Relational Leadership Matters: Leader–Member Exchange, Managerial Skills, and Teacher Performance in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah

Résumé fourni par la source

The inconsistent contribution of leadership practices to teacher performance indicates the need to examine relational and managerial leadership within the specific context of Islamic elementary education. This study aimed to analyze the partial and simultaneous contributions of Leader–Member Exchange and madrasah principals’ managerial skills to the performance of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah teachers. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 195 teachers proportionally selected from a population of 448 teachers across 38 public and private Madrasah Ibtidaiyah in Way Kanan Regency, Lampung Province, Indonesia. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed through multiple linear regression with IBM SPSS Statistics version 20. The results showed that Leader–Member Exchange made a positive and significant partial contribution to teacher performance (B = 0.684; t = 2.236; p = 0.027), whereas madrasah principals’ managerial skills did not make a significant direct contribution (B = −0.525; t = −0.340; p = 0.734). Simultaneously, the predictor variables significantly contributed to teacher performance (F = 98.856; p < 0.001), with the regression model explaining 60.8% of the variance. These findings demonstrate that trust, communication, reciprocal support, and professional collaboration between principals and teachers have a more immediate role in supporting teacher performance than managerial skills alone. The study implies that principal-development programs should integrate administrative competence with relational leadership, interpersonal communication, teacher empowerment, and collaborative professional support.

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