Journal of New Advances in Educational Management

Journal of New Advances in Educational Management

Designing and explaining the pattern of competencies of school principals for effective leadership in Iranian schools

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Sajad Gharloghi 1
shahab shahrjerdi 2
sogand abedi 3
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Malayer University, Maalayer,Iran.
2 M.A. Student in Educational Management, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Malayer, Malayer, Iran.
3 M.A. Student in Educational Management, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Malayer, Malayer, Iran
10.22034/njournal.2025.542537.1071
Abstract
Background and Objective: This study aimed to identify and articulate the essential competencies required for school principals to achieve effective leadership. Using a meta-synthesis approach combined with semi-structured interviews with teachers and principals, the research sought to examine and analyze the competencies that contribute to successful school leadership.

research methodology: In the synthesis analysis phase, 164 articles were reviewed, of which 25 were selected through purposive criterion-based sampling. To complement these findings, 20 university professors, teachers, and school principals were interviewed using purposive criterion sampling. The collected data from both articles and interviews were analyzed through three stages of coding (open, axial, and selective). The reliability of the coding was confirmed by the Kappa agreement coefficient (0.77) using SPSS software, while the validity of the results was ensured through expert review in qualitative research.

Findings: The meta-synthesis process identified 111 open codes, which were grouped into eight overarching categories: personal and individual competencies, ethical and cultural competencies, communication and interpersonal competencies, organizational management competencies, transformational and inspirational leadership competencies, technological competencies, educational leadership competencies, and technical and professional competencies. The interview data supported these findings and contributed an additional 46 open codes Finally, by removing duplicate codes, the research pattern was developed in the form of 128 open codes.

Conclusion: The findings highlight that effective school leadership requires a multidimensional set of competencies, encompassing personal, interpersonal, managerial, scientific, and professional domains. The proposed competency framework provides valuable insights for the selection, training, and evaluation of school principals, ultimately contributing to the enhancement of educational leadership quality.
Keywords
School Principals
Perofessional Competency
Competencies
Effective Leadership
Quality of Education
Schools
Abbaspour.A, Khorsandi.A, Khosravi.M Taghavi Fard. M, & Azimimoghadam. H. (2020). Model of Secondary School Principals Competency in Tehran, Journal of School administration, 8(2), 246-278.SID. https://sid.ir/paper/378823/en [In Persian]
Abdolmaleki, J., & Ghanbari, S. (2021). Designing and Validating a Model of Team Building Competencies for School Principals': A Qualitative Study in the Field of Managerial Leadership. New educational approaches, 16(1), 163-184. https://sid.ir/paper/378823/en[In Persian]
Afrooz.D, Namvar.Y, & Sotari.S. (2018). Identifying the components of leadership competencies in effective schools with a mental health approach. Health and Hygiene of Ardabil, 9(2) (Special Issue), 225-239. [In Persian]
Arefnezahd.M. (2017). Identifying And Prioritizing Elements of Principal's Competencies with an Emphasis on Islamic Management, Journal of School administration, 5(1), 151-172. [In Persian]
Asmarany, A. I., Hakim, A. A., Saefudin, A., & Judijanto, L. (2024). Effective Laboratory Management: Efforts to Improve Science Education Management in Islamic Boarding Schools. Jurnal Penelitian Pendidikan IPA, 10(8), 5673-5680. doi: JSA-1706-1157
Astarki.S, Mehrdad.H , & Ghobadiyan.M. (2022). Identifying the components of the model of professional competencies of educational managers of education organization, Quarterly Journal Of Educational Leadership & Administration, 16(2), 109-134. [In Persian]
Brauckmann, S., Pashiardis, P., & Ärlestig, H. (2023). Bringing context and educational leadership together: Fostering the professional development of school principals.Professional development in education, 49(1), 4-15.
Byham, W.( 2015).Competency based human resource system. American educational research , 3 (7) 949-995.
Cheraghi.N, Batmani.F, & Shirbeigi. (2021). Designing and validating a competency model for managers of smart schools. Journal of School Administration, 9(2), 330-360. SID. https://sid.ir/paper/961307/fa. [In Persian]
Choi, Y., Lee, S., & Oh, H. (2024). From the best practices of successful school leaders: Developing and validating the principal competencies inventory in South Korea. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 52(3), 686-710.
Daulay, B., Haidir, H., & Firmansyah, F. (2024). The influence of managerial competence and achievement motivation on the leadership effectiveness of high school principals. Cakrawala Pendidikan: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan, 43(2), 411-421.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Ebrahimzadeh.B, & Nazem.F. (2019). Identifying and compiling the components affecting the model of competencies of elementary school principals in Tehran. Quarterly Journal of Educational Leadership  Administration, 12(4), 9-23. [In Persian]
Finfgeld-Connett, D. (2016). The future of theory-generating meta-syn-thesis research. Qualitative Health Research. 26 (3). 291–293.
Gharloghi, S., Pourkarimi, J., & Rafiee, M. (2020). Structural explanation of professional competence and quality of work life among research experts. Journal of Development and Transformation Management, Special Issue, 409-417. [In Persian]
Gharloghi, S., Khorasani, A., Shams, G., & Qlichli, B. (2021). Designing and explaining a model of executive coaching competencies for training and developing managers and organizational leaders. Strategic Management Thought, 15(2), 271–308. [In Persian]
Gil-Espinosa, F. J., López-Fernández, I., Cadenas-Sanchez, C., & Burgueño, R. (2024). The perspectives of school principals in Spain: identifying professional competencies beyond their scope. School Leadership & Management, 44(4), 466-493.
Gómez-Leal, R., Holzer, A. A., Bradley, C., Fernández-Berrocal, P., & Patti, J. (2022). The relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership in school leaders: A systematic review. Cambridge Journal of Education, 52(1), 1-21.
Gomiole, G. G., Tarekegn, W. M., & Wodajo, A. L. (2024). Principals as instructional leaders: an exploration of school context factors that affect principals’ competence at primary schools in Tarcha town, Ethiopia. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-16.
H. Ekrami, M.A. V. Hoshyar, (2017). The Competencies of High School Principals in District Four of Mashhad, Journal of Family and Research, 13(3), 7. [In Persian]
Hafezy,Maryam,moradi,fatemeh (2017). Identifying the indicators for evaluating the educational competencies of Tehran municipality managers. Journal of Education and Human Resource Development, 14(4), 135-150. [In Persian]
Haj Hosseini.S, Batmani.F, & Hoseinpour.S. (2020). Providing a competency-based evaluation model for elementary school principals. School Management, 8(4), 160-181. [In Persian]
Haj Karimi. A , Rezaiyan. A , Hadizadeh. A , & Bonyadi Naeini. A. (2011). Designing a competency model for human resource managers in the public sector in Iran. Journal of Public Management Outlook, 2(4). [In Persian]
Harris, A. (2002). Effective leadership in schools facing challenging contexts. School Leadership & Management, 22(1), 15-26.
Hitt, D. H., & Tucker, P. D. (2016). Systematic Review of Key Leader Practices Found to Influence Student Achievement: A Unified Framework. Review of Educational Research, 86(2), 531-569.
Hosseini.S, Ghorchian. N, & Jafari. P. (2021). Proposing a model for the professional development of managers. Resource Management in Law Enforcement, 9(3), 289-316. [In Persian]
Kadri, K., Mansor, A. N., & Nor, M. Y. M. (2021). Principal and teacher leadership competencies and 21st century teacher learning and facilitating practices: Instrument development and demographic analysis. Creative Education, 12(9), 2196-2215.
Keykha, A., Rahmani, P., & Ezati, M. (2022). Identifying the Competencies of School Principals for Effective Leadership in Schools. School Administration, 10(3), 110-132. 
Khanifar. H , Naderi Beni. N , Ebrahimi. S , Fayazi. M , & Rahmati. M. (2019). identify the competency of schoolmasters for use in the assessment center, Journal of School administration, 7(1), 105-125. [In Persian]
Marzano, Robert J. (2007).  The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective instruction.
Mei Kin, T., Abdull Kareem, O., Nordin, M. S., & Wai Bing, K. (2018). Principal change leadership competencies and teacher attitudes toward change: the mediating effects of teacher change beliefs. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 21(4), 427-446.
Ministry of Education. (2011). Fundamental reform document of education. Tehran: Ministry of Education. [In Persian]
Neiroukh, N., Ansari, A. A., Dalu, R. A., Khlaif, E., Barahmaeh, D. A., Zubeidi, J., ... & Daher, W. (2024, May). Organizational communication competence of public secondary school principals through utilizing WhatsApp. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 9, p. 1374279). Frontiers Media SA.
Olaifa, A. S., Omisore-Abdulazeez, L. B., Adeoye, M. A., Ayoku, O. B., & Olaifa, E. O. (2024). Administrators’ Competencies and School Effectiveness in Osun State Secondary Schools. Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran, 8(1), 102-108.
Robbins, S. P. (2005). Organizational behavior (2nd ed., 5th print). Translated by A. Parsaeian  S. M. A'arabi. Tehran: Cultural Research Office. [In Persian]
Rothwell, A., Herbert, I., & Rothwell, F. (2008). Self-perceived employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students. Journal of vocational behavior, 73(1), 1-12.
Saatchi, A.A. Azizpour Shoobie, (2005). Designing a Model for Effective Academic Leadership, Journal of Daneshvar Behavior, 12(11), 1-18. [In Persian]
Saputra, A. R., Riswandi, H. H., & Handoko, D. A. S. Managerial Competence of Principals in the Development of Teacher Professional Competencies: Literature Review. International Journal of Current Science Research and Review, 7(3), 1785-1791.
Shabani, R. , Khorshidi, A. , abbasi, L. and fathi, K. (2019). Presentation of a competency model for the principals of primary education in Tehran. Educational and Scholastic studies, 7(2), 145-176. [In Persian]
Shakour M, Bazrafkan L, Alizadeh M, Ghasemi M. Assessing the Leadership Styles and Effectiveness of Administrators in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 1388. Iranian Journal of Medical Education 2012; 11 (9) :1255-1264. [In Persian]
Shomali Ahmadabadi, M., Barkhordari Ahmadabadi, A., & Fazilati, R. (2025). Factors influencing the competencies of educators of children with intellectual disabilities: An interpretive structural modeling (ISM) study. Quarterly Journal of New Advances in Educational Management, 6(2), 69–86. [In Persian]
Shirbagi.N , & Shaikhleh.M. (2024). Analysis of Pedagogically-centered Leadership’ Indicators in Primary Schools, Journal of Management and Planning in Educational Systems, 17(32), 33-64. [In Persian]
Spendlove, M. (2007). Competencies for effective leadership in higher education. International Journal of Educational Management, 21(5), 407-417.
Suratman, S. , Arafat, Y.  & Eddy, S. (2020). The influence of principal’s leadership and teacher’s competence toward teacher’s performance in Indonesia. Journal of Social Work and Science Education, 1(2) , 96-104.
Zareyi,M. , Soltani Fallah,A. , Falahatkar,A. and Bagheri dadvokalayi,M. (2022). Explaining the competency model of school principals from the perspective of the statement of the second step of the revolution. Quarterly Journal of New Advances in Educational Management, 3(1), 1-12. [In Persian]

  • Receive Date 21 August 2025
  • Revise Date 07 December 2025
  • Accept Date 07 December 2025
  • Publish Date 22 December 2025