Coming on board: problems facing novice principals in Iran.

The main purpose of this paper is to report research on the problems faced by novice principals in Iran. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 novice principals, all from elementary schools in Iran. The paper also identifies possible solutions to address the problems through three focus group interviews. The analysis followed the principles of qualitative research. The main findings relate to three aspects: the personal constructions of novice principal problems, professional constructions of novice principal problems, and the possible solutions to help address the problems. The conclusion compares these Iranian findings with international research, showing some common issues but also certain problems that are distinctive to the Iranian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]