Principal Leadership Strategy in Islamic Educational Institutions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Principal leadership is an important factor affecting the quality of Islamic educational institutions, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators were overwhelmed with the sudden shift to digital and remote learning. Principals as leaders were required to ensure the smooth functioning of the institution and the learning process. As a result, the workload increased and the performance, in most cases, decreased. This article describes the leadership strategy utilized by the principals of the Islamic educational institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic literature review was conducted against the ongoing theme of COVID-19. The researchers documented and reviewed 30 articles published between 2017 and 2021 that were accessed from Google Scholar, SINTA, and Science Direct. Some studies showed that principals' leadership in Islamic educational institutions played an important role in schools' learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The principal should conduct strategy management to fortify the school so that the quality of education is maintained. Keywords: principal leadership, Islamic institutions, COVID-19 pandemi