El Departamento de Administración de la Facultad de Economía y Negocios de la Universidad de Chile, tienen el agrado de invitarle al Seminario Académico: From Policy to Practice: Exploring the Mediating Role of School Principals in the Chilean New Public Education Reform.
Autores: Matías Sanfuentes, Isabel Núñez, Claudio Montoya.
Expone: Matías Sanfuentes, FEN Universidad de Chile.
Abstract:
During system-wide educational reforms, school principals undertake diverse roles, including interpreting mandates, managing resources, and navigating relational dynamics, all crucial for fostering trust and facilitating change. This paper aims to respond to recent calls for studying leadership from a complex systemic perspective that integrates the impact of contextual forces on educational leadership practices. Our research contributes to this effort by offering a bottom-up understanding of leadership practices within the context of system-wide educational reform. The paper addresses the real-world implementation of educational policies, examining how normative and action frameworks are enacted through school leaders’ work. The study explores the case of the implementation of the New Public Education (NEP) Law in Chile. This unprecedented ambitious reform aims to de-municipalize all public schools nationwide by transferring management responsibility to 70 new Local Public Education Services (SLEPs) operating at the intermediate/district level. We longitudinally studied the leadership practices of school principals belonging to one of the first SLEPs established in Santiago. Utilizing a longitudinal qualitative analysis spanning three waves of interviews with principals conducted over a period of two years, this research explores the evolving challenges and dilemmas confronted by principals within this intricate context.