Principal Leadership Matters: Examining Its Effects on Work Motivation and Discipline Among Science Teachers in Public Secondary Schools

Ihsan Ihsan; Herlina Herlina; Muhammad Sri Yusal

doi:10.63922/ijevss.v5i04.6473

Ihsan Ihsan Master's Program in Biology Education, Postgraduate Faculty, Universitas Patompo, Makassar, Indonesia
Herlina Herlina Master's Program in Biology Education, Postgraduate Faculty, Universitas Patompo, Makassar, Indonesia
Muhammad Sri Yusal Master's Program in Biology Education, Postgraduate Faculty, Universitas Patompo, Makassar, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i04.6473

Keywords: Principal Leadership; Teacher Work Motivation; Teacher Work Discipline; Science Teachers; Educational Management

Abstract

Effective school leadership is widely regarded as one of the most consistent predictors of teacher motivation and workplace discipline, yet evidence from science-teacher populations in decentralised, resource-constrained school systems remains limited. This study examined the effect of principal leadership on the work motivation and work discipline of science (IPA) teachers in Indonesian public senior secondary schools, using an ex post facto quantitative design with total sampling of 30 biology and physics teachers (16 biology, 14 physics) across six public senior secondary schools in a regency in South Sulawesi Province. Data were collected through three 40-item Likert questionnaires measuring principal leadership, teacher work motivation, and teacher work discipline, and analysed using descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality and Glejser/Levene homogeneity tests, and multiple linear regression. Teachers perceived principal leadership (M = 150.47, SD = 10.65) and their own work discipline (M = 152.23, SD = 6.47) as very high, while work motivation (M = 141.80, SD = 13.71) was somewhat more variable. Principal leadership significantly predicted teacher work motivation (p < .001), although the coefficient was unexpectedly negative, a pattern attributed to restricted score range rather than a genuine adverse effect; leadership also significantly predicted work discipline (p < .001). In the combined model, principal leadership together with work motivation explained 99.6% of the variance in work discipline (R = .998, R² = .996, F(2,27) = 3750.63, p < .001), although this near-perfect fit is interpreted cautiously as a probable artefact of common-method variance and multicollinearity given the small sample and same-source, same-time measurement. The findings affirm principal leadership as a central, internationally salient lever for cultivating motivated and disciplined science-teaching staff, while illustrating the methodological caution required when self-report predictors are measured concurrently in small samples.

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