Examining the Effect of Principals’s Transformational Leadership and School Work Climate on Deep Learning Implementation

Abstract

The implementation of deep learning has become a strategic priority in Indonesia's educational reform under the Merdeka Curriculum, emphasizing meaningful, reflective, and student-centered learning. However, its successful implementation depends on school leadership and organizational conditions that support teachers in adopting innovative pedagogical practices. This study examined the effects of principals' transformational leadership and school work climate on the implementation of deep learning in public elementary schools in Talun District, Pekalongan Regency. A quantitative explanatory survey design was employed involving 114 teachers selected through proportional simple random sampling from a population of 162 teachers across 21 public elementary schools. Data were collected using Likert-scale questionnaires and analyzed through descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, simple and multiple linear regression using IBM SPSS Statistics. The findings revealed that principals' transformational leadership had a positive and significant effect on deep learning implementation, explaining 58.2% of its variance, while school work climate contributed 50.7%. Simultaneously, both variables explained 78.1% of the variance, with transformational leadership emerging as the stronger predictor. These findings indicate that effective implementation of deep learning requires not only teachers' pedagogical competence but also transformational school leadership and a supportive work climate that foster collaboration, innovation, and continuous professional learning. The study provides empirical evidence that strengthening school leadership and improving organizational climate are essential strategies for promoting sustainable pedagogical transformation and improving the quality of elementary education.