The Paternalistic-Technocratic Leadership of Kyai in Developing the Entrepreneurial Spirit of Students at the Al-Amin People's Islamic Boarding School, Sumberpucung, Malang
Abstract
Strengthening entrepreneurship education is an important response to global economic disruption and the challenges of the demographic bonus. In the context of Islamic boarding schools, various studies have examined managerial strategies and business unit development, but there are still limited studies that conceptually and empirically explain how the leadership of Kyai shapes the entrepreneurial identity of students, especially in free Islamic boarding schools with limited financial resources. This study aims to analyze the concept, process, and impact of the paternalistic-technocratic leadership of Kyai in developing the entrepreneurial spirit of students at the Al-Amin People's Islamic Boarding School in Sumberpucung, Malang. The study used a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation, then analyzed using an interactive model through data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions with triangulation techniques to ensure credibility. The results show that the leadership of Kyai at the Al-Amin People's Islamic Boarding School is integrative between spiritual values, paternalistic relationships, and technocratic capabilities in managing the Islamic boarding school's economic system. The process of fostering entrepreneurship takes place through role models, active participation, experiential learning, and delegation of responsibilities. The impact is the formation of the entrepreneurial character of students which includes independence, creativity, and work ethic, as well as the creation of economic independence of Islamic boarding schools. This research produces a conceptual model of the SIPEA Leadership (Spiritual-Integrative, Participatory, and Entrepreneurial Adaptive Leadership) model, a model of Kyai leadership that integrates spiritual values, paternalistic role models, participatory empowerment, and the development of entrepreneurial character in students within a free Islamic boarding school system. These findings contribute to the development of Islamic educational leadership theory and the practice of Islamic boarding school-based economic empowerment.
References
Al-Attas, S. M. N. (1999). The Concept of Education in Islam. Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Prentice Hall.
Bass, Bernard M., dan Ronald E. Riggio. Transformational Leadership. 2 ed. New York: Psychology Press, 2006. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410617095
Bisnis.com. (2023). Rasio kewirausahaan rendah, Kemenkop UKM ungkap tantangannya. https://ekonomi.bisnis.com
Chotimah, C., et al. (2023). Manajemen kebudayaan pesantren pascamodern di Indonesia. Muslim Heritage, 8(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.21154/muslimheritage.v8i1.5037
Dhofier, Z. (2011). Tradisi Pesantren: Studi Pandangan Hidup Kyai dan Visinya Mengenai Masa Depan Indonesia. Jakarta: LP3ES.
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.
Epistemic Journal. (2024). Manajemen pembiayaan pendidikan di pondok pesantren. Epistemic: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan.
Firdaus, R. (2024). Manajemen strategi pendidikan kewirausahaan dalam mengembangkan jiwa kemandirian santri (Studi multikasus Pondok Pesantren Mabadi’ul Ihsan dan Pondok Pesantren Minhajut Thullab Banyuwangi) [Disertasi, UIN Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember].
GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor). (2025). Global entrepreneurship monitor report 2024/2025. https://www.gemconsortium.org
Hidayat, M. (2017). Model komunikasi kyai dengan santri di pesantren. Jurnal ASPIKOM, 2(6), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.24329/aspikom.v2i6.89
Hisrich, R. D., Peters, M. P., & Shepherd, D. A. (2017). Entrepreneurship. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Katadata. (2024). Jumlah pengangguran RI capai 7,47 juta orang, mayoritas lulusan SMK. https://katadata.co.id
Kementerian Agama Republik Indonesia. (2024). Program kemandirian pesantren dan pengembangan badan usaha milik pesantren. https://kemenag.go.id
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach Respect and Responsibility. New York: Bantam Books.
Ma’arif, S., et al. (2023). Pesantren entrepreneurship: Harmonization of the theories of Kasb Asy’ariyah and locus of control on strengthening santripreneur. QIJIS (Qudus International Journal of Islamic Studies), 11(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.21043/qijis.v11i1.17404
Maulana, A. S. (2020). Kewirausahaan (Entrepreneurship) dalam pandangan Islam (Historis-politik dan ekonomi). Penerbit NEM.
Masrur, M. (2017). Figur kyai dan pendidikan karakter di pondok pesantren. Tarbawiyah: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan, 1(01), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.32332/tarbawiyah.v1i01.1022
Naimah, et al. (2020). Entrepreneurship empowerment strategy in Islamic boarding schools: Lesson from Indonesia. Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 9(2), 235–262. https://doi.org/10.14421/jpi.2020.92.235-262
Priyatno, A. (2020). Transformasi manajemen pesantren penghafal Al-Qur’an. Penerbit A-Empat.
Suhardi, M., Huda, S. A., Mulyadi, D., & Nazopah, N. (2020). The Effect of Organizational Culture, Leader Behaviors, Job Satisfaction, and Justice On Organizational Commitment. Journal of Applied Science, Engineering, Technology, and Education, 2(1), 37–42. https://doi.org/10.35877/454RI.asci2147
Suryadi, S., et al. (2024). Transformational leadership in developing entrepreneurship education program in Islamic boarding school. Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Science, Development, and Management. https://doi.org/10.4108/eai.2-11-2023.2348020
Tamam, B., & Kadi, T. (2024). Kiai leadership in empowering the independent enterprises of pesantren. SYAMIL: Journal of Islamic Education, 12(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.21093/sy.v12i1.9859
Wahidmurni, et al. (2020). Modul kewirausahaan I: Menganggur atau berwirausaha? Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang.
Weber, M. (1947). The Theory of Social and Economic Organization
Wijnen-Meijer, M. et al. (2022). Experiential learning in education. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23821205221091511
World Economic Forum. (2023a). Education 4.0: Skills for the future of jobs. https://www.weforum.org
World Economic Forum. (2023b). Entrepreneurship in emerging markets report. https://www.weforum.org
Yin, R. (2018). Case Study Research. Sage.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mohamad Kamil Salas, Wahidmurni Wahidmurni, Isroqunnajah Isroqunnajah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
DAWUH: Islamic Communication Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and acknowledge that the DAWUH: Islamic Communication Journal Natural Science is the first publisher, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citation of published work.
