Megat Ahmad Kamaluddin Bin Megat Daud

Issues in Malaysian Higher Education: A Quantitative Representation of the Top Five Priorities, Values, Challenges, and Solutions From the Viewpoints of Academic Leaders

This qualitative inquiry aims at identifying the main issues in Malaysian higher education (HE) system and its sectors from the perspectives of Malaysian academic leaders. For this purpose, four open-ended questions were distributed among 2,786 academic leaders in 25 universities. More than 235 completed questionnaires were collected, containing nearly 4,500 records of priorities, values, challenges, and solutions. Through a quantitative content analysis approach, the records were categorized using the software package ATLAS.ti 7. This resulted to the emergence of 112 categories. Using SPSS 23, the top five categories with maximum frequencies of records were focused for further evaluation. The comparison of the issues in Malaysian HE and its sectors revealed that some of issues were common in all the sectors. In addition, the examination of these categories of data did result to the classification of them into five major categories namely Academic Core Activities, Change and Leadership, Management, Relationships, and Work Values.

LEADERSHIP AND STAFF ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Department of Educational Management, Planning and Policy, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, MALAYSIA. Corresponding Author: Department of Educational Management, Planning and Policy, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. Email: adebayo_saheed@siswa.um.edu. my ABSTRACT Higher education institutions are known for producing skilled manpower needed to attain sustainable and holistic development. These institutions cannot achieve their predetermined goals without effective leadership. Leadership is an important factor in an organization. Academic leaders are pivot of change in any higher education institution. As a change agent, the success and failure of the system depend on academic leaders. Their belief and judgment about themselves, attitude towards change and policy tell in every aspect of education system. Therefore, this study examined the impact of leadership self-efficacy and change oriented behaviour on staff organizational citizenship behaviour in higher education institutions. It adopted a quantitative research design. A questionnaire consisting of 40 items was used to gather information from 420 respondents who were randomly selected across 10 different public higher education institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria. Structural Equation Modelling(SEM) was used in analysing the data collected in this study. The findings show that leadership self-efficacy, change oriented behaviour and change policy impact significantly on staff organizational citizenship behaviour. In order to improve staff organizational citizenship behaviour and performance in higher education institutions, academic leaders must display a high self-efficacy, be open to innovation, ensure effective communication and adopt friendly policy that will stimulate staff. If all these are put in place, higher education institutions will be able to achieve their set goals and respond positively to the needs of different stakeholders.

The best practices for school transformation: a multiple-case study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the best practices of school leaders, teachers, pupils, parents and the community in selected transformed schools in Selangor, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative multiple-case study explores the best practices in two selected transformed schools through in-depth interviews, observations and document reviews. The data were collected from 2 school heads, 6 teachers with administrative responsibilities and 20 teachers. The themes were elucidated via open, axial and selective coding based on the grounded theory approach. Findings The analysis identified various best practices exhibited by school leaders, teachers, pupils, parents and the community. Four themes were found to be common as best practices in both selected schools, which were adaptive and multi-dimensional leadership, winning-the-hearts, extensive use of Information and Communication Technology in school operations, and a culture of acquiring and sharing professional knowledge. The unique theme for School A was the emphasis on the social, emotional and ethical well-being of the students, while extensive parental involvement and support was a unique theme identified in School B. Research limitations/implications The findings of this paper may be used as guidance tool for policy makers and educational planners regarding school transformation in Malaysia, and as well as in other countries. Such practices can be learned, adapted and replicated by other schools in order to transform. The findings also have direct implications to current teachers, school leaders, parents and the community. Originality/value This study contributes to the growing body of research on the best practices and school transformation in Malaysian transformed schools. There is a decisive need to explore the best practices of transformed schools in Malaysia based on their own cultural and contextual needs in order to help schools that aspire for transformation.

Motivation through Sports: Comparing Self Esteem among University Students in Malaysia

Sports involvement has been reported to have positive effects on young adults especially in reducing deviant behavior (Holland & Andre, 1987; Larson, 1994). This preliminary research will investigate the pattern of sports involvement among selected UNITEN students and their motivation level through an increase in their self esteem. Motivation is defined as a drive or inner urges that make people want to do something. Motivation is developed from within and is manifested as actual acts performed voluntarily. This paper discussed the motivation factors among UNITEN students. (It will look at whether involvement in sports will increase motivation that will lead to positive self-esteem among students.) A study showed low self esteem has been identified as a risk factor for aggression, delinquency, drug abuse and many other (Frankern, 1998). A modified Self Description Questionnaire 3 (SDQIII) designed by University of West Sydney (http://self.uws.edu.au/Research%20Focus/self_instruments.htm) was distributed among two groups of students in UNITEN (N=244) to gather the required data. The data was then analyzed to see the connection between perceived motivations enhanced and increased self-esteem among UNITEN students in sports involvement. Another coherence survey was also conducted in semester 1 2008/2009 where a different tools known as Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), was used with a wider population including 200 new samples from UNITEN and an equal 200 sample from Sport Science program of University Malaya. The data is analyzed and will be compared between the two reputable institutions.