Exploration of Educational Leadership Components for Social Justice: A Phenomenological Study

Document Type : Qualitative Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran.

Abstract

 Despite the attention of many policymakers to the social justice issue, a question can be raised what is the relationship between educational leaders and their social responsibility in the social justice context? Therefore, the current research encompasses the participants' lived experiences of the main essences of educational leadership for social justice to put it in a meaningful context. In the present research with a qualitative approach and a descriptive phenomenology strategy, the potential participants were school principals and experts involved in the education sector of Kermanshah. Among these people, 16 samples were selected by the purposive method and invited to participate in the research. Data were collected using a semi-structured protocol focused on two main and general questions: What have you experienced about leadership for social justice? What situations have affected your experiences of leadership for social justice? The text of interviews was analyzed using the thematic network drawing method (Attride-Stirling, 2001), including three stages of basic, organizing, and inclusive themes. It finally led to a textual and structural description of the experiences and provided an understanding of the participants' common experiences. MAXqda software was used to increase reliability and data management. The results indicated that educational leadership components for the social justice of school principals included six main essences, namely leadership knowledge, professional competence, moral adequacy, cultural capacities, coping strategies, and leadership style. Paying attention to each of these components can effectively promote social justice at schools.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 06 July 2022
  • Revise Date: 05 April 2023
  • Accept Date: 08 January 2023

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