The Role of Principal Leadership in Improving Educational Quality at MTs Manbatul Fikri Curugrendeng
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Abstract
This study aims to investigate and analyze the strategic leadership role of the school principal in enhancing educational quality at MTs Manbatul Fikri Curugrendeng, Subang. A qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was employed to capture the lived experiences and underlying meanings of leadership practices within a private Islamic junior high school setting. Primary data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with the principal, teachers, and administrative staff, alongside non-participant observations and comprehensive document analysis. Data were analyzed using phenomenological procedures involving epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation, and structural synthesis. Findings indicate that the principal's leadership plays a pivotal role in driving educational quality across four core dimensions: establishing a shared quality-oriented vision and mission, fostering continuous teacher professional development, promoting collaborative school community engagement, and optimizing resource management despite private school financial constraints. A unique phenomenological feature observed at MTs Manbatul Fikri is the integration of instructional leadership with a familial, values-driven managerial culture that significantly bolsters teacher collective efficacy and institutional trust. This study underscores the critical need for context-sensitive leadership capacity building to sustain educational reform in rural and private madrasah environments.
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