Adaptive Decision-Making in School Leadership for Enhancing Teacher Performance in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

School leadership in early childhood education requires principals to respond to diverse organisational demands while maintaining teacher performance and educational quality. However, existing studies have largely examined leadership through specific styles, providing limited explanation of how principals adapt decision-making processes to changing organisational conditions. This study aims to examine how principals enact adaptive decision-making and its implications for teacher performance in an early childhood education setting. A qualitative case study was conducted at TK Bina Bangsa, Situbondo, Indonesia. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, non-participant observations, and document analysis involving the principal and teachers. Data were analysed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, with source and methodological triangulation and member checking used to strengthen trustworthiness. The findings show that adaptive decision-making was enacted through collaborative deliberation for strategic matters and situationally direct decisions when immediate responses were required. Decisions were subsequently implemented through teacher autonomy and delegated responsibilities, followed by systematic monitoring and periodic evaluation. These interconnected practices were accompanied by positive changes in selected aspects of teacher performance, including attendance and punctuality, instructional preparedness, professional responsibility, and participation in school activities. Adaptive decision-making is better understood as an interconnected leadership process than as the application of a single leadership style. The study extends style-based approaches to school leadership by providing a process-level account of how principals combine participatory and situationally direct decision-making with teacher autonomy, monitoring, and evaluation. The study offers an empirically grounded framework for understanding adaptive decision-making in early childhood education and provides practical guidance for principals seeking more responsive and context-sensitive leadership practices. The framework remains contextually grounded and requires further examination across diverse educational settings.