Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
10 No.
: 524-537
Available online at https://ejournal.
id/index.
php/al-tanzim/index Synergizing Transformational Leadership and Learning Communities: A Quantitative Path to Enhancing Elementary Teacher Professionalism Ana Rifatun1*.
Supandi2 .
Nurkolis3 Education Management Department.
Universitas Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia Semarang.
Central Java.
Indonesia Email: rifatunana@gmail.
com1, supandi@upgris.
id2, nurkolis@upgris.
DOI: http://doi.
org/10.
33650/al-tanzim.
Received: 12 November 2025 Revised: 07 February 2026 Accepted: 20 Macrh 2026 Abstract:
This study aims to analyze the influence of the principalAos transformational leadership and the effectiveness of the learning community on elementary school teachers' professional The background is the suboptimal development of teacher professional competence, most of which remains at a basic level of understanding.
The principal's role as a learning leader and the learning community's activities have not been effective.
The research method uses a quantitative, correlational design.
The population in this study consisted of all elementary school teachers, and the sample comprised 137 respondents selected using proportional random sampling.
Data were collected through questionnaires that had been tested for validity and reliability, and analyzed using simple and multiple linear regression.
The results of the study showed that the principalAos transformational leadership had a positive and significant effect on teacher professional competence, the regression coefficient was 0.
710, the effectiveness of the learning community had a positive and significant effect on teacher professional competence with a regression coefficient of 435 simultaneously, transformational leadership and the effectiveness of the learning community had a significant effect on teacher professional competence with a contribution (R Squar.
An inspiring leadership style and the optimization of the learning community are key factors in improving teacher professionalism.
Keywords: Transformational Leadership.
Learning Communities.
Teacher Professional Competence Abstrak:
Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis pengaruh kepemimpinan transformasional kepala sekolah dan efektivitas komunitas belajar terhadap kompetensi profesional guru Sekolah Dasar.
Latar belakang didasari oleh belum optimalnya capaian kompetensi profesional guru, sebagian besar masih pada level pemahaman dasar.
Peran kepala sekolah sebagai pemimpin pembelajaran serta aktivitas komunitas belajar belum efektif.
Metode penelitian dengan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan desain korelasional.
Populasi dalam penelitian ini seluruh guru Sekolah Dasar, sampel 137 responden teknik proporsional random sampling.
Data dikumpulkan melalui angket yang telah diuji validitas dan reliabilitasnya, dianalisis menggunakan regresi linier sederhana dan regresi linier berganda.
Hasil penelitian kepemimpinan transformasional kepala sekolah berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap kompetensi profesional guru, koefisien regresi 0,710, efektivitas komunitas belajar berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap kompetensi profesional guru dengan koefisien regresi sebesar 0,435 secara simultan, kepemimpinan transformasional dan efektivitas komunitas belajar berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kompetensi profesional guru dengan kontribusi (R Squar.
sebesar 60,2%.
Gaya kepemimpinan yang Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam This journal is an open-access article under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.
0 license.
A 2026, the author.
menginspirasi dan optimalisasi komunitas belajar menjadi faktor kunci dalam meningkatkan profesionalisme guru.
Kunci: Kepemimpinan Transformasional.
Komunitas Belajar.
Kompetensi Profesional Guru Please cite this article in APA style as:
Rifatun.
Supandi & Nurkolis.
Synergizing Transformational Leadership and Learning Communities:
A Quantitative Path to Enhancing Elementary Teacher Professionalism.
Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam, 10.
, 524-537.
INTRODUCTION
Improving the quality of education is largely determined by the professionalism of teachers, who are key actors in the learning process.
TeachersAo professional competence at the elementary school level plays a strategic role because it is directly related to mastery of learning materials, understanding of student characteristics, and the ability to apply the curriculum effectively and contextually (Roesminingsih & Windasari, 2.
With the implementation of the Independent Curriculum, demands on teachersAo professional competence have become increasingly complex (Obaid et al.
, 2024.
Padang et al.
, 2.
Teachers are required not only to master the learning content but also to design innovative learning experiences, implement formative assessments, utilize digital technology, and engage in continuous reflection and collaboration within learning One important factor influencing the improvement of teacher professional competence is the principalAos leadership.
The principal acts not only as an administrator but also as a learning leader responsible for establishing a vision, school culture, and work climate that supports teacher professional development (Wahjusaputri et al.
, 2025.
Yalynkaya et al.
, 2.
Transformational leadership, which emphasizes inspiring vision, motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized attention, has been shown to drive changes in teacher attitudes, behaviors, and practices toward more innovative and meaningful learning (Ausat et al.
, 2022.
Diding Nurdin, 2.
The effectiveness of professional learning communities is a strategic element in teacher professional development, alongside school leadership (Bendtsen et al.
, 2022.
Geletu & Mihiretie, 2023.
Lee & Ip, 2.
Learning communities serve as collaborative platforms for teachers to share best practices, reflect on learning, and collectively and continuously improve the quality of Although learning communities such as the TeachersAo Working Group (KKG) have been established in Tanggungharjo Regency, their implementation remains variable, and most are not oriented toward in-depth reflection on learning Despite these conditions, there remains a gap between the demands of teacher professionalism and the realities of practice in the field.
This study aims to empirically examine the influence of principalsAo transformational leadership and the effectiveness of learning communities on the professional competence of elementary school teachers in the Tanggungharjo District.
The results of this study are expected to provide empirical contributions to the development of school leadership policies and the strengthening of learning communities as strategies for improving teacher professionalism.
Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
10 No.
: 524-537
Available online at https://ejournal.
id/index.
php/al-tanzim/index Previous studies indicate that principalsAo transformational leadership plays a crucial role in enhancing teacher competence and performance, particularly through individualized consideration and inspirational motivation, which directly strengthen teachersAo professional competence (Gao et al.
, 2024.
Zhang et al.
, 2.
This perspective is further supported by findings showing that transformational leadership not only improves teacher performance but also fosters an innovative school culture grounded in a shared vision (Anastasiou & Garametsi, 2021.
Diding Nurdin, 2023.
Syrycy et al.
, 2.
The effectiveness of learning communities has been consistently associated with improved teacher professionalism, as collaborative practices such as lesson study and reflective dialogue contribute significantly to the development of pedagogical and professional competencies (Mukti & Noviafitri, 2024.
Shermukhammadov, 2022.
Sholeh, 2.
Empirical evidence also demonstrates that the simultaneous influence of transformational leadership and effective learning communities significantly enhances teacher professionalism, indicating the importance of integrating strong leadership with a collaborative school culture.
Although several studies have addressed the influence of principalsAo transformational leadership and learning communities on teacher professionalism, this study offers novelty in several key aspects.
It specifically focuses on teacher professional competence, using indicators and achievement levels from the latest Teacher Competency Model (Directorate General of Teacher and Teacher Education, 2.
, which has not been widely used in previous empirical studies.
By applying these updated competency standards, this study provides a more up-to-date, policy-relevant empirical analysis of the relationships among transformational leadership, learning community effectiveness, and teacher professional competence.
RESEARCH METHODS
This study uses a quantitative approach with a causal associative research type, which aims to examine the influence of transformational leadership of school principals and the effectiveness of learning communities on teachersAo professional A quantitative approach was chosen because the research data consist of numerical data, which is analyzed statistically to examine the cause-andeffect relationship between variables (Pregoner, 2.
The research design used is ex post facto with a correlational causal model, which is research that examines the relationship between variables without manipulating the independent The variables in this study consist of: Transformational leadership of school principals (XCA).
Effectiveness of learning communities (XCC).
Teacher professional competence (Y).
The research was conducted in public elementary schools in Tanggungharjo Subdistrict.
Grobogan Regency.
Central Java Province.
The research was conducted from June to December 2025.
The research population comprised all public elementary school teachers, totaling 208.
The sample was determined using the Slovin formula with a 5% margin of error, resulting in a sample of 137 teachers.
The sampling technique used was proportional random sampling (Duckett, 2.
Al-Tanzim : Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
10 No.
: 524-537
Available online at https://ejournal.
id/index.
php/al-tanzim/index which accounts for the proportion of teachers in each school to ensure the sample is representative.
Research data were collected using a Likert-scale questionnaire, with indicators for each variable.
The questionnaire was used to collect data on school principalsAo transformational leadership, the effectiveness of learning communities, and teachersAo professional competence.
The collected data were analyzed using inferential statistics, namely multiple linear regression analysis, to determine the effect of the principalAos transformational leadership on teachersAo professional competence, the effect of the effectiveness of the learning community on teachersAo professional competence, and the simultaneous effect of the principalAos transformational leadership and the effectiveness of the learning community on teachersAo professional competence.
All statistical tests were conducted at a significance level of = 0.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results The Influence of Transformational Leadership on the Professional Competence of Teachers This finding presents the results of the statistical analysis examining the relationship between principalsAo transformational leadership and teachersAo professional competence.
The analysis used PearsonAos correlation to determine the strength, direction, and significance of the relationship between the two variables.
The results of this analysis are presented in Table 1 below.
Table 1.
The Power of Transformational Leadership on Teachers' Professional Competence Correlations Transformational Teachers' Professional Leadership
Competence Pearson
,726**
Correlation Transformational Leadership Sig.
-taile.
<,001 Pearson
,726**
Teachers' Correlation Professional Sig.
-taile.
<,001 Competence Table 1 shows a positive and statistically significant relationship between principalsAo transformational leadership and teachersAo professional competence based on the results of the simple linear regression analysis.
PearsonAos correlation test yielded a coefficient of r = 0.
726 and a p-value of p < 0.
001, indicating a strong These findings indicate that the higher the transformational leadership of school principals, the higher the professional competence of teachers.
Thus, the hypothesis that transformational leadership influences teachersAo professional competence is accepted.
Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
10 No.
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php/al-tanzim/index Table 2.
The Effect of Transformational Leadership on Teachers' Professional Competence ANOVAa Model Sum of Squares Mean Square Sig.
Regression <,001b Residual Total Table 2 shows that the regression model is statistically significant based on the ANOVA results, as indicated by an F-value of 150.
< 0.
Since the pvalue is below the significance level ( = 0.
, the model is considered fit for predicting the dependent variable.
These results indicate that the independent variables simultaneously have a significant effect on the dependent variable.
Table 3.
Contribution of Transformational Leadership to Teachers' Professional Competence Model Summary Model R Square Adjusted R Square Std.
Error of the Estimate ,726a ,527 ,523 5,104 Table 3 shows that the correlation coefficient (R) is 0.
726, indicating a positive relationship between the independent and dependent variables.
The R Square (RA) value of 0.
527 suggests that the independent variables explain 52.
of the variance in the dependent variable, while the remaining 47.
3% is attributed to factors outside the scope of this study.
Table 4.
Regression Coefficients of Transformational Leadership on Teachers' Professional Competence Coefficientsa Unstandardized Standardized Sig.
Coefficients Coefficients Model Std.
Error Beta (Constan.
Transformational <,001 Leadership Table 4 shows that, based on the simple linear regression analysis in the Coefficients table, the constant value is 11.
609 and the regression coefficient for transformational leadership is 0.
The constant indicates that when transformational leadership is zero, teachersAo professional competence is predicted to be 11.
Furthermore, the positive regression coefficient .
suggests a positive .
relationship, meaning that each one-unit increase in transformational leadership is associated with a 0.
935 increase in teachersAo professional competence.
The Effect of Learning Community Effectiveness on the Professional Competence of Teachers Simple linear regression analysis was used to test the effect of learning community effectiveness on teachersAo professional competence.
The strength of the relationship between variables was analyzed using the product-moment correlation coefficient, with the interpretation provided.
The test results showed Al-Tanzim : Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
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php/al-tanzim/index that the learning communityAos effectiveness was significantly related to teachersAo professional competence, supporting the hypothesis that the former affects the Table 5.
Strength of the Relationship Between the Effectiveness of Learning Communities and Teachers' Professional Competence Correlations Effectiveness of Teachers' Professional Learning Communities Competence Pearson Correlation Effectiveness of Learning Communities Sig.
-taile.
<,001 Pearson Correlation Teachers' Professional Competence Sig.
-taile.
<,001 Table 5 shows that the results of PearsonAos correlation analysis indicate a positive and statistically significant relationship between the effectiveness of learning communities and teachersAo professional competence.
The Pearson correlation coefficient .
= 0.
suggests a strong relationship between the two variables, meaning that greater effectiveness in learning communities is associated with higher teachersAo professional competence.
Additionally, the p-value .
< .
indicates that the relationship is statistically significant at the 0.
01 level .
Thus, it can be concluded that there is a strong and meaningful relationship between the effectiveness of learning communities and teachersAo professional Table 6.
The Effect of Learning Community Effectiveness on Teachers' Professional Competence ANOVAa Model Sum of Squares Mean Square Sig.
Regression <,001b Residual Total Table 6 shows that the regression model is statistically significant based on the ANOVA results, as indicated by an F-value of 84.
< 0.
Since the pvalue is below the significance level ( = 0.
, the model is considered fit for explaining the dependent variable.
Table 7.
Contribution of Learning Community Effectiveness to Teachers' Professional Competence Model Summary Model R Square Adjusted R Square Std.
Error of the Estimate Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
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php/al-tanzim/index Table 7 shows that the correlation coefficient (R) is 0.
621, indicating a positive relationship between learning community effectiveness and teachersAo professional competence.
The R Square (RA) value of 0.
385 suggests that learning community effectiveness explains 38.
5% of the variance in teachersAo professional competence, while the remaining 61.
5% is attributable to factors outside the research model.
Table 8.
Regression Coefficients for the Effectiveness of Learning Communities on Teachers' Professional Competence Coefficientsa Unstandardized Standardized Sig.
Coefficients Coefficients Model Std.
Error Beta (Constan.
<,001 Effectiveness of Learning Communities Table 8 shows that the results of the simple linear regression analysis yield a constant value of 98.
419 and a regression coefficient for learning community effectiveness (X.
Accordingly, the regression equation can be expressed as Y = 98.
209X2.
The constant indicates that when learning community effectiveness is zero, teachersAo professional competence is predicted to be 98.
Furthermore, the positive regression coefficient .
suggests a positive .
relationship, meaning that each one-unit increase in learning community effectiveness is associated with a 0.
209 increase in teachersAo professional competence.
The Influence of Transformational Leadership and the Effectiveness of Collaborative Learning Communities on Teachers' Professional Competence Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the simultaneous effects of school principalsAo transformational leadership and learning community effectiveness on teachersAo professional competence.
The strength of the relationship between variables was analyzed using correlation coefficients with The test results showed that transformational leadership and learning community effectiveness together had a significant relationship with teachersAo professional competence, thereby supporting the hypothesis of simultaneous influence.
Table 9.
The Strength of the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and the Effectiveness of Learning Communities Together on Teachers' Professional Competence Model Summary Change Statistics Std.
Error Adjusted Model of the R Square Sig.
Square R Square df1 df2 Estimate Change Change Change <,001 Al-Tanzim : Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
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php/al-tanzim/index Table 9 shows a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.
776, indicating a positive relationship among the independent variables (Transformational Leadership and Learning Community Effectivenes.
and the dependent variable (Teacher Professional Competenc.
The R Square (RA) value of 0.
602 indicates that the two independent variables explain 60.
2% of the variation in Teacher Professional Competence.
In contrast, the remaining 39.
8% is influenced by factors outside the research model.
In addition, the change in R Square (R Square Chang.
with an F Change value of 101.
319 and a significance level of < 0.
001, indicates that the addition of independent variables to the model significantly improves the modelAos ability to explain the variability of the dependent variable.
Thus, it can be concluded that the Effectiveness of Learning Communities and transformational leadership simultaneously make a strong, positive, and significant contribution to Teacher Professional Competence.
Table 10.
The Combined Effect of Transformational Leadership and Learning Community Effectiveness on Teachers' Professional Competence ANOVAa Sum of Model Mean Square Sig.
Squares Regression <,001b Residual Total Table 10 shows that the F-count value was 101.
319, and the significance value was < 0.
These results indicate that the regression model is statistically significant, so it can be concluded that the independent variables simultaneously have a significant effect on the dependent variable.
Thus, the regression model used is declared fit to explain the relationship between the research variables.
Thus, the research hypothesis stating that the Effectiveness of Learning Communities and Transformational Leadership jointly influence Teacher Professional Competence is accepted.
Table 11.
Contribution of Transformational Leadership and Learning Community Effectiveness Together to Teachers' Professional Competence Model Summary Model R Square Adjusted R Square Std.
Error of the Estimate Based on the regression analysis results in Table 11, a multiple correlation coefficient (R) value of 0.
776 was obtained, indicating a positive but weak relationship between the independent and dependent variables.
The R-squared value of 0.
602 indicates that the independent variables in the model explain 60.
of the variation in the dependent variable.
In comparison, the remaining 39.
8% is influenced by factors outside the model.
Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
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php/al-tanzim/index Table 12.
Regression Coefficients of Transformational Leadership and Joint Learning Community Effectiveness on Teachers' Professional Competence Coefficientsa Unstandardized Standardized Coefficients Coefficients Model Sig.
Std.
Error Beta (Constan.
Transformational <,001 Leadership Learning Community <,001 Effectiveness Table 12 presents the results of the multiple linear regression analysis, which show that transformational leadership and learning community effectiveness have a positive and significant effect on teachersAo professional The regression equation obtained is Y = 15.
710XCA 0.
435XCC.
The regression coefficients for transformational leadership .
= 8.
p < 0.
and learning community effectiveness .
= 5.
p < 0.
indicate a significant The standardized beta coefficients indicate that transformational leadership ( = 0.
has a greater influence than learning community effectiveness ( = 0.
Thus, the hypothesis stating that both variables influence teachersAo professional competence is accepted.
Discussion The results of the study indicate that the transformational leadership of school principals and the effectiveness of learning communities have a positive and significant effect on teachersAo professional competence, both partially and Transformational leadership shows a regression coefficient of 710 .
= 8.
538, p < 0.
and a learning community effectiveness coefficient of 435 .
= 5.
039, p < 0.
These results indicate that both independent variables contribute significantly to improving teachersAo professional competence.
Transformational leadership has also been linked to increased teacher commitment and self-efficacy (Tian & Guo, 2.
, both of which are essential components of professional competence (Chang et al.
, 2021.
Suryadi et al.
, 2024.
Zainal & Matore, 2.
These findings are consistent with empirical evidence in the education literature that transformational leadership plays an important role in influencing teacher performance quality through empowerment, professional development, and the creation of a collaborative school culture.
Ke et al.
found that transformational leadership is significantly correlated with teachersAo professional competence by fostering a supportive school climate.
Chang et al.
also showed that principals with a transformational leadership style can motivate teachers to improve their pedagogical skills and professionalism continuously.
Similarly, the significant influence of learning communities on teachersAo professional competence is reinforced by global studies that confirm that professional learning communities (PLC.
improve learning practices through systematic collaboration.
Professional learning communities have been consistently reported to improve teachersAo ability to plan and reflect on learning Al-Tanzim : Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
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php/al-tanzim/index practices (Amin et al.
, 2024.
Noer, 2.
Research by Grimm .
also shows that PLCs improve teachersAo professional competence through peer coaching and reflective discussion.
Simultaneously, both independent variables show a strong combined effect on teachersAo professional competence, confirming that transformational leadership acts as a catalyst for the formation of effective learning communities.
Heenan et al.
emphasize that transformational leadership plays a significant role in shaping the learning culture in schools, thereby strengthening the positive impact of learning communities on teachersAo professionalism.
In addition to being consistent with previous theories and findings, this studyAos results also show that transformational leadership contributes more ( = .
than the effectiveness of the learning community ( = 0.
to teachersAo professional competence.
This can be explained by the fact that principals have a stronger structural and strategic role in determining the direction of teacher professional development than do learning communities, which are more functional and practical.
The importance of leadership in improving the overall professional capacity of school organizations (Castro & Jimenez, 2022.
Leithwood et al.
, 2020.
Warisno & Hidayah, 2.
However, this study has limitations.
This study was conducted in public elementary schools in one subdistrict, so the generalizability of the findings to a broader context must be approached with caution.
Future research is recommended to combine mixed-methods approaches to enrich the understanding of the mechanisms of influence of variables through qualitative data, such as interviews and observations.
In addition, future research could include other variables, such as school organizational culture, work motivation, and educational policy support, which, in several studies, have been shown to moderate the relationship between leadership and professional competence.
practice, this studyAos findings indicate that to improve teachersAo professional competence continuously, principals need to develop a strong transformational leadership style while encouraging collaborative, structured learning community CONCLUSION The findings of this study underscore the significant influence of transformational leadership and learning community effectiveness on elementary school teachers' professional competence.
Transformational leadership was found to have a positive and substantial impact, explaining 52.
7% of the variance in professional competence, while learning community effectiveness accounted for 5% of the variance.
When considered together, both factors explained 60.
2% of the total variance in teachersAo professional competence.
This highlights the importance of both visionary leadership and the cultivation of collaborative learning environments in fostering teacher development.
The results contribute to the existing literature on educational leadership and professional learning communities, reinforcing the idea that effective leadership and a strong professional culture are crucial for improving teacher For practical implementation, it is recommended that school Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Vol.
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php/al-tanzim/index principals focus on maintaining transformational leadership practices that prioritize teacher growth, while also enhancing learning communities as platforms for continuous reflection and collaboration.
Future studies should explore additional factors, such as teacher motivation and organizational culture, using mixed-methods or longitudinal designs to provide a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to teacher professional development.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the supervising lecturer for their guidance, as well as the principal and teachers of the public elementary school in Tanggungharjo Subdistrict for their support and cooperation in providing data for this research.
Thanks are also extended to the Editor-in-Chief and review team for their helpful corrections, and to PGRI University Semarang for the academic support and facilities provided.
Finally, appreciation is given to all other parties who contributed to the successful completion of this research.
REFERENCES