Comparing Principal and Teacher Leadership Affects on Teacher Self-Efficacy

This paper explores the relative impacts of Principal Leadership (PL) and Teacher Leadership (TL) roles on Teacher Self-Efficacy (TSE) in the centralised education system of Indonesia. Basing the study on how the hierarchical to the participatory model of governance has been transformed through the Merdeka Belajar (Freedom to Learn) reform, the research question seeks to establish the dominance of the leadership pathway in instilling confidence in the teachers and their instructional capacity. A quantitative and cross-sectional survey design involved the collection of data on 1,175 teachers in three provinces in Indonesia and the analysis of the data using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results showed that both PL (β = 0.331) and TL (β = 0.239) were found to have a strong prediction ability regarding TSE, and the effect of the former was statistically significant. Such conclusions demonstrate the long-standing power of principals in determining teacher confidence and support the increased importance of peer-led collaboration. The research can also provide policymakers with practical knowledge regarding the recommendation of dual pathways that can bolster the concept of principal capacity and institutionalise teacher leadership as a form of institutionalisation. It draws the conclusion that empowerment of the two levels of leadership plays a crucial role in establishing a strong, responsible teaching fraternity and even leading the current disintegrating learning revolution. The results form an informative source of diagnosis used in future cross-national research on the efficacy of leadership and the empowerment of teachers in Southeast Asia.