A phenomenological Analysis of the Teachers Perceptions and Experiences of the elementary managers and teachers of Educational Leadership
Publisher: name: The University Of Kurdistan
Year: 2021

description: In the wake of the increasing challenges and changes of today, the Ministry of\nEducation has made many countries aware of the power of educational\nleadership and have changed their traditional approaches to the new world.\nEducational leadership is considered as one of the vital factors for the success of\nthe educational institution, which requires more attention from the officials and\ndecision makers of this institution.\nEducational leaders with characteristics such as strong determination, integrity,\ncourage, perseverance, ambition, creativity, imagination, curiosity, originality\nand helping others are able to become a great thinker, expert in their field, a\nleading researcher in the field of achieving the goals of the education system.\nEducational leaders try to make the necessary changes in teachers' attitudes and\nbehaviors and take actions to continuously improve the teaching-learning\nprocess. Changing social expectations have led current schools to rethink their\ngoals and responsibilities and emphasize the importance of school leadership.\nResearch has shown that school leadership has an impact on student and teacher\ndevelopment, the teaching process and the school climate. School principals\nadopt different leadership styles in order to transform the school in line with\nschool goals and increase student achievement and teacher motivation.\nIn any country, education is a vital tool for achieving sustainability and achieving\neconomic, social and cultural goals. Improving student learning, teacher\ncompetence, and organizational capacity are attributed to successful school\nleadership. The main actions of educational leaders affect teachers' selfconfidence and their ability to improve students' learning, and raising their expectations through more teachers' efforts leads to better progress. Educational\nleadership is a form of effective leadership that helps managers fulfill their\ncritical responsibilities. This type of leadership provides learning opportunities\nfor the professional development of teachers and consequently the progress of\nstudents in educational activities. Educational leaders also communicate\neffectively with schools, and this is an important factor in helping teachers\nimprove the quality of teaching and increase student learning. In fact,\neducational leaders provide leadership and core management in all areas of the\nschool and create an environment in which teaching and learning is enhanced\nand the development of the teaching profession is supported, which ultimately\nleads to positive learning outcomes.\nEducational leaders review classrooms, oversee the teaching and learning process,\nand provide feedback to teachers and students to ensure that classroom\ninstruction is in line with school goals. The principal, as an educational leader,\nmonitors and evaluates the teacher's educational performance based on the\nschool's vision and goals, and provides feedback to improve teaching techniques\nand strategies. They create an effective and dynamic school atmosphere by\ncooperating with teachers and assisting them in the curriculum, addressing\neducational problems and creating opportunities for the advancement of teachers'\ncareers.\nThe role of educational leadership of principals has a significant impact on students'\nacademic performance, improving their achievements and ultimately the success\nof students in various areas of life. On the other hand, creating a participatory\natmosphere through the presence of educational leaders allows teachers to\nimprove and develop their abilities and skills. One of the main tasks of\neducational leadership is to support the commitment, participation and capacity\nof teachers to develop their careers. In fact, the training leader, by defining the\ngoals of the school year with the cooperation and participation of staff,\nmonitoring and providing feedback on the teaching and learning process in\naccordance with pre-determined participatory goals and providing resources and\nopportunities for staff professional development to facilitate achievement. It\naffects the job performance of teachers and improves the quality of their work\nand leads to the development of their careers. School leaders indirectly and\nvigorously improve students' teaching and learning performance by influencing\nstaff motivation, ability, and working conditions.\nDespite the importance of the role of educational leadership and its functional\ndifference with management, unfortunately, these two are often considered as\none, which has led to adverse consequences in the field of performance of\neducational systems. Leaders are, in fact, the developers of new approaches, and\nin the face of challenges, they look at issues in a holistic, multidimensional way,\nwhile acting managers are limited. Educational leadership is also positively\nassociated with other effective leadership practices, such as setting communication goals, managing schools, and curriculum development.\nAccordingly, marginalizing the leadership role of educational managers or\nequating them with management will cause them not to make good use of the\npotential of the leadership role, which is appropriate to the dynamics and\ncomplexities of the current environment, and consequently make decisions. In\norder to manage and guide this valuable system, it can not meet the requirements\nof the changing environment. This in turn makes the sustainability of schools\ndifficult.\nGiven what has been said, given the dynamics of the global environment and the\nneed for schools to keep up with today's changes, requirements and needs, the\nrole of educational leaders will be essential to respond to these developments.\nTherefore, addressing the role of educational leadership, given the effects on the\nperformance of teachers and ultimately students as the main goal of this system,\nrequires more serious efforts in the field of action.\nThe purpose of this study was to explore the viewpoints of elementary teachers on\neducational leadership. The research design was qualitative with\nphenomenological method. The potential participants of the present study\nincluded the teachers of elementary schools in Shiraz city. Twenty-three\nElementary school teachers were selected to determine their views on\neducational leadership by a targeted sampling approach based on saturation\ntechnique. Semi- structured interview was used to collect data.The acceptability\nand reliability criteria for qualitative data were used to determine the initial\nvalidity of the collected data. Thematic analysis method was used to analyze the\ndata.After coding the data using thematic analysis method, basic, organizing,\nand inclusive themes were extracted. Research findings showed that : some of\nthe basic components of educational leadership in elementary schools in Shiraz\nare its organizational such as providing educational facilities, empowering\nteachers, paying attention to students’ psychological needs, and educational\nfeatures such as: academic achievement, camping and ceremonies, classroom\ncollaboration, and personality traits such as problem solving, relationship with\nrespect right is personality characteristics . The findings of the present study\ncould be an introduction to further attention and understanding of the\neducational leadership and the improvement of the current situation