Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore a formative intervention project that was developed for the Municipal Secretariat of Education in São Paulo, Brazil for the broad development of all levels of educational management (teacher educators, coordinators, principals, teachers and students). Thus, the creative chain of activities is a key theoretical framework for promoting critical collaboration in order to cross the boundaries of educational management organization.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use data from the Management in Creative Chains Project (Liberali, 2012), as a way to enable the wide development of all levels of educational management. Data comprise formative meetings in which different educational managers system take part in two settings, the regional board with 25 schools and one of the participating schools. The analysis is based on thematic content and argumentative organization, and on critical situations and the potentials they entailed.FindingsThe study guides to the conclusions of the process of creative chain as a possibility to expand management in the educational system and its community.Research limitations/implicationsEvery time there is a change in the mayors, there are changes in the way of addressing school management in the city. However, after the project, considerations about the needs of the communities became part of the public policy regardless of who is in charge of the city and its educational system.Practical implicationsThis study can be used for transformation in the management and teaching and learning activities and improvement of the school-community relation.Social implicationsSocially this study can lead to improvement in the quality of life in the community and at school.Originality/valueDifferently from a top down educational management, which enables a reproductive chain, educational management in a creative chain, considering the community needs, enables subjects to become interdependent to expand and transform the activities in the educational system and hence the communities’ reality.
Highlights
When working with educational managers in Brazil, it is common to hear them using the metaphor of firemen to describe their work
As an alternative to overcome top down management, and as an attempt to suggest an alternative form of educational management, this paper explores a formative intervention that was developed for the Municipal Secretariat of Education (MSE) in São Paulo, Brazil for the broad development of all levels of educational management
As an attempt to understand this form of educational management, we focused on the framework of the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), in a social perspective, to outline a way of organizing programs in schools that allow the creative development of all participants, based on the critical collaboration
Summary
When working with educational managers in Brazil, it is common to hear them using the metaphor of firemen to describe their work. As a result of evaluation systems, educational managers become more management concerned about grades, reports and aims, instead of teaching, learning and transformation of communities (Lemos, 2017; Lemos and Engeström, 2018; Liberali et al, 2015). Spillane (2005) points to the importance of different individuals developing different tools and structures, and the emphasis on the interaction among individuals for the improvement of school leadership Broadening this idea, Aidman and Baray (2016) highlight the importance of leaders to be prepared to lead collaboration among multiple sectors in educational system. As a result, Burns et al (2015) points that educational settings that work collaboratively produces rich learning environments for those involved in educational systems, specially, students
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