<![CDATA[Purpose of the study: This study aims to examine how a principal operationalizes transformational leadership strategies to enhance teacher competencies, identify institutional challenges, and formulate a contextual leadership framework in a resource-constrained, faith-based private middle school in remote Indonesia. Methodology: A qualitative single-case study design was executed using purposeful sampling (N = 8). Data collection tools comprised semi-structured interviews, non-participant classroom observations, and institutional document analysis. Qualitative analysis was performed following the Miles, Huberman, and Saldana interactive data condensation model, with trustworthiness established using Lincoln and Guba’s evaluative framework. Main Findings: The principal operationalized transformational leadership through a three-phase onboarding cycle, weekly spiritual mentoring (Bina Pribadi Islam), and internal frugal professional development. These strategies successfully bridged pedagogical divergence among early-career educators, mitigated early-career pedagogical shock, and aligned staff with integrated curricula, while effectively circumventing systemic exclusion from state-funded training through internal peer-led networks. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study establishes a Contextualized Hybrid Leadership Framework, revealing how transformational and spiritual leadership converge through frugal educational innovation. It advances existing knowledge by demonstrating how resource-constrained private faith-based schools overcome state-level policy barriers by leveraging internal social capital and communities of practice to build teacher self-efficacy.]]>
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