School management and pedagogical leadership: a content analysis of the schools principals discourse in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia (Spain)

Abstract

National and international investigations highlight the improvement of student learning outcomes when, among other aspects, the advice and the pedagogical autonomy degree of the school principals are real. However, in Spain, the exercise of leadership does not imply the full development of their pedagogical dimension. The complexity and the traditional inertia of the school culture impact these issues in a negative way. With a qualitative and interpretative approach, the study has investigated the prospects and the valuation of fifteen directors about the exercise of leadership and the possibilities of developing pedagogical leadership. The application of the technique of content analysis resulted in the consolidation of three general categories: to) visions; (b) resistance; and (c) requirements. Facing the interpretation phase, the emerging organization of its sub-categories and the establishment of a categorical frequency index (CFI), as a quantitative ingredient, allowed us to complete the compression and specification of the information.