Crisis Management at Iranian Schools: A Review Study

Background: Occurring natural crises and lack of meticulous planning for confronting their damages and casualties can result in losing human and material resources. Moreover, it should be considered that crisis management is a kind of management in which prevention, intervention, and confrontation with the crisis are very important because these measures can decrease the detrimental impact of crises, especially at schools by saving students’ lives. Therefore, regarding the importance of the subject, this study aimed to review studies on crisis management at Iranian schools. Materials and Methods: The study took place by a systematic search using Persian and English keywords on databases like Google Scholar, SID, and Magiran to find relevant research studies conducted in Iran until October ۲۰۱۸. Furthermore, the lists of references were checked to find more relevant studies. Out of ۵۷۵ articles, the full texts of ۱۲ studies were considered and the results of the searching were examined independently based on inclusion and exclusion criteria by two researchers after dismissing duplicates. Finally, ۴ studies were qualified to be included in this review. Results: All studies used some questionnaires for assessing the outcomes. The target population consisted of students, teachers, principals, and experts of crisis management. Among the examined articles, two studies were about earthquake crisis management, and the other two discussed crisis management at schools. The level of preparedness for confrontation with the crisis, the effectiveness of crisis management course, dimensions and components of crisis management, and the priority of effective factors for readiness to confront crises were reported in the studies. Conclusion: Findings showed that students, teachers, and principals should receive necessary training about crisis management for preventing any probable injuries to children while confronting the crisis at schools. Consequently, it is suggested that the officials take crisis management at schools into serious consideration.