Eksistensi guru menjadi faktor pencapaian prestasi anak didik dan kondusifnya lingkungan belajar. Guru yang profesional dengan kualifikasi kompetensi tinggi menjadi lokomotif bagi anak didik, bahkan bagi sesama kolega pendidik. Dalam konteks sekolah/ madrasah Jawa Tengah, identifikasi guru demikian tampak terlihat dari jejak rekam para guru PAI yang dikenal sebagai teacher leaders. Mereka tampak teruji dalam amanah mengajar di sekolah, sekaligus menjadi motivator, fasilitator dan inspirator bagi kolega guru-guru PAI lainnya. Mereka dinilai berkemampuan meningkatkan kompetensi diri, adaptif dalam menjawab berbagai tantangan dan dinamika perubahan dunia pendidikan kekinian.
Studi ini mengikhtiarkan jawaban atas peran dari teacher leader PAI dalam optimalisasi peningkatan kompetensi para koleganya, dan menelusuri beragam fungsi teacher leader PAI sebagai problem solver atas problematika pembelajaran dan menganalisis seberapa implikasi dari kiprah teacher leader PAI di sekolah / madrasah Jawa Tengah ini? Untuk menjawab beragam problem studi ini, dipilihlah pendekatan fenomenologi dalam lingkup penelitian kualitatif. Ada beberapa teknik yang diterapkan dalam pengumpulan data, yakni dengan menggunakan in depth interview kepada 10 teacher leader dari berbagai sekolah/ madrasah di Jawa Tengah (SMAN 3 dan SMAN 10 Semarang, MAN 2 Semarang, SMAN 1 Demak, MAN 2 Kudus, MTsN 1 Pati, SMKN 1 Salatiga, SMKN 4 Kendal, SMAN 1 Tegal), sebagai informan utama, dilengkapi observasi partisipan, dan dokumentasi. Dengan kekayaan data-data yang telah dikumpulkan oleh peneliti, langkah selanjutnya adalah data-data tersebut direduksi, kemudian didisplay dan diverifikasi sebagai proses analisa data. Untuk menguji keabsahan data maka dipilih cara triangulasi sumber dengan mewawancarai informan pendukung yaitu kepala sekolah, kolega dan para peserta didik dari masing-masing teacher leader, member check, credibility check, dan peningkatan ketekunan.
Temuan dari penelitian ini, diantaranya adalah pertama, eksistensi dan partisipasi para teacher leader PAI Jawa Tengah baik secara personal maupun secara kolektif menunjukkan adanya peran besar terhadap peningkatan kompetensi para kolega guru PAI di sekolah maupun jejaring asosiasi guru dalam berbagi level daerah hingga nasional. Kedua fungsionalisasi dari para teacher leader PAI di Jawa Tengah ditemukan tiga kategori, yakni yang bertipologi normatif, bertipologi moderat dan tipologi transformatif. Tiga tipologi teacher leader ini terbukti mampu menjadi problem solver dalam berbagai lini capaian pembelajaran baik secara internal sekolah maupun berkontribusi secara eksternal. Ketiga berbagai peran aktif para teacher leader PAI ini berimplikasi produktif terhadap kemajuan sekolah, kolega dan peserta didik baik melalui berbagai budaya akademik, kultur kompetitif, hingga terbangunnya leadership serta struktur sekolah yang saling terkorelasi secara progresif. Distingsi hasil riset ini membuka ruang rekomendasi untuk lebih terdorongnya guru untuk melakukan pengembangan diri dan berdaya kontribusi luas dalam pengembangan kultur dan struktur memajukan kualitas pendidikan di Indonesia.

ABSTRACT:
The existence of teachers is a factor in achieving student achievement and foster an environment that promotes learning. Professional teachers with high competency qualifications become a locomotive for students, even for fellow colleagues. In the context of Central Java schools / madrasas, such teacher identification can be seen from the track record of PAI teachers known as teacher leader. They have been proven in their teaching credentials at school, as well as being motivators, facilitators, and inspirations for their colleagues. They are considered capable of increasing their personal competence and being adaptive in responding to various challenges and dynamics of change in the contemporary world of education.
This study seeks to answer the role of PAI teacher leader in optimizing the competence of their colleagues, explore the various functions of PAI teacher leaders as problem solvers for students' learning problems, and analyze the implications of the roles of PAI teacher leader in Central Java schools / madrasas. To answer the various problems of this study, a phenomenological approach was chosen within the scope of qualitative research. There were several techniques applied in data collection, namely in-depth interviews with 10 teacher leader from various schools. madrasah in Central Java (SMAN 3 and SMAN 10 Semarang, MAN 2 Semarang, SMAN 1 Demak, MAN 2 Kudus, MTsN 1 Pati, SMKN 1 Salatiga, SMKN 4 Kendal, SMAN 1 Tegal), participant observation, and documentation. With the rich data collected by researchers, the next step was reducing data, then displaying and verifying them in data analysis. To test the validity of the data, triangulation of informants, member checks, credibility checks, and increase persistence.
The were several findings in this study. First, the existence and participation of Central Java PAI teacher leader, both personally and collectively play an important role in improving the competence of their colleagues in schools and teacher association networks at regional to national levels. The two functionalization of PAI teacher leaders in Central Java were found to be in three categories, namely: a normative typology, a moderate typology, and a transformative typology. These three typologies of teacher leaders have proven capable of being problem solvers in various lines of learning outcomes, both internally and externally at the school. These three various active roles of PAI teacher leaders have productive implications for the progress of schools, colleagues, and students through various academic cultures, competitive cultures, and the development of leadership and school structures that are progressively correlated with each other. The differences in the results of this research offer recommendations to encourage teachers to carry out self-development and make a broad contribution to development of culture and structures to improve the quality of education in Indonesia.