Desafios e perspectivas dos /as gestores / as das Escolas Municipais da zona urbana da Cidade de Cajazeiras - PB.

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the possible challenges and perspectives faced by administrators of municipal public elementary schools located in the urban area of the city of Cajazeiras-PB, through the perception of the administrators themselves, in order to understand their daily practices and discuss factors that could be decisive for an improvement in their practices. Classified as descriptive with a qualitative approach, this study used a questionnaire and semistructured interview with 10 school administrators to collect data, which were analyzed through the categorial content analysis, as proposed by Bauer (2010). Among the results found are the main challenges: absence of the parents/guardians in the children's school life, school dropout and interpersonal relationships. As for the prospects, it could identify: greater participation and commitment of the school community, hiring more employees, improvement in school infrastructure, more financial investments and, once again, greater family participation. Although in several moments of the interview the improvement of interpersonal relationships raised as difficulty, challenge and also as a positive and negative point of the function, it is noted that it was not mentioned among the perspectives. Perhaps the improvement of school administration has not been mentioned because managers did not perceive it as a process that can be improved with interpersonal relations, especially in a democratic and participatory institution such as school. Characteristics and qualities of a good school administrator were also pointed out, which were classified in technical and behavioral dimensions based on Galvão and Cavalcanti (2009). To the technical dimension, the following categories were listed: knowledge, training, participation and planning. And in the behavioral dimension: interaction, leadership, commitment, responsibility, justice and attitude. Therefore, the complexity of the school administration demands from the professional in charge a lot of responsibility for the performance of this function, as well as a lot of availability and altruism to face difficulties, and trying to understand the reality of the school managers in the daily work is essential for the understanding of what is to do management in public school. Finally, it is suggested in future research on school administration: the use of formats and/or research techniques that allow a greater deepening in their daily life to better understand it; that the audience to be chosen should include all members of the school administration staff; and conducting research on the influence of school administrator training on their role.