Critical incidents in headteachers’ professional paths

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/198271991278

School management is considered one of the greatest challenges in achieving quality standards of contemporary education. Knowing the path of its main protagonist, the manager, with time experienced and in different contexts from those where he/she acts, is essential to guide the continued career management as well as to re-advise the initial career of teachers, future managers. In order to contribute to this knowledge, we present the result of a biographical-narrative research that seeks to identify the critical incidents present in the professional life of school managers of a medium-sized municipality in the state of São Paulo region, Brazil. The answers to a questionnaire allowed the characterization of 25 managers, of 32 school units in the city, and the selection of nine for interview. The interviews, transcribed and organized into biograms, showed that these professionals, mostly women, unlike men surveyed, did not direct their careers to the management function. Most of the regular critical incidents on professional paths refer to the influence of supervisors that indicated their name or encouraged them to study for admission tests related to management; the birth of their children, which motivated them to progress on their career and/or promoting a break for future investment; their initial training, for many the Faculty of Education, considered by participants as insufficient for the exercise of management. It is considered that the career in management must be intensified as a continued career and revised/altered from its initial background, so that managing activities correspond to the objectives of a high quality education.

Keywords: Career, Headteachers, Critical incidents, Professional paths.