Identifying the Indicators, Dimensions, and Components of Information Literacy Based on the Empowerment of School Principals: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the indicators, dimensions, and components of information literacy based on the empowerment of school principals. This applied study employed a qualitative exploratory design. Participants included university faculty members, specialists in information literacy and curriculum studies, experienced educational administrators, and primary school principals in Gonabad. They were recruited through purposive, sequential, and chain-referral sampling. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 30–50 minutes. All interviews were audio-recorded with participants’ consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed through thematic analysis using open, axial, and selective coding. Trustworthiness was enhanced through member checking, expert review, maintenance of an audit trail, repeated coding, and inter-coder comparison. The coding agreement coefficient was 86%, indicating acceptable analytical stability. The analysis generated 15 open codes organized into three principal dimensions. The written, traditional, and general dimension included planning for unexpected problems, identifying and classifying organizational goals, improving managerial performance, indirectly supervising employees, and evaluating organizational culture. The technical and computer-based dimension comprised the use of managerial planning methods, monitoring employee activities, organizing authority and responsibilities, assessing the effects of organizational resources on program progress, and internal supervision or self-control. The communicative dimension based on consultation and dialogue included developing and implementing organizational programs, analyzing organizational goals and operations, increasing confidence in performance supervision, evaluating employees’ ethical behavior, and regulating managerial behavior. The findings indicated that these dimensions operate complementarily and strengthen principals’ capacities for evidence-informed decision-making, organizational supervision, problem-solving, resource management, and organizational learning. Information literacy among school principals is a multidimensional and integrated competency formed through the interaction of written, technological, and communicative capabilities. The identified dimensions and indicators can provide a contextual foundation for developing professional training programs, competency standards, assessment criteria, and organizational support systems intended to empower school principals.