The Relationship of Principal’s Authentic Leadership and Teacher’s Job Motivation in Excellence Cluster Schools

This study investigates the relationship between principals’ authentic leadership practices and teachers’ job motivation within Excellence Cluster Secondary Schools (Sekolah Kluster Kecemerlangan, SKK) in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Authentic leadership, characterized by integrity, ethical decision-making, and genuine behavior, has been underscored in the Malaysian Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2013–2025. Through its Fifth Shift, the PPPM emphasizes the need for high-performance leaders in schools to meet the evolving demands of global education. Despite this focus, research indicates that some school principals still fall short in executing their roles effectively. This study, therefore, aims to examine the correlation between the level of authentic leadership exhibited by principals and the resultant job motivation among teachers. Employing a quantitative methodology, the study utilized purposive sampling to gather responses from 187 teachers across three SKKs in Johor Bahru through a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20, and revealed a significant positive correlation between principals’ authentic leadership practices and teachers’ job motivation, as determined by the Spearman Correlation Test. Based on these findings, the study recommends enhancing authentic leadership through ongoing training, recognition programs, and a commitment to positive reinforcement. Future research should expand this work through qualitative approaches and broader demographic sampling to explore authentic leadership impacts across varied educational settings, including private institutions and other school types under the Malaysian Ministry of Education.