Driving School Autonomy: Catalyzing Change and Improvement of Teacher Performance in Eastern Indonesia

Indonesia’s education reform through the driving school, Sekolah Penggerak, program promotes studentcentered, collaborative learning. Teachers now guide rather than instruct, using varied resources in place of isolated methods. The program’s nationwide rollout ensures access across regions. SDN 2 Telaga, located in Gorontalo, a province in eastern Indonesia, is one of the driving schools in this region, granted with autonomy, and serving as a catalyst for education transformation of surrounding schools. However, the autonomy granted to principals of driving schools to transform education by improving the teacher competencies in developing regions is rarely documented. This study aimed to examine how the school autonomy in teaching staff management enhances teacher competency development. Employing a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with teachers and administrators. The findings showed that autonomy granted from driving school program allowed school principals to improve teacher performance through four main strategies: (1) matching teacher roles with student needs to support more effective teaching, (2) building partnerships to develop students’ overall skills, (3) applying clear accountability through rewards and consequences, and (4) evaluating teacher management through direct observation and supervision, in coordination with the local education office. These efforts help turn decentralization into real improvements in teaching quality and support the goals of national curriculum reform. These insights provide practical frameworks for policymakers aiming to implement school autonomy reforms, particularly in developing or rural regions.