Background and Objectives: This study aimed to explore and explain the process of student teachers’ understanding and experiences of dual education in the preparation of school health educators and to develop a paradigm model based on Grounded Theory.

Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using the systematic Grounded Theory approach of Strauss and Corbin (2008). The participants included faculty members of Farhangian University, faculty members of Schools of Health, and student teachers majoring in Health Education. Participants were selected through purposive criterion-based sampling, and a total of 22 individuals participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (685 minutes in total) and analyzed concurrently with data collection using the constant comparative method through three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved; the main categories were stabilized after 20 interviews, and no new concepts emerged in the final two interviews. To ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, member checking, peer debriefing, intercoder reliability (87%), recoding reliability (89%), and maintaining an audit trail of the data analysis process were employed.

Results: The findings indicated that the core phenomenon, “the effectiveness of dual education in the preparation of school health educators,” was influenced by causal conditions, including deficiencies in educational content and inter-organizational barriers, as well as contextual conditions, including perceptual and cultural challenges and characteristics of educational environments. In response to these conditions, the identified action/interaction strategies comprised the integration of theoretical and practical education, improvement of structural interaction and integration, and optimization of faculty composition. These strategies led to consequences including structural reforms in educational programs, enhancement of professional competence, improvement of learning quality, and increased effectiveness of dual education.

Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that the effectiveness of dual education is achieved through the interaction of educational, organizational, and cultural factors together with appropriate action/interaction strategies. The paradigm model developed from empirical data provides a conceptual framework for educational policymakers and planners to design, implement, and evaluate dual education programs and to improve the quality of school health educator preparation.

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