Giving voice to problems faced by school leaders in Portugal

Tintoré, Mireia; Cunha, Rosário Serrão; Cabral, Ilídia; Alves, José Matías

doi:10.1080/13632434.2020.1719400

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Moreover, another study conducted found that Portuguese principals face challenges concerning the distribution of leadership and technical problems of the function, such as financial management with low resources and managing time between administrative and management tasks, and instructional leadership for learning tasks [57]. However, in this study, the distribution of leadership is not very expressive, and the management skills are quite expressive.…”

Section: Research Questions' Overviewmentioning

confidence: 64%

Portuguese Principals’ Professional Development Needs and Preferred Learning Methods

et al. 2020

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Due to the crucial role principals have on school outcomes, investing in their training is a cost-effective approach for schools’ improvement. Research shows that principals attribute pertinence to their ongoing professional development. However, little research has been conducted on principals’ training needs from their viewpoint, particularly in Portugal. Through individual interviews (n = 19) and a questionnaire (n = 117) to principals, we collected data that enable us to understand principals’ perceptions on their training needs, focusing on learning areas, skills to be developed and learning methods. Results show considerable variability, reinforcing the relevance of tailored and contextualised approaches to professional development. Globally, principals request management skills and training opportunities that enable them to develop leadership skills (e.g., personal, interpersonal/socioemotional). Moreover, principals need training on instructional and distributed leadership practices. Collaborative and reflective methods are the ones principals prefer. Practical implications for the design of systematic professional development practices, in a lifelong perspective, are also discussed.

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Section: Research Questions' Overviewmentioning

confidence: 64%

Portuguese Principals’ Professional Development Needs and Preferred Learning Methods

et al. 2020

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“…Previous studies report on some critical aspects; a significant element in the teachers' working environment is the principal's leadership [7,8]. According to a study of Portuguese principals, problems arising from the process of school clustering and the leader-centered style of school management have always been a source of concern for the dysfunctional educational system [70]. Principals and teachers work together to create a school climate that promotes order, engages parents, and encourages student learning [28].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ Perception of Their Work Environment: Evidence from the Primary and Secondary Schools of Bangladesh

Masoom

2021

Education Research International

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The work environment includes conducive aspects such as (1) organizational encouragement, (2) supervisory encouragement, and (3) workgroup support, as well as toxic conditions like (4) teaching impediments and (5) workload pressure; the objective of the research is which of the factors and what are the elements of those factors teachers perceive as constituting the conducive and toxic environment. The research also outlines the effects of years of experience and the level of teaching on the specified factors. The study used a quantitative-based cross-sectional survey to analyze teachers’ perceptions of their work environment. A questionnaire comprised some background information, and 34 close-ended questions were used to elicit the responses. About 368 (230 males and 138 females) teachers participated in the survey. Structural equation models were constructed, where the five mentioned factors were part of two second-order formative constructs. Independent sample t-test was estimated to outline gender-wise and teaching level-wise (primary and secondary) variation, whereas Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to check whether the experience was correlated with any of the perceived factors of the work environment. It is found that workgroup encouragement, particularly having good relations with the principal, is the most important factor in the conducive environment of the school. The physical facilities were the least, whereas promoting positive behavior by avoiding conflict and ensuring fairness was the most important aspect of organizational encouragement. Teaching impediments were mostly shaped by how often teachers require dealing with disruptive and violent pupils. Teachers perceived too many after-school meetings, unreasonable deadlines, and office staffs’ inspections enhance their workload pressure. The more a teacher became experienced, the more he or she positively perceived the conducive environment of the school. The findings can serve as a guide for educational policymakers and school administrators to identify which factors in the school environment need urgent attention and modification.

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“…Even though there is no single definition of "contingency" in educational terms, a part of the literature on leadership in general (Brinck and Tanggaard, 2016) and on instructional JEA 61,1 leadership (Davies, 2002) has described leadership as a difficult to predict process, in which acceptance and management of the unexpected is a condition for its effectiveness. A significant part of the actions and exchanges occurring at schoolsand in which a leading role by leaders is expectedare responses to "emerging problems" (Espuny et al, 2020), and therefore, are difficult to be planned (Ronnstrom and Skott, 2019). This kind of literature acts like a counterpoint to the traditional discussion about leadership, which tends to prescribe what leaders "should do" to impact student learning (Augustinsson et al, 2018) and putting instead more emphasis on how leaders manage conflict, process educational micropolitics (Johnson, 2004) and cope with the multiple unforeseen tasks occurring during the educational process (Christie and Lingard, 2001).…”

Section: Conceptual Framework: Complexity and Contingency School Lead...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though national and local contexts are determinants in the extent and type of problems faced by school leaders (Drago and Maslin, 2018;Oplatka, 2018;Tamadoni et al, 2021), research has also identified some problems that tend to be common, most of which arise emergent or unplanned (Clarke and Wildy, 2004;Espuny et al, 2020). These problems also tend to be more complex and recurrent in schools working under challenging circumstances (Harris, 2006;Gurr and Drysdale, 2018) and range from solving situations related to the instructional process to managing demands coming from the school environment (Day et al, 2020;Leithwood et al, 2020a).…”

Section: Conceptual Framework: Complexity and Contingency School Lead...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though there is no single definition of “contingency” in educational terms, a part of the literature on leadership in general (Brinck and Tanggaard, 2016) and on instructional leadership (Davies, 2002) has described leadership as a difficult to predict process, in which acceptance and management of the unexpected is a condition for its effectiveness. A significant part of the actions and exchanges occurring at schools – and in which a leading role by leaders is expected – are responses to “emerging problems” (Espuny et al. , 2020), and therefore, are difficult to be planned (Ronnstrom and Skott, 2019).…”

Section: Conceptual Framework: Complexity and Contingency School Lead...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Contingency”, an overlooked factor by school leadership: evidence from primary urban schools in Chile

Muñoz

Weinstein

Sembler

2022

JEA

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PurposeThis paper aims to describe the levels and type of contingency faced by school principals in Chile and the way certain aspects of the Chilean school system result in a greater or lesser presence of these contingencies.Design/methodology/approachThe results reported here are based on the application of a structured questionnaire to 381 elementary school principals in Chile. A “Leadership Contingency Index” was created to analyze the extent and characteristics of this phenomenon, which was complemented with a multiple regression analysis to observe the variables that influence the levels of contingency.FindingsThis study has shown that the main contingencies faced by school leaders in Chile revolve around the relationship between actors: assist families, relationship with and among students and resolution of school staff problems. Also shows that the level of contingency faced by principals is strongly conditioned by the socio-educational context of the school and is not related to the individual characteristics of the leaders. This level of contingencies is significantly higher in the public system, although the most recurrent contingencies are the same in each type of school administration (public, private subsidized and privately funded schools).Originality/valueThis paper addresses an important but relatively unexplored dimension in specialized research on leadership: variable contingencies under which the leadership role is performed daily, including significant gaps between schools. Understanding and analyzing school leadership from the perspective of the complexity of tasks currently faced by principals, many of them highly unpredictable, ensures a realistic view of the possibilities and limitations of leadership in action and, consequently, provides better tools to strengthen the school leadership role and its contribution to improving student learning.

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Giving voice to problems faced by school leaders in Portugal

Cited by 11 publications

References 25 publications

Portuguese Principals’ Professional Development Needs and Preferred Learning Methods

Portuguese Principals’ Professional Development Needs and Preferred Learning Methods

Teachers’ Perception of Their Work Environment: Evidence from the Primary and Secondary Schools of Bangladesh

“Contingency”, an overlooked factor by school leadership: evidence from primary urban schools in Chile

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