A construção da identidade profissional de uma diretora e as lógicas de ação organizacional em tempos turbulentos

: um estudo autobiográfico

Abstract

The creation of a school cluster in July 2012, under Article 7 of Decree-Law no. 75/2008, of April 22, amended by Decree-Law no. 224/2009, of September 11 and Decree-Law no. 137/2012, of July 2 in a municipality in the Metropolitan Area of Porto, triggered by a "forced merger" designed and implemented by the Ministry of Education based on the Council of Ministers’ Resolution 44/2010, of June 14, has led to conflicts of interest among members of the educational community. According to Lima (2018), this process of aggregating schools is one of the most structuring changes in the Portuguese education system and it involved major changes in building the school network and its administrative and management bodies, mainly standing out by the way it was carried out and the consequences and disruptions that it originated. Based on the autobiographical narrative we analyse the forced political imposition that led to the aggregation of schools with their very own cultures and identities and with different educational projects even though they were located in the same territory. The circles of influence and domination within these organisations were also specific and had their own "grammar". In this context, the question arises of the (im)possibility of building a new organisational entity that, a priori, did not have the support of local actors. To guide this work, we relied on the following research questions: what conflicts and consensus were generated in a process of organisational reconstruction, in a given territory, involving a group of schools? And what are the reasons, emotions and “logics of action” in a process of (de)construction of professional and organisational identities? The study adopts an interpretive paradigm (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994) and a qualitative methodological design, configuring itself as an intrinsic case study (Stake, 2000), based on an autobiographical narrative as a strategy for producing knowledge. By studying the professional career of the headmistress of the secondary school that was merged with the existing cluster, our aim is to reveal the (in)decisions and adventures involved in this process in a municipality in the Metropolitan Area of Porto. The collected and analysed data allowed us to conclude that the process of forced school grouping was a complex and challenging one that involved several dimensions: the complexity of the dynamics in the school grouping process; the influence of the power bases in the election of the school principal; the emotions and challenges in the principal directive action. This research has made it possible to identify some dominant action logics, organisational and professional cultures and power bases that have been mobilised for action. This process of vi forced aggregation had a significant impact on the organisational and professional culture of the schools involved. However, some room for improvement has been identified and research could be expanded in order to explore how autobiographical narratives apply in different social and cultural contexts. It is also important to consider incorporating complementary methods and data sources to improve the research. Evaluating the impact of changes resulting from the forced clustering of schools on the quality of education is a promising area for future research, including analysing curricular and pedagogical changes. The professional development of teachers and school leaders is crucial, and leadership training and capacity-building programmes should be analysed. Finally, comparing the results of this research with analysis carried out in other contexts, both national and international, can provide important insights and broader trends in school reorganisation processes.

Date of Award	29 Jul 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	José Matias Alves (Supervisor)