In Search of an Effective Framework for the Professional Development of Primary School Principals
Subject Areas :Esmat Elzami 1 , Abbas Abbaspour 2 , Ali Khorsandi Taskoh 3 , Javad Pourkarimi 4 , Hamid Rahimian 5
1 - Allameh Tabataba’I University
2 - Allameh Tabataba’I University
3 - دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی
4 -
5 - Allameh Tabataba’I University
Keywords: Professional development, school principals, primary school,
Abstract :
The present study is qualitative research with a phenomenological approach that has been conducted to identify the dimensions and components of professional development of primary school principals and to develop its framework. The statistical population of the study was the principals of public primary schools in Tehran in the academic year of 2019-2020. In two stages of sampling, samples were selected by quota and then purposive sampling methods. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The interview continued until the data exploration and data collection process reached a theoretical saturation point after interviewing 14 people. Data were analyzed by open and axial coding steps. Two methods of verifying the interviewees and verifying an external expert were used to control the validity. Two methods of verifying the interviewees and verifying an external expert were used to control the validity. To determine the reliability, two methods of reviewing the writings and also the method of recoding were used. The agreement was calculated in the coding homogeneity and the agreement coefficient was 86%. Findings showed that the professional development framework for primary school principals has 3 dimensions, 14 components with 117 indicators which include: the content dimension of professional development (with components of general management knowledge, specialized management knowledge, interactive skills, resource management skills, professional skills, personal inclinations, managerial attitude, physical and mental ability and intellectual ability), the dimension of the professional development process (with the components of self-development actions and developer relations) and the dimension of organizational requirements (with the components of knowledge acquisition and acquisition of skills, modification of selection and appointment methods of managers, improvement of organizational structure and processes).
(1) Crum K.S., Sherman W.H. & Myran S. Best practices of successful elementary school leaders. Journal of Educational Administration 2009; 48(1): 48-63 .
(2) Harper R.E. An Investigation into the Professional Development Needs of Urban Principals and Their Perceptions of the Potential of Online Professional Development.2008. Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Education.
(3) Şenol H. Professional Development of Educational Leaders, Educational Leadership. 2019. Retrived from https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/professional-development-of-educational-leaders
(4) Boudreaux M.K. An Examination of Principals’ Perceptions of Professional Development in an Urban School District. Education & Social Policy. 2015; 2(4): 27-36.
(5) Brown C. Militello M. Principal's perceptions of effective professional development in schools. Journal of Educational Administration. 2016; 6(4): 56-67.
(6) Larry K. B. Principal perceptions of the relationship between Professional development designs and the qualities, Proficiencies, and leadership skills required of West Virginia principals. 2006. Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Education, Marshall University.
(7) O, Dell Garris R. The Role of the Secondary School Principal: Examining the Evolution and Current Dynamics of the Role of Secondary Principals. 2020. PhD Thesis. Robert Morris university.
(8) Ibrahim N. Preparation and development of public secondary schools Principals in Kenya. Humanities and Social Science.2011; 1 (9):22-36 .
(9) Schleicher A. Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century: Lessons from around the World.2012. OECD Publishing.
(10) Afshari M., Kazemian H. & Omrani L. Comparative Study of Professional Competencies and Competency of Primary School Directors of the Iranian Education System with the Countries of Japan, America, Australia. 2014. Scientific Conference on Educational Sciences and Psychology of Social and Cultural Dangers in Iran.
(11) Zeinabadi H. R. Abdolhusseini B. (2017), Successful School, Successful Principal: A Comparative Study of the Findings of the International Successful School Principal (ISSPP) project. Educational Innovation. 2017; 16 (61): 21- 42 .
(12) Pont B., Nushe D. & Moorman H. Improving School Leadership. Volume 1: Policy and Practice. 2008. Paris: OECD.
(13) Bayarystanova E. Education System Management And Professional Competence Of Managers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2013; Vol 140: 427- 431.
(14) Naicker I. & Naidoo S. V. Is the Whole More than the Sum of Its Parts? A Community of Practice Approach to Leadership Development of School Principals. Kamla-Raj, Int J Edu Sci. 2014; (7)2: 289-298.
(15) Ng s. & Chan T.M.K. Continuing professional development for middle leaders in primary schools in Hong Kong. Educational Administration. 2014; 52 (6): 869 - 886.
(16) Reston V.A. National Policy Board for Educational Administration, Professional Standards for Educational Leaders, 2015. American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.
(17) Vidal-Butler S. Knowledge and professional development for principals leading linguistic communities in schools. 2017. PHD, California State University, East Bay.
(18) Ramirez J.A. High School Professional Learning Communities in California High Schools: The Significance of the Principal’s Leadership Behaviors. 2020. PHD. university of La Verne’ California.
(19) Gholami Kh., Shirbeygi N. & Sayadi Y. Study the characteristics of successful educational managers from the viewpoint of teachers: Efforts to build a standard scale for stydying the success of school management features. New Approach in Educational Management. 2013; 4 (3): 45-61 .
(20) Hayat A. A., Abdollahi B., Zeinabadi, H. R. & Arasteh H. R. (2015),Quaitative Study of needs and methods for professional development of school principals. Learning and Educatinal Studies. 2015; 7 (2): 43-64 .
(21) Pourkarimi J., Farzaneh M. & Norouzi M. Analysis of professional competencies of school principals, Findings of a combined study. School Administration. 2016; 4 (1): 1-25 .
(22) Nasiri F., Ghanbari S., Sarchahani Z. Exploring the maturity of school principals is a data theory. Quarterly Journal of New Approach in Educational Management. 2016; 7(4):1-26.
(23) Mard S.M., Zinabadi H.R. & Arasteh H.R. Indexes of a successful educational leader ; Findings of a phenomenological study. School Administration. 2018; 6 (2): 204 - 223
(24) Isfahani K., Solimani N., Torani H., & Sabahi P. Factors Affecting the Professional Development of School Managers at 1404 Horizons. school administration.2019; 7 (4): 210-241.
( 25) Moustakas C. Phenomenological research methods. 1994. Thousand Oaks, CA: sage.
(26) Creswell J. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Combined Approaches, Alireza Kiamanesh & Maryam Danaye Toos, 3nd edition. 2013. Tehran: Jihad Daneshgahi.
(27) Gibbs G.R. Analyzing Qualitative data. In U. Flick (ED). 2007. The sage Qualitative research kit. London: sage.
(28) Pirhayati S., Salehi K., Farzad V., Moghaddamzadeh A. & Hakimzadeh R. Representation of factors, criteria and indicators of effective primary schools; A qualitative study. School Administration. 2020; 8 (1): 162-190 .
(29) Sadeghi Nia. Z., Salehi. K. Moghaddamzadeh. A. A phenomenological approach in identifying the effective factors in evaluating the performance of primary school principals. School Administration. 2018; 6 (2): 1-21.
(30) McCracken N. A. Principal perceptions of professional Development. 2017. PHD, University of Pittsburgh.
(31) Joodaki. A., Mohammadkhani. K., & Mohammad Davodi A. H. Presenting the Model of Professional Development of High School Principals: A theory based on data. School Administration. 2017; 2( 7): 251-272.
(32) Velsor E. V., McCauley C.D. & Ruderman M.N. Handbook of Leadership Development. 2010. Published by Jossey-Bas.
(33) Chua Y. P., Tie F.H., Ismailn N. R., & Ying L. H. Factors of leadership skills of secondary school principals. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2014; 116: 5125-5129.
( 34) Porter A.C, Garet M.S, Desimone L.M, Birman B.F. Providing effective professional development: Lessons from the Eisenhower program. Science Educator. ٢٠٠٣; ١٢(١):1-٢٣.
(35) Kanokorn S., Pongtorn P., & Ngang T. K. Collaborative action professional development of school principals. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014; 116(1): 77-93.
(36) Grissom J.A. & Harrington J.R. Investing in administrator efficacy: An examination of professional development as a tool for enhancing principal effectiveness. American Journal of Education. 2010; 116(4): 583-612.
(37) Desimone L.M. Improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development: Toward better conceptualizations and measures. Educational researcher. 2009; 38(3): 181-199.
(38) Baklashva T. Manager’s Professional training in Russia: syllabus and technologies. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2014;152: 1057-1061.
(39) Rostami T., Identifying and prioritizing management skills for the professional development of city school principals in the primary school of Meshkinshahr. 2019. Master Thesis in Management. Islamic Azad University of Ardabil Branch.
(40) Norad Sedigh M., Naveh Ibrahim A., Arasteh H., Zein Abadi H. Identifying the components of professional development of talented principals in non-governmental schools is a mixed research. Bi-Quarterly Journal of Educational Management of Organizations. 2017; 6(2): 183-224.
(41) Hasan Zadeh F., Ali Esmaeili A., Fallah V. Presenting professional development scenarios for school principals in Mazandaran province. Quarterly Journal of Educational Leadership and Management. 2019; 13(3): 57-76.
(42) Hemmat Yar Z., Abdollahi B., Naveh Ibrahim A., Zein Abadi H.R. Identifying the Dimensions and Behavioral Components of Insightful Educational Leaders in Primary Schools, Qualitative and Phenomenological Research. School Administration. 2019; 3(7): 143-160 .
(43) Rahimi R. Dimensions and requirements for professionalism of school teachers in high schools in Mashhad. 2019. Master Thesis in Educational Sciences and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.
(44) Khanifar H., Naderi Nabi N., Ibrahimi S. Fayazi M., Rahmati M.H. Identify the competence of school principals for use in the assessment center. Educational Management Quarterly. 2019; 7(1): 105-125.
(45) Sabzian Pour Z., Islam Panah M. Return to management: Designing and explaining the new model of competencies of educational managers by content analysis method. School Administration. 2019;7(1): 229-251.
(46) Mestry R. & Singh P. Continuing professional development for principals: a South African perspective, South African Journal of Education. 2007; 27(3): 477–490.
(47) Mohammadi M., Fadavi M., Farhadi H. Provide a model for empowering primary school principals. School Administration. 2018; 6(2): 204-223.
(48) Arefnezahd M. Identifying And Prioritizing Elements of Principals’ Competencies with an Emphasis on Islamic Management. School Administration. 2017; 2(1): 151–172.
