Formação de dirigentes escolares e o desempenho da escola pública municipal: conceitos, fundamentos e interlocuções

Abstract

The study object of this work was the educational background of school principals and the performance of municipal public elementary schools, specifically from 2014 up to 2018 in the city of Salvador, State of Bahia. The main objective was to analyze the link between the educational background of school principals and the performance of two public elementary schools in Salvador. The question to be answered in the research was: What is the connection between the educational background and the performance of elementary municipal public schools in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil? The specific objectives were: a) To relate the infrastructures and the human resources of two public elementary schools (belonging to the public education system of Salvador); b) To examine the alignment of school principals training program offered by SMED (Municipal Education Department of Salvador) in 2014, with defined allocations in the 2003 document where the assignments of the school principals are specified; c) To compare the school principals training program with the performance indicators of two public elementary schools in Salvador. The approach of matched studies between qualitative and quantitative inputs was used, favoring the qualitative input in two public elementary schools located in a peripheral neighborhood of Salvador. The two schools studied were named as “Alfa” – the school which its principal has taken a training course held by Municipal Education Department of Salvador (SMED) in 2014; and “Beta” – the school which its principal has not taken the training course mentioned. In both schools – “Alfa” and “Beta” – surveys and half open interviews with principals were used. Documents were also analyzed such as school principal assignments, the Political Pedagogical Proposal, school council meeting minutes, and the study material used in the training course held by SMED in 2014. Indicators that compose IDEB (Basic Education Development Rate) were broken up and analyzed: the Proficiency rates in Portuguese Language and in Mathematics, as well as the general grade on IDEB of both schools, studied. The Focus Group technique was also applied. The data analysis has indicated that, although the schools studied are located in the same neighborhood and also belonging to the same educational system, Alfa’s physical facilities have shown more deficiency than Beta’s. There were few inputs and lack of human and material resources. The analysis of the 80-hour load school principals training course held by SMED in 2014 as a legal requirement for candidates to have opportunity of being part of the school management election has showed that the course - although substantiated in the current educational legislation at that period - does not align with principals’ competencies either with their professional needs explained by those principals or with the current issues at hand in society such as discussions about minorities, people with disabilities, social and ethnic issues and violence. In the interview, in contrast to Alfa school, the Beta school principal has shown a larger knowledge and experience by previously having managed a school. In addition, this school principal has shown a more participative and more democratic management profile. Finally, the data and the theoretical framework analysis shows that there is a connection between the educational background of the school principals and the school performance, which conclusions indicate that the more prepared and experienced school principals are, the better the school performance results. We do not absolutely affirm that the theoretical formation and professional experiences in the educational area can guarantee the good performance of the public school. However, we assert that they can contribute to improving public school performance.