaysia where
educational research, policy and practice have brought the instructional leadership role of the principal front
and center. The purpose of this paper is to assess the conceptual models, research methods, and foci of
scholars in the study of principal instructional leadership in Malaysia over the past 30 years.
Design/methodology/approach –Systematic methods were used to identify all studies conducted in
Malaysia that had used the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) (Hallinger, 1982/1990/
2015) as the data collection instrument. This search yielded a database of 120 studies completed between 1989
and 2016 written in both English and Bahasa Malay. Common data were extracted from the 120 research
reports, coded and entered into a MS Excel spreadsheet for analysis. Quantitative methods were employed to
analyze modal trends and synthesize patterns in the data across the studies.
Findings –The search identified 120 PIMRS studies, 90 percent of which had been conducted
since 2005. This represented a surprisingly large corpus of studies. Over 75 percent of the Malaysian studies
of principal instructional leadership had been conducted as graduate (master and doctoral) theses, relatively
few of which had achieved publication in journals. The authors’analysis found that most studies had used
lower order (i.e. bivariate, direct effects) conceptual models and relied heavily on descriptive and simple
correlational statistical tests. The lack of consistent results within the database of studies was attributed
largely to limitations in research design and quality.
Research limitations/implications –The 120 PIMRS studies conducted in Malaysia comprise a surprisingly
large corpus of research on principal instructional leadership. Indeed, the Malaysian corpus is second only to the
USA in terms of the number of PIMRS studies of principal instructional leadership. Nonetheless, limitations in
the research models and methods employed in these studies suggest a need for stronger methodological training
before Malaysian scholars can achieve the goal of contributing useful knowledge to the local and global
knowledge base. Specific recommendations are offered for strengthening the quality of research.
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 56 No. 1, 2018
pp. 104-126
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-03-2017-0025
Received 8 March 2017
Revised 30 May 2017
Accepted 4 June 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this paper. The authors wish to acknowledge the funding support of the Research Grant
Council (RGC) of Hong Kong for its support through the General Research Fund (GRF 841512).
104
JEA
56,1
Social implications –The recent expansion of higher education in Malaysia –like other developing
societies –has yielded progress in the scope of research production. However, numerous challenges remain in
transforming the potential for useful knowledge production from graduate research into reality.
Originality/value –This is the first review of res earch on principal leade rship conducted in Mal aysia.
The review follows effor ts by scholars to systematic ally identify the bounda ries of knowledge in
educational leaders hip and management withi n East Asian societies (e. g. China, Singapore, Viet nam,
Taiwan and Hong Kong). Mor eover, this is the first rev iew of research that examin es the use of the
PIMRS in a single society.
Keywords Malaysia, Asia, Leadership, Principal, Instructional leadership, PIMRS
Paper type Literature review
Currently many ideas are disseminated by thinkers whose ideas are widely received across national
boundaries. To the extent that such ideas become international currency, they are “universal”
and not culture or context specific […] These ideas constitute the form of interventions or designs
for national, organizational or institutional development. There may be cultural and context
specific differences in the substantive or content changes brought about in the organizations
(Bajunid, 1996, p. 55).
Over two decades ago, Bajunid (1996) challenged the field of educational leadership and
management (EDLM) to focus explicitly on a critical nexus in the relationship between
research and development. This nexus lies in the intellectual space where knowledge about
leadership practice is contextualized to features of the societal and school settings (Clarke
and O’Donoghue, 2016; Hallinger, 2016). More specifically, Bajunid (1996) asserted the
importance of first questioning and then validating the application of “globally”
disseminated EDLM models and findings in the developing societies of Asia, Africa and
Latin America (see also Hallinger, 1995; Oplatka, 2004; Walker and Dimmock, 2002).
He further proposed that the construction of “relevant knowledge”within a particular
society should synthesize knowledge from the global context along with indigenous
practices identified in local contexts (see also Clarke and O’Donoghue, 2016; Hallinger, 2016;
Hallinger and Walker, 2017; Walker and Hallinger, 2015).
This perspective on building a “global EDLM knowledge base”has assumed greater
salience during the ensuing 20 years as the field has penetrated into more and more
developing societies (Hallinger, 2016, 2017; Hallinger and Bryant, 2013; Hallinger and
Walker, 2017; Mertkan et al., 2016; Oplatka, 2004; Oplatka and Arar, 2017). Malaysian
educators, spurred on by efforts of the Institut Aminuddin Baki (National Institute for
Educational Management), became early adopters of global research on principal
instructional leadership (Bajunid, 1996, 2008; Jones et al., 2015). In concert with a national
policy-driven focus on instructional leadership, Malaysian educators studying in graduate
programs demonstrated a growing interest in studying how this leadership model was
practiced in their society (e.g. Abas, 1999; Hamid, 1989; Lee, 1991; Jahet, 1998; Lindong, 1998;
Zamzam and Mansor, 1999; Ponnusamy, 2010; Salleh, 2014).
The current paper reviewed a corpus of 120 empirical studies of principal instructional
leadership conducted in Malaysia between 1989 and 2016. Each of the studies had used the
Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) for data collection. The review
addressed the following research questions:
RQ1. What is the scope and nature of the PIMRS knowledge base in Malaysia and how
do these features compare internationally?
RQ2. What are the measurement properties of the PIMRS instrument as used in
Malaysia?
RQ3. What conceptual models have been used to guide Malaysian empirical research
that has used the PIMRS to study principal instructional leadership?
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Principal
instructional
leadership
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