Abstract

AVILA APONTE, Rosa  and  SAENZ OBREGON, Javier. The configuration of the official school principalship in Colombia. Rev.latinoam.cienc.soc.niñez juv [online]. 2009, vol.7, n.2, suppl.1, pp.1639-1674. ISSN 1692-715X.

This article belongs in the context of contemporary school reforms and characterizes how the Colombian school principalship is being configured from the power relations generated between the principal and the macropolitical and micropolitical dimensions in educational institutions. The results show how the field of principalship is heavily regulated by national educational norms and policies and by their corresponding recontextualization in the local macropolitical scenarios. The principalship field is configured through three domain force lines that change the principalship orientation, affect its function and generate changes in their relations. The first force induces the principal towards the search for resources, projects and their relations; the second induces the principal towards the promotion of the democratization of the educational institution and to disciplining both male and females teachers; and the third refers to reporting management activities. The conclusion states that the reconfiguration of the principal's field takes place in context that is socially problematized and marked by wide expectations about the role of schools and by both male and female principals. The directive function is widely marked by a highly administrative bias, an orientation towards the disciplining of teachers and towards the reporting of management activities. In a world of restrictions, the principals try new negotiation strategies and promote actions aiming at meeting institutional objectives, along with the demands from the school and the expectations resulting from their roles.

Keywords : school direction; educational management; educational administration; male and female principals; principalship field; power relations; force line.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )