Principal's Leadership Role in Improving Teacher Competence

Teacher Professional Competence refers to the ability or competence needed to complete the responsibilities of a teacher correctly. Every teacher must-have skills that will enable them to carry out their professional duties. Teachers play an essential role in efforts to achieve national education goals. This study aims to reveal the role of school principals in improving teacher competence. The method used in this research is qualitative with a case study approach. The research procedure uses Miles and Huberman. Data collection techniques using interviews. Data analysis was carried out with the help of Atlas.ti software version 8. The results of this study indicate that regular supervision, increasing ethical teacher responsibilities, and developing the moral integrity of teachers are all ways to improve teacher quality. Meanwhile, school principals provide an understanding of how to understand the character of their students and encourage teachers to participate in training related to learning development and learning evaluation to improve pedagogic competence.


INTRODUCTION
Teachers are one of the success factors of education in Indonesia (Hasanah et al., 2020). The quality of teachers determines whether Indonesian education is of high or low quality. The quality and seriousness of educators in carrying out their duties are reflected in the success of the learning process, and good quality learning is produced if the teacher responsible for the learning process is proficient in their field. (Rahim et al., 2017). Teacher professionalism is needed in managing learning activities so that the goals that have been set can be achieved optimally.
Teachers are an essential part of the learning process in schools because they determine students' progress. Teachers act as facilitators, motivators, learning engineers, and sources of learning inspiration for students in their position as educators (Lazarides et al., 2020). 21stcentury professional teachers are gifted educators who are learners and agents of change in their classrooms and can build and deepen relationships between teachers and schools with the broader community. (Setyo Widodo & Sita Rofiqoh, 2020). Teachers must be skilled in carrying out the learning process because having talented teachers has a beneficial influence on students (Jupriyanto & Nuridin, 2019). The existence of demands that teachers must master to improve their competence is the main reason for the need for teachers to master their professional competencies; teachers should be able to improve professionalism, the quality of student learning, and the quality of education in schools through mastering the requirements of professional competence. (Yulmasita Bagou & Suking, 2020).
Even though many experts and study findings conclude teachers must study those teacher abilities or competencies to improve the teaching and learning process, many teachers are still incompetent in their work. One of the reasons is that some teachers have not followed the Subject Teacher Conference [STC]. Based on picture 1, there is 9.85% of teachers have not followed the STC, and 50% of the teachers are still not participating in the STC. STC is a forum for communication, consultation, and sharing of experiences. This STC is designed to increase the professionalism of teachers in providing high-quality teaching tailored to the needs of students. This professional communication platform is significant in helping teachers improve their skills, insight, knowledge, and understanding of the material being taught and its development (Andriani & Natsir, 2019). (Souurce: AKSI, kemdikbud, 2019) From the data above, it can be interpreted that around 19.76% of teachers are not qualified. The quality of teachers greatly determines the success of the learning process, with the quality of good teachers, teachers can organize learning activities optimally. Quality teachers are also a measure that the teacher's competence is good. Based on the AKSI survey report conducted by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2019, 29.43% of teachers have not met the needs of each student. A teacher is expected to meet the needs of students both physical and psychological needs. Students are people who are growing and developing, both physically and cognitively and psychologically, depending on their circumstances. Students need sufficient supervision and direction as they develop as individuals. Consistently striving towards the pinnacle of his innate ability (Devianti & Sari, S., 2020). So as a teacher it is necessary to meet the needs of these students.

Picture 2. Teacher qualification
Based on research results (Nuraini & Abidin, 2020), there are difficulties in planning learning experienced by teachers, this can occur due to the lack of training that teachers participate in in planning learning activities.

Picture 3. Teacher participation in STC
Source : (Nuraini & Abidin, 2020) Based on the research data above, the teacher is still less competent in making integrative learning plans. In determining the theme of integrative thematic learning 47.3% of teachers still have difficulty, 53.8% in compiling integrative thematic lesson plans, using concrete learning strategies 42.9%, preparing learning media for achieving basic competencies by 53.8%. as a teacher in order to achieve good learning, then in planning learning activities must be optimal.
In addition, the Skills of Science Teachers in Developing 21st Century Learning Tools with the STEM-based PJBL model are still experiencing challenges in arranging activities according to the Project Based Learning syntax, and skills in compiling student worksheets. This is due to one of the factors, namely the lack of teacher competence.

Picture 4. Science Teacher Competence in STEM (Ardiansyah et al., 2020).
Based on picture 4, that the achievement of teacher skills in compiling activities according to the Project Based Learning syntax is 50%, and skills in compiling student worksheets by 60%, because teachers are still accustomed to using LKS from publishers, so they are not experienced in developing LKS in accordance with certain learning paradigm (Ardiansyah et al., 2020). In overcoming these various problems, the principal's leadership is urgently needed in improving teacher competence. The leadership factor is one of the variables that determine the success and survival of an organization in the long term, having a responsible leadership is one of the leadership that can help the success of an organization, one of the characteristics of optimal leadership is a sense of responsibility of a leader, besides a the leader must also be smart so that he can always choose and solve a problem that arises in the company he leads, the task of the organizational leader is to be a guide for the group in achieving its goals (Sahadi et al., 2020). Because the essence of a leader is to encourage others to impart their knowledge, both to act according to their abilities and to continue to grow and develop, the function of a leader becomes very crucial, the effectiveness of education in schools is mainly determined by the ability of the principal to manage the available educational staff in schools, The principal is responsible for teaching activities, school administration, coaching other education personnel, as well as the use and maintenance of resources and infrastructure (Suyitno, 2021). So that leaders have a responsibility in developing the competencies possessed by teachers. This study aims to determine how the role of the principal's leadership in improving teacher competence.

RESEARCH METHODS
In this research, the method used is qualitative with a case study approach (Pade-Khene, 2018). A case study is a research technique that collects complete information about a subject using several data collection procedures (Creswell, 2014). A case study is a naturalistic study that investigates a phenomenon in a real-life setting and uses a variety of evidence, sources, and data collection methods, such as witness involvement (Ma`arif & Rusydi, 2020). In this study, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 3 elementary school teachers to be able to find out in-depth information on the role of school principals in improving teacher competence. The data analysis process using Miles and Huberman includes: (1) data reduction, which is done by selecting data that is relevant to the study/content; This research was conducted using the software analysis tool Atlas.ti version 8. Furthermore, (2) the presentation of the data was carried out after the analysis procedure was completed and the research concept map had been obtained. This information is presented in the Results and Discussion section. In the method of drawing conclusions, namely (3) drawing conclusions, namely the steps used by researchers to draw conclusions from this study.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results
In an effort to improve the experience of principal teachers through improving the quality and pedagogic competence of teachers, it is hoped that they can provide a good experience for teachers. Based on the data analysis technique used, the findings of this study reveal the following:

The Principal's Role in Improving Teacher Quality
The role of principals in improving the quality of teachers in general can be seen in Figure 5 below:

Picture 5. The role of the principal in improving the quality of teachers Supervise
Based on Figure 5, the role of the principal in an effort to improve the quality of teachers is carried out with regular supervision. This is done by the principal so that teachers have good teaching readiness and are motivated to carry out fun learning activities for their students. based on the results of interviews with G1 which stated that, "Supervision is carried out regularly in order to find out how the teacher carries out his duties before and during teaching, whether it is carried out well or there are still things that need to be improved in preparing learning activities". The same thing was also conveyed by G2 that, "by conducting supervision, with supervision, it is expected to know what the teacher should improve". A similar opinion was also conveyed by G3 that, "in order to improve the quality of teachers, school principals supervise teachers, so that classroom management can be carried out optimally".

Increase Responsibility
The principal, as a leader in educational institutions, namely schools, has a role in encouraging teachers to be more responsible in carrying out their duties as educators. This is done by giving teachers the responsibility of managing the class, checking teacher readiness regularly and monitoring teachers. The following is a statement from the results of the interview with G1 that the principal's efforts in developing teacher responsibilities are usually by supervising teachers, so that when carrying out supervision it can be seen that the teacher is responsible for his duties or not, then also knows what needs to be corrected by the teacher. teacher. The same opinion was also conveyed by G2 that, "gives the responsibility to the teacher both in managing the class and in compiling learning administration as well as providing motivation to the teacher". The same thing was conveyed by G3 that: "school principals routinely check teacher readiness in teaching and monitor teacher discipline, in this way teachers are more responsible in carrying out their duties".

Developing Teachers' Moral Integrity
The quality of a good teacher is also reflected in the moral integrity of the teacher. The principal provides direction to the teacher directly or indirectly. The following are the results of the interview with G1 that: "teachers as role models for their students must of course have a good attitude, the principal provides direction to teachers both directly and indirectly. For example, by inviting students to be disciplined and honest, of course it also indirectly provides direction to the teacher, because the teacher also listens and sees what the principal has to say". A similar statement was also conveyed by G2 that: "the principal provides an example and motivation in moral and spiritual terms, because as a teacher it is required to be a good role model, so it is necessary to increase honesty and concern for the surrounding environment". Based on the results of the interview with G3, it was also stated that: "the principal reminds the teacher if there is an attitude or behavior of the teacher that is not in accordance with the applicable teacher code of ethics".

The Principal's Role in Improving Teacher Pedagogic Competence
In improving the competence of better teachers, what is done by school principals is to increase pedagogic competence starting from providing an understanding of how to understand the character of their students, designing learning, and evaluating learning. The role of the principal in improving the pedagogic competence of teachers in general can be seen in Figure  6 below:

Understanding the child's character
In achieving optimal learning, teachers must understand the character of their students, so that learning activities are carried out according to the needs of students and it is easy to catch the material that has been given to students. Therefore, the principal has a responsibility to provide teachers with an understanding of how to understand the character of students. Following are the results of the interview with G1 that "in an effort to encourage teachers to increase understanding of their students, the principal provides understanding to teachers regarding how to understand the character of their students". The same thing was also conveyed by G2 that "the principal gave advice that with a personal approach each student so that they could understand the various differences in student characteristics and could take steps to solve problems for each individual student". A similar statement was also conveyed by G3 that "the principal provides motivation and input to teachers regarding efforts that can be made to understand the character of students, which can be done by paying attention to student behavior and also familiarizing themselves with students".

Designing lessons
One of the factors for good learning outcomes is that the teacher is able to design learning systematically and according to the needs of the students. In order for teachers to be able to design learning well, teachers need to take part in seminars, training or workshops to develop their knowledge in designing learning. The principal always encourages and provides opportunities for teachers to take part in training activities or seminars and workshops. Following are the results of the interview with G1 that "the principal always supervises to see the completeness of the learning tools prepared by the teacher, if there are difficulties the principal helps the teacher to solve these difficulties, the principal also encourages teachers to take part in training activities so that teachers are more proficient in designing learning ". The same thing was conveyed by G2 that "by involving teachers in activities that can improve teachers' pedagogic competence, of course by participating in training or workshops can provide experience to teachers related to designing learning". A similar statement was also conveyed by G3 that "by encouraging teachers to expand knowledge either through training from the teacher working group or training from the education office and the Ministry of Education and Culture, so that knowledge in designing learning increases".

Learning evaluation
Evaluating learning is included in the pedagogic competencies that need to be mastered by teachers. Making instruments and assessing attitudes, knowledge and skills is an evaluation that is often done by teachers. So that school principals need to provide training so that teachers are proficient in compiling assessment instruments and conducting assessments. Following are the results of the interview with G1 that "in conducting evaluations, especially young teachers have been able to operate IT, but some are not proficient so that training and encouragement are needed so that teachers are able to evaluate using IT so that it is easier". The same thing was also conveyed by G2 that "in conducting evaluations of course by providing feedback and final learning tests, and it is not too difficult because several trainings that have been followed have explained clearly regarding this matter and the principal also supervises so that he gets assistance in evaluating learning. well". A similar statement was also conveyed by G3 that "evaluating is not too difficult, because I have participated in training and socialization held by the KKG related to the manufacture of learning tools".

DISCUSSION
In improving the quality of teachers, it is necessary to have the role of the principal. Efforts that can be made by school principals are by supervising, giving encouragement to teachers to be more responsible, and increasing the moral integrity of teachers. The following are things that principals do to improve the quality of teachers.

Supervise
According to Ali (2019) the role of the principal as a supervisor is to make teachers more serious, enthusiastic, and responsible in teaching and learning activities, with the implementation of supervision, teachers can improve all weaknesses that are not carried out by teachers in the process of teaching and learning activities. The principal talks to the teacher about the difficulties he or she experiences in planning and implementing lessons, academic supervision by the principal is an effort to improve teaching and can assist teachers in learning and understanding their responsibilities and duties as educators (Lalupanda, 2019).
As an education leader in the education unit, the principal functions as a supervisor who is responsible for encouraging the success of the school in meeting educational goals, to improve teacher performance, the principal can carry out supervision through supervision and control (Ginting, 2020). Some of these opinions are in accordance with the results of this study, principals in an effort to improve the quality of teachers to be better done by conducting regular supervision of teachers, so that teachers can find out what needs to be improved when carrying out teaching activities.

Increasing Teacher Responsibilities
The principal delegates responsibility to the teacher as a coordinator in the fields of curriculum, student affairs, and extracurricular activities, the delegation of tasks seeks to foster independence, regeneration, self-confidence, and a sense of responsibility, the delegation of tasks by the principal to teachers has a good relationship with increased achievement teachers in the form of work productivity, work quality, work initiative, teamwork, and problem solving (Waruwu, 2021). Motivation is defined as the provision of a driving force to inspire someone to want to work together, succeed, and be integrated with all their strengths and efforts in order to obtain fulfillment, this can inspire teachers to carry out their duties and obligations responsibly to achieve the goals that have been set by providing teacher motivation. at work (Hardiansyah et al., 2020).
The teacher's responsibility is an obligation that must be fulfilled by a teacher for the tasks he already has, the teacher's responsibilities include planning learning, implementing a quality learning process, as well as assessing and evaluating learning outcomes, improving and developing academic qualifications and competencies on an ongoing basis in line with developments in science, technology, and art, act objectively and non-discriminatory on the basis of considerations (Jufni et al., 2020). Some of these opinions are in accordance with the results of this study, the principal seeks to increase the teacher's sense of responsibility in carrying out his duties. This is done by giving teachers the responsibility of managing the class, making administration, as well as conducting regular checks on the readiness of teachers in carrying out their duties.

Developing Teachers' Moral Integrity
Consistent leadership shows exemplary in influencing others, which means providing encouragement to motivate themselves in building integrity, understanding deeply the principles in fostering integrity, principals as school leaders must be able to be good role models and provide encouragement to teachers to build values. moral and ethical values (Bafadal et al., 2020). In carrying out their duties the teacher has a code of ethics, which regulates teachers in interacting with students, peers, parents and the community, with a code of ethics that will guide every teacher's behavior, so that the teacher's appearance will be well directed, and will even continue to increase. the authority to assist teachers so that their behavior is in accordance with the code of ethics, either by reprimanding or giving directions (Jufni et al., 2020).
The teacher is a teacher whose job is to help students develop their character and personality, a teacher is required to be able to maintain their attitudes and behavior as a role model for students, families, and society because he is in charge of shaping and developing the character and morals of children, the morality of a teacher is reflected in his personality and social skills. , this personality quality requires the teacher to have an extraordinary personality and be free from factors that can damage the teacher's reputation, meanwhile, social competence requires the teacher to maintain positive relationships with his community and be a role model for his students. (Syam & Santaria, 2020). Some of these opinions are in accordance with the results of this study, the principal seeks to improve the moral integration of teachers by motivating teachers to carry out their duties in accordance with the code of ethics, providing good examples to teachers and providing direction when teachers are not good.

Understanding Student Character
The function of the principal as a policy maker, provider of advice and direction, as well as inspiration for teachers, is closely related to the development of teacher pedagogic competencies, principals must be able to guide a group of teachers in improving their ability to educate children to the maximum, because one of the pedagogic competencies that must be possessed by the teacher is to understand the characteristics of students (Yesi et al., 2021). As a supervisor the principal has the responsibility to provide consultation and nurture members of the teaching staff and provide services for students, one of which is consulting with teachers on tactics to understand students' personalities (Rahayu, 2020).
In carrying out the learning planning process, the teacher must first identify the qualities and characteristics of his students, interests, expectations, and learning desires, as well as learning habits or styles, all of which can be used as benchmarks to determine the characteristics of a student. delivered according to the ability of students (Taufik, 2019). Some of these opinions are in accordance with the results of this study, the principal seeks to improve the pedagogic competence of teachers, namely understanding the characteristics of students first so that in designing learning also according to students' abilities. This is done by providing suggestions and input to the teacher, through a personal approach the teacher can understand the characteristics of students.

Designing Lessons
The aspect of mastery of competence is important for a professional teacher. Principals can encourage teachers to participate in teacher organizations such as STC, attend educational seminars, actively read and discuss, and conduct internal discussions in madrasas with subject teachers. (Jauhari, 2020). The ability to manage student learning which includes student understanding, development, and implementation of learning is referred to as pedagogic competence, this competence must be possessed by a good teacher, in this case the principal supervises to assess the ability of teachers to manage learning, with supervision it is expected that teachers can improve their competence (Darminto, 2021).
If students are solely exposed to traditional learning methods such as lectures, they will not be able to develop their learning character to the fullest, as a result, teachers must use creative learning techniques. Innovative learning is defined as learning packaged by teachers with the encouragement of new ideas, to achieve progress in learning outcomes (Pasaribu et al., 2019). Some of these opinions are in accordance with the results of this study, the principal seeks to improve the pedagogic competence of teachers by encouraging teachers to take part in training activities and seminars related to making learning designs including learning tools used, namely, syllabus, lesson plans, learning media, learning resources. In addition, class supervision is carried out by the principal on a regular basis which is useful for improving the pedagogic competence of teachers through the input and suggestions given, so that it can be used as evaluation material so that further learning activities run better and optimally.

Learning Evaluation
A good evaluation system will be able to provide an overview of the quality of learning, which will assist teachers in developing learning strategies (Murphy, 2020). Lack of teacher competence in producing learning evaluations can be overcome by conducting assessment instrument training, providing modules to improve learning evaluation knowledge, or holding focus group discussions on results. evaluation instrument (Triyanto et al., 2019). The implementation of teacher working group training activities is one of the few things that can be done to improve teacher competence in evaluating learning, direct training is carried out by providing material related to learning evaluation for three competency areas, namely affective, cognitive, and psychomotor competencies (Pagarra et al., 2020).
In developing the ability to evaluate learning, the principal supervises and encourages teachers to attend training (Indriani & Hasanah, 2021). Students will be indirectly affected by the principal's intensive supervision of teachers, in the sense that their learning achievement will increase, teachers are given support so that they can detect individual student problems so that they can organize learning more accurately based on a study of the needs and circumstances of students (Warno, 2021). Some of these opinions are in accordance with the results of this study, the principal seeks to improve the pedagogic competence of teachers in compiling and evaluating learning. The principal provides the opportunity for teachers to take part in training so that teachers are proficient in compiling assessment instruments and conducting assessments, and the supervision carried out by the principal is also able to encourage teachers to be better at evaluating learning, so that teachers do not experience difficulties both in compiling evaluation instruments and implementing evaluations.

CONCLUSION
Based on the results of data analysis of the results of the study, it was concluded that the role of school principals in improving teacher competence was carried out by providing encouragement to teachers to improve the quality and pedagogic competence of teachers. Improving the quality of teachers is carried out by providing regular supervision, developing teacher responsibilities optimally, and increasing the moral integrity of teachers. Meanwhile, in improving pedagogic competence, principals provide understanding regarding how to understand the character of their students, encourage teachers to take part in training related to designing learning and evaluating learning.