Identifying Factors Affecting the Development of Teachers' Academic Optimism Culture from the Perspective of Experts

Teachers' academic optimism culture facilitates a collaborative atmosphere, school health, students' academic success, and school effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that promote the development of teachers' academic optimism culture in Tehran schools in the academic year 2022-2023. This study was conducted with a qualitative approach of the phenomenological type. The sample size consisted of three international theorists and twenty-one internal experts in the field of education who were purposefully selected and semi-structured interviews were conducted with them. The necessary data were collected based on theoretical saturation. For the purpose of data analysis, NVivo10 software was used with the use of coding (open, axial, and selective). The findings of this study indicate that seventeen factors play the most important role in the growth and development of teachers' academic optimism culture in schools. These factors are ranked in order of priority as follows: "Quality of teachers' lives", "Teacher empowerment", "Motivational characteristics", "Empowering structure", "Personality characteristics", "Supervision and guidance", "Constructive interactions", "Awareness-raising", "Professional ethics characteristics", "Quality of educational and developmental activities", "Constructive feedback", "Quality of the educational environment", "Psychological and occupational security", "Quality of the curriculum", "Educational policies", "Meritocracy", and "Organizational justice". In the end, the identified seventeen factors can be a guiding charter for the country's educational planners and policy makers. On the other hand, teachers' academic optimism culture in schools develops when the mentioned factors are considered in a coordinated manner.