Resource-Constrained Leadership and Teacher Competence Development: A Qualitative Case Study in an Islamic Boarding School

Abstract

Teacher competence determines the quality of learning, yet madrasah principals in private Islamic boarding schools must raise that competence while working with limited funding and incomplete facilities. This study examines how the principal of Pondok Pesantren Nurmadani NW Montong Lisung strengthens teacher competence, what obstacles constrain those efforts, and what solutions the principal applies in response. The research used a qualitative case study design. Data came from in-depth interviews with foundation administrators, three madrasah principals, a deputy principal, teachers, and administrative staff, and were supported by field observation and documentation. Analysis followed the interactive model of data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing, while source triangulation secured the trustworthiness of the findings. Three results emerged. The principal builds competence through a broad and repeating cycle of workshops, subject forums, curriculum training, and supervision that is planned before each budget year. The main obstacles form a connected chain in which limited funding narrows facilities and training and, together with heavy administrative workloads, slows the uneven adaptation of some teachers to classroom technology. The principal answers these constraints by recombining free, external, and community resources, such as official training portals, district workshops, peer collaboration, and priority-based planning. The study contributes a model of resource-constrained, bricolage-driven leadership for continuous teacher development. Its implication is that leadership effectiveness in low-resource pesantren rests on the capacity to orchestrate scarce and borrowed resources rather than on budget size, which offers practical guidance for policy support and for principals facing comparable conditions.