Theses - Education

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14576/32

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Browsing Theses - Education by Author "Didin Syafruddin"

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    Exploring principals' professional development : a case study of public madrasahs in Indonesia
    (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2023) Fadla Tsania Agustia; Didin Syafruddin; Bambang Sumintono
    The quality gap between public general schools and public madrasahs remains an issue of concern. Madrasah principals as the backbone of madrasah are required to enhance their competences through continuous professional development to bring about improvement. Regarding this matter, the study aimed to investigate: 1) the professional development of public madrasah principals; 2) the public madrasah principals’ perceptions on the professional development; and 3) the benefits of professional development in improving the public madrasah principals’ leadership duties. The study is significant because it sheds light on leadership professional development particularly in Indonesian public madrasahs. In addition, the study promotes knowledge sharing and idea generation among madrasah principals. Employing qualitative case study design, the study obtained the data from semi-structured interviews and documents issued by Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA). Three public madrasah principals from a city in Indonesia were interviewed to explore the professional development they have done as well as their perceptions on its implementation and benefits. The documents examined were the guidelines of madrasah principals’ appointment, continuous professional development, madrasah principals’ forum and training modules. The data were analyzed through a six-step thematic analysis that consists of getting familiar with the data, coding, searching themes, reviewing themes, defining themes and making the report. The findings revealed that: 1) The public madrasah principals developed their professionalism through a series of learning programs conducted by MoRA or other institutions, postgraduate study, madrasah principals’ forum, research and collaborations; 2) The public madrasah principals considered professional development important for upgrading skills and knowledge and they found MoRA’s trainings useful and applicable despite its limitations; 3) The public madrasah principals thought that the professional development has benefited them in executing their daily tasks, such as supervision and administration. To conclude, professional development is crucial in enhancing public madrasah principals’ competences. The results indicated that the public madrasah principals had their own comprehension on the leadership areas that were enhanced through professional development. It was also found that the public madrasah principals perceived the advantages of professional development based on their individual needs. The study provides important insights to governing bodies on better management and need assessment of professional development programs for Islamic-based schools’ leadership. The madrasah principals are suggested to maximize their potentials and resources in developing their professionalism and competences. Since the study only focused on public madrasah, future studies can explore further from the perspective of private madrasah and hire more school members as participants to yield various findings.
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    Gender, female principalship, and student's achievements : a case study of a female principal leading an Islamic school
    (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2023) Difa Mahya Zahara; Didin Syafruddin; Nina Nurmila
    The hegemonic masculinity that perpetuates the larger educational leadership culture persists to this day, making it important to understand the kind of gender construction that is working for existing female leaders, especially in the context of Islamic schools. However, these constructs also need to be understood for their implications on educational practices, such as on students' achievements. Indeed, there have been few studies that highlight these three elements of the gender of the principal, leadership, and students' achievements despite their interrelatedness. Therefore, this study seeks to explore how gender construction facilitates female principalship in an Islamic school and the implication for students' achievements. The study applies the post-structuralist feminist theory of Gendered Educational Leadership as will become clear how an Indonesian private Islamic school discursively presents the gender of the female principal. This study employs a qualitative case study of the leadership of a female principal at Al-Wahid Islamic Elementary School (pseudonym) in light of feminist perspectives. In collecting the data, observation, interviews, and analysis of documents were conducted for triangulation. Meanwhile, the data analysis is done through thematic analysis. The findings show that (1) gender concept in the Islamic school indicates binary construction of the ikhwan and akhwat categories reflected through school facilities, regulation, and social interaction. (2) Within this context, the acceptable ideal female principal is someone who performs both masculine and feminine leadership styles. In practice, the female principal also accordingly performs masculine and feminine styles. However, the overall evaluation by school members seems to stabilize it to be exclusively feminine. This masking is revealed as rooted in the essentialist view of gender and feminization of the elementary school level and its leadership position. (3) Finally, the implication is found to be central to how the principal and school members approach students' achievement issues; how the principal approaches students' achievements with a socioemotional emphasis, how the school members downplay the female principal's role in promoting students' achievements, and how there are discernible gender differences in students' achievements. Therefore, this study indicates the need to be more critical and aware of possible bias in evaluating the performance of female leaders. Further research is recommended to explore more than just one case of a female principal in this issue or on a different level of education, such as in secondary or higher education. Finally, incorporating more of the perspective of students as those who benefit from the issues of achievement is also encouraged. Keywords: Gender, leadership, female principal. gendered educational leadership, students' achievements. Therefore, this study indicates the need to be more critical and aware of possible bias in evaluating the performance of female leaders. Further research is recommended to explore more than just one case of a female principal in this issue or on a different level of education, such as in secondary or higher education. Finally, incorporating more of the perspective of students as those who benefit from the issues of achievement is also encouraged.
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    Self-actualization of student activists with disabilities in college organizations
    (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2023) Wiwin Windiana; Didin Syafruddin; Alpha Amirrachman
    This thesis explores the self-actualization of student activists with disabilities within college organizations, addressing the gap in educational participation between disabled and non-disabled students, which becomes more pronounced at higher levels of education. The research highlights the presence of resilient student activists with physical disabilities who actively enrich the university environment by defying societal stigmas and participating in various campus organizations as activists. The research aims to explore how they self-actualize within college. organizations, filling a crucial research gap by examining the connection between self-actualization and students with disabilities in higher education. The research employed a qualitative approach with a case study design. The participants are eight students with physical disabilities active in campus organizations, department heads and student association heads from two state Islamic universities. One university was known for its disability-friendly facilities, while the other had room for improvement. Data collection involved two primary methods: observation and interviews. The thesis reveals several key findings regarding student activists with disabilities in college organizations. First, it highlights the determination of these student activists to use their struggles as motivation to assist others with disabilities, as they demonstrate a commitment to addressing the needs of their peers and providing accessible resources. Second, it emphasizes the strength and belief in their abilities displayed by student activists with disabilities, who actively utilize their strengths to support others and challenge preconceptions about their limitations. Active participation in college organizations enhances their communication, socialization, and public speaking skills, contributing to their personal and intellectual growth. The insights shared by participants emphasize the importance of self-actualization to challenge societal stigmas and achieve personal growth. The findings offer valuable insights for future research in the field of disability, self-actualization, and student activism, laying a foundation for exploring the intersectionality of disability with other aspects of identity. Furthermore, the research holds potential to motivate other disabled students by demonstrating that disability does not limit one's potential for personal growth and meaningful contributions to society, thereby offering hope and inspiration for those facing barriers to higher education.
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    The role of school leadership in improving the quality of teaching and learning : the case study of the Gambia's basic and secondary education
    (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2023) Barrow, Abdou; Didin Syafruddin; Lukman Nul Hakim
    Quality in education has been the central tenant in most educational policies in the globe, including the Gambia. Thus, leadership has been perceived as a critical agency for ushering in that quality through various means. As a result, scholars in education and related fields have extensively explored the parallel between the two, including this study. Hence this thesis investigates the role of school leadership in improving the quality of teaching and learning, focusing on the Gambia’s Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education as a case. Schools in the lower basic category under this ministry were selected as participants hoping to understand leadership at the elementary level. The study aims to contribute to leadership discussion in the educational leadership discipline by providing Gambian context. Given that school leadership in connection to teaching and learning needs to be studied more in the Gambia, I hope to add to the existing literature on leadership through this thesis. I hope to provide a context for MoBSE on the nature of school leadership in elementary schools and how it relates to teaching and learning. In addition, I propose a framework that could help school leaders in their quest for school improvement. Furthermore, the study adopts a multidisciplinary approach using a sociological lens to explore the case. In doing so, I viewed schools as a social system encompassing agents and structures. As a result, I used the Realist social theory to guide the analysis process. This theory enables the researcher to explore the interplay between agency and structure (structure and culture). In light of this, the study used a qualitative research approach based on a case study design in order to investigate and provide comprehensive information on the context and dynamics of school leadership in the chosen primary schools. A purposive sampling technic was used to carefully select the participating schools in this study in consultation with the Regional Education Directorate Five South. The directorates database was accessed to identify performing and underperforming schools in the region using NAT and BTA as a yardstick. Furthermore, various data collection method was used, including interview, focus group discussion, observation, and document review. These methods allow me to comprehensively explore school leaders' and teachers’ experiences, perspectives, and practices in relation to teaching and learning in the selected schools. To analyze the data collected from the above sources, the study adopts thematic analysis to identify and interpret key themes connected to school leadership and its contribution to teaching and learning. Based on the evidence gathered through different data sources, I came up with the following conclusion. First, school leadership contributes immensely to improving quality teaching and learning coupled with the involvement of relevant stakeholders like SMC, mothers’ clubs, parents, and RED through cluster monitors. This suggests that, despite leadership having the potential to improve quality in the instructional process, they will be limited if they exclude the above mention partners in the process. Second, professional development is essential to equip teachers with more sophisticated and advanced pedagogies for improved instructional processes. Schools offering regular and required professional development opportunities have registered success in their instructional practices, eventually resulting in better performance. Third, organizational structures developed by the leadership were more helpful in addressing existing structural and cultural problems, while those inherited could not effect meaningful changes. Finally, several factors informed the leadership orientations and decision-making process of leaders in the participating schools, including cultural, social, and religious. Given that the study includes only four schools using a qualitative approach as the investigative method, the study’s findings are limited to the participating schools. Therefore, the study’s findings cannot be generalized, which is considered one of the limitations of this study. As a result, I recommend that future researchers use more generalizable methods to provide a broader context to the subject. This could be done by choosing a more diverse sample; preferably, a quantitative approach would suffice. By adopting a quantitative approach, they could take samples across the board and examine leadership roles relating to teaching and learning. Yet still, if they wish to maintain a qualitative approach, I recommend adopting an ethnographic method. This will give them more time to directly observe the participants to gather in-depth information for more relatable conclusions.