Articulating School Principals’ Leadership and Core Values: Evidence From Iran

This study sought to explore the core values articulated by principals with a focus on school leadership models. Considering the importance of values in educational leadership, very little research underpins the assumption of values in coupling with school leadership models. Therefore, this study employed a sequential explanatory, mixed-method research design in the Razaviyeh region located in the city of Mashhad, Iran to provide information on that topic. Data were drawn from a combination of methods, both quantitative (questionnaires administered to 350 teachers in 63 schools) and qualitative (a semi-structured interview with twenty school principals). The quantitative results first provided evidence consistent with the previous research from centralized education systems, suggesting the managerial leadership model is the dominant model in schools. The qualitative results indicated the core values articulated by principals and were categorized into terminal and instrumental values in each school leadership model.