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A gestão escolar do ensino não superior em Portugal foi marcada por diversas reestruturações, da gestão democrática (colegial) à gestão unipessoal, muito embora esta última tenha gerado grande controvérsia em diversos setores da sociedade portuguesa. É de assinalar, na penúltima década, a imposição generalizada da figura do diretor, como via de sentido único (Decreto-Lei 75/2008, de 22 de abril e Decreto-Lei 137/2012, de 2 de julho), que implicou a assunção de valores gerencialistas conotados com a Nova Gestão Pública (NGP), tais como, controlo da qualidade, a excelência, a responsabilização, a eficácia, a eficiência técnica, e a coexistência de modos de regulação distintos (regulação burocrática e pós-burocrática). O diretor adquiriu, assim, uma maior centralidade organizacional do ponto de vista formal e estrutural, como também se assumiu como líder indispensável, primeiro responsável e responsabilizável, na prestação de contas pelo serviço público de educação e gestão de recursos públicos disponibilizados. Isto resultou num acréscimo de volume, âmbito e complexidade das suas tarefas quotidianas, traduzido numa sobrecarga funcional e emocional, com situações de elevado stress e grande pressão na sua ação e desempenho. O âmbito do presente estudo consiste, pois, na mudança das políticas que visam a gestão escolar, focando-se, em particular, na ação do diretor, e tendo em conta o quadro dos processos de reconfiguração do sistema educativo e os referenciais da gestão escolar (recrutamento, formação, político e funcional). O objetivo principal é perceber como é que o diretor, através do pensamento crítico e da criatividade acomoda as suas representações em situações de tensão, conflito, conformidade e mudança nos diferentes mundos de ação. Neste sentido, foi desenvolvida uma investigação, inscrita na abordagem qualitativa e interpretativa, operacionalizada através de entrevistas semiestruturadas a 6 diretores de agrupamentos de escolas NUT III – Alto Alentejo, tratadas com recurso a uma análise qualitativa de conteúdo, com o apoio do software MAXQDA. Como principais conclusões há a ressaltar que o diretor não possui uma total autonomia, porque a sua atividade é muito regulada, fundamentalmente pela administração. Conhecedores do seu domínio, através de um pensamento divergente, pensamento lateral e pensamento convergente ao envolverem diferentes perspetivas ou pontos de vista em função das situações e respetivos contextos, criam soluções pragmáticas e perspicazes para decidir e/ou resolver problemas de diferentes graus de complexidade. Na sua ação nos diferentes mundos emergem conflitos e tensões de natureza organizacional, pedagógica, tecnológica e administrativa, e os diretores mobilizam a motivação intrínseca e as suas capacidades relevantes criativas para a sua superação e a sua flexibilidade cognitiva para a regulação das suas emoções e para a adaptação aos eventos stressantes. As constantes mudanças normativas e procedimentais fizeram com que os diretores, através da sua criatividade interpretativa e quotidiana, se adaptassem funcionalmente às exigências daí decorrentes, nomeadamente às ferramentas digitais, vulgo plataformas digitais. Mas os diretores revelam uma visão pragmática da gestão escolar, e através dos conhecimentos associativo, esquemático e baseado em casos, e da sua capacidade critica e criativa, conseguem gerir e administrar o quotidiano das escolas em função dos limites e possibilidades para um melhor desempenho funcional. A escola como um espaço dinâmico onde abundam os prazos, as solicitações, as situações conflituais e tensões, entre outros, há a necessidade de decidir e resolver problemas num curto espaço de tempo, e estes pressupostos transformam os diretores, em “gestores de compromissos”, “gestores de contas”, “gestores de urgências”, “gestores de tempo” e “gestores de relacionamento”, isto é, assumem-se como autênticos “bombeiros” que tentam apagar muitos fogos ao mesmo tempo e/ou ao longo do tempo.
The management of non-higher education schools in Portugal has experienced several restructurings, from democratic management (collegial) to unipersonal management, although the latter has generated significant controversy in several sectors of Portuguese society. It is worth noting, two decades ago, the generalized imposition of the figure of the headteacher, as a one-way street (Law-Decree 75/2008, of 22 April and Law-Decree 137/2012, of 02 July), which lead to the undertaking of managerial values connotated with the “New Public Management” (NPM), such as quality control, excellence, accountability, effectiveness, technical efficiency, and the coexistence of different types of regulation (bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic regulations). The headteacher has thus acquired a greater organizational centrality from a formal and structural point of view, as well as having assumed themselves as an indispensable leader, the first point of responsibility and accountability when accounting for the public service of education and management of available public resources. This resulted in an increase in volume, scope, and complexity of their daily tasks, which translated into a functional and emotional overload, with situations of high stress and high pressure on their role and performance. Therefore, the scope of this study focuses on the change of policies aimed at school management, centering on the work of the headteacher, whilst considering the framework of the reconfiguration process of the education system and the references of school management (political, functional, recruitment and training). The main objective of this study is to understand how the headteacher, through critical thinking and creativity, accommodates their role in situations of tension, conflict, conformity and change within the different worlds of action. With this in mind, research was developed, inscribed in the qualitative and interpretative approach, brought to action through semi-structured interviews with 6 headteachers from NUT III - Alto Alentejo schools, and processed through a qualitative content analysis, with the support of the MAXQDA software. Within the main conclusions, we highlight the finding that the headteacher does not possess full autonomy because their role is extremely regulated, mainly by the administration. Knowledgeable of their domain, through divergent, lateral, and convergent thinking involving different perspectives or points of view according to each situation and context, they create pragmatic and insightful solutions to decide on and/or solve problems of varying complexity. In their role in the different worlds, conflicts and tensions of an organizational, pedagogical, technological, and administrative nature emerge, headteachers mobilize their intrinsic motivation and their relevant creative abilities to overcome them, and their cognitive flexibility to regulate their emotions and adapt to stressful events. The constant normative and procedural changes have prompted headteachers, through their interpretative and daily creativity, to functionally adapt to the resulting demands, namely digital platforms. Headteachers reveal a pragmatic vision of school management, and through associative, schematic, and case-based knowledge, and their critical and creative ability, they manage and administer the daily life of schools within the limits and possibilities, for better functional performance. Within the school, as a dynamic space where deadlines, requests, conflict situations and tensions, among others, abound, there is the need to decide and solve problems in a short space of time. These assumptions transform headteachers into "commitment managers", "account managers", "urgency managers", "time managers" and "relationship managers", ie, they take on the role of "firefighters" who try to put out many fires at the same time and/or over time.
The management of non-higher education schools in Portugal has experienced several restructurings, from democratic management (collegial) to unipersonal management, although the latter has generated significant controversy in several sectors of Portuguese society. It is worth noting, two decades ago, the generalized imposition of the figure of the headteacher, as a one-way street (Law-Decree 75/2008, of 22 April and Law-Decree 137/2012, of 02 July), which lead to the undertaking of managerial values connotated with the “New Public Management” (NPM), such as quality control, excellence, accountability, effectiveness, technical efficiency, and the coexistence of different types of regulation (bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic regulations). The headteacher has thus acquired a greater organizational centrality from a formal and structural point of view, as well as having assumed themselves as an indispensable leader, the first point of responsibility and accountability when accounting for the public service of education and management of available public resources. This resulted in an increase in volume, scope, and complexity of their daily tasks, which translated into a functional and emotional overload, with situations of high stress and high pressure on their role and performance. Therefore, the scope of this study focuses on the change of policies aimed at school management, centering on the work of the headteacher, whilst considering the framework of the reconfiguration process of the education system and the references of school management (political, functional, recruitment and training). The main objective of this study is to understand how the headteacher, through critical thinking and creativity, accommodates their role in situations of tension, conflict, conformity and change within the different worlds of action. With this in mind, research was developed, inscribed in the qualitative and interpretative approach, brought to action through semi-structured interviews with 6 headteachers from NUT III - Alto Alentejo schools, and processed through a qualitative content analysis, with the support of the MAXQDA software. Within the main conclusions, we highlight the finding that the headteacher does not possess full autonomy because their role is extremely regulated, mainly by the administration. Knowledgeable of their domain, through divergent, lateral, and convergent thinking involving different perspectives or points of view according to each situation and context, they create pragmatic and insightful solutions to decide on and/or solve problems of varying complexity. In their role in the different worlds, conflicts and tensions of an organizational, pedagogical, technological, and administrative nature emerge, headteachers mobilize their intrinsic motivation and their relevant creative abilities to overcome them, and their cognitive flexibility to regulate their emotions and adapt to stressful events. The constant normative and procedural changes have prompted headteachers, through their interpretative and daily creativity, to functionally adapt to the resulting demands, namely digital platforms. Headteachers reveal a pragmatic vision of school management, and through associative, schematic, and case-based knowledge, and their critical and creative ability, they manage and administer the daily life of schools within the limits and possibilities, for better functional performance. Within the school, as a dynamic space where deadlines, requests, conflict situations and tensions, among others, abound, there is the need to decide and solve problems in a short space of time. These assumptions transform headteachers into "commitment managers", "account managers", "urgency managers", "time managers" and "relationship managers", ie, they take on the role of "firefighters" who try to put out many fires at the same time and/or over time.
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Keywords
Coping Criatividade Diretores escolares Pensamento crítico Referencial Regulação Representações Sociais