A CASE STUDY INTO UNDERSTANDING TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN

SELECTED SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA

TENG YAN FANG JANE

RESEARCH CODE: 06-11-0018-08

UNIVERSITI PENDIDIKAN SULTAN IDRIS

2009

IV

ABSTRACT

This study explored and provided insights into the transformational leadership in selected schools in Malaysia. Qualitative approach specifically, Case Study was employed as it is an extensive, holistic description and analysis of a phenomenon. The study was guided by three research questions: 1) What constitutes transformational leadership? 2) How does transformational leadership get constructed? 3) What are the impacts of transformational leadership? The respondents were purposively selected based on three criteria: i) the respondents were of transformational leaders; ii) they had done transforming or reshaping the schools; iii) they have been principals at schools for at least five years. In-depth interviews were used to gather information from respondents who were interviewed. A total of five interviews were conducted. The interviews were conducted with a mixture of both Bahasa Malaysia and English, as these teacher leaders commonly speak a mixture of languages. The interviews were recorded using a mini cassette recorder and a total five of ninety minutes tapes were used. Each interview lasted between forty-five minutes to one and a half hour. These in-depth interviews provided the researcher with 'real-life" experiences of these respondents in achieving a more authentic data. The trustworthiness of the study was ensured through triangulation, namely member check, peer examination and a documentation of an audit trail. The findings suggested that the dominant characteristics of transformational leadership amongst the teacher leaders are risk taking, visionary and value driven. The findings also revealed that transformational leaders played significant role in empowering followers and had the desire for learning. Both the dominant characteristic and the roles that they played had put them forefront in improving schools. Three major conclusions were drawn from the study. First, significant relationships exist between aspects of transformational leadership and teachers' own reports of changes in both attitudes toward school improvement and altered instructional behavior. Second, transformational leaders as its principal had shown remarkably improvement in a conducive and successful environment. Third, understand transformational leadership enhances school-community relations. The study has provided valuable information to stakeholders to link educational practice and national development.

V

ABSTRAK

SATU KAJIAN KES TERHADAP KEPIMPINAN TRANSFORMASIONAL DI SEKOLAH-SEKOLAH TERPILIH DI MALAYSIA

Kajian ini bertujuan mendalami kefahaman terhadap kepimpinan transformasional di kalangan pemimpin-pemimpin di sekolah terpilih di Malaysia. Rekabentixk kajian kualitatif menggunakan kaedah Kajian Kes telah digunapakai dalam penyelidikan fenomena ini. Kajian ini beipandukan kepada soalan-soalan berikut: 1) Apakah ciri utama kepimpinan transformasional; 2) Apakah amalan yang membentuk kepimpinan transformasional dan 3) Apakah implikasi kepimpinan transformasional? Responden telah diplih khas berdasarkan tiga kriteria: 1) pemimpin itu terdiri daripada pemimpin transformasional; 2) telah membuat perubahan dan pembaharuan di sekolah; 3) merupakan pemimpin sekolah sekurang-kurangnya lima tahun. Teknik pengutipan utama data dalam kajian ini adalah temubual. Sebanyak lima temubual telah dijalankan. Temubual dijalankan dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Bahasa Melayu dan ianya telah dirakamkan dan kemudian ditranskrip verbatim. Analisis data adalah manual dengan menggunakan perbandingan sekat telah berjaya menghasilkan tema-tema berkaitan. Isu etika telah diambilkira. Untuk tujuan kesahihan kajian, teknik pemiksaaan rakan? traingulasi dan semakan ahli telah digunakan. Dapatan kajian mencadangkan responden yang mempunyai ciri-ciri utama kepimpinan transformasional ialah sanggup mengambil risiko, mempunyai wawasan dan mengutamakan nilai. Responden juga menunjukkan amalan penurunan kuasa dan amalan pembelajaran sepanjang hayat. Kekuatan ciri-ciri dan amalan telah membolehkan pengurusan sekolah yang lebih rapi. Tiga kesimpulan telah dirumus dari kajian ini. Pertama, amalan kepimpinan transformasional yang berkesan telah membawa kesinambungan dari segi sikap guru terhadap kemajuan sekolah. Kedua, amalan kepimpinan transfoimasional telah membawa kemajuan kepada sekolah dan sifat instruksional guru. Ketiga, kefahaman terhadap kepimpinan transformasional telah memperkukuhkan perhubungan di antara sekolah dengan komuniti. Kajian ini telah menyumbang informasi yang bernilai untuk stakeholder demi perkembangan pendidikan dan pembangunan negara.

VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration Acknowledgement Abstract Abstrak Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

Introduction Background of the study The Statement of the Problem Research Questions Purpose of the Study Significance of the Study Definitions of Terms

Page

ii iii iv v vi viii ix x

1 2 4 4 4 5 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction 7 2.1 Leadership 8 2.2 Leadership Traits 9 2.3 Leadership Paradigms 10 2.4 Transformational Leadership 11

2.4.1 Idealized Influence 12 2.4.2 Inspirational Motivation 12 2.4.3 Intellectual Stimulation 13 2.4.4 Individualized Consideration 13

2.5 Management and Leadership 13 2.6 Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership 15 2.7 Previous Studies on Leadership 15 2.8 Conceptual Framework 16

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction of Methodology 18 3.1 Research Design 19 3.2 Case study as Research Strategy 20 3.3 Case Selection 21 3.4 Selection of Respondents 21 3.5 Data Collection 22

Vll

3.6 Accessibility into Selected Schools 23 3.6.1 Gaining Entry 23

3.7 Pilot Study 24 3.7.1 Interview Guide 24 3.7.2 Interview Questions 25 3.7.3 Review of Documents 25 3.7.4 Field Notes 26

3.8 Data Analysis 27 3.8.1 Analyzing and Interpreting the Case Study

Evidence 27 3.9 Validity and Reliability 30 3.10 Rigor and Trustworthiness of the Research 31 3.11 Trustworthiness 32 3.12 Ethics 33 3.13 Assumptions and Biases 34 3.14 Limitations of the Study 35 3.15 Summary 35

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.0 Introduction of Chapter 37 4.1 The Teacher Leaders 3 8 4.2 Biographical Profile of Respondents 38 4.3 The Findings 42 4.4 What Constitutes Transformational Leadership? 43 4.5 How Does Transformational Leadership Get Constructed? 47 4.6 The Impacts of Transformational Leadership 51 4.7 Summary of the Findings 55 4.8 Discussion 56

4.8.1 Transformational Leadership 58 4.8.2 The Impact of Transformational Leadership 58

CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Summary 60 5.2 Conclusions 60 5.3 Implications for Practice and Theory 60

5.3.1 Implications for Practice 61 5.3.2 Implications for Theory 61

5.4 Recommendation for Future Research 63

REFERENCES APPENDIXES

64

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table

Leadership Paradigm

Biographical Profile of Respondents

Page

10

39

IX

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

2.1 Matching Leadership Styles to the Leadership Paradigm 14

2.2 Conceptual Framework 17

3.1 Process of Data Analysis 29

X

LIST OF ABREVIATIONS

GB(Guru Besar) Headmaster

GPK(Guru Penolong Kanan) Senior Assistant

GPK HEM

(Guru Penolong Kanan Hal Edwal Pelajar) Senior Assistant (Students' Affair)

SK(Sekolah Kebangsaan) National School

SMK(Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan) Secondary School

PIBG(Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru) Parents Teachers Association

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

In the last 2 decades, there has been a growing research attention for the impact of

school leadership on school effectiveness and school improvement. Most theories of

leadership development stressed how to be effective within the status quo - what's

called transactional leadership. A leader using these styles can be very influential, but

they change very little. To use a popular expression, these people are good at

"rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic", but they can't keep the ship from sinking.

Based on research results, the relationship between transformational leadership and

organization performance has been analyzed. This result holds for different

organizational contexts and different success criteria. Therefore, this study on the

impact school transformational leadership on the school effectives and school

improvement is of utmost importance.

2

1.1 Background Of The Study

The changing face of leadership in today's increasingly dynamic and dispersed world

presents management practitioners and scholars alike with considerable challenges.

Are current ways of leading really appropriate for today's schools or organizations?

What kind of leadership is appropriate for different kinds of climate in schools? What

are future-thinking schools doing about developing leadership tomorrow? How

leadership should relate to its context, and is there any one best approach? And how

do all those theories and ideas about leadership relate to one another?

To try to answer these and other questions, contemporary case studies are

needed to illustrate how diverse leadership can be in 'successful' schools. In today's

interconnected, global world, traditional ideas about leadership are being challenged

as both large and small schools strive to continuously adapt to changing internal and

external environments. Future leadership will depend on many factors, some of which

most of us probably cannot yet even envision. This study based on case study provides

some clues.

Furthermore, the beginning of the 21st century saw an upsurge of interest on

educational reform focused on school improvement as a total school effect, among

world educational scholars. Much of educational debates of the reform process

clustered not only the role, function and effectiveness of school in responding societal

needs but also whether teacher leaders have equipped themselves with the qualities to

become the effective transformative teacher leaders?

Research and reports have indicated that leader is the most important and

influential individual in any schools (Ross, 1999; Sankowsky, 1995 and Bass, 1990).

It is his leadership that sets the tone of the school, the climate for learning, the level of

professionalism and morale of teachers and the degree of concern for what students

may or may not become (Chew, 2007). If a school is vibrant and innovative, it has a

reputation for excellence in teaching; if students are performing the best of their

ability, one can almost point out to the principal's leadership as the key success

(Ishak, 2003).

3

In addition, The New Enterprise Logic of School has revealed that a new

concept of system school leadership' is emerging as it states, 'Effective in

transformative leadership and curriculum management are interwined and go hand in

hand in any educational establishment is to fulfill its role of imparting knowledge to

students (Yeo, 2006). Besides that, Chew (2007) reported to enhance quality

education, 'The ultimately purpose of leadership training is to help individuals to

become independent and self regulated learners as knowledge is not entirely fixed and

transmittable but is something that school leaders actively construct through personal

and social experiences. Also, the most important thing that school leaders should learn

is how to learn" (p. 23).

And Bass (1990) believes to learn and to share the vision of organization's

dynamics is through the influence of transformational leaders' knowledge and skills.

Obviously, transformational leadership motivate their followers to do more that they

really expect they can do, increasing the sense of importance and value of the tasks,

stimulating them to surpass their own interest and direct themselves to the interest of

the team, organization or larger community and raising the level of change to a higher

level.

However, amidst the reform and changes that took place today, the fact remain

that there is a significant lack in understanding the experiences and the ways teacher

leaders transform themselves to be the true authentic transformative leaders. Research

also shows that such effects have yet to be established by credible studies. So the

primary concern of this study is to have in-depth understanding about the

transformational leadership skills, styles and characteristics amongst the teacher

leaders in selected schools in Malaysia.

4

1.2 The Statement Of The Problem

School leadership research has found that transformational approaches have positive

effects on teachers. For example, teachers in school characterized by transformational

principal behavior are more likely than teachers in other schools to express

satisfaction with their principal. However, little is known about the impact of the

transformational on the school effectiveness and school improvements. The literature

in educational leadership offers no single conception of the process that constitutes

transformational leadership (Hay, 2008). Thus, this study fills the gap by analyzing

the impact of transformational leadership to the school effectiveness in terms of

students' academic excellence, teachers' commitment and organizational values. The

impact of the transformational leadership in schools setting is most needed and timely.

The study is guided by the following questions.

1.3 Research Questions

The research questions are:

1. What constitutes transformational leadership?

(a). What are the characteristic of transformational leadership?

2. How does transformational leadership get constructed?

(a). What are the main traits of the developing transformational leadership?

3. What are the impacts of transformational leadership?

(a). What are the impacts of transformational leadership towards school, teachers and

community?

1.4 Purpose Of The Study

The main purpose of the study is to understand how far has transformative leadership

being appreciated and practiced provide a glimpse of their experiences and practice on

5

their transformative leadership qualities which have significant impact to the schools.

Thus, it is timely to address issues lie within these teacher leaders who had played an

effective role in going beyond to change the school forces. In short, theoretically, the

study provides greater understanding to advance the notion of transformational

leadership. From the practical perspective, the suggested model obtain serve as input

in developing transformational leadership programs or leadership training program.

1.5 Significance Of The Study

This study contributes to the existing knowledge in educational research by drawing

on individual accounts of the lived experience of leadership experience. This study

attempts to weave the individual and the contextual perspectives together to advance

our understanding of the complex issues of leadership.

Theoretically, the study from a greater understanding of leadership experience

within the teacher leaders should contribute to the notion of leadership. From the

practical perspective, the model of leadership experience and the themes obtained

serves as input for the design and facilitation for leaders which serve importance to

educational stakeholders.

1.6 Definitions Of Terms

Educational leader - Educational leaders are needed to ensure that goals are

accomplished. Leaders set and seek to achieve goals, find resources, develop

consensus, adapt to their environment, maintain cohesiveness within the

system, and preserve a unique system of values and work flow. Leaders must

develop their own minds in systems terms and see their organizations

holistically, so they may transfer knowledge from one setting to another

(Sigford, 2006).

6

Instructional leadership - Instructional leadership encompasses hierarchies

and top-down leadership, where the leader is supposed to know the best forni

of instruction and closely monitor teachers' and students' work (Sankowsky,

1995).

Teacher leader - They are head teachers or the principals in the primary or

secondary schools entrusted to manage and lead a school.

Transactional leader - Transactional leadership is sometimes called

bartering. It is based on exchange of services for various kinds of rewards.

Transactional leaders tend to be directive and sometimes dominating. The

transactional leaders tend to be action oriented (Bass, 1990).

Transformational leader - Transformational leadership is a leadership style

where one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and

followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality

(Downtown, 1973).

7

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

The main purpose of this study is to explore the transformational leadership among

teacher leaders in selected schools. This study is specifically concern with the

experiences underwent by these teacher leaders in the journey of transforming the

schools to the current situation. Fundamentally, the study attempts to seek to answer

to the three research questions which are established based on the problems. The

research questions are:

1. What constitutes transformational leadership?

2. How does transformational leadership get constructed?

3. What are the impacts of transformational leadership?

Therefore to understand the phenomenon, I decided to write the literature

review into five main sections and followed by a summary. The first section proposes

four leadership paradigms as a device to help established a common understanding.

8

The second section looks into transformational leadership and its four

dimensions. Literature on transformational leadership provides a vantage view on the

notion of transformational leadership.

The third section looks into transformational leadership versus transactional

leadership to provide a justification for transformational leadership skills in practice.

The fourth section reviews the characteristics of an authentic transformational

leadership.

The final section is an account of previous studies on leadership in Malaysia

context. It provides the scenario of transformational leadership in schools in Malaysia

and it also shows evidence of research carried out thus far. Finally, the literature

provides a summary of the chapter along with a general conclusion about each section

discussed and the conceptual framework was established.

2.1 Leadership

What makes a good leader? Context plays a key role in deciding whether certain

approaches to leadership will be effective or not. Schools need special leadership

because schools are special places. Schools share with other enterprises common

managerial requirement that insure basic levels of organizational purpose,

competence, reliability, structure and stability. But schools must respond as well to the

unique political realities they face. After all, schools belong to parents and children;

interact with the needs of local business and other community groups.

According to a report (Chew, 2007), school principal is the most important and

influential individual in any school. It is his leadership that sets the tone of the school,

the climate for learning, the level of professionalism and morale of teachers and the

degree of concern for what students may or may not become. If a school is vibrant,

innovative, child-centered places; If it has a reputation for excellence in teaching; if

9

students are performing to the best of their ability, one can almost point to the

principal's leadership as the key success.

Hallinger and Heck (1998) outlined few factors as effective educational

leaders. Effective educational leaders frame goals, communicate goal, evaluate

instruction, coordinates curriculum, monitors progress and so forth. Leithwood (1996)

state that, "the effectiveness of leadership will ultimately be tested by its ability to

prepare teachers to meet the challenges of change. In a situation where the past is all

too familiar, the future untried and the present uncertain, a clearly defined

understanding of what makes an effective leadership is of utmost importance.

Learning how to use that understanding to make more effective leaders is essential"

(p. 167).

2.2 Leadership Traits

Some people sit and pontificate about whether leaders are made or born. The true

leader ignores such arguments and instead concentrates on how to become better at

leading people. In this study, five leadership traits that people look for in a leader is

being discussed. For example, if one is able to increase the skill in the five traits, he or

she will make it easier for people to want to follow him or her. The less time one has

to spend on getting people to follow you, the more time him or her has to spend

refining exactly where he or she wants to go and how to get there. The five leadership

traits are: 1. Honest; 2.Forward-Looking; 3.Competent; 4. Inspiring and 5. Intelligent

(Leithwood and Jantzi, 2000).

In sum, the skills at exhibiting these five traits are strongly correlated with

people's desire to follow a person's lead. Exhibiting these traits will inspire

confidence in the leadership. Not exhibiting these traits or exhibiting the opposite of

these traits will decrease the leadership influence with those around people (Shields,

2002)

10

2.3 Leadership Paradigms

Avery (2004) presents four leadership paradigms. It is depicted in Table 2.1. It

presents four broad sets of ideas, which are termed Classical, Transactional, and

Visionary and Organic leadership. The paradigms are intended as four illustrative

points along several continua, rather than as four categories or types.

Table 2.1

Leadership Paradigms

Leadership Characteristic

Classical Transactional Visionary Organic

Major era

Basis of leadership

Source of follower commitment

Vision

Antiquity -1970s Leader dominance through respect and/or power to command and control

Fear or respect of leader. Obtaining rewards or avoiding punishment. Leader's vision Is unnecessary for follower compliance.

1970s-mid 1980s Interpersonal influence over and consideration of followers. Creating appropriate management environments Negotiated rewards, agreements and expectations.

Vision is not necessary, and may not ever be articulated.

Mid-1980s -2000 Emotion-leaders inspire followers.

Sharing the vision; leader charisma may be involved; individualized consideration. Vision is central. Followers may contribute to leader's vision.

Beyond 2000

Mutual sense-making within the group. Leaders may emerge rather than be formally appointed.

Buy in to the group's shared values and processes; self-determination.

Vision emerges from the group; vision is a strong cultural element.

(Source: Avery, G.C, 2004, p. 19)

In Table 1, the paradigms are arguably arranged along various continua, which

reflect different aspects of leadership. For example, a basic dimension along which the

paradigms are arranged is time, reflecting the era of their emergence in the leadership

literature. Classical, the oldest paradigm with its origins in antiquity was the

prevailing view until 1970s, when the human relations movement led to a focus on

11

followers and their environment. This gave rise to the Transactional paradigm. While

the Classical paradigm can still be found today, Transactional and other paradigms

have emerged to challenge it as the primary one. From the mid-1980s and until 2000,

a major paradigm shift led to the emergence of Visionary leadership with its emphasis

on followers' commitment to a vision of the future. Finally, the paradigms are shifting

again in a distributed, fast-moving, global environment, this time to a paradigm new to

many leaders, termed Organic leadership (Avery, 2004).

However, in short, no one paradigm offers the perfect leadership solution for all

contexts. Each suffers limitations that may make it appropriate in a given situation.

Many factors influence whether existing paradigms can easily change, including the

size of units in an organization, the nature of operations in different parts of an

organization, as well as other systems, structural and cultural factors.

2.4 Transformational Leadership

There are various conceptions towards transformational leadership. One of the

common one put forth by Downtown is that transformational leadership is a

leadership when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders

and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality

(Downtown, 1973).

At the same time, Burns (1998) first introduced the concepts of

transformational and transactional leadership in his treatment of political leadership,

but this term is now used in organizational psychology as well. According to Burns,

the differences between transformational and transactional leadership is what leaders

and followers offer one another. Transforming leadership occurs when or more

persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another

to higher levels of motivation and morality. Their purposes, which might have started

out as separate but related, as in the case of transactional leadership, become fused.

12

The heart of transformational leadership is the leader's desire and ability to

raise the consciousness of others by appealing to powerful moral values and ideals.

The leader is able to transform followers beyond the dishonorable emotions of

jealously, greed and fear to higher principles of liberty, justice and humanitarianism.

As Burns (1983) would say, the followers are raised from their "everyday selves" to

become "better selves." Transformational leaders influence followers by serving as a

teacher, mentor and coach. They seek to elevate and empower others to a higher level.

Transformational leaders can be found within any organization and at any level in the

organization. This is a leader that can influence superiors, peers or subordinates.

Bernard Bass (1990) expanded upon the earlier ideas of Burns with his own

theory of transformational leadership. He defines this supervision in terms of the

leader's motivational effect on followers. They feel loyalty, trust, admiration and

respect toward the transformational leaden The followers are motivated to serve and

achieve more than they originally were expected to. They are inspired to achieve

higher-order needs and are made more aware of the organization's needs for their

unique skills and talents. Today, it is acknowledged that there are four various types of

transformational leadership behavior. Bass (1990) outlined four main components of

transformational leadership.

2.4 1 Idealized Influence

The degree to which the leader behaves in admirable ways that cause followers

to identify with the leader. Charisma leaders display convictions, take stands

and appeal to followers on an emotional level. This is about the leader having a

clear set of values and demonstrating them in every action, providing a role

model for their followers.

2.4.2 Inspirational Motivation

The degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and

inspiring to followers. Leaders with inspirational motivation challenge

followers with high standards, communicate optimism about future goals, and

provide meaning for the task at hand. Followers need to have a strong sense of

13

purpose if they are to be motivated to act. Puipose and meaning provides the

energy that drives a group forward. It is also important that this visionary

aspect of leadership be supported by communication skills that allow the

leader to articulate his or her vision with precision and power in a compelling

and persuasive way.

2.4.3 Intellectual Stimulation

The degree to which the leader challenges assumptions takes risks and solicits

followers' ideas. Leaders with this trait stimulate and encourage creativity in

their followers.

2.4.4 Individualized Consideration

The degree to which the leader attends to each follower's needs, acts as a

mentor or coach to the follower and listens to the follower's concern and

needs. This also encompasses the need to respect and celebrate the individual

contribution that each follower can make to the team.

The end result of transformational leadership is empowering others to

take more initiative in their work, inspiring them to be more committed and

building their self-confidence. Of course, these activities can't take place in a

vacuum. Transformational leaders nurture an organizational culture by giving

attention to priorities and concerns, maturely reacting to crisis situations, role

modeling, wise allocation of rewards, and by defining the criteria for success.

2.5 Management and Leadership

Bass (1990), proposed management (Transactional) and leadership (Transformational)

can be regarded as forming two ends of continuum as in Figure 2.1.

14

Management and

Leadership styles

Transformational

(inspirational)

leadership

Transactional

(Management)

Leadership Paradigms

Organic

Visionary

Transactional

Classical

(Source: Avery, G.C., 2004, p. 48 (see also in Bergsteiner and Avery, 2003)

Figure 2.1 Matching leadership styles to the leadership paradigms

In management, the focus is on managing day-to-day system and processes

with relatively little need for providing a larger vision to inspire workers. At the

Transformational end of the management-leadership continuum, the leaders' main

task is to inspire people to work towards a shared vision and strategy rather than

managing systems, processes and operations. In between, manager and leader role

involved varying degrees of overlapping activities. The closer to one end the other, the

more dominant that role becomes. In the middle, management and leadership

functions are evenly balanced.

Although the Visionary leader listens to and considers followers views, this

leader's role is to meld the group into one entity, united behind one of the visions and

views raised. Providing the leader can shift the followers away from the current vision

to some new vision, adaptiveness can be more substantial than under the Classical and

Transactional paradigms. However, adherence to a strongly held vision and values can

reduce the organization's ability to change, particularly when organizational structures

and systems have been aligned to achieve a particular vision. Responsibility and

accountability for outcomes under Visionary leadership still reside with the leader.

15

Visionary leadership appears to fit primarily with divisional and organic structures, in

both dynamic and stable environments.

2.6 Transactional Vs Transformational Leadership

Transactional leadership is complementary with what leadership is about deployment

and management of people and resources to get results. It is based o an exchange

services for various kinds of rewards that the leader can give. Transactional leadership

is a first stage and central to day-to-day routines carried out. It works only when both

and followers understand and are in agreement about tasks are important.

Transactional leadership is essential getting the job done but transformational

leadership is about providing the emotional glue that causes organizations where

people in them to excel.

Burns' (1990) view is that transformational leadership is more effective than

transactional leadership, where the appeal is to more selfish concerns. An appeal to

social values thus encourages people to collaborate, rather than working as

individuals. He also views transformational leadership as an ongoing process rather

than the discrete exchanges of transactional approach.

2.7 Previous Studies on Leadership

A tremendous amount of research on leadership has been focused on leaders

themselves or elements of leadership (Casey Foundation, 1998)). For examples, many

researches have been examining leaderships programs in both private and public

sector. Jantzi and Leithwood (1991) in their study found that transformational

leadership in education has positive influence towards the cooperation among teachers

in school. Leithwood (1992, 1993) concluded that transformational leadership

enhance development and collaborative programs.

16

In Malaysia, different aspects of leadership research have been conducted. For

instance, Yeo (2006) reported that excellent principals in the secondary practice

transformative leadership in some major aspects such as inspirational motivation,

idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, individualized considerations, continuous

learning and mobilizing resources.

Loy (2003) in his study carried out towards teachers revealed that

transformational school leaders demonstrate six main perceptions of the

characteristics. Meanwhile, in 2002, (Foo) who did a quantitative study on

transformational leadership among principals at the Pudu Zone in Kuala Lumpur

found that school leaders who practiced transformational leadership has direct

influence on the satisfaction levels among the teachers.

Ishak's (2001) findings show that transformative leadership contributed

significantly towards teachers' commitment and teachers' satisfaction. Zainab (1998)

reported that school leaders exhibited characteristics of transformational leadership

style in their management. The effect of the leadership has brought high satisfaction

level among the teachers. Thus, teacher productivity has increased.

All in all, research on transformational leadership has been focused on

excellent principals or elite schools. An exploration of transformational leadership in

common school should provide insights of the state of art of transformational

leadership in Malaysia schools' context.

2.8 Conceptual Framework

Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework is produced to facilitate in the

data collection. The framework is used to guide in developing the question guides in

the early part of data collection. The framework is made up of three major

components: 1). The characteristic of Transformational Leadership 2)