A Qualitative Coaching Model for Primary School Principals
Keywords:
Coaching, Primary School Principals, Professional Development, Educational ManagementAbstract
Purpose: This study aimed to design and validate a coaching model for primary school principals.
Methodology: This applied study was conducted using a mixed-methods design with an exploratory sequential approach. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through a review of relevant literature and semi-structured interviews with 15 experts, including educational management specialists, university faculty members, and experienced primary school principals. Participants were selected through purposive and theoretical sampling, and interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis in MAXQDA2020. In the quantitative phase, a researcher-made questionnaire was developed based on the qualitative findings and administered to 30 experts to validate the proposed model. The validity of the instrument was confirmed through expert judgment, and the reliability of coding was verified using an inter-coder agreement coefficient of 0.83.
Findings: The inferential results confirmed the validity and appropriate fit of the proposed model. The coefficient of determination was 0.763, indicating strong explanatory power for the model. Moreover, the overall goodness-of-fit index was 0.699, demonstrating a highly desirable fit for the final research model. The results of the one-sample t-test also showed that the mean scores of all validated dimensions, including philosophy and objectives, theoretical foundations, evaluation system, and executive mechanism, were higher than the criterion value. These findings indicate that, from the experts’ perspective, all major components of the model were statistically significant and confirmed at the 99% confidence level.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that the proposed coaching model for primary school principals provides a valid and practical framework for enhancing principals’ professional development, improving educational management quality, and institutionalizing a coaching culture in primary schools.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Baharak Heidary (Author); Negin Jabbary; Masoumeh Bagherpour (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
