Leader Negotiating Style in Learning Organizations : A Qualitative Study of Teacher Education Institutes in Malaysia

The aim of this paper is to show some findings on the leader negotiating styles among institutional managers in Malaysia.The managers selected were from Malaysia’s Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs).TEIs are under the jurisdiction of Malaysia’s Ministry of Education.Some years ago, these institutes were called teacher colleges (TCs), and trained teachers were conferred certificates and diplomas in education. Generally these teachers were placed in primary schools and lower secondary schools. Graduate teachers from universities would be placed in upper secondary schools.In 2005, the Malaysian government changed the basis of teaching training.They wanted all teachers for primary and secondary schools to be graduated.Then, TEIs are regarded as learning organizations.Under the TEI scheme, potential school teachers were awarded undergraduate degrees in education.They then can be placed either in primary or secondary schools just as their counterparts from public universities.The leaders in TEIs were expected to negotiate a lot in dealing with their student teachers, other managers within TEIs, other managers from Malaysia’s Ministry of Education and other stakeholders.Qualitative interviews were conducted among 32 managers in TEI head office and the managers in its campuses around Malaysia. It was found that the dominant negotiating style among the respondents was the accommodating style.