A escolha do diretor

The model of governance of Portuguese state schools set up in 2008 breaks with a tradition of electing the top school manager through universal suffrage of teachers establishing a one head body – the director – chosen by the general council, formed by elements from various sectors of the community, under the pretext of every school having a “face” to whom responsibilities may be shifted and allow the claim of “good and effective leaderships.” This study aims to assess whether the mechanisms introduced in the choice of the director by Decree-Law n.º 75/2008 led to significant changes in the process of choosing the top manager of state schools, to infer the portrait-type of a school manager and investigate whether the logic underlying his/her selection have confirmed or infirmed the one normatively suggested.