The Influence of Headmaster’s Servant Leadership and Teacher Motivation on Student Performance in Sharjah Primary Schools in UAE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37134/ibej.Vol17.2.5.2024Keywords:
Headmaster’s Servant Leadership, Teacher Motivation, Student PerformanceAbstract
Today, every school strives to achieve a reasonable level of student performance and to enhance student performance in order to improve educational quality. Despite the fact that the UAE's population has high literacy rates and people of United Arab Emirates (UAE) are fairly educated, whereas the enrolment in primary and secondary schools has expanded in recent decades, the UAE's educational systems have a number of challenges that must be addressed, such as the performance of pupils in primary schools in the majority of schools is not high and not satisfactory according to OECD. In addition, several evaluations indicate that student performance in all subjects is average according PISA Database. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the influence of headmasters’ servant leadership and teacher motivation on student performance in UAE primary schools. This study applied quantitative methods to analyze relationships between these variables. The population is the teachers in Al-Sharjah primary schools. Data instrument is self-administrated questionnaire. The data collection has been conducted on a sample of 382 respondents. Simple random sampling technique has been applied in the survey procedure. SPSS software is deployed to conduct data analysis. To test the hypotheses, simple linear regression was applied for data analysis. The result revealed that headmaster’s servant leadership and teacher motivation have significant effects towards student performance. Based on this result, this paper suggests Al-Sharjah school headmasters create a friendly and empowering atmosphere for both teachers and students. This can be done by encouraging open communication, teamwork, and instructor appreciation. Additionally, providing teachers with professional development to improve their abilities and expertise can boost their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, which in turn should enhance student achievement. The results of this study will help principals in Al-Sharjah schools as well as policymakers in the Ministry of Education in the UAE to understand why headmasters’ servant leadership and teacher motivation are essential factors for fostering student performance.
Downloads
References
Achmadi, D., & Suryadi, E. S. (2023). The influence of principal servant leadership, work motivation, and work environment on the performance of primary school teachers in Lampung Utara district. International Journal of Social Science and Human Research, 6(1), 184-193
Affuso, G., Zannone, A., Esposito, C., Pannone, M., Miranda, M. C., De Angelis, G., & Bacchini, D. (2023). The effects of teacher support, parental monitoring, motivation and self-efficacy on academic performance over time. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 38(1), 1-23.
Ahmad, S., & Rizwana, M. (2012). Job motivation of male and female secondary school teachers in Karachi. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4(6), 462-467.
Al Hila, A. A., & Al Shobaki, M. J. (2017). The role of servant leadership in achieving excellence performance in technical colleges-provinces of Gaza strip. International Journal of Management Research and Business Strategy, 6(1), 69-91.
Ali, I., Najwa, A., & Tanya, V. (2020). Impact of language and curriculum on student international exam performances in the United Arab Emirates. Cogent Education, 7(1).
Anyim, F. C., Chidi, C. O., & Badejo, E. A. (2012). Motivation and employee’s performance in the public and private sectors in Nigeria. International Journal of Business Administration, 3(1), 31-40.
Barbier, K., Struyf, E., Verschueren, K., & Donche, V. (2022). Fostering cognitive and affective-motivational learning outcomes for high-ability students in mixed-ability primary classrooms: A systematic review. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 1-25.
Bardach, L., & Klassen, R. M. (2021). Teacher motivation and student outcomes: Searching for the signal. Educational Psychologist, 56(4), 283-297.
Begam, A. A. A., & Tholappan, A. (2018). Psychomotor domain of Bloom’s taxonomy in teacher education. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 6(3), 11-14.
Benrazavi, S. R., & Silong, A. D. (2013). Employees’ job satisfaction and its influence on willingness to work in teams. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 14(1), 127-140.
Blanchard, K., Blanchard, M., Blanchard, S., Blanchard, M., Carew, D., Parisi-Carew, E., Cuff, K., Demarest, G., Edmonds, C., & Finch, F. (2010). Leading at a higher level: Blanchard on leadership and creating high performing organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press.
Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York: McKay.
Boyer, D. P. (2012). A study of the relationship between the servant leader principal on school culture and student achievement in the lower Kuskokwim school district. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Grand Canyon University, Arizona.
Bradley, A., Dowell, M. M. M. S., & Csaszar, I. E. (2023). Situating Servant Leadership Within Educational Leadership: Case Study of Trust as a Relational Element in Teacher-Principal Relationships. In Cases on Servant Leadership and Equity (pp. 1-28). IGI Global.
Burton, G. (2017). Improving assessment in Dubai’s education system. Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government. Available at: https://www.mbrsg.ae/home/research/educationpolicy/improving-assessment-in-dubai%E2%80%99s-education-system.
Chan, K. W. (2020). Learners perceptions of servant-leadership in classrooms. Global Servant-Leadership: Wisdom, Love, and Legitimate Power in the Age of Chaos, 201.
Christensen, L. J., Mackey, A., & Whetten, D. (2014). Taking responsibility for corporate social responsibility: The role of leaders in creating, responsible firm behaviors. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(2), 164-178.
Cox, J. S., & Mullen, C. A. (2023). Impacting Student Achievement: Principals’ Instructional Leadership Practice in Two Title I Rural Schools. Journal of School Leadership, 33(1), 3-25.
Dodd, R., Achen, R. M., & Lumpkin, A. (2018). Servant leadership and its impact on ethical climate. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 11(1), 11.
Dörnyei, Z. (2018). Motivating students and teachers. In Liontas, J. I. (Ed.), The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching (pp. 4293-4299). Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Dukmak, S. (2015). Factors Influencing the Academic Achievement of Students in the Preparatory and Secondary Schools of the United Arab Emirates. European Journal of Social Sciences, 46(2), 132-147.
Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.
Gilbert, M. (2018). Student performance is linked to connecting effectively with teachers. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning.
Greenleaf, R. K. (2003). The servant leader within: A transformative path. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press
Harris-Smith, C. E. S. (2012). A study of the effect of secondary school leadership styles on student achievement in selected secondary schools in Louisiana. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Louisiana, Louisiana.
Heaven, G., & Bourne, P. (2016). Instructional Leadership and Its Effect on Students’ Academic Performance. Review of Public Administration and Management, 4(1), 10.
Hermanto, Y. B., & Srimulyani, V. A. (2022). The role of servant leadership and work engagement in improving extra-role behavior and teacher performance. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 35(1), 57-77.
Herzberg, F. (2008). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review Press.
Ibok, E. (2020). The Effect of Teacher Motivation on Students’ Performance in Biology in Calabar Municipality. Available at SSRN 3530543.
Ingsih, K., Astuti, D., Suhana, S., & Ali, S. (2021). Improving teacher motivation and performance through communication, work discipline, leadership and work compensation. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(1), 1-16.
IvyPanda. (2020). Educational Challenges in the UAE. https://ivypanda.com/essays/educational-challenges-in-the-uae/
Jacobson, S. (2011). Leadership effects on student achievement and sustained school success. International Journal of Educational Management, 25(1), 33-44.
Jafar, L., Sutisna, A., & Margono, G. (2023). Academic School Supervision of Teachers’ Performance: Independent Learning Paradigm for Student Learning Achievement. Journal of World Englishes and Educational Practices, 5(1), 38-46.
José Sá, M. (2020). The secret to successes. Becoming a successful student in a fast-changing higher education environment. European Journal of Higher Education, 10(4), 420-435.
Karadağ, E. (2018). The effect of educational leadership on students’ achievement: A cross-cultural meta-analysis research on studies between 2008 and 2018. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21(1), 49-64.
Karadağ, E. (2020). The effect of educational leadership on students’ achievement: A cross-cultural meta-analysis research on studies between 2008 and 2018. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21(1), 49-64.
Kashyap, V., & Rangnekar, S. (2014). Servant leadership, employer brand perception, trust in leaders and turnover intentions: A sequential mediation model. Review of Managerial Science, 10(3), 437-461.
Kasilingam, G. (2014). Assessment of Learning Domains to Improve Student’s Learning in Higher Education. Journal of Young Pharmacists, 6(4), 27-33.
Kiersch, C., & Peters, J. (2017). Leadership from the Inside Out: Student Leadership Development within Authentic Leadership and Servant Leadership Frameworks. Journal of Leadership Education, 16(1).
Klyachko, T., Semionova, E., & Tokareva, G. (2019). Success and failure of school students: Parental expectations and teachers’ perceptions. Educational Issues, 4(ed).
Kulachai, W., Pongnairat, K., Petchprasert, S., Snitwongse, P., Benchakhan, K., & Homyamyen, P. (2018). Servant leadership: A second-order confirmatory factor analysis. In Conference of the International Journal of Arts & Science (Vol. 11, p. 86).
Kumar, S., & Upadhaya, G. (2019). Exploration and validation of servant leadership factor structure in academic organizations.
Lee, A., Lyubovnikova, J., Tian, A. W., & Knight, C. (2020). Servant leadership: A meta‐analytic examination of incremental contribution, moderation, and mediation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 93(1), 1-44.
Liao, C., Lee, H. W., Johnson, R. E., & Lin, S. H. (2021). Serving you depletes me? A leader-centric examination of servant leadership behaviors. Journal of Management, 47(5), 1185-1218.
Liu, Y., Li, L., & Huang, C. (2022). To what extent is shared instructional leadership related to teacher self-efficacy and student academic performance in China? School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 33(3), 381-402.
Mehrad, A. (2020). Evaluation of academic staff job satisfaction at Malaysian universities in the context of Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory. Journal of Social Science Research, 15, 157-166.
Mok, M. M. C., & Moore, P. J. (2019). Teachers & self-efficacy. Educational Psychology, 39(1), 1-3.
Murphy, M. L. (2021). Does emotional intelligence predict servant leadership? (Doctoral dissertation, Our Lady of the Lake University).
Nabila, K-F., & Doina, D. (2019). The influence of leadership style on teachers' job motivation and satisfaction. Timisoara Journal of Economics and Business, 12(1), 17-42.
Nada, R. A. A. B. (2016). Managing change process: A case study of a private school in Sharjah. Master Thesis. The British University of Dubai.
Nwakasi, C. (2019). Teacher motivation and JP: A case study of North West Nigeria. Global Journal of Educational Research, 17.
Nyakundi, E. N., Raburu, P. A., & Okwara, M. O. (2019). Influence of teacher motivation to academic performance of pupils in primary schools in Kenya.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2019). United Arab Emirates - Country note - PISA 2018 results. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_ARE.pdf.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2020). Teaching in the United Arab Emirates: 10 lessons from TALIS. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/education/talis/Teaching_in_the_UAE-10_Lessons_from_TALIS.pdf.
Poobalan, G., & Talip, R. (2020). The servant leadership practice among school leaders promotes the development of teacher professionalism in Malaysia: A conceptual review. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10, 2222-6990.
Pourtoussi, Z., Afsaneh, G., & Vahid, M. (2018). A qualitative in-depth analysis of the determinants and outcomes of EFL teachers’ motivation and demotivation. International Journal of Instruction, 11(4), 175-190.
Ridge, N., Kippels, S., & Farah, S. (2017). Curriculum development in the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research. Available at: https://publications.alqasimifoundation.com/en/curriculum-development-in-the-united-arab-emirates.
Rodríguez-Carvajal, R., Herrero, M., van Dierendonck, D., de Rivas, S., & Moreno-Jiménez, B. (2018). Servant leadership and goal attainment through meaningful life and vitality: A diary study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(2), 499-521.
Roman, S. A. H. A. (2021). The degree of practicing servant leadership among the principals of governmental secondary schools in Amman governorate and its relation to teachers' motivation towards work. Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, 5(51), 141-124.
Roohani, A., & Dayeri, K. (2019). On the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ burnout and motivation: A mixed methods study. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 7(1), 77-99.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2019). Brick by brick: The origins, development, and future of self-determination theory. In Advances in motivation science (Vol. 6, pp. 111-156). Elsevier.
Safdari, S. (2018). Iranian EFL learners’ perception of the importance and frequency of teachers’ motivational strategies. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 17-25.
Sari, I. D. P., & Rahmah, T. H. (2019). Virtual discussion for EFL students establishing three domains: Cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Studies, 1(3), 249-253.
Shaikha, A-T. (2008). Students’ perceptions of parental involvement in United Arab Emirates secondary schools. Journal of Educational & Psychological Sciences, 9(2), 11-29.
Shao, R., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2014). Service employees’ reactions to mistreatment by customers: A comparison between North America and East Asia. Personnel Psychology, 67(1), 23-59.
Simmons, B. L. (2014). Organizational characteristics of happy organizations. Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide, 1-18.
Stewart, J. G. (2017). The importance of servant leadership in schools. International Journal of Business Management and Commerce, 2(5), 1-5.
Stirling, D. (2014). Teacher motivation. Aichi Universities English Education Research Journal, 33, 11-28.
Tang, G., Kwan, H. K., Zhang, D., & Zhu, Z. (2016). Work–family effects of servant leadership: The roles of emotional exhaustion and personal learning. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(2), 285-297.
Tasrif, N., Ferdian, F., & Andres, F. S. (2023). Cognitive and psychomotor on university student study outcome in apparel basic pattern making using CAD. In Unima International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (UNICSSH 2022) (pp. 149-155). Atlantis Press.
Tran, T. K. P., & Truong, T. T. (2021). Impact of servant leadership on public service motivation of civil servants: Empirical evidence from Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(4), 1057-1066.
Trigueros, R., Padilla, A., Aguilar-Parra, J. M., Lirola, M. J., García-Luengo, A. V., Rocamora-Pérez, P., & López-Liria, R. (2020). The influence of teachers on motivation and academic stress and their effect on the learning strategies of university students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(23), 9089.
Uribe, T. K. (2021). The relationship between emotional intelligence and servant leadership among nonprofit military service organization volunteers (Doctoral dissertation, Our Lady of the Lake University).
Wiggins, G. P. (1993). Assessing student performance: Exploring the purpose and limits of testing. Jossey-Bass.
World Economic Forum. (2017). The future of jobs and skills in the Middle East and North Africa: Preparing the region for the fourth industrial revolution. Available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_EGW_FOJ_MENA.pdf.
Yazdani, K., & Sane Godbole, V. (2014). Studying the role of habits and achievement motivation in improving students’ academic performance. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 3(4), 827-834.
Zhan, Z., He, G., Li, T., He, L., & Xiang, S. (2022). Effect of group size on students' learning achievement, motivation, cognitive load, collaborative problem-solving quality, and in-class interaction in an introductory AI course. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 38(6), 1807-1818.
Zulfikar, A., & Akhairuddidn, A. (2022). The relationship between the principal servant leadership and school productivity at madrasah aliyah in West Sumbawa. Journal of Educational Administration and Leadership, 3(2), 108-115.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Hanan I H Yousef, Rosnah Ishak
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
