Leading sustainable schools in the era of Education 4.0: identifying school leadership competencies in Malaysian secondary schools

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to develop an empirical School Leadership Competency Model for the era of Education 4.0 (SLCMEduc4.0) to identify school leadership competencies that facilitate and maximize effectiveness in leading sustainable schools in Malaysia. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was employed to identify the underlying factors whereas Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied to test the measurement models using Structural Equation Modelling. A total of 444 and 931 respondents completed the survey with usable data for EFA and CFA respectively. The results suggested that the SLCMEdu4.0 can be explained by eight factors namely; Leading for Learning, Emotional Intelligence, Critical Thinking, Communication and Ethics, Collaboration, Decision Making and Problem Solving, Digital Dexterity and Entrepreneurial with good fit statistics; normed x 2 =2.628, TLI=.950, CFI=.954 and RMSEA=.042. With a total of 40 items, the model also features good convergent and discriminant validity and construct reliability. The SLCMEduc4.0 is a coherent premier model that provides useful feedback for practitioners in planning, designing and evaluating future professional development programmes for school leaders. The study encourages a fresh look at educational leadership development locally and globally specifically in enhancing the leadership development of Malaysian school leaders towards productive change in the era of Education 4.0.