NYALA RASA KEPIMPINAN DIGITAL PEMIMPIN SEKOLAH: SATU SINTESIS KONSEPTUAL BERASASKAN DUALISTIC MODEL OF PASSION

Abstract

Digital education requires school leaders not only to master technology but also to lead educational transformation in strategic, ethical, and sustainable ways. However, the digital leadership literature has largely focused on observable competencies, standards, and practices, while the inner drive that sustains leaders’ commitment to digital transformation remains conceptually underexplored. In the Malaysian context, the discourse of Nyala Rasa Guru offers an important lens for re-examining the role of passion, idealism, and professional identity in educational reform. In response, this article is presented as a conceptual paper developed through theory synthesis, with an element of model building, to propose the concept of digital leadership passion among school leaders. The literature was identified through a directed search of Scopus, ProQuest, and EBSCOhost, complemented by relevant Malaysian policy and standards documents. The selected sources were then analysed through thematic synthesis to identify major themes and to integrate the theoretical relationships among the Dualistic Model of Passion, the discourse of Nyala Rasa, and the literature on school leaders’ digital leadership. The synthesis shows that digital leadership passion refers to a deep, enduring, and meaningful inner drive rooted in values, professional identity, and educational commitment, enabling school leaders to lead digitalisation in humane, disciplined, and quality-oriented ways. The article argues that leaders’ inner drive deserves explicit recognition within digital leadership theory and opens a future research agenda related to operational definition, instrument development, and empirical testing in school contexts.