A phenomenological Analysis of the Teachers' Perceptions and Lived Experiences of Educational Leadership

In the wake of the increasing challenges and changes of today, the Ministry of   Education has made many countries aware of the power of educational leadership and have changed their traditional approaches to the new world. Educational leadership is considered as one of the vital factors for the success of the educational institution, which requires more attention from the officials and decision makers of this institution.
 Educational leaders with characteristics such as strong determination, integrity, courage, perseverance, ambition, creativity, imagination, curiosity, originality and helping others are able to become a great thinker, expert in their field, a leading researcher in the field of achieving the goals of the education system. Educational leaders try to make the necessary changes in teachers' attitudes and behaviors and take actions to continuously improve the teaching-learning process. Changing social expectations have led current schools to rethink their goals and responsibilities and emphasize the importance of school leadership. Research has shown that school leadership has an impact on student and teacher development, the teaching process and the school climate. School principals adopt different leadership styles in order to transform the school in line with school goals and increase student achievement and teacher motivation.
In any country, education is a vital tool for achieving sustainability and achieving economic, social and cultural goals. Improving student learning, teacher competence, and organizational capacity are attributed to successful school leadership. The main actions of educational leaders affect teachers' self-confidence and their ability to improve students' learning, and raising their expectations through more teachers' efforts leads to better progress. Educational leadership is a form of effective leadership that helps managers fulfill their critical responsibilities. This type of leadership provides learning opportunities for the professional development of teachers and consequently the progress of students in educational activities. Educational leaders also communicate effectively with schools, and this is an important factor in helping teachers improve the quality of teaching and increase student learning. In fact, educational leaders provide leadership and core management in all areas of the school and create an environment in which teaching and learning is enhanced and the development of the teaching profession is supported, which ultimately leads to positive learning outcomes.
Educational leaders review classrooms, oversee the teaching and learning process, and provide feedback to teachers and students to ensure that classroom instruction is in line with school goals. The principal, as an educational leader, monitors and evaluates the teacher's educational performance based on the school's vision and goals, and provides feedback to improve teaching techniques and strategies. They create an effective and dynamic school atmosphere by cooperating with teachers and assisting them in the curriculum, addressing educational problems and creating opportunities for the advancement of teachers' careers.
The role of educational leadership of principals has a significant impact on students' academic performance, improving their achievements and ultimately the success of students in various areas of life. On the other hand, creating a participatory atmosphere through the presence of educational leaders allows teachers to improve and develop their abilities and skills. One of the main tasks of educational leadership is to support the commitment, participation and capacity of teachers to develop their careers. In fact, the training leader, by defining the goals of the school year with the cooperation and participation of staff, monitoring and providing feedback on the teaching and learning process in accordance with pre-determined participatory goals and providing resources and opportunities for staff professional development to facilitate achievement. It affects the job performance of teachers and improves the quality of their work and leads to the development of their careers. School leaders indirectly and vigorously improve students' teaching and learning performance by influencing staff motivation, ability, and working conditions.
Despite the importance of the role of educational leadership and its functional difference with management, unfortunately, these two are often considered as one, which has led to adverse consequences in the field of performance of educational systems. Leaders are, in fact, the developers of new approaches, and in the face of challenges, they look at issues in a holistic, multidimensional way, while acting managers are limited. Educational leadership is also positively associated with other effective leadership practices, such as setting communication goals, managing schools, and curriculum development. Accordingly, marginalizing the leadership role of educational managers or equating them with management will cause them not to make good use of the potential of the leadership role, which is appropriate to the dynamics and complexities of the current environment, and consequently make decisions. In order to manage and guide this valuable system, it can not meet the requirements of the changing environment. This in turn makes the sustainability of schools difficult.
Given what has been said, given the dynamics of the global environment and the need for schools to keep up with today's changes, requirements and needs, the role of educational leaders will be essential to respond to these developments. Therefore, addressing the role of educational leadership, given the effects on the performance of teachers and ultimately students as the main goal of this system, requires more serious efforts in the field of action.
The purpose of this study was to explore the viewpoints of elementary teachers on educational leadership. The research design was qualitative with phenomenological method. The potential participants of the present study included the teachers of elementary schools in Shiraz city. Twenty-three Elementary school teachers were selected to determine their views on educational leadership by a targeted sampling approach based on saturation technique. Semi- structured interview was used to collect data.The acceptability and reliability criteria for qualitative data were used to determine the initial validity of the collected data. Thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data.After coding the data using thematic analysis method, basic, organizing, and inclusive themes were extracted. Research findings showed that : some of the basic components of educational leadership in elementary schools in Shiraz are its organizational such as providing educational facilities, empowering teachers, paying attention to students’ psychological needs, and educational features such as: academic achievement, camping and ceremonies, classroom collaboration, and personality traits such as problem solving, relationship with respect right is personality characteristics . The findings of the present study could be an introduction to further attention and understanding of the educational leadership and the improvement of the current situation