Principal Leadership Strategies for Enhancing Teacher Professionalism in Public Vocational High Schools in Merauke District, Indonesia

Maria Manggayum Katep; Nurtanio Agus Purwanto

doi:10.59890/ijetr.v3i4.225

Authors

Maria Manggayum Katep Universitas Negeri yogyakarta
Nurtanio Agus Purwanto Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59890/ijetr.v3i4.225

Keywords:

Instructional Leadership, Teacher Professionalism, Vocational High Schools, Remote Areas, Indonesia

Abstract

This article reports a qualitative study on principal leadership strategies to strengthen teacher professionalism in public vocational high schools located in Merauke District, a remote 3T area in eastern Indonesia. Teacher professionalism is widely recognised as a key driver of vocational education quality, yet geographical isolation, limited resources, and uneven access to professional development still constrain improvement efforts. This study explores how principals design and enact leadership strategies under such conditions and how these strategies influence teachers’ professional growth. The findings show that principals employ a hybrid leadership pattern combining instructional, transformational and participatory dimensions, operationalised through structured academic supervision, school-based and external professional development, emotional and moral support, teacher empowerment via collaborative learning communities, and partnerships with industry. These strategies positively shape teachers’ discipline, sense of responsibility, pedagogical competence and collaborative culture, although effects remain uneven due to infrastructure constraints, varied motivation and limited digital readiness. The proposed model enriches vocational leadership theory and offers practical guidance for policymakers designing interventions in similar marginalised contexts across Indonesia.

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