Sri Datun Nisa: Principal Leadership at SMAN 1 Marabahan, SMAN 1 Anjir Pasar,
and SMA Global Islamic Boarding School (GIBS) Barito Kuala. Advisors: I:
Dr. H. Ridhahani, M.Pd and II: Dr. Ahmad Juhadi, S.Ag, M. Pd. I, Tesis,
Postgraduate Program of IAIN Antasari Banjarmasin, 2017.
Keywords: Leadership, Principal, Decision-Making, Human Relations
The principal as the leader at school should be able to lead his institution well.
Therefore, to be able to lead well, the principal should understand the basic concepts
of leadership in education. Being a principle is more than just some position, which
can be given to anyone; it is leadership that needs expertise and special competency,
especially in decision-making, by paying attention to human relations. Every school’s
principal should be able to choose the appropiate leadership style. It is possible for a
principal to apply different kinds of leadership style in different situation and
condition at school where he leads.
This study aims to determine the principal's leadership in decision-making and
human relations that occur in the school environment.
This is a qualitative field research which collect descriptive data, both in
written and spoken form by observing people and their behaviors. The data is
collected though interview, supported by observation and documentary to be then
analyzed by reducing the data (data reduction), display the data, and drawing
conclusion from it.
The result of the study shows that the leadership style of the principal in
SMAN 1 Marabahan and SMAN 1 Anjir Pasar is participatory and democratic.
Participatory leadership is applied by the principal in making a decision by engaging
the entire school community including the subordinates in sharing ideas, suggestions,
and considerations for problem solving. Meanwhile, the democratic leadership is
shown by the decision-making process that engages as many subordinates as possible
to make a decision together, so that the subordinates have a sense of responsibility in
the implementation of the decisions. The principal’s leadership in SMA Global
Islamic Boarding School (GIBS) tends to be pseudo democratic which is
demonstrated by the the dominance in the behaviors of the leader in decision-making.