From the 1980’s onwards, under a policy designed for the decentralization and modernization of the administration of education within the Law of the Educational System Grounds, educational competences were transferred to municipalities attributing them an increasingly important role in the field of education. This increasing involvement of municipalities in this area, whether by legal determination or by its own initiative, has caused some controversy. This study aims to understand the perception of different educational groups involved on the intervention of municipalities in what concerns education. It is based on a qualitative approach - a case study. For data collection we conducted interviews with seven teachers and two municipal officials and also resorted to document analysis for the characterization of context. The results of the study show that teachers disagree with the transfer of powers to local authorities for fear that the management of staff will also pass on to the local councils, resulting in a loss of autonomy within the school and within the national dimension of teaching, thus generating conflicts between school and municipality, in addition to the likely risk of politicization of the educational program. They understand that the participation of municipalities should be just as partners. However, they recognise the advantage of a better social support for students deriving from such link, solving logistical problems and developing the scholar park. The municipal officials understand that education policies should be set locally and that it is up to the municipalities to form decisions in regards to local education. Transferring powers to local authorities allows a more responsive and faster decision making process to problems due to the proximity of the decision makers. On the teachers part there is still a fear of the dominance in education by municipalities, which could bias their actions essentially through political criteria, although delaying the educational interests. The municipal officials pose no reservations about the transfer of more educational authorities to municipalities.
Date of Award | 10 Sept 2012 |
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Original language | Portuguese |
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Awarding Institution | - Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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Supervisor | Sousa Fernandes (Supervisor) |
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- Authority
- Centralization
- Decentralization
- Education
- School
- Municipal Intervention
- Municipality
- Participation
- Central Power
- Mestrado em Ciências da Educação
A (des)centralização e a intervenção dos municípios na educação: a percepção dos diversos actores educativos
Carvalho, M. I. G. D. (Student). 10 Sept 2012
Student thesis: Master's Thesis