Identifying and Analyzing Factors Affecting Good Governance to Promote Educational Justice in Schools in Underprivileged Areas

Abstract

This study aimed to identify and analyze the dimensions, components, and indicators of good governance and to develop a conceptual model for promoting educational justice in schools located in underprivileged areas. The study employed a qualitative research design based on thematic analysis. Participants consisted of faculty members specializing in educational management and experienced school principals and teachers who met the professional and academic eligibility criteria. Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, with theoretical saturation achieved after the seventeenth interview. Basic, organizing, and overarching themes were extracted using MAXQDA version 14. Instrument validity was examined by experts, and the intra-subject reliability coefficient was 0.80. The conceptual model was subsequently evaluated by specialists using a questionnaire addressing correspondence, understandability, generalizability, and control. The validation data were analyzed through one-sample t-tests using a criterion mean of 3. The thematic analysis generated eight overarching dimensions, 19 organizing components, and 69 basic indicators. The principal dimensions encompassed justice-oriented policy and legal governance, equitable financing and resource distribution, educational access and retention, equitable teaching and learning quality, monitoring and accountability, social participation, justice-oriented school leadership, and digital justice. One-sample t-test results demonstrated that expert ratings for all four validation criteria were significantly higher than the criterion value: correspondence, t(29)=4.96; understandability, t(29)=5.23; generalizability, t(29)=4.00; and control, t(29)=5.03; all p<0.001. These results confirmed the adequacy and validity of the proposed conceptual model. Promoting educational justice in underprivileged areas requires a multidimensional governance approach integrating justice-oriented policymaking, needs-based resource allocation, comprehensive student support, accountability, stakeholder participation, school-based leadership, and equitable access to digital technologies. The proposed model provides a valid framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating educational policies and interventions intended to reduce structural inequalities and improve meaningful learning opportunities for students in disadvantaged schools.