Explaining the process of school principals' perceptions of policies: A grounded theory study

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 , Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

2 PhD in Educational Management, Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: The success or failure of policies in practice depends more than anything on school principals' perceptions of policies because principals are among the most important policy actors who influence the perceptions of other actors. In this regard, the present study was conducted to explain the process of school principals' perception of policies.



research methodology: To achieve this goal, grounded theory study method was used. Participants included 23 school principals. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Data collection continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The collected data were analyzed based on open, axial and selective coding by MAXQDA 2020.

Findings: The final findings were categorized based on the paradigm model of Strauss and Corbin. Conclusion: As a result, despite the complexity of policy implementation in practice, the process of school principals' perception of policies was explained based on causal conditions, strategies, environmental conditions, mediating conditions and consequences. Each of these factors has specific feature dimensions that can be imagined in a continuum.

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