The Role of Instructional Leadership in Enhancing Teachers’ Self-Efficacy: An Empirical Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70148/rise.v2i3.5Keywords:
teacher self-efficacy, headteachers, school learning climate, instructional leadershipAbstract
Instructional leadership plays a vital role in education as it significantly influences teachers’ self-efficacy, particularly in enhancing their motivation and performance. This study aims to determine the level of headteachers’ instructional leadership practices and teachers’ self-efficacy. It also examines the relationship between these two variables and identifies key instructional leadership factors contributing to teachers’ self-efficacy. This research adopted a cross-sectional survey design grounded in a quantitative methodology. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 80 primary school teachers in the district of Tuaran, Sabah. Findings revealed that both the level of instructional leadership practices and teachers’ self-efficacy were high. Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship between headteachers’ instructional leadership and teachers’ self-efficacy. Multiple regression analysis further identified that the dimension of creating a conducive school learning climate has the greatest influence to enhance teachers’ self-efficacy. These findings suggest that effective instructional leadership is essential in fostering teachers’ confidence and performance. Implications from the study urge the Ministry of Education to refine educational policies, offer leadership training, and improve school practices. In conclusion, headteachers must adopt creative and innovative instructional leadership approaches to strengthen teachers’ self-efficacy and improve overall school effectiveness.
References
Abdul Hamid, S., Ismail. A. & Zaharudin, R. (2021). Kepimpinan teknologi guru besar sekolah rendah harian: satu kajian rentas di Kedah. Jurnal Kepimpinan Pendidikan, 8(3), 38-54.
Abdullah, N. S., Hamzah, M. I., & Nor, M. Y. M. (2022). Amalan kepimpinan instruksional guru besar dan hubungannya dengan motivasi guru sekolah rendah. Jurnal Dunia Pendidikan, 4(1), 1-12.
Abu, A. R., Asimiran, S., Abdullah, A., & Alias, S. N. (2023). Pasca covid-19: Cabaran pemimpin instruksional terhadap kemenjadian pelajar sekolah rendah. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 8(3), e002181-e002181. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v8i3.2181
Adams, D. (2023). Education in Malaysia: Developments, reforms and prospects. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Adnan, M., Azrien, M., Mamat, A., Ibrahim, M. B., Mohamed, A., & Hassanein, I. (2019) Teacher efficacy and commitment in teaching Arabic: A correlational study. Religación, 4, 57-66.
Alai, E. R. S., & Abdullah, Z. (2024). Pengaruh mediator komuniti pembelajaran profesional ke atas kepimpinan instruksional pengetua dan efikasi kendiri guru dalam kalangan guru MRSM. JuPiDi: Jurnal Kepimpinan Pendidikan, 11(4), 41-62.
Ambon, J., Alias, B. S., Komariah, A. & Mansor, A. N. (2024). The impact of continuous professional development on teaching quality: A systematic review. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 13(6), 3838-3847. DOI: 10.11591/ijere.v13i6.30427
Awangku Amin, D. R., & Mohd Hamzah, M. I. (2021). Tahap amalan kepimpinan instruksional guru besar dan hubungannya dengan tahap komitmen guru. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 6(2), 135 - 151. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v6i2.648
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. Worth Publishers.
Beram, S., Awang, M., Ismail, R., Ramalu, R. R., Noor, N. Soo, M. Y., Chee, Y. K. F. & Samichan, A. (2023). Professional leadership competencies for Malaysia educational middle leaders. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 31(4), 1363-1382. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.31.4.02
Best, J. W. (1977). Research In Education. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Bhati, K. & Sethy, T. P. (2022). Self-efficacy: theory to educational practice. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 10(1), 1123-1128. DOI: 10.25215/1001.112
Bugang, L., Ishak, R., & Ghani, M. F. A. (2023). Hubungan gaya komunikasi kepimpinan guru besar dengan tahap efikasi kendiri guru sekolah rendah daerah Dalat, Sarawak. JuPiDi: Jurnal Kepimpinan Pendidikan, 10(3), 13-26.
Bush, T. (2021). Assessing successful school leadership: What do we know?. Educational management administration & leadership, 49(5), 687-689. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432211034675
Cansoy, R., Parlar, H., & Polatcan, M. (2020). Collective teacher efficacy as a mediator in the relationship between instructional leadership and teacher commitment. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 25(6), 900–918. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2019.1708470
Creswell, J. W., & Guetterman, T. C. (2021). Educational research. Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. (6th ed.). Pearson.
Fatimah, S., Murwani, F. D., Farida, I. A., & Hitipeuw, I. (2024). Academic self-efficacy and its effect on academic engagement: MetaAnalysis. International Journal of Instruction, 17(1), 271-294.
Goddard, R. D., Bailes, L. P., & Kim, M. (2020). Principal efficacy beliefs for instructional leadership and their relation to teachers’ sense of collective efficacy and student achievement. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 20(3), 472–493. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2019.1696369
Gopal, B., Lee, K. C. S., & Razak, A. Z. A. (2024). Efikasi kendiri guru dan keberkesanan sekolah di sekolah kebangsaan di Selangor, Malaysia. JuPiDi: Jurnal Kepimpinan Pendidikan, 11(4), 63-76.
Hallinger, P., & Murphy, J. (1985). Assessing the instructional management behavior of principals. The Elementary School Journal, 86(2), 217-247. https://doi.org/10.1086/461445
Hallinger, P. (2011). A Review of Three Decades of Doctoral Studies Using the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale: A Lens on Methodological Progress in Educational Leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 47(2), 271-306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X10383412
Huey, Y. W., & Wahab, J. A. (2024). Amalan Kepimpinan Instruksional Guru Besar Dan Hubungannya Dengan Motivasi Guru Di SJKC. International Journal of Advanced Research in Education and Society, 6(1), 1-15.
Hui, T. S., & Nor, M. Y. M. (2024). Amalan kepimpinan instruksional guru besar dan hubungannya dengan efikasi kendiri guru. International Journal of Advanced Research in Education and Society, 6(2), 35-44.
Jeffri, A. I., & Hamid, A. H. A. (2022). The relationship between 21st-century instructional leadership and teachers' self-efficacy. Sciences, 12(9), 258-271.
Kabilan, M. K., Annamalai, N. & Md Yunus, Y. (2025). Navigating policy and practice: examining the realization of Malaysia’s Education Blueprint (2013-2025) for English teachers’ continuous professional development. Tesol Journal, 16(3), e70062. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.70062
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. (2013). Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia 2013–2025. Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.
Kemethofer, D., Helm, C., & Warwas, J. (2022). Does educational leadership enhance instructional quality and student achievement? The case of Austrian primary school leaders. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.2021294
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. (2016). Pelan Induk Pembangunan Profesionalise Keguruan. Bahagian Pendidikan Guru.
Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management, 40(1), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077
Liu, Y., Li, L., & Huang, C. (2022). To what extent is shared instructional leadership related to teacher self-efficacy and student academic performance in China? School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 33(3), 381-402. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2022.2029746
Ma, X., & Marion, R. (2019). Exploring how instructional leadership affects teacher efficacy: A multilevel analysis. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 49(1), 188-207. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143219888742
Martin, T. J. (2020). The effect of teacher perceptions and self-efficacy for technology with the use of the SAMR model (Doctoral dissertation, Wingate University). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Mukhtar, S. & Abd Razak, A. Z. (2024). Principal instructional leadership and teacher self-efficacy as a mediating variable between teacher leadership and teacher professional learning practices in secondary schools in Kelantan. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Management, 12(3), 73-91.
Norddin, M. F. & Wan Muda, W. H. N. (2024). Factors influencing teachers’ quality in teaching and learning at school based on the elements of SKPM Quality@Standard 4: A systematic literature review (SLR). Semarak International Journal of Innovation in Learning and Education, 5(1), 58-68. https://doi.org/10.37934/sijile.5.1.5868a
Othman, C., Busari, A. H., & Junaini, S. N.(2024). Kesan Kepimpinan Instruksional Ke Atas Komitmen Organisasi: Pendekatan Pemodelan Persamaan Struktural. International Journal of Education, Psychology and Counseling, 9(55), 542-555.
Peterson, J. M. & Jensen, M. T. (2025). Teacher self-efficacy in relation to cultural and linguistic diversity in K-12 settings: A systematic review. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1531481. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1531481
Raja, K. I. & Ab Wahab, J. L. (2024). Amalan kepimpinan instruksional pengetua dan hubungannya dengan motivasi guru sekolah menengah. International Journal of Advanced Research in Education and Society, 6(1), 676-684. https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2024.6.1.61
Saad, N., Sankaran, S., & Abidin, M. K. F. Z. (2022). Kepimpinan instruksional pengetua dan efikasi guru di sekolah menengah kebangsaan daerah Kota Setar. International Journal of Modern Education, 4 (14), 01-09. DOI: 10.35631/IJMOE.414001
Saravanan, B., & Hamid, A. H. A. (2024). Hubungan Antara kepimpinan instruksional guru besar di daerah ampang dan kesediaan guru pengajaran abad Ke-21. International Journal of Advanced Research in Education and Society, 6(2), 140-151. https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2024.6.2.13
Selvanathan, M., Jayabalan, N., Saini, G. K., Supramaniam, M. & Hussin, N. (2020). Employee productivity in Malaysian private higher educational institutions. Palarch’s Journal of Archaralogy of Egypt/Egyptogy, 17(3), 66-79.
Shafiee, N. S., & Ghani, M. A. (2022). The influence of teacher efficacy on 21st century pedagogy. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 21(1), 217-230.
Shuib, S., Yunus, J. N., & Yusof, H. (2020). Pembangunan profesionalisme guru terhadap efikasi kendiri guru sekolah menengah di Negeri Selangor. Evaluation Studies in Social Sciences, 1(2), 37–48.
Shrestha, M., & Subedi, D. (2020). Organizational citizenship behavior among teachers of Nepal : Did locale contribute it’s in school settings ? American Journal of Economics and Business Management, 3(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.31150/ajebm.Vol3.Iss1.92
Siriparp, T., Buasuwan, P., & Nanthachai, S. (2022). The effects of principal instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy and teacher role on teacher self-efficacy: A moderated mediation examination. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 43(2),353-360. https://doi.org/10.34044/j.kjss.2022.43.2.12
Sukarmin, S., & Sin, I. (2022). The influence of principal instructional leadership behaviour on the organisational commitment of junior high school teachers in Surakarta. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 19(2), 69–95. https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2022.19.2.3
Sulbidin, A. M., & Awang, H.(2024). Dinamika hubungan kepimpinan instruksional pengetua, efikasi kendiri dan komitmen guru: Satu semakan literatur. International Journal of Modern Education, 6(22), 721-740.
Sumiati, & Niemted, W. (2020). The impact of instructional leadership on indonesian elementary teacher efficacy. Elementary Education Online, 19(4), 2335–2346.
Tiop, T., & Talip, R. (2020). Hubungan kepimpinan teknologi pengetua dalam pengurusan kurikulum dan efikasi kendiri guru. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 5(4), 71 - 83. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v5i4.383
Tarmizi, A. A. Z. A., & Mahmud, M. I. (2022). Hubungan antara efikasi kendiri dan kesejahteraan psikologi dalam kalangan guru di sebuah sekolah di Kelantan. Jurnal Dunia Pendidikan, 4(1), 216-225. https://doi.org/10.55057/jdpd.2022.4.1.16
Thien, L. M., & Liu, P. (2024). Linear and nonlinear relationships between instructional leadership and teacher professional learning through teacher self-efficacy as a mediator: A partial least squares analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1-13.
Tschannen-Moran, M., Hoy, A. W., & Hoy, W. K. (1998). Teacher efficacy: Its meaning and measure. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 202–248. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543068002202
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(7), 783-805. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(01)00036-1
Yaacob, H. & Mohd Rashid, S. M. (2024). Teaching practice of primary school Malay language teachers in basic reading skills: A literature review. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education & Development, 13(3), 2644-2664. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v13-i3/22265
Yasim, J. M., Mansor, A. N., & Ab Hamid, A. H. (2020). Kepimpinan instruksional abad Ke-21 dan amalan komuniti pembelajaran profesional dalam kalangan guru besar di Malaysia. Asean Comparative Education Research Journal On Islam And Civilization (ACER-J). eISSN2600-769X, 3(2), 21-37.
Zuckerman, S. J., & O’Shea, C. (2021). Principals’ schema: Leadership philosophies and instructional leadership. Journal of School Leadership, 31(4), 274-296.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Jolin Taimin, Ngui Geok Kim (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.








