ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the leadership features and practices of selected principals who are deemed as high performing and subsequently links those features with the aspiration of Malaysian Education Blueprint to secure high-performing principals for all schools. The mixed methods study was designed to examine the leadership features and practices of principals deemed as high performing, serving in selected schools in Malaysia. The chapter examines the extent to which instructional, transformational and distributed leadership are practised by the principals. It draws on data from interviews with three senior policy-makers, documentary analysis of relevant policies and circulars, questionnaires of 20 principals and their teachers, and case studies of six “high-performing” principals and their schools. The principals who are deemed high performing provide evidence that they value, emphasise and share their schools’ vision, mission and goals. Sustaining and maintaining the high-performing status of the schools are underpinned by the collaborative efforts that the principals practise with their teachers.
