Exploring the Role of Educational Governance in Adolescent Identity Formation toward Achieving Sustainable Development

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the role of educational governance in adolescents’ identity formation and to explain its requirements for achieving sustainable development. This qualitative study employed the grounded theory method based on the Strauss and Corbin paradigm and was conducted in Alborz Province, Iran. The study population consisted of actors operating at the family, school, and policymaking levels, who were recruited through purposive sampling supplemented, where necessary, by snowball sampling. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, resulting in 22 participants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding with MAXQDA 2022. Analysis of 387 pages of transcribed interviews generated 1,892 initial codes, which were subsequently refined through constant comparison into 116 concepts and 28 subcategories. The credibility of the findings was enhanced through member checking, peer review, and maintenance of a comprehensive audit trail. The analysis identified “disruption of the educational governance network” as the central phenomenon of the paradigmatic model. Excessive centralization, the policy–practice gap, weaknesses in monitoring and evaluation, short-term and project-oriented approaches, ambiguity in institutional responsibilities, and prioritization of academic objectives emerged as causal conditions. Cultural and ethnic diversity, migration and marginalization, generational and value conflicts, weakened social capital and institutional trust, and the dominance of digital culture constituted major contextual conditions. Existing responses were predominantly compensatory, restrictive, reactive, and unsustainable. Consequences at the individual level included identity confusion and moratorium, fragmented identity, weakened religious and national identity, and psychological and behavioral problems. Institutional consequences included teacher burnout and declining family trust, whereas macro-level consequences comprised weakened social capital, deterioration of human capital quality, and impediments to sustainable development. Adolescent identity formation should be understood not merely as an individual or family-level process but as one substantially shaped by the quality, coherence, and coordination of educational governance. Transitioning from a centralized and fragmented system toward a networked, participatory, context-sensitive, accountable, and outcome-oriented governance model—supported by decentralization, meaningful stakeholder participation, and strategic engagement with digital environments—can strengthen integrated adolescent identity and enhance the human and social capacities required for sustainable development.