ARTICLE CRITICAL REVIEW

Browning, P. (2014). Why trust the head? Key practices for transformational school leaders to
build a purposeful relationship of trust. International Journal of Leadership in Education:
Theory and Practice. 1-22. doi: 10.1080/13603124.2013.844275

Summary
Using Bass (1985), Podsakoff et al. (1990) and other studies on transformational leadership,
Browning (2014) conducted a qualitative study on the attributes and practices for
transformational independent school Heads in Australia to build a purposeful relationship of trust
between the school staff and the Chair of Council. The research title has made it clear that the
researcher is looking for the relation between the gain of trust and transformational leadership.
Thus, this research aimed to explore additional practices for the leaders to encourage, create and
conserve the trust in their workplace efficiently. The study had been carried out in four
independent schools that were selected during the Phase One and in Phase Two; the researcher
conducted his interviews in the selected schools with the Heads, staff and the Chair.
The study revealed that the transformational leadership practices of the Heads engender
the trusts from their colleagues which were supported by the findings. In the research, the
findings were divided into six assertions that discussed the existence of trust in four different
contexts, the multiple practices of the leaders to gain trust from their staff, the relationship
between trust and transformational leadership, the transformational leadership key practices with
the staff group, the transformational leadership key practices with the Chair of Council and the
additional transformational leadership behaviour identified in this study. For the implications of

the study, the researcher stated that the ability of gaining trust from the staff reflects the good
qualities of the leader. An additional key which is the practice of making informed and
consultative decisions is added in the field of the transformational leaders study. Browning
(2014) concluded that trust affect the transformational change in leaders in which resulting in the
impact of the commendable school achievement.
The Strengths of the Article
The article is well-written by Paul Browning to convey his research on how the
transformational leadership practices build and contribute to the building and keeping of trust
between the school Heads and the community in the four Australian independent schools. The
research question stated in the article is relevant for the writers objective of the study. Based on
the research question, the researcher is looking for the leadership practices that can contribute to
the creation and maintenance of trust between a transformational leader and his/her staff and
Chair of governing body. So, this article is written based on that focus and the researcher was
able to relate both key points; trust and leadership practices in describing the findings of the
study.
In addition, the arrangement of the abstract, introduction, research design, findings,
implications and conclusion is well-organised. The researcher presented his report on the study
neatly and the information that he want to deliver is clearly recorded with supported literature
reviews and evidence from the research data. In the introduction part, Browning (2014) gave the
various definitions of trust and transformational leadership from past studies in order to provide
the complete understanding of both key points to the readers. Besides, the researcher also

explained on the independent education situation in Australia so that the readers are able to
comprehend the educational situation in the study.
Browning (2014) divided the research design into two phases of study. He reported that
the Phase One was the stage where the selection of cases in the school was committed. He
clearly reported the criteria and the methods of selecting the schools that he drawn from the
Transformational Leadership Measurement tool (TLM) and Organizational Trust Inventory
(OTI). The test was conducted with the independent school Heads from across Australia. Then,
the four schools that score the highest on both those tools were then invited to participate in
Phase Two. In Phase Two, the researcher gathered the data using interviews and observation. In
fact, the researcher was able to elaborate the procedures of collecting the data in seeking the
answers for the research question cogently. This reflected that the research design was
appropriate with the research question that was suspected by the researcher.
Furthermore, the researcher segmented the findings into assertions to clarify the division
of each discussion. This is the best way for a researcher to documented his/her findings so that
the readers have the ability to read the findings smoothly. Interestingly, one of the strengths in
this article is that the researcher was able to identify a new practice of the transformational
leaders based on the findings. In the fifth assertion, the researcher stated that there was an
additional transformational leadership practice that was not identified in the previous studies. It
is transformational leaders make informed and consultative decisions (Browning, 2014). It
means that the leaders are able to give clear instruction to the staff and consulted them before
making any major decisions. These qualities had boosted the trust of the staff towards the leader.
Consequently, this discovery shows that the researcher was able to figure out new idea and
theory from writing the journal article.

The Limitations of the Article

The researcher was having problem in finding recent studies for the research. The
researcher claimed that the exact research that relating the key points of trust and
transformational leader actions was not available for the literature review. It was stated that the
current resources regarding the issue was limited. There was no identified research in relating the
gaining of trust by the transformational leaders within the research context. This can be seen in
the literature review in defining of trust; the references were ranging from year 1986 until 2007.
Harzing (2001) appointed that by referring to old references to support the research is not likely
appropriate yet by doing so, the old references used in the current research were considered as
the updated references.
Moreover, the article did not provide the readers with enough charts and tables.
According to Statistical Services Centre (2000), reporting research variables and information
using tables and charts can help readers to interpret the results and the effectiveness of the study
design. The only table that was provided in the article is Table 1 which was showing four
different independent schools for the research context. Then, it followed with further
elaborations until the end of the article. By having charts and tables that presenting the research
data and findings analysis might help the readers to have better comprehension of the article.
Transformational Leadership Practice among School Leaders in Malaysia
Browning (2014) had highlighted some applicable practices of the transformational
leader in the article. These attributes can be useful for the school leaders in Malaysia to be taken
into practices so that the qualities of the education institutional will be enhanced. By reading this
article, the school leaders can take the transformational leadership style into measures and

practice them in order to improve the relationship among the school staff and the District and
State Education Officers. Likewise, Browning (2014) stated ten key practices of the school
leader with the staff which are openly admit mistakes, offers trust to staff, actively listens,
provide affirmation,

makes informed/consultative decisions, is visible around the school,

remains calm and level-headed, mentors and coaches staff, cares for staff and lastly, keep
confidences. The other three key practices are with the Officers which are developing a
relationship, be open and transparent and meeting the Officers regularly.
By practicing these thirteen key practices, the school leaders are able to have the qualities
of transformational leadership. With that in hands, the school leaders will be able to uphold their
school achievement in all aspects besides to create a harmonious working environment in which
will improve the performance of fellow students, teachers and staff. Therefore, this article is very
beneficial for the school leaders in Malaysia. In facts, the transformational practices are
applicable and sustainable to be adopted in the third world country. So, Malaysian school leaders
should undertake this opportunity to equip themselves with the value so that our educational
institutional would be recognised and admired by other developing countries.
Conclusion
This article has shown some promising idea and theory on the transformational leadership
practices and its relationship in engendering trust to enhance and improve the quality of leaders
in their own respective workplaces. This study is able to describe and convey the leadership key
practices with elaborations that supported by propitious findings. All in all, this article can be
used to improve our understanding on the connection between trust and transformational
leadership practices.

References

Browning, P. (2014). Why trust the head? Key practices for transformational school leaders to
build a purposeful relationship of trust. International Journal of Leadership in
Education:
Theory and Practice. 1-22. doi: 10.1080/13603124.2013.844275
Harzing, A. (2001). Are our referencing errors undermining our scholarship and credibility? The
case of expatriate failure rates. Journal of Organizational Behavior. Retrieved from
www.harzing.com/download/acref.pdf
Statistical Services Centre (2000). Informative Presentation of Tables, Graphs and Statistics.
UK, The University of Reading Statistical Services Centre.