10th European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance ECMLG 2014 VERN' University of Applied Sciences Zagreb, Republic of Croatia 13-14 November 2014 School Leadership and Innovative Principals: Implications for Enhancing Principals’ Leadership Knowledge and Practice Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie1, Afsaneh Bagheri2 and Soaib Asimiran3 1, 3Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran zalp@educ.upm.edu.my af.bagheri@ut.ac.ir soaib@upm.edu.my

Introduction Previous research has emphasized the critical importance of the leader for identifying and creating new opportunities to improve the performance of an organization Research on the interplay between leadership and entrepreneurship has also highlighted the key roles of school leaders and teachers in bringing about educational changes by recognizing new opportunities, developing and implementing innovative ideas and approaches to different aspects of educating pupils However, research on the impact of school entrepreneurial leadership on innovativeness is scarce particularly for Malaysian schools.

2. Research objective: The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of school principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices and their innovative behaviors as perceived by the teachers. The findings contribute to the few studies on entrepreneurial leadership in educational contexts (Yusof 2009) and measuring different dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership (Thornberry 2006).

3. Method: This study involved 294 secondary school teachers in Selangor, Malaysia. Why secondary schools: school entrepreneurship varies in different education levels schools are different in terms of the students, the subjects offering to students, the organizational bureaucracy and the degree of the principals’ autonomy in practicing innovative approaches and methods Measures: Principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices: A questionnaire consisting of 64 items (50 items on school principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices (Thornberry 2006) 14 items on school innovativeness developed by Eyal and Inbar 2003)

3. Method: This study involved 294 secondary school teachers in Selangor, Malaysia. Why secondary schools: school entrepreneurship varies in different education levels schools are different in terms of the students, the subjects offering to students, the organizational bureaucracy and the degree of the principals’ autonomy in practicing innovative approaches and methods Measures: Principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices: A questionnaire consisting of 64 items (50 items on school principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices (Thornberry 2006) 14 items on school innovativeness developed by Eyal and Inbar 2003)

3. Findings: Analysis of the data indicates that teachers perceive entrepreneurial leadership as highly important for school principals (mean=3.77, SD=.66) however the principals moderately practice the characteristics and approaches of entrepreneurial leadership in leading their schools (mean=3.49, SD=.67). Out of the five dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership, accelerator behavior of school principals scored higher The teachers perceive their schools as highly innovative (mean = 3.68, SD=.55).

3. Findings: Table 3, through t-test analysis shows that teachers from ordinary academic schools perceive higher importance and frequency for entrepreneurial leadership practices of their principals compared with high performing school teachers. But generally there is no significant difference between their perceptions related to school innovativeness, importance and frequency of entrepreneurial leadership. However the principals moderately practice the characteristics and approaches of entrepreneurial leadership in leading their schools (mean=3.49, SD=.67). Table 3: t-test between different types of schools   Types of schools Mean SD t-value Sig. Importance Ordinary academic school 3.79 .61 High performance school 3.63 .89 1.06 .29 Innovativeness 3.69 .54 3.68 .65 .06 .95 Frequency 3.54 3.29 .76 1.90

3. Findings: Table 4 illustrates that there is a significant difference between teachers’ perceptions related to school innovativeness if the principal has management training. However, teachers have similar perceptions toward the importance and frequency of entrepreneurial leadership practices of their principals. Table 4: T-test between principals with and without management training   Principals with Management Training Mean SD t-value Sig Importance Yes 3.78 .63 No 4.20 .59 -1.68 .14 Innovativeness 3.70 .60 4.07 .16 -4.18 .00 Frequency 3.50 .70 3.55 1.14 -.10 .92

3. Findings: Table 5 shows that, subject heads and school teachers have also similar perceptions of the frequency of entrepreneurial leadership practices in their schools as well as school innovativeness. This confirms our findings on the teachers’ perceptions toward their school principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices and school innovativeness. Table 5: T-test between teachers and subject heads’ perceptions of school innovativeness   Types of jobs Mean SD t-value Sig. (2-tailed) Frequency Teacher 3.50 .69 Subject head 3.51 .62 -.11 .91 Innovativeness 3.69 .57 .90 3.68 .52 .17 .86

3. Findings: Table 6 demonstrates that there is a moderate significant correlation between frequency of principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices and school innovativeness as perceived by the teachers. Table 6: Correlation between frequency of school principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices and school innovativeness Variables   Frequency Innovativeness Frequency of entrepreneurial leadership practices of school principals Pearson Correlation sig.(2-tailed) 1 .661** .000 School innovativeness Pearson Correlation sig.(2- tailed)

5. Discussion: The findings suggest that the teachers perceive entrepreneurial leadership style as highly important for their school leadership. However, they believe that the principals moderately practice the principles and approaches of entrepreneurial leadership style. This means the teachers are aware of the important role that school principals’ entrepreneurial leadership competencies can play in the improvement of their school performance and particularly in enhancing their school innovativeness. But, the school principals may not be aware of the improvement opportunities they can bring to their schools by practicing entrepreneurial leadership.

5. Discussion: To enhance school principals’ awareness and knowledge of entrepreneurial leadership and the new roles they should play in facilitating school innovativeness and facing with the growing challenges of the school environment, they should be provided with professional development and training programs School principals’ can also learn entrepreneurial leadership by observing the best practices of entrepreneurial approaches at schools, social interactive and reflective learning methods, and having the opportunity and resources to implement entrepreneurial leadership principles in their school.

5. Discussion : The findings of this study also indicate that teachers from ordinary academic schools perceive entrepreneurial leadership as more important and frequently practiced by their school principals compared with high performing school teachers. This means teachers and school principals from ordinary public schools are more aware of the importance of entrepreneurial leadership for their school performance improvement. This study also found higher teachers’ perceptions of school innovativeness if the principals have management training. This means principals who passed management training programs are more likely to apply innovative approaches in their school leadership. This finding highlights the importance of providing school principals with professional development training and embedding entrepreneurial leadership courses in the training. The findings also indicate a significant correlation between frequency of principals’ entrepreneurial leadership practices and school innovativeness. This suggests that principals’ knowledge and competence in practicing entrepreneurial leadership is needed to bring more innovation to schools and supports the influence of school principals’ entrepreneurial approaches on school innovativeness. It also confirms the necessity of encouraging and supporting school principals to implement entrepreneurial leadership by providing them with required infrastructures and resources.

6. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study we can conclude that entrepreneurial leadership can be applied to improve school leadership and organizational innovation. This emerging area of research and practice can assist school principals and teachers to improve their performance by implementing the attributes, behaviors, processes and approaches of an entrepreneurial leader.

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