This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of public school teachers in Tehran Province regarding destructive educational leadership. In terms of its nature, the research is applied, and methodologically, it adopts a qualitative approach grounded in phenomenology. The participants consisted of public school teachers in Tehran Province who had directly experienced working under destructive leaders. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 individuals, at which point theoretical data saturation was achieved via purposeful sampling.

The findings revealed that several factors, including insufficient managerial experience, dysfunctional organizational structures, and undesirable personality traits of principals, provide the groundwork for the emergence of destructive leadership in schools. In response to such behaviors, teachers adopted various coping strategies, including resistance, compliance, withdrawal, and reporting. The results indicate that destructive leadership is the product of a complex interaction between leader behaviors and follower perceptions; furthermore, teachers' coping responses play a pivotal role in determining the persistence and intensity of this leadership style's impact. This research emphasizes the significance of understanding these dynamics to design targeted interventions in the recruitment, training, and evaluation processes of educational leaders, aimed at mitigating the adverse consequences of destructive leadership in educational environments.