Autonomia e gestão democrática das escolas portuguesas no contexto da descentralização = Autnomy and democratic management of Portuguese schools in the context of educational de-centralisation

Abstract

Schools are organizational units that operate within the educational system and which require all social actors to take responsibility for them. The author analyses the principles that structure autonomy in Portuguese public schools in the context of post 1974 measures that de-centralised the education system and transferred the responsibility to local authorities. The relation of the «school» to «local authorities» and partnerships in the de-centralised educational area are emphasised. 'Local power' intervenes instrumentally in the educational area towards the development of social cohesion. Local authorities are responsible for basic education and teachers value positively their involvement in schools and in the educational community, as promoting quality in education. The relation «school local authorities generates participative interaction at the school management level, emphasising its democratic approach and its participative actions among actors, as well as generating educational dynamics, action practices and reasoning that are akin to autonomy models.