Malaysian educative leadership : interim research findings

This article summarizes the policy context, the methodology and the interim findings of a research project intended to produce an indigenous theory of educative leadership in Malaysia. Educative leadership services were defined as the forms of leadership that help improve the quality of teaching and learning. A practical theory was needed to develop leadership considered appropriate in the Malaysian context of rapid economic and social development, national unity and Islamic revivalism. The practical outcomes of the study will include a validated diagnostic instrument that will measure the perceived extent to which school communities are receiving educative leadership services and implications for professional development, school development and management educa- tion. The findings from the first phase of the project are reported here, and specifically the forms of leadership service valued in Malaysian school communities as adjudged by exemplary principals and headteachers. They were assembled using iterative, qualita- tive and quantitative methods