The discussion on unity has never come to an end. To date, various actions have been taken to strengthen unity. Yet the direction of strengthening unity is still blurry whereas the measurement of unity in Malaysia remains a challenge.
The inability of teachers to accept cultural, linguistic, and religious differences caused by racial differences can have a negative impact on unity. The literature suggests that principals can play a role in addressing this issue. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the principal’s role in promoting teachers’ unity and to determine the relationship between the principal’s role and teachers’ unity. This study is a survey design and a quantitative method was used to collect data from 578 teachers in a population of 236,748 teachers in secondary school. The data collected was analyzed descriptively to produce mean value and standard deviation, therefore the level of principals’ role in promoting unity and the level of teachers’ unity can be interpreted. Inference analysis by Pearson correlation was done to determine r-value, therefore the hypotheses on the relationship between the two variables were tested. Overall, principals’ role attained a high level in promoting unity with a mean score of 3.85, whereas the teachers’ unity level was also at a high level with a mean score of 4.37. The result also shows that there was a positive relationship between the two variables but at a weak level with r = 0.20. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge that principals’ role in promoting unity has had an impact on the teachers’ unity level. This finding also shows that the Malaysian Education System Aspiration focusing on promoting unity is relevant and should be continuously implemented. Apart from having theories implication, the findings bear positive input for principals’ training, and also provide input for the teaching fraternity to be more respectful towards each other’s differences, thereby avoiding racism and discrimination amongst them.
PurposeThe main purpose of this study was to determine school leaders' ability to manage underprivileged students' needs, the level of achievement of these students and the relationship between the two variables.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative methodology comprising a questionnaire instrument was utilized to collect data from 239 underprivileged students attending schools in Kelantan, Malaysia. Descriptive statistics comprising mean values and standard deviations were calculated to determine school leaders' ability to manage underprivileged students' needs and the level of achievement of these students. Inferential statistics comprising a Pearson correlation was calculated to determine the relationship between the two variables.FindingsSchool leaders' ability to manage underprivileged students' needs was high, whereas the achievement of underprivileged students was moderate. A weak positive relationship was observed between the two variables.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was limited to 15–16-year-old students in one state in Malaysia. Further research is therefore needed on samples from across Malaysia. This paper enhances knowledge of the relationship between school leaders' ability to manage underprivileged students' needs and the level of achievement of these students. This study also has implications for Maslow's human needs theory.Practical implicationsThe implications of the findings for school management practices are that an ability to manage underprivileged students' needs can increase the level of achievement of these students. The findings also indicate that adhering to Sustainable Development Goals, the Malaysian Education Blueprint and the Eleventh Malaysian Plan to ensure quality education for underprivileged students is relevant and should be continued. The findings can also be used as input in training school leaders.Social implicationsThe findings suggest that the community needs to take more responsibility for underprivileged students, especially in managing their needs, in order to increase the achievement. The findings can usefully be employed to reduce the social gap between underprivileged and privileged groups.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the relationship between school leaders' ability to manage underprivileged students' needs and the students' achievement.
The degree of integrity among academics is yet to be determined because there is no proper instrument for such measurement. The purpose of this paper is therefore to identify elements that can measure integrity, as well as develop integrity framework or model. Among the themes discussed in this paper are, what are the theories, models and concepts related to integrity, previous studies on integrity and subsequent discussions on the development process of the model that are appropriate for measuring integrity. This concept paper concludes that integrity can be measured based on the values required for integrity. The implication of this concept paper is that the values that are inherent in a person determine their level of integrity. This concept paper recommends that integrity should be measured over time. It is not only to produce an index of integrity but also to remind academics of the appropriate values and practices in fulfilling their responsibilities. Furthermore, ongoing exposures to integrity instruments may prevent misconceptions about integrity that only associated with corruption, abuse of power, unprofessional and inaccurate matters in terms of duties, responsibilities, roles or positions held.
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