A gestão das escolas públicas em Portugal

: a (in)satisfação dos docentes com o actual regime de administração e gestão das escolas públicas portuguesas

Abstract

After 1974, a deep transformation occurs in schools. With the revolutionary period that followed the 25th April, difficulties in school management and lack of legal mechanisms led to an enormous school anarchy. The Decree-law 769-A/76, whose main objective was to “standardize” the school life with the principle of “democratic management”, normalized the exercise of power in schools. Although innovative, this Decree-law did not consider two of the basic principles: the “decentralization” and the “autonomy” that were bridged by the Education Act (LBSE), by the Decree-law 43/89 and by the Decree-law 172/91. The Decree-law 43/89, known as the autonomy decree, was consolidated by the development of a suitable educational project, established and implemented in a participative way. The Decree-Law 172/91 was an attempt to implement the legal regime of management, administration and education management that worked on an experimental basis. The Decree-law 115A/98 presented some innovations when compared to the 1976 normative one, namely the chance to make autonomy contracts between Schools and the Ministry of Education, as well as the existence of a school assembly. The Decree-law 75/2008 presents management bodies similar to the ones mentioned in the Decree-law 172/91. This research was outlined in order to evaluate the teachers’ (dis)satisfaction regarding the Decree-law 75/2008, and the changes related to leadership, autonomy, pedagogical aspects and participation involvement of school communities. After analyzing points of view and opinions regarding the project of the Decree-law during the period of public discussion, we observe the existence of some dissatisfaction and fear regarding this management model. The differences observed concerning the respondents dissatisfaction are a result of the positions held, the trade unions they belong to and the political ideology they identify themselves with. Teachers who hold management positions reveal more satisfaction rates while the ones belonging to FENPROF and following Left ideologues reveal more dissatisfaction ones.

Date of Award	2012
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Manuel Antunes Rafael Amaro (Supervisor)