Document Type : Qualitative Research Paper
Authors
1
Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
2
MA Student, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
10.22034/jsa.2023.63129
Abstract
The main purpose of this research was to identify the indicators of pedagogically-centered leadership in Sanandaj primary schools, which was conducted using a qualitative research approach and a descriptive phenomenology strategy. The two main questions raised in the research were as follows. According to the mentalities and experiences of the participants, what are the meanings and indicators of pedagogically-centered leadership in Iranian elementary schools? What characteristics can make pedagogically-centered leaders a separate and unique leader from other educational leaders? The current research is developmental-applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of approach, which was conducted using a descriptive phenomenology strategy. In order to collect data, 18 primary school principals were selected by purposive sampling and they were interviewed through three-stage phenomenological interview protocols. Their perspectives and experiences were investigated during the interviews. After conducting the interviews, the data were first manually analyzed, and then by MAXqda 2020 software, based on three-stage thematic analysis (basic, organizing, and global) of Attride-Stirling, analyzed. As the result of data analysis, 90 initial codes, 42 basic themes, 18 organizing themes and finally 8 global themes were specified. Four indicators, including enrichment of the art of teaching, professional development and independence of teachers, constructivist approach to learning and parents’ involvement in children education were extracted as the indicators of pedagogically-centered leader. Also, four distinctive characteristics were identified as unique features of a pedagogically-centered leader, which were participation-seeker, activist of social justice and equal opportunities, valuing subcultures and leader of leaders.
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