UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

LEADERSHIP FUNCTIONS IN MANAGING A PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

ISMI ARIF BIN ISMAIL

FPP 1999 65

LEADERSHIP FUNCTIONS IN MANAGING A PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

By

ISMI ARIF BIN ISMAIL

Thesi s Submitted in partial Ful f ilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science

in the Facul ty of Educational Studies Universiti Putra Malaysia

February 1999

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In The Name of ALLAH , The Mos t Gracious and

The Most Merc i ful , Thank You for giving me the

strength to complete thi s piece of writ ing .

Warm and s incere words of thanks to those

who are deeply and permanent ly l inked to thi s

thes i s : Yang Mul ia Dr . Raj a Ahmad Taj uddin Shah who

advi sed , a s s i s ted and guided me in becoming a

bet ter student and a better person . I also expres s

my appreciat ion to my other mentors , As soc . Prof .

Dr . Haj i Az imi Hamzah and Dr . Shamsuddin Ahmad for

their precious guidance and support . Thanks to my

lecturers at The Department Of Extens ion Educat ion

who have taught me much so that I may pas s on a

l ittle to others . My deepest appreciat ion also go

to my beloved parent s and s ibl ings ( Haj i I smail ' s

and Haj i Yacob ' s wonderful famil ies ) for thei r

a f fect ion and support .

I am eternal ly grateful to my queen of l i f e ,

Azl ina and my two princes of l i fe , Imran and Iqrnal

for being so pat ient , support ive and caring . Thi s

one i s especially for the three o f you .

i i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i i

LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi i i

LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

ABSTRAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi v

CHAPTER

I INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Parent Teacher As sociat ion as an Organisat ional System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Parent Teacher As sociation in Malaysia . . 6

The School ' s Parent Teacher As soc iat ion Const itut ion . . . . . . .......... 9

What Actually Happens to the School ' s Parent Teacher As soc iat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0

Parent Teacher As sociat ion Leadership and its Role in Gaining Members part ic ipation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6

Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7

Research Ques t i ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0

Communicat ion and Vis ion . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0

Organisat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0

Commitment 21

Management 2 1

i i i

I I

S igni f icance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2

Limitation o f the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Def init ion of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Ex- of f icio member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2

Linkages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3

Liai son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Mind-mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3

Serendipi ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4

Summary o f the Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4

REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Parent Teacher As sociat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Organi sat ional Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

The Nature of Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0

Acceptance and Cohes ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0

Formal Versus Informal Leaders 3 1

Condit ions for Getting Involvement 3 3

Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4

Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5

Management Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6

Some Signi ficant Theories on Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7

Type I Perspective s : The Search for Universal Leadership Traits . . . . . . . . . 38

Type II Perspectives : Leadership Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0

iv

Type I I I perspective s : Fiedler ' s Cont ingency Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 4 7

Type IV Perspectives : Behavioural Cont ingenc ies ....................... 4 9

How Leadership Funct ions i n the Management of Parent Teacher As soc iat ion . . . . . . .. . . . 5 2

A Conceptual Framework of Leadership in Parent Teacher As sociation . . . . . . ..... 5 8

Summary of the Chapter . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 59

I I I METHODOLOGy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Research Design ; Why Qual itat ive ? . . . . . . . 6 3

Select ion o f the Case . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Data Col lection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7

Ident i f icat ion o f Informant s . . . . . . . . . 6 7

Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6 9

Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0

Document s and Other Sources o f Data . . . . . . 7 2

Internal Val idity . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2

Rel iabi l i ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . 75

Researcher as Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6

Data Analys i s 7 8

Coding and Categories . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

List of Categories and the File Folder Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Ethics . . . . . . . ... . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6

User General i sabil ity . . . . ..... . . . . . . . . . . . 8 8

v

IV RESULTS AND DISCUSS ION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Parent Teacher As soc iat ion of the School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 0

Profiles o f Informant s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2

PTA Exco Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2

Teachers 9 6

Parent s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 8

Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 2

Creat ing a Vi sion 103

Developing a Team 121

Ut i l i s ing Organi sationwide Expert ise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2

Building Trust 159

Task Mot ivated Act ivitie s . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 4

Relat ionship Mot ivated Act ivi ties . . . . 1 6 7

Summary of the Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 8

V SUMMARY, CONCLUS IONS AND IMPLICATIONS . . . . 1 7 2

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 2

Statement o f the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 2

Research Que st ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 3

Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

The Ideal Hypothet ical Situat ion . . . . . 1 7 7

The Actual Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '" 1 7 9

Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8 2

Conclus ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 7

vi

Impl icat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 8

Recommendations for Further Studies . . . '" 1 9 9

BIBLIOORAPIIY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 0

APPENDIX

A List of Informant s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 7

B Interview Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 8

C List o f Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 9

D Def init ion o f Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 1

E Audi t Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 15

F Approval on the Translation Work . . . . . . . . 2 1 9

VITA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 0

vi i

LIST OF TABLES

Table

1 The Number of Student s Unt il

Page

June 1998 ............... . ........... 1 2 7

2 Attendance at the Parent Teacher As sociation Annual General Meeting 1996 - 1998 ......................... 1 2 8

vi i i

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

1 Parent Teacher As sociat ion

Page

Organisational Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 The Ohio State Leadership Model . . . . . . . 4 3

3 The Managerial Grid Leadership Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

4 The Conceptual Framework Before the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

5 The Conceptual Framework After the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AGM Annual General Meet ing

LPC Least Preferred Co -Worker Scale

PTA Parent Teacher Ass ociation

UMNO United Malay Nat ional Organisat ion

x

Abstract of the s i s presented to the Senate of Univers iti Putra Mal aysia in part ial ful f i lment

of the requi rement s for the degree of Master of Science .

LEADERSHIP FUNCTIONS IN MANAGING A PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

By

ISMI ARIF BIN ISMAIL

February 1999

Chairman : Y . M Dr . Raja Ahmad Tajuddin Shah

Faculty: Educational Studies

Thi s inquiry s tudied the nature of l eader-

ship in Parent Teacher Associat ion ( PTA) and how

i t funct ions in the management of the organisat ion .

The study used qual itat ive case study as the

methodology . The informant s were PTA exco members ,

teachers and parent s . Semi - structured interviews

which were recorded act as the primary data of thi s

inquiry . Each recorded interview was transcribed

verbat im into the computer . The researcher has also

used documents provided by informant s to support

the f inding s . Data were managed us ing a personal

computer and the ' cut and paste ' method .

xi

The study found that the PTA leadership

focused more on the task related activities than

the rel ationship activit ie s . Teachers were found

to be more act ively involved than parent s . The

communicat ion between parent s and teachers was

minimal and stunted the e f f ort s of developing a PTA

which balances between carrying out various act ivi ­

t ie s and s imultaneously building a close knitted

relationship among members .

The s tudy concluded that (1) The PTA leader­

ship failed to create e ffect ive and clear vis ion to

the members due to the l ack of focus , communicat ion

and networking , (2 ) The PTA l eadership failed to

devel op a strong team as not all members are

involved and committed to the organi sation , ( 3) The

PTA leadership did not ut i l i s e the expert ise of all

the members due to the lack of contact s among the

members , (4 ) The PTA leadership managed to build

the trust but ended being on their own in managing

the activities without act ive involvement of the

parent s , ( 5 ) The PTA leadership operates at the 5 , 5

managerial grid l eadership model as it managed to

mOderately carry out activi t ie s and maintain the

relationship among members .

xi i

Thi s study has given useful informat ion on

how leadership functions in the management of a

Parent Teacher As sociat ion .

xiii

Abstrak tes i s yang dikemukakan kepada Senat Univers i t i Putra Mal ays ia sebagai memenuhi sebahagian daripada keperluan mendapatkan

ij azah Master Sains .

FUNGSI KEPIMPINAN DI DALAM PENGURUSAN SESEBUAH PERSATUAN IBUBAPA

DAN GURU-GURU

Oleh

ISMI ARIF BIN ISMAIL

Februari 1999

Pengerusi : Y . M Dr . Raja Ahmad Tajuddin Shah

Fakulti : Pengajian Pendidikan

Kaj ian ini menyel idik kepimpinan Persatuan

Ibubapa dan Guru -guru ( PIBG ) dan bagaimana ianya

berfung s i di dalam pengurusan organisasi tersebut .

Kaj ian ini menggunakan kaedah penyel idikan

kualitat i f . Informan- informan kaj ian adalah Ahl i

j awatankuasa PIBG , guru -guru dan ibubapa . Temubual

' Semi - Structured ' ( Semi - St ruktur) yang dirakamkan

adalah sumber utama kaj ian . Set iap rakaman temubual

ditranskrib secara verbat im ke dalam komputer .

Penyel idik j uga menggunakan dokumen yang diterima

daripada informan bagi mengukuhkan dapatan . Data

xiv

diurus dengan menggunakan komputer dan kaedah ' cut

and paste ' ( potong dan tampal ) .

Kaj ian mendapat i bahawa kepimpinan PIBG ini

lebih memfokuskan kepada akt ivit i - akt ivit i tugasan

daripada aktivit i - akt ivit i yang memupukkan hubungan

sesama ahl i . Guru -guru didapati terl ibat secara

l ebih akti f daripada ibubapa . Komunikasi antara

ibubapa dan guru -guru adalah pada tahap yang

minimum dan ini memperlahankan usaha-usaha membina

PIBG yang boleh mengimbang i antara mengadakan

berbagai akt iviti dan pada masa yang sarna membina

ikatan perhubungan yang erat sesama ahl i .

Kes impul an kaj ian ini adal ah (1 ) Kepimpinan

PIBG t idak berj aya mengutarakan vis i yang j elas

dan efektif kepada ahl i - ahl i disebabkan kurangnya

fokus , komunikasi dan j aringan , (2) Kepimpinan PIBG

gagal membina pasukan yang kuat kerana t idak semua

ahl i terl ibat dan komi ted terhadap organisasi ber­

kenaan , ( 3 ) Kepimpinan PIBG t idak menggunakan kepa ­

karan semua ahl i - ahl inya disebabkan kurangnya atau

renggangnya ' contact ' atau hubungan antara sesama

ahl i , (4) Kepimpinan PIBG bagaimanapun mendapat

kepercayaan ahl i - ahl i sehingga dibebankan sepenuh

xv

tanggungj awab menguruskan akt ivit i tanpa pengl iba­

tan secara akt i f dari pihak ibubapa , ( 5 ) Kepimpinan

PIBG yang menj adi sumber kaj ian ini bergerak di

dalam grid pengurusan kepimpinan 5 , 5 atas dasar

berj aya menggerakkan akt ivi t i dan hubungan sesama

ahl i pada tahap yang sederhana .

Kaj ian ini telah memberikan maklumat yang

berguna tentang bagaimana kepimpinan berfungsi

di dal am pengurusan sesebuah Persatuan Ibubapa

Dan Guru -guru .

xvi

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

As a background to the study , thi s chapter

discusses in brief the funct ions of Parent Teacher

As sociat ion ( PTA) in school as set by the Mini stry

Of Educat ion back in 19 7 3 under the PTA Rules .

Further discuss ion on i s sues rel ated to the nature

of leadership in the management of PTA highl ight s

the importance of the organisat ion to the school .

The leadership in PTA plays an important role in

helping the school to meet the society ' s needs , to

be responsive to the everchanging surrounding and

to improve the school and community relationship

( Keith and Girl ing , 1 9 9 1 ) .

School s produce educated individual s who

wil l serve the society in the future . The

knowledge taught in s chool s serves to prepare the

children to face the chall enges in l i fe . School s

therefore should be managed appropriately so that

the student s and teachers can perform to meet the

society ' s needs ( Keith and Girl ing , 19 91) . Meeting

the society ' s needs helps schools to be respons ive

to the everchanging society rather than working

1

rigidly only to satis fy the requirement s set out by

the federal , state and district educat ion depart ­

ment s .

In order to be respons ive , PTA need to be

run effectively to improve communicat ion and

understanding between the school and the home

( Lipham and Hoeh , 1 9 74 ) . The importance of the

s chool - communi ty concept in Malays ia was developed

in the 1 9 5 6 Razak Report ( Omardin Ashaari , 1 9 9 6 ) .

The funct ions of the school s in Malaysia have

gradual ly increased and become more complex as the

country is now being modernised and industrial ised .

The cooperat ion between both part ies i s vital in

working towards the goals of Mal aysian Philosophy

of Educat ion ( Kamarudin Kachar , 1 9 8 9 ) .

The Malaysian Philosophy of Educat ion

developed in the 1 9 7 9 Cabinet Report on the

Impl imentation Of Educat ion Pol icy is aimed at the

creat ion of wel l - rounded students who are capable

and excellent in all dimens ions. These includes

intellectual , spiritual , physical and emotional

dimens ions ( Kamarudin Hus in , 1 9 8 9 ) . The secondary

s chool in Mal aysia today , mus t theref ore understand

the National Philosophy of Educat ion and the

chang ing needs of the society .

2

In order to understand and to accomplish the

aims accordingly , principal s , teachers and parent s

need to use PTA as a forum to improve the school -

community relationship . The emphas i s on s chool-

communi ty relationship is important so that the

student s produced by school s are not only wel l

rounded but are a l s o able to adapt themselves

to serve the society ( Kamarudin Kachar, 1 9 8 9 ) .

Teachers and parent s can help educating the

student s both at school and at home . Parent Teacher

Assoc iat ion indeed manages this shared responsib i -

l i ty .

Moreover , Educat ion Mini ster , Datuk Seri

Mohd . Naj ib Tun Razak said that PTA should

represent the interest of the local community in

as sociating themselves with the local educat ion

environment ( The Sun : April 2 7 , 1 9 9 7 ) . Parent s and

teachers who are sensi t ive towards the l ocal educa -

tion i s sues should work together for the betterment

of the student s .

Parent Teacher Association as an Organisational System.

One way to des cribe an organisation i s to

view it in terms of its structure . Thi s includes

looking at who is part of the organisat ion and how

are those members related to one another . Parent

3

Teacher Associat ion as an organisat ion does have

some structural characteri stics ( Ke ith and Girl ing ,

19 91) .

In mos t American s chool s , the PTA members

normally cons ist of a principal , teachers and

parent s ( Keith and Girl ing , 1 9 9 1) . The same appl ies

in Malaysian school s . There i s al so a set of

hierarchical relationships among the members as the

Chairman i s at the top , with the Principal as

the advi ser and teachers and parents as the other

off ice bearers ( PTA Rules , 1 9 7 3) . The organisat io­

nal chart on PTA can be referred on the fol lowing

page .

In real ity , PTA organisational structure in

American school s is not perfectly hierarchical .

Parent Teacher As sociat ion has important organisa­

tional quirks that l ead to a more autonomy at lower

l evel s of the system ( Keith and Girl ing , 1 9 91) . The

same applies to the Malaysian context . There are

t imes when a less hierarchical mode of organisatio­

nal behaviour i s proper especially in the case of

gaining cooperat ion and support of PTA members in

performing school activi t ies ( Kamarudin Kachar,

19 8 9) .

4

I Chairman ( Parent ) J

Principal as the Adviser

secretarY(Teacher) Treasurer ( Teacher)

( Parents ) ( Teachers ) Exco members Exco members Exco members Exco members Exco members Exco members

Figure 1: Parent Teacher Association Organisational Chart

Source: (PTA Rules, 1973)

5

Parent s and teachers should view their

involvement in PTA as something which they feel at

ease to part icipate instead of feeling t ied up to

the authority and responsibility which are hierar­

chically structured . Parent s must not be led to

think that the relationship as j ust one aim to

direct and get material help from them ( Kamarudin

Kachar, 1 9 8 9 ) .

Contacts between teachers and parent s must

be encouraged so that both part ies wil l feel

comfortable about init iat ing communicat ion whenever

they have quest ions ( Lipham and Hoeh , 1 9 7 4 ) .

Parent Teacher Associat ion in Malaysia

The rules for establ i shing Parent Teacher

Associat ion in Malaysian school s are specif ied

in the Educat ion Act , 1 9 6 1 . The Parent Teacher

As sociat ion Rules , 1 9 7 3 clearly stated that , " There

shall be establ i shed in every ful ly assi s ted school

and educational inst itut i on an as sociat ion to be

known as the Parent Teacher As soc iation " ( Educat ion

Act , 1 9 6 1 ) as quoted in PTA Rules ( 1 9 7 3 ) .

The members should cons i s t s of all teachers

employed in the school , the parent s of the student s

6

attending the s chool and the Principal of the

school as the ex- o f f icio member ( PTA Rule s , 1 9 7 3 ) .

The aims of the associat ion as stated in PTA

Rules ( 19 7 3 ) are :

1 . To provide a forum and service for the wel fare

and progress of pup i l s in the s chool .

2 . To assist and to complement the ef fort s of the

school in meet ing the material requirement s and

needs of the student s in their act ivities .

3 . To enable the parents and teachers in the school

to exchange ideas and informat ion on educat ion

in general .

4 . To allow teachers and parent s in the school to

consult each other as to the manner of improving

the standard of educat ion of their children in

general .

The specific obj ect ive s of the as soc iation

are :

1 . To ensure that the student s in the school

obtain maximum bene f i t s from their educat ional

fac i l i t ies .

2 . To ensure that the s tudents have the neces sary

resources to do their school work ; both at home

and in the school .

7

3 . To create the opt imum school environment so as

to enable the students to develop spiritual ly ,

morally , mentally and phys ically .

The act also stated that the act ivities of

the as sociat ion should be directed to look into

the wel fare and development of the s tudent s . Thi s

means that PTA i s the body that provides the

f inancial support to help the needy student s . For

example , PTA somet imes help in paying for the

s tudent s ' examination fee , their meal at the

canteen and even buying their school uni forms . Thi s

brings together school s t a f f and parent s for the

bene f i t of the pupils ( Kamarudin Kachar, 1 9 8 9 ) .

To enable parent s and teachers to exchange

ideas and improve the standard of educat ion , PTA

also plans educat ional programmes for the student s .

Thi s i s done in the hope that the student s at

school will perform wel l in all public examinations

and enj oy an improved s tandard of l iving ( Kamarudin

Kachar , 1 9 8 9 ) .

Al though one of PTA ' s obj ectives i s to

create opt imum s chool environment , the association

nonetheless i s not connected with the employment

and condit ion of service of the school staff .

Parent Teacher As sociat i on i s only a forum to

8