Conselhos de escolas do ensino secundário em Moçambique: entre as orientações estratégicas, as ficções partilhadas e a legitimação da ação: um estudo de caso

This article aims to present a study on the Secondary School Councils in Mozambique, taking the strategic guidelines, shared fictions, and the legitimization of the action. A case study was carried out using the phenomenological- interpretive paradigm, intending to analyze the guidelines followed in the composition, regulation, and organization of the School Council (CE) and the actions taken to supposedly give the educational community a voice and promote the quality of education. To answer the research question, the researcher conducted the study through a phenomenological-interpretive paradigm based on a qualitative approach of a descriptive nature, with the participation of members of the CE and members of the school community who do not belong to the CE such as teachers; students, parents, and guardians, selected intentionally and for convenience based on the different socio- professional strata of the school whose empirical data collection was carried out using semi-structured interview techniques, document consultation, observation and data analysis through content analysis method. After collecting the data, it was concluded that the CE does not follow the guidelines and logic of a school strategic management body, as it is characterized by following guidelines and carrying out actions aimed at excessive bureaucracy, hypocrisy, and ambiguity in processes, thus functioning in a weakly articulated system as a necessary fiction for the legitimization of a tendentially centralized system.