Designing a Professional Development Model for Pre-School Principals in Education: A Grounded Theory Study

The aim of this research was to develop a model for the professional development of pre-school principals in the education. The study used a qualitative approach with a grounded theory approach. A group of experts, including senior education managers, university professors in the field of educational management, and prominent human resources consultants, were selected using the snowball sampling method. The selection of experts and interviews with them continued until theoretical saturation was reached, which occurred after the eleventh interview. The method of data collection was semi-structured interviews. Based on open, axial, and selective coding of the data, the research model was developed. In the developed model, the professional development of pre-school principals was identified as the core central concept. Causal conditions included the internal motivation of pre-school principals for professional development, their job commitment, ethical behavior, and their level of education and qualifications. The research results also showed that psychological and technical empowerment of education principals, satisfaction of pre-school education staff, parents, and students were identified as strategies and outcomes, respectively. In the developed model, parental concerns about the quality of pre-school educational management and competition between pre-school centers were identified as contextual variables, while standardization and updating of the conditions for the appointment of pre-school principals and the requirements of higher-level organizations for the professional development of pre-school principals were identified as intervention factors. The findings provide practical implications for the designing the professional development programs for pre-school principals.