Identifying the factors affecting the professional ethics of primary school principals in Lorestan province

This study aimed to propose the professional ethics patterns of principals of elementary schools. Research method was conducted using a mixed (qualitative-quantitative) and it was an applied study in terms of objective. In the qualitative step, participants (including 16 experts in the relevant context) were chosen using the purposive sampling method, and they filled out the questionnaires three times based on Delphi Method. In the quantitative step, the statistical population comprised all principals (N=2366) of elementary schools of Education Organization in Lorestan over the academic year of 2019-2020. Using Morgan Table, 330 subjects were chosen based on multistage cluster sampling. As a research instrument, a questionnaire was used considering the qualitative findings including three dimensions, nine components, and 81 indicators. Descriptive and inferential statistics (structural equations) were used through SPSS22 and Lisrel software to analyze data. Findings indicated that there are 3 dimensions and 9 main components in the case of principals' professional ethics: 1) individual dimension (personal, occupational/professional, and emotional characteristics) 2) intra-organizational dimension (management and leadership, ethics strategies, professional capabilities, and task factors) 3) extra-organizational dimension (social and cultural factors).

Results of structural equation modeling (SEM) showed among triple dimensions of principals' professional ethics, intra-organizational (with a path coefficient of 0.87) had the highest impact on the professional ethics model. Among components, task factors (0.87), occupational features (0.85), and cultural factors (0.82) had the highest impact on the professional ethics model, respectively. The proposed patterns can be used as a guideline for educational management planners at the macro- and micro-levels to rank dimensions and components of principals' professional ethics.