The Principal’s Strategy in Improving the Quality of Quality Islamic Education Institutions Through Analyzing Teacher Characteristics

Suci Hidayati¹, Mulyadi², Suti’ah³, Aini Rizqoh⁴

^1,2,3State Islamic University Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Indonesia

⁴State University of Malang, Indonesia

ABSTRACT: Islamic education aims to form a whole human being with healthy characteristics in mind, body, spirit, and morals and skills. The role of the principal as a leader can affect the quality of education in an institution. Therefore, creativity and seriousness to advance educational institutions, especially Islamic educational institutions, are important to be realized in the form of achievement strategies. The purpose of this study is to explain how the principal’s strategy in improving the quality of Islamic education by analyzing the characteristics of teachers who are the main actors in the world of education. The method in this study uses a qualitative approach with observation and interview techniques. The results of the research obtained that the analysis of teacher characteristics carried out at Private Islamic Schools in Dau sub-district has not been entirely fulfilled. Teacher characteristics that should be owned are: (1) Customer Focus, (2) Total Involvement, (3) assessment, (4) commitment, and (5) continuous improvement. apparently still not entirely owned. This can be followed up by providing training and debriefing to teachers and involving teachers in major activities that involve the community in the Islamic Education Institution.

KEYWORDS: Principal Strategy, Quality School, Teacher Characteristics

INTRODUCTION

Education is the most effective vehicle for producing superior generations in the future. In order to improve the quality of human resources, we must improve ourselves endlessly. One of the focuses of education problems is centered on human resources who are tasked with providing good education services[1] . An initial understanding of the characteristics of teachers and students is needed in  determining the design, model and learning strategy to be implemented. To develop the characteristics of students and teachers can be done by using a needs assessment model consisting of pre-assessment (exploration), assessment (data collection) and post-assessment (use)[2] . These steps can help create a more effective and prosperous learning environment.

Quality education is the ideal of society, nation and state. Education has a very important role in developing Islamic civilization. The development of Science and Technology (Science and Technology) today forces Islamic education to be more able to compete and synergize in the aspect of education, especially in the field of science and technology. The development of science and technology makes humans a global society, a technological society, and an open information society that can change rapidly in providing new demands, challenges, and even threats[3] . The existence of Islamic institutions such as madrasah is a form of theological awareness of Muslims to prepare a better future generation. The spirit of being khalifah fil Ardh and the need to deepen and practice the teachings of his religion (tafaquh fi ad-din), is one of the spirits. Islamic Education Institutions must realize good and quality education that prioritizes the values of Islamic teachings. This can be built from planning, process and evaluation in accordance with the National Education Standards (SNP).

In reality, the problems faced by Islamic educational institutions today are still very diverse. Starting from problems in the aspects of management, leadership, human resources, finance, and internal institutional problems. One illustration of the unresolved problems of education in Indonesia is the low level of public trust due to the image of Islamic schools or madrasas that are considered not superior. Some research results from Harmoko Triaji at Al-Azhar 21 Islamic Junior High School in Sukoharjo found that based on the concept of marketing mix, information technology-based marketing at Al Azhar 21 Junior High School is described in the content of product excellence, methods and information technology-based marketing media have provided an attraction for the community to determine the school of choice[4] . Similar research was also conducted by Aditya, Suti’ah and Mulyadi in their research at SD Islam Surya Buana concluded that the existence of marketing services is able to improve the school’s image and is related to the quality provided by the school to students and guardians[5] . This cannot be separated from the role of the principal who strives to improve the quality of education in his lembanganya. In line with the research above, Suci Hidayati in her research at MTS. Wahid Hasyim 02 Dau also explained that madrasah principals who are visionary and have good entrepreneurial competence can form a well-being madrasah[6] .

The challenge of Islamic educational institutions in the future is the existence of intense competition so that image is one of the influential factors in educational marketing efforts that have a positive impact on increasing the interest of users of educational services. Improving the quality of Islamic educational institutions needs to be pursued by putting forward theories as a form of analysis of how quality can be achieved or maintained, especially in looking at the characteristics of teachers and students. In the future, how an educational institution is able to guarantee the quality of its graduates so that they can be empowered and have a healthy competitive culture in the midst of society, especially in the world of work.

Research from Dewi Setiyanti and Yari Dwikurnaningsih found that schools are in quadrant II, have a fairly stable school condition, but face many obstacles, therefore it is necessary to carry out a diversification strategy, which includes curriculum diversification and expansion of services and continuous improvement efforts.[7] . In line with the above research, Nazala N Zukhufiana and Rima emphasize the findings that academic and non-academic activities carried out in schools/madrasas are able to have a significant impact on the progress of these schools/madrasas. The important thing that needs to be considered is to identify the characteristics of teachers and students seriously[8] .

From the description of the background above, the problem that will be discussed in this study is how the madrasah principal’s strategy in improving quality Islamic Education Institutions through identifying teacher characteristics that play a role in improving the quality of education and image in the institution. This study aims to explain how the madrasah principal’s strategy in analyzing the characteristics of teachers who play a role in improving the quality of education in the institution so that it will improve the good image of the institution by achieving the objectives of Islamic education as required by the objectives of national education.

LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Characteristics of a Quality Education Institution

Characteristic comes from the word “Characteristic” which means a distinctive trait. Or it can be taken that characteristics are a distinctive trait that distinguishes it from others. Characteristics according to Piuas Partanto, in Dahlan in 1994 is a word whose origin is from the word character with the meaning of character or character, innate or habit possessed by a person or individual that is relatively fixed[9] . Islamic education itself according to M. Yusuf Al-Qardhawi is the education of the whole man which includes his mind and heart, spirit and body, morals and skills. Therefore, Islamic education is basically to prepare humans to live well in peace and war, and prepare to face society with all its good and evil, sweet and bitter.

From the description above, it can be concluded that the characteristics of Islamic Education are distinctive and different from others about the process of physical and spiritual guidance based on Islamic teachings and transferring knowledge and values of Islamic teachings to do good in the world and reap the results in the hereafter.

According to Jerome S. Arcaro, basically a quality school or madrasah has at least five characteristics that are defined as the pillars of quality. These pillars are based on an institution’s beliefs such as trust, cooperation and leadership. The five pillars of quality in education emphasize a commitment to stakeholder satisfaction and a commitment to creating an environment of well-being. The five pillars consist of:[10] .

1. Customer Satisfaction

Quality management experts divide education customers into two parts, namely internal customers and external customers. Internal customers are parents, students, teachers, administrators, staff and school boards within the education system. While external customers are the community, companies, families, universities, and others who are outside the organization, but utilize the out put of the education process.

2. Total Engagement (Total Quality)

Everyone must participate totally in quality transformation. Quality is not just the responsibility of the madrasah board or the supervisor. It is the responsibility of everyone. Quality requires everyone to contribute to quality efforts.

3. Measurement

According to Jerom, measurement is an area where many schools fail. Many good things are happening in education today, but the education professionals involved in the process are so focused on solving problems that they cannot measure their effectiveness. For this reason, every plan must also have indicators as a measure of completion and success. The extent to which the program is declared complete or successful must be measured according to the predetermined indicators.

4. Commitment

Supervisors and school boards must be committed to quality. If they are not committed, the quality transformation process cannot begin, because even if it does, it will fail. Everyone needs to support the quality effort. Quality is a cultural change that causes the organization to change the way it works. People usually do not want to change, but management must support the change process by providing education, tools, systems and processes to improve quality.

5. Improvements

Continuous improvement allows us to monitor work processes so as to identify opportunities for improvement. Continuous improvement can be done with various problem-solving tools, such as Control Charts, Brainstorming, Affinity Networks, Fish Bone Diagrams or Ishikawa Diagrams, Field Force Analysis, Process Mapping, and so on.

Madrasahs that have quality characteristics will be in demand by many people. As the results of research from Verdiyani (2016) show that the determinants of public interest in schools used as research subjects are location, school achievement, friendly and professional teachers, and low school fees.  This means that professional teachers are a major factor in improving the quality of education in the institution.

2. Teacher Characteristics

The professionalism of a teacher in carrying out his duties is expected to improve the quality of education. Students in this era need to be guided and educated by a professional teacher who can be a role model so that the resulting learning achievement will progress. A professional teacher should have four teacher competencies in accordance with Indonesian Law Number 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers, namely, a teacher / lecturer must have pedagogical, personality, professional and social competencies[11] . This can be interpreted that a teacher in addition to having to perform teaching, must also have extensive knowledge, be wise, have noble character and be able to socialize well, and be equipped with good characteristics.

There are four characteristics that teachers must have.[12] : First, a teacher must have the energy and time for their students. Teachers who have professionalism will always pay attention to their students at various times. Second, a teacher must have clear goals in teaching. In providing teaching to students a teacher must have clear goals and have the confidence to achieve them together with students, Third, a teacher must have the skills to educate his students to discipline. A teacher must have the skills to change the attitudes and behavior of his students towards a positive direction. In this case, a professional teacher must have the ability to be able to make students have discipline. Fourth, teachers must be able to communicate well in order to motivate students optimally in terms of improving learning achievement.

Kleinheksel et al also explained that analyzing teacher characteristics is very necessary to identify and interpret meaning in the form of communication so that it can be applied or create a framework in the process of teaching and learning in schools/madrasa. Organizing teachers in the activities of the institution and the education process in it in such a way that it can be used to describe or explain a condition whether the school provides good and quality education services or not[13] . In the context of learning, Ulfa & Fatawi also explained that analyzing the success of the learning process plays an important role in improving the image of the institution to be trusted by the community[14] . Improving teacher competence can encourage cooperation between teachers so that it has a positive impact on students’ relationships with teachers and the environment[15] . This is in line with the study of Kintu et al in their research that interaction between students and teachers in a blended learning environment can be achieved by 71%[16] . Improving teacher competence can encourage cooperation between teachers and have a positive impact on student-teacher relationships (Muhyani et al., 2022; Ramdhani, 2019).

RESEARCH METHODS

This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach that will present various results of data obtained through data collection techniques in the form of interviews, namely the process of obtaining information by means of questions and answers in the form of unstructured interviews. The next stage is data analysis through a series of coding and categorization processes in accordance with theories related to the characteristics of quality education institutions and the characteristics of quality teachers. The samples used in this study were three private madrasahs in the Dau sub-district of Malang district.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Principal’s Strategy

School/madrasah principals should be able to correctly identify the characteristics that the institution already has, as well as the character of teachers as the main resource. The characteristics of a quality madrasah have 9 indicators: (Mustaqim, 2016) (1) Formulation of a clear vision, mission and quality targets (2) Strong school leadership (3) High motivation and achievement expectations. (4) Planned development and training of school educators and education personnel (5) Evaluation of learning outcomes (6) Communication and support from parents and the community. (7) Commitment of all school members to improve quality. (9) A safe and orderly school environment and Building cooperation with related parties on an ongoing basis.

The results of research at a secondary school (SMKN 2 Ponorogo) conducted by Andi (2018) show that a good and sustainable public relations strategy can increase public interest in choosing education for their children. One of the strategies carried out is focus, meaning that the educational institution SMKN 2 Ponorogo makes its institution an educational center that produces professional graduates and has been widely accepted in the world of work in various regions[17] .

From several quality Islamic education institutions in the district/city of Malang, several strategies were found in improving the quality of institutions through increasing teacher competence according to their character.  The strategy can be described as follo

The program attached to each Islamic Education Institution is a strength from within the institution and can improve the image of the institution. Furthermore, the existence of a curriculum and teachers that are in accordance with the characteristics of the institution can encourage the achievement of institutional goals optimally and comprehensively. The institution will have the term Community base Education. This means a policy that provides flexibility for the community to participate in education according to community needs. “Community-based education is the implementation of education based on the religious, social, cultural, aspirations, and potential of the community as a manifestation of education from, by, and for the community”.

2. Education quality standards through teacher characteristics

Quality according to Garvin 1984, 1988 is defined as: has given reasons why quality should have different meanings in defferent contexts. He suggested the following five co-existing definitions: a) transcendent (excellence); (b) product-based (amount of desirable attribute); (c) user-based (fitness for use); (d) manufacturing-based (conformance to specification); and (e) value-based (sastification relative to price)[18] . Quality is defined in 5 contexts, namely (a) transcendental means Excellent, (2) product-based means a number of desired attributes, (3) the user context means fulfilling usability, (4) the manufacturing context means conformance to specifications (5) the value context means satisfaction with the relative price. In this case Garvin says that quality or quality will always change according to the context and pedekantannya. This means that there needs to be serious and earnest attention by stakeholders to the fulfillment and realization of all quality standards so that the quality of education can be achieved optimally (Hidayati, 2014). The National Education Standards (SNP) should be met gradually and implemented in accordance with the medium-term framework set out in the school or madrasah strategic plan.

National Education quality standards are used by educational institutions in accordance with the principle of autonomy of educational units or also known as the concept of school-based management[19] . The concept of school-based management is an idea that places the authority of school management in a whole system entity to make decisions.   One manifestation of the implementation of the autonomy of education units is the authority of schools to formulate strategic policies by adopting national standards of education as an effort to improve the quality of education.  A desired result will be achieved efficiently, if activities and related resources are managed as a process with a System Approach to Management identifying, understanding and managing, of interrelated processes to achieve the goals of the institution.[20]

Teachers have an important role in building the image of the institution. A necessary characteristic of a teacher is the ability to communicate well with parents to build trust. Professional teachers must have good relationships with the community. In dealing with students, teachers must think and find solutions together with parents so that students can change for the better. Furthermore, a teacher must have a motivator soul, be able to provide motivation and have knowledge of the character of the students he teaches. Teachers must be able to optimally generate interest in learning in students. A teacher’s character that is no less important is to be a role model. A teacher is a role model for his students. With a good character, a teacher can produce a superior, intelligent and noble generation.

CONCLUSION

The conclusions obtained are: (1) A quality school must achieve the minimum standards that have been set nationally with the minimum criteria of meeting 8 national standards, namely:  a) positive school climate, b) planning process involving all school members, c) high motivation for academic achievement, d) effective monitoring of student progress, e) teacher effectiveness, f) instructional leadership, g) planned financing, and h) adequate infrastructure. (2) The principal’s strategy in achieving quality education goals can be done in various ways, one of which is by conducting a character analysis on the teacher. This character analysis can encourage the teaching and learning process to be more meaningful, students are more enthusiastic in learning, student guardian trust increases so that the image of the institution increases in the community.

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[1] Wahed, A. (2018). Strategies for Realizing Excellent Schools and Madrasahs in the Global Era. AL – IBRAH; Vol 3 No 1 (2018), 3(1), 1-28.

http://ejournal.stital.ac.id/index.php/alibrah/article/view/35

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[3] Mulyadi , Principal Leadership in Developing Quality Culture (Multi Case Study in Integrated Madrasah MAN 3 Malang, MAN 1 Malang, and MA Hidayatul Mubtadi’in Malang City (Jakarta: Research and Development and Training Agency of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, 2010).

[4] Triaji, Harmoko. 2017. “Information Technology-Based Education Marketing Management at Islamic Junior High School Al-Azhar 21 Sukoharjo” Journal of JARLITBANG Education Vol. 3, No. 2. 

[5] Aditya, Sutiah, Mulyadi. 2020.Education Marketing Strategy in Improving School Image. Al-Idarah: Journal of Islamic Education Volume 10 Number 1, https://doi.org/10.24042/alidarah.v10i1.6203

[6] Suci Hidayati. 2023. The influence of visionary leadership and entrepreneurial competence of the madrasah head on the formation of school well-being at MTs. Wahid Hasyim Dau Malang Regency. Thesis Reposatory library UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang.

[7] Dwi Setiyanti, 2023. Development of Competitive Strategy to Improve the Quality of Junior High School. K e l o l a Journal of Education Management. Volume: 10, No. 2 pp 198-209

[8] Nazala, N Zukhufiana and Rima.2022. Marketing Management of Educational Services in Improving the Image of the Institution Through Non-Academic Activities at SMP IT Abu Bakar Yogyakarta. BESTARI Journal. Vol.19, No.1. DOI: https://10.36667/bestari.v1911.1199

[9] Hanifah, H., Susanti, S., & Adji, A. S. (2020). Behavior and Characteristics of Learners Based on Learning Objectives. Manazhim, 2(1), 105-117. https://doi.org/10.36088/manazhim.v2i1.638

[10] Rahayu, W. K., Hanida, R. P., Rozi, F., & Anwar, A. (2018). Analysis of the Implementation of International Education Quality Standards Policy at Vocational High Schools in Padang City by. Wardah, 1(3), 23-37.

[11] Teacher and lecturer law sisdikanas no.14. Jakarta 2005

[12] Tariq, At Zahid. 2023 Development of Student and Teacher Characteristics Instrument for Adaptive Learning Analysis. Conference paper published at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376140105

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[14] Ulfa, S., & Fatawi, I. (2021). Predicting Factors that Influence Students’ Learning Outcomes Using Learning Analytics in Online Learning Environment. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 16(1), 4-17.

[15] Muhyani, M., Fajriansyah, D., & Rofi`ah, R. (2022). The relationship between teachers’ roles with students’ personality and social media utilization at Riyadlul Jannah High School. Ta’dibuna: Journal of Islamic Education, 11(4), 547. https://doi.org/10.32832/tadibuna.v11i4.8816

[16] Kintu, M. J., Zhu, C., & Kagambe, E. (2017). Blended learning effectiveness: The relationship between student characteristics, design features and outcomes. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0043-4

[17] U Sidiq – Ponorogo: PT Nata Karya, 2018. (2004). Madrasah Management. In Why We Need the Journal of Interactive Advertising (Vol. 10, Issue 10). http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738315000444

[18] Abdul Malik Karim A. 2022 Quality Assurance. Malang PT. Cita Intrans Selaras

[19] Tuala, R. P. (2016). School/Madrasa Quality Improvement Management (Case Study in SMA Al Kausar Bandar Lampung and Madrasah Aliyah Negeri I (MAN Model Bandar Lampung). Dissertation, 1-678.

[20] Mulyadi , Principal Leadership in Developing Quality Culture (Multi Case Study in Integrated Madrasah MAN 3 Malang, MAN 1 Malang, and MA Hidayatul Mubtadi’in Malang City (Jakarta: Research and Development and Training Agency of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 2010)