Implications of a critical friend in the resignificance of pedagogical leadership practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT The objective of the study is to describe the academic counseling developed by a critical friend to a school directive team and its implications in the transformation of their pedagogical leadership practices. The participants were seven school directors in a school in the south of Chile and a teacher advisor who fulfilled the role of ‘critical friend’. This qualitative case study was framed within a sequential participatory action-research design that was divided into a diagnostic phase, a design and implementation of practices phase, and a transformation process evaluation phase. The collection of information was carried out through a follow-up logbook to support the directive team. This allowed documenting the pedagogical leadership ‘practice problems’. Likewise, discussion groups between the critical friend and the directive team were developed to inquire about the beliefs that supported their pedagogical decisions. The results showed a little involvement of the directive team in learning. On these critical knots, the friend`s support guided collaborative reflection processes and leadership practice development, which were based on key pedagogical principles for the construction of a learning community. It may be concluded that there is a need to expand the support experiences to directive teams from a dialogical and participatory perspective.