ORIGINAL ARTICLE
CYMBALUK, Mabel Aparecida [1], PEDROSO, Carolina Vilas Boas Alves [2], GRANDINI, Claudio Oliveira [3], FILIPAK, Sirley Terezinha [4]
CYMBALUK, Mabel Aparecida. Et al. The role of the school manager for effective democratic management at school. Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. Year 05, Ed. 11, Vol. 22, pp. 84-97. November 2020. ISSN: 2448-0959, Access link: https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/education/effective-democratic-management
ABSTRACT
The present research proposes to reflect on the role of the school manager for the effectiveness of democratic management in the school environment. Its general objective is to identify the role of the school manager for the realization of democratic management and as specific objectives: to understand democratic management; identify the school manager profile and point out the role of the school manager in democratic management. The methodology used was the qualitative approach, using as a research instrument the bibliographic type, guided by renowned authors in the field of education, such as: Lück (2011), Paro (2015), Libâneo (2017), among others. From the present bibliographical research it was possible to verify that the school manager has the main role of being the guardian of democratic life, as this is the leading subject to govern democratic management in the school environment so that democracy is present in the school in a directly and mainly involving all the subjects that are present there.
Keywords: School management, Democratic management, School environment.
1. INTRODUCTION
Over the years, society has become increasingly complex, as numerous social phenomena are emerging and developing, resulting in new job positions, new organizing groups, new political trends and consequently a great diversity of thoughts in all areas.
Due to the influence of these phenomena, educational policies and educational institutions need to progress, because, according to Cury (2001, p. 43) “the demands of the world of work, socio-political and cultural life become more and more articulated with knowledge and skills learned in schools”. And, as education is the basis for the future of subjects, it needs to be in accordance with the new demands of society.
The school is configured, according to Fossati and Sarmento (2013), as a complex organization in relation to the foundations, dimensions and commitments that permeate it. For, in addition to influencing, it is also influenced by other systems, leading to inferences in their principles, organizations, processes and practices.
Therefore, with the current reality, it is necessary for the school to recognize that educational managements based on past experiences and on intuitive ways are no longer being viable, and it is necessary to rethink new postures and perspectives within the school environment. This rethinking is related to a deep analysis of various points such as training, supervision, planning, public policies, management and many others that influence the development of education and society.
As discussed, school management is one of the aspects to be developed in education, and consequently the subject facing this sector is the school manager. The interest in researching this area lies in the intention of contributing to the scientific production of the theme, deepening knowledge for researchers, teachers and students of school management.
The intention is to investigate what is the role of the school manager for the effectiveness of democratic management in the school environment? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand democratic management; identify the school manager profile and point out the role of the school manager in democratic management.
The elaboration of this study took place through a qualitative approach which, according to Neves (1996) has become increasingly promising for the possibility of investigation. This approach has as its principle quality, focusing on descriptive data addressed directly from the relationship between the researcher and the object of study. In this way, the approach provided the quality of the methods, theories, results obtained and the bibliographic research supported and clarified the doubts that arose in the development of the investigation. Marconi and Lakatos (2003, p.183) mention that this research “covers all the bibliography already made public in relation to the subject of study”, that is, they are books, articles, magazines, theses, among other publications.
Bibliographic research aims to “put the researcher in direct contact with everything that has been written, said or filmed on a given subject […]” (MARCONI AND LAKATOS, 2003, p.183) and therefore, we use materials from authors on the subject, such as Lück (2011), Paro (2015), Libâneo (2017), among others.
2. DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT
School management, throughout history, had different approaches and characteristics, according to the contexts in which it was inserted. Throughout the history of education in Brazil, school management was initially carried out by religious in confessional education, where directors were appointed in public education. There is no definition of roles or lines of action focused on participation, since, traditionally, they exercised the function of controlling the processes (SANTOS, 2016).
The first systematizations and formalizations of management brought about the need to train managers, in the academy, through the Pedagogy course, according to Opinion 252/69, analyzed by Silva (2006):
Já no enunciado de seu título, esse parecer não deixa dúvida quanto ao profissional, ou melhor, aos profissionais a que se refere ao ser apresentado como instrumento legal que fixa os currículos mínimos e duração para o curso de graduação em pedagogia, visando a formação de professores para o ensino normal e de especialistas para as atividades de orientação, administração, supervisão e inspeção no âmbito de escolas e sistemas escolares. (SILVA, 2006, p.26)
Since the professionals who would work in school management would have specific initial training, it could be said that there would be a preparation to democratize the processes of school institutions. Over time, however, new reformulations made to the course left the training of specialists in education aside. The course began to focus only on teaching.
Managers then became teachers, collaborators, specialists with leadership characteristics or professionals in areas other than education. Considering that managers are currently elected or appointed professionals, not always prepared for pedagogical performance. Sometimes they are focused on administration, finance, communication and other areas, and it should be noted that there is currently no initial training course for school managers.
Also over time, the management process was transformed, seeking connections with reality. It started from the models of control and repression, to the disciplinary, organizing, bureaucratic models, for a practice glued to the needs of a new society, experienced in the information age, which needs to update and resignify itself, effectively becoming a management that prioritizes participation.
In practice, however, participation passed away from management for a long time, since democratic management appears in the Federal Constitution (1988) and then only in 1996, in the Law of Directives and Bases of National Education (LDBEN)[5], no. 9394/96, in article 3, establishes the teaching principles and in item VIII, the democratic management of public education (BRASIL, 1996).
From the text of the Law, it became necessary to define what is understood by democratic management, what are its implications, who is the manager who acts in this perspective. We can say that the changes that society has gone through and is going through daily, at the click of the remote control and screens, present constant challenges to those involved in educational processes. They include the challenges of implementing democratic management, in the face of political, economic, social, educational, technological, social demands that present themselves as Ferreira (2006) states, “whenever society is faced with significant changes in its bases economic, social, technological, new attributions are now required of the school, of Education and of its management”.
It is worth reflecting on what is meant by democratic management, from the current perspective. This definition and implementation are necessary, since we have a goal established in the National Education Plan (2014), with strategies and deadlines for its implementation. Understanding management as the process of organization, construction, direction and decision-making, planning and administration (of resources, conflicts, events, physical space), it is necessary to determine spaces for participation in each of them. Participation requires knowledge of reality, it requires acceptance of individual differences and needs, it requires collective thinking.
In the school context, the concept of democratic participation assumes greater relevance, due to the nature of educational work, since the subjects involved build their processes of interaction between individuals, between them and knowledge. Democratic management becomes an essential element for the full development of all those involved, it is necessary to give voice to students, teachers and the school community. They are the center of the process. Lück (2011) states that,
Uma forma de conceituar a gestão é vê-la como um processo de mobilização da competência e da energia de pessoas coletivamente organizadas para que, por sua participação ativa e competente, promovam a realização, o mais plenamente possível, dos objetivos de sua unidade de trabalho, no caso, os objetivos educacionais. (LÜCK, 2011, p.21)
Based on this premise, the democratic management of the school requires that those involved in the process assume their roles as protagonists, interacting in the school environment in an articulated way, in order to promote the democratization of quality teaching and effective learning. It is necessary to organize moments for sharing, listening, discussions, planning strategies and decision-making. Organizing student unions, school councils, associations that involve families of students and teachers are ways of proposing and practicing democratic management. It is understood that participation, in this case, “[…] implies sharing power, that is to say, it implies sharing responsibilities for decisions taken together as a collectivity and facing the challenges of promoting advances towards continuous improvement and necessary transformations” (LÜCK, 2011, p.44).
Democratic participation in management also impacts the existing power relations in the school, as well as in all segments of society. These relationships can be established in the opposite way, if the manager is not clear, due to lack of training, the requirement of the sponsoring institution or a personal characteristic. “Competent schools are those in which power is disseminated collectively and where the nuances, dynamics and dialectic of its manifestation between the social and individual poles are understood, balancing them”, as stated by Lück (2011, p.106).
Overcoming the paradigm of control and power within the school culture brings the possibility of new directions for the construction of processes based on the concepts of collectivity and strengthening of democratic structures.
2.1 SCHOOL MANAGER PROFILE
School management requires a constant exercise of listening, welcoming and sharing. Within the current reality, the manager has accumulated functions that do not always facilitate this process, as he needs to have knowledge in different areas, since he performs the administration of financial and human resources, the coordination of pedagogical processes, control and evaluation of the teaching work, the articulation with the community, the conduction of events, among other bureaucratic roles that are imposed in their daily lives.
The Law of Directives and Bases for National Education, no. 9,394/96 defines the attributions of educational establishments.
Art. 12. Os estabelecimentos de ensino, respeitadas as normas comuns e as do seu sistema de ensino, terão a incumbência de: I – elaborar e executar sua proposta pedagógica; II – administrar seu pessoal e seus recursos materiais e financeiros; III – assegurar o cumprimento dos dias letivos e horas-aula estabelecidas; IV – velar pelo cumprimento do plano de trabalho de cada docente; V – prover meios para a recuperação dos alunos de menor rendimento; VI – articular-se com as famílias e a comunidade, criando processos de integração da sociedade com a escola; VII – informar pai e mãe, conviventes ou não com seus filhos, e, se for o caso, os responsáveis legais, sobre a frequência e rendimento dos alunos, bem como sobre a execução da proposta pedagógica da escola, (Redação dada pela Lei nº 12.013, de 2009); VIII – notificar ao Conselho Tutelar do Município a relação dos alunos que apresentem quantidade de faltas acima de 30% (trinta por cento) do percentual permitido em lei, (Redação dada pela Lei nº 13.803, de 2019); IX – promover medidas de conscientização, de prevenção e de combate a todos os tipos de violência, especialmente a intimidação sistemática (bullying), no âmbito das escolas ,(Incluído pela Lei nº 13.663, de 2018); X – estabelecer ações destinadas a promover a cultura de paz nas escolas, (Incluído pela Lei nº 13.663, de 2018); XI – promover ambiente escolar seguro, adotando estratégias de prevenção e enfrentamento ao uso ou dependência de drogas, (Incluído pela Lei nº 13.840, de 2019) (BRASIL, 1996)
The school manager is responsible for fulfilling the tasks, who must know the entire arsenal of educational legislation and maintain contact with the bodies that govern the education system of your Municipality/State, master the technological aspects, media and social networks.
It can be seen that the mandates represent a great challenge, especially those that were recently included with regard to the prevention of violence, drug use and the promotion of a culture of peace in schools. There was a time, not too long ago, when school was the best and safest place for students of all ages. What is perceived today is that the school has become a stage of disagreements, conflicts, violence, drug use and really the peace that reigned, has ceased to exist, harming the work of education professionals and student learning.
From this perspective, what profile is expected of this manager, to fulfill all his duties and in a democratic way, as recommended by the legislation? What are the priorities in your role for the effectiveness of democratic management? Initially, the manager needs to be clear about the difference between being a process manager and being an educator, involved in issues that go beyond technical-administrative, “the pedagogical that gives reason for being to the administrative, otherwise it is reduced to mere bureaucratization, making it end in itself and denying the educational ends it should serve” (PARO, 2015, p.25).
It is important to emphasize that the training of the school manager currently does not take place in a specific course. It takes place in movement, at work, in everyday school life, in continuing education.
We believe that the most demanded ability for managers, especially democratic managers, is leadership, seen as the ability to influence people to do their best, to be at the forefront of processes that are conducted in a harmonious, joint way.
Liderança corresponde a um conjunto de ações, atitudes e comportamentos assumidos por uma pessoa, para influenciar o desempenho de alguém, visando a realização de objetivos organizacionais. Corresponde à capacidade de influenciar pessoas individualmente ou em grupo, de modo que haja voltadas para a realização de uma tarefa […]. (LÜCK, 2014, p.95)
This premise of leading a team, especially a pedagogical team, is a challenge imposed on the manager. In the midst of the school culture where it is inserted, it needs to develop a deep knowledge and respect for the historical construction, time and space of the school community. He leads more than people, he manages, governs, takes care of and interacts, seeks and demands results. To respond to these challenges, it overcomes some paradigms, especially on the control and centralization of power.
Developing autonomy and community participation favors the democratization of educational processes,
[…] por isso mesmo, a autonomia precisa ser gerida, implicando uma corresponsabilidade consciente, partilhada, solidária, de todos os membros da equipe escolar, de modo a alcançar, eficazmente, os resultados de sua atividade – a formação cultural e científica dos alunos e o desenvolvimento das potencialidades cognitivas e operativa. (LIBÂNEO, 2017, p.119)
Some managers like to lead and understand that management must be democratic, participatory, shared, but they need to improve and develop leadership as demands arise. This doesn’t always come easily. There are conflicts of interest, ethical dilemmas, issues for which the manager is not always prepared. The search for continuing education is a means to support these issues. Technical-administrative-pedagogical knowledge is the basis for the enrichment and professional improvement of managers, for the realization of democratic work, focused on the community, for the quality of teaching, for the improvement of the pedagogical process, better academic results, in short, for the formation of better citizens.
school management,
[…] vai além daquele sentido de mobilização de pessoas para a realização eficaz de atividades, pois implica intencionalidade, definição de um rumo, uma tomada de posição frente a objetivos sociais e políticos da escola, em uma sociedade concreta. A escola, ao cumprir sua função social de mediação, influi significativamente na formação da personalidade humana e, por essa razão, não é possível estruturá-la sem levar em consideração objetivos políticos e pedagógicos. (LIBÂNEO, 2017, p.117)
Power relations, instituted, politically, socially and economically are repeated within schools. They are reflections of historically established structures. The manager, from the perspective of democratic management, has the role of rupture, allowing those involved to assume their roles with autonomy, exercising individual and collective responsibility, participating in decision-making from a human and humanized perspective.
Leadership for the democratic manager must guide his actions, enable the participation of the actors in the process, overcoming the difficulty of educating in an unequal society. The manager assumes the role of being at the service, together with the entire community, of quality education, of equity, which allows the expansion of participation beyond the walls of schools.
The proposal to manage a school in a democratic way, associated with the formation of school councils, student unions, the association of parents and teachers, bringing all those involved in the process in, allows the reformulation of the established patterns of power. The concepts of authority and leadership are re-signified based on participation, on the initiative of monitoring activities from the analysis of relevance to evaluation and resumption.
2.2 THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL MANAGER IN DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT
The role of the school manager in relation to democratic school management is always an attentive and unequivocal observation of the Brazilian democratic process and concomitant with this, a careful analysis of the Law of Directives and Bases of Education (1996).
The process of redemocratization in Brazil in the 1980s is a clear sign of popular dissatisfaction with the dictatorial and anti-democratic methods in force until then. With the Federal Constitution (1988), we have a process of maturing and reflection on Brazilian education and, in a special way, regarding school management. Then begins a fundamental process of decentralization of educational management towards a democratic path until the Law of Directives and Bases of Education (1996), as a referential mark of school management.
So far and very succinctly, we have sought in a historical perspective the beginnings of the reflection on democratic school management. It is necessary to advance in some more technical aspects in relation to the scope of school management and to make a clear distinction between educational management and school management. Educational management is a more macro view of understanding and studies of the cause of education that involves a country, which is not our view, our reflection at this moment (SANTOS, 2016). Here, we will focus on school management and its attributions, which from a democratic perspective, is not a macro view of the educational reality and consequently of its policies, but a micro view, within the structure of the school itself and which has the democratic process in view.
With this, we seek in Paro (1996) a perspective of democratic management, which is:
A possibilidade de uma gestão democrática no sentido de sua articulação, na forma e conteúdo, com os interesses da sociedade como um todo, tem a ver com os fins e natureza da coisa administrada. No caso da administração escolar, sua especificidade deriva, pois: a) dos objetivos que se buscam alcançar com a escola; b) da natureza que envolve essa busca. Esses dois aspectos não estão de modo nenhum desvinculados um do outro. A apropriação do saber e o desenvolvimento da consciência crítica como objetivos de uma educação transformadora determinam […] a própria natureza peculiar do processo pedagógico escolar; ou seja, esse processo não se constitui em mera diferenciação do processo de produção material que lugar na empresa, mas deriva sua especificidade de objetivos (educacionais) peculiares, objetivos esses articulados com os interesses sociais mais amplos e que são, por isso, antagônicos aos objetivos de dominação subjacentes à atividade produtiva capitalista (PARO, 1996, p.151).
The school has, by its nature, to be a place of appropriation of knowledge that necessarily leads us to a critical view of the school itself, its structure and even the educational process itself. This criticality in the school environment is fundamental and pertinent in the exercise of the school manager. With this, the manager provides a greater participation and reflection of the school instances and provides a space for democratic culture in the school environment.
It is important to emphasize that a school manager cannot avoid taking responsibility for running a school space that at all times seeks improvements and mechanisms that provide democratic reflection as a concrete bias in the exercise of management. The school needs to be seen as a living organism, intertwined, intrinsic in mutual relationships. Thus, the manager is the one who has the duty to organize these spaces and is always willing to listen carefully to the wishes and needs of the school community; and together make decisions that are relevant to each reality.
We can venture to say that the manager is the guardian of democratic life in a school environment, and this is always his compass in the process of guiding democratic practices to the detriment of pedagogical practices in the school environment.
Democratic management expresses the desire of a concrete society that wants to grow together, so it is considered liberating, it provides the ability to be together, to grow together and why not make mistakes together? Democratic management is charged and permeated with co-responsibility, nobody does anything alone, nobody grows alone; we grow and participate together, each one must be essential for the management to happen in a shared way.
This value is intrinsic to school management. There is no bargaining, these values are not wavered. It is essential to be aware of these values of democratic management so that the manager has as a personal guide the collective doing in democratic management. That is why it is so important to emphasize that, in our view, the role of the school manager in democratic management is, above all, a guardian of participatory democracy in the school environment. Where everyone has their primary role for a democratic culture rooted in values that are not subjective, but values that are concrete and viable for participatory, conscious and community management.
3. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Over time, the design and processes of school management were transformed, as it started from models of control, repression, which imposed disciplinary, organizing and bureaucratic models, to a practice that provides the needs of today’s society, providing opportunities for updating and the resignification of the school management model, making it a model that effectively prioritizes participation.
From the Federal Constitution (1988) and the Law of Directives and Bases of Education (1996), democratic management emerges as a principle for education, since this model needs to be implemented not only in our society in a political way, but also in areas in which citizens are formed. It is important to emphasize that management is understood as a process of organization, construction, direction and decision-making, in addition to planning and administration in general, generating the participation of all the subjects of the process, without forgetting to determine spaces for each one of them. Another addendum that must be made is that participation requires knowledge of reality, acceptance of collective and individual differences and needs.
Thus, democratic management becomes an essential element for the full development of all those involved, it is important to give voice to students, teachers and the school community. Democratic management at school requires those involved in the process to assume their roles as protagonists, interacting in the school environment in an articulated way, in order to promote the democratization of quality teaching and effective learning.
For democratic management to be effective in the school, it is necessary that the manager, in addition to the profile described in this work, is a leader for the organization of all school work, however, he has accumulated numerous functions, tasks that have been added to his daily life. Managers are required to have technical, administrative and pedagogical skills for conflict resolution, decision-making, to promote the participation and involvement of all school professionals, students and the community, in the sense that management is truly democratic and participatory.
We believe that for a manager to act democratically, what is most required of him is leadership, the ability to sensitize people to do their best, to be at the forefront of processes that are conducted in a harmonious and joint manner.
In order for the manager to be effectively a leader with knowledge of all areas, who can competently perform all his/her duties, initial and continuous training is needed. In general, in initial training there is a reduced workload for knowledge of school management and organization, educational policies and legislation, learning development, teaching methodologies, interpersonal relationships, among many other areas that contribute to the exercise of management.
The school manager seeks and demands results, but is also highly demanded by his superiors. The balance in the performance of all its functions in order to maintain harmony, peace, security in the school routine, to fulfill the purpose of education, requires not only an initial training that covers numerous areas, as well as continuing training to improve their knowledge and maintain the exchange of experiences with their peers, which is essential.
Identifying the profile of a school manager that meets all the requirements for the implementation of democratic and participatory management, as recommended by educational legislation, is not an easy task. The current national and international context requires a professional, that no initial or continuing training could foresee and prepare, with technical, administrative and pedagogical capacity to “act in urgency, decide in uncertainty”, not only with regard to teaching, as he writes. Perrenoud (2011), but also in the exercise of management, such is the complexity of the Brazilian educational system, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school manager in democratic management is, above all, a guardian of participatory democracy, where everyone has their primary role for a democratic culture rooted in values that are not subjective, but values that are concrete and viable for participatory, conscious and community management.
REFERENCES
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BRASIL. Lei n.º 9.394, de 20 de dezembro de 1996. Estabelece as diretrizes e bases da educação nacional. Diário Oficial da União. Brasília, DF, [1996]. Disponível em: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Leis/L9394.htm. Acesso em: 23 de mar. de 2020.
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APPENDIX – FOOTNOTE
5. Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (LDBEN).
[1] Master’s Student in Education, Pedagogical Advisor, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil.
[2] Master’s student in Education, CAPES Scholarship, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil.
[3] Master’s Student of Education, Professor, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil.
[4] Doctor, Professor, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil.
Sent: October, 2020.
Approved: November, 2020.
