Exploring Digital Leadership for Sustainable School Development in Lembang Junior High Schools
Keywords:
Digital leadership, Sustainable school development, Educational transformation, Data-driven decision-makingAbstract
Digital leadership has become a critical factor in supporting sustainable school development in the era of Education 4.0. Schools are required to integrate technology effectively while maintaining organizational adaptability and long-term sustainability. This study aims to examine how digital leadership is implemented by principals to support sustainable school development in public and international junior high schools in Lembang, West Bandung Regency. This research employed a descriptive qualitative approach to explore leadership practices, technology integration, and organizational interactions within the school environment. Data were collected through interviews, observations, document analysis, and Likert-scale questionnaires administered to 415 respondents consisting of teachers, students, and administrative staff. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive and thematic interpretation. The findings indicate that digital leadership implementation in both schools is categorized as high, with an average score of 3.95. The strongest dimension was principals’ support for digital innovation (4.06), followed by a clear digital vision (3.99) and effective digital communication (3.92). However, the utilization of digital data for strategic decision-making received the lowest score (3.85), indicating the need to strengthen data-driven leadership practices. The study highlights the role of principals as key agents of digital transformation in schools. The findings contribute theoretically to the discourse on digital leadership and sustainability in education and provide practical implications for developing data-informed digital leadership models to support sustainable school development.
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