Educational Leadership Research

Abstract Over the past few decades, educational leadership and the emphasis on the quality of school principals’ performance have been central to the educational policies of developed countries. The present study aims to explore the necessary platforms for the transition from educational management to educational leadership within Iran’s school system. This qualitative research was conducted using the systematic grounded theory approach. The participants included university faculty members affiliated with the Ministry of Science, experts in educational leadership-such as former Ministers of Education, Deputy Ministers, and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Education-as well as distinguished school principals who were actively engaged in educational and research activities during the 2023–2024 academic year. Based on the data analysis and the grounded theory framework, 12 core categories, 55 subcategories, and 203 concepts were extracted from the interviews. The findings revealed that key conditions such as decentralization within the educational system and a progressive and dynamic role for school principals are essential for this transition. Achieving educational leadership requires various strategies. In addition to a shift in political perspectives regarding the role of education and the function of school leaders, there must be a focus on the academic preparation and scientific training of principals. A more specialized and scholarly approach should guide the selection and appointment of school leaders. Accordingly, the study recommends that educational planners in Iran prioritize the standardization of educational leadership and promote decentralization by granting greater autonomy to schools and regional offices.

Abstract This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of implementing an individual development program based on workplace learning in the National Petrochemical Company. The instrument of this research was designed by semi-structured interview method, five questions based on theoretical foundations and existing experiences in this field. To confirm the validity of the interview questions, the review method was used and for reliability, the reliability of the retest method was used. The statistical population of this study is the employees and senior managers of the National Petrochemical Company. 15 people were selected by snowball sampling method until reaching the theoretical saturation stage. Qualitative analysis method and code extraction from interviews were performed using MAXQDA software. The results showed that the factors of creating a healthy and happy educational environment, creating platforms for organizational intelligence, creating a platform for IT development, creating transparency in missions and goals and perspectives of the organization as underlying factors, personal development and learning the workplace as the final outcome, education Online and coherent training and the creation of a learning council as strategies, commitment of CEOs and senior managers to develop personal development program for employees and financial resources as intervening factors, personalization of training and emphasis on on-the-job learning were identified as key categories of this paradigm.