Poder, comunicação e liderança escolar num contexto culturalmente adverso

Abstract

This thesis is based on a general analysis of organizations composed by two seemingly antagonistic structures but which relationship becomes clearly visible to all those who participate in the organization itself. In this context, and being the school an organization with a high level of human interactions, many of the concepts involved in industrial, productive and rational organizations were naturally applied to education regardless of their internal and external variables, thereby originating the controversial “one best way” model. Naturally, the humanist view of organizations intervened to raise numerous issues of contingency, motivational and situational scope, raising the problem of the rational bureaucratic model to a higher level. Divided into two main parts, the first theoretical and the second reflective, the background of this dissertation is the analysis of following question: How is it possible, through the use of power, leadership and communication, to find within a culturally adverse educational organization, a balance between the formal structure of bureaucratic nature and the informal structure of political nature? Using as an object of analysis the educational experience in Huambo, Angola, we intend to build a simple and concrete answer, not only at the theoretical but basically at the practical level. In conclusion, and after much reflection, the experience portrayed in this thesis and based essentially by the thinking of M. Weber, M. Crozier, C. Estêvão and J. A. Costa, understood that the reconciliation of the formal and informal world is dependent on the astuteness of the evolutionary leader and his ability to move between the rational and the political world, according to the motivations, needs, maturity levels and autonomy of its members (leadership practice) and not of his subordinates (power practice).

Date of Award	9 Jun 2015
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Carlos Alberto Vilar Estevão (Supervisor)