Práticas de gestão e cultura escolar: um estudo de caso na Escola Municipal Santos Anjos

Abstract

The study of school management involves the understanding of social and cultural elements that are present in the school system. It is assumed that school management is a set of actions, decisions and processes with a certain degree of intentionality and systematization, trying to change attitudes, ideas, cultures, content, organizational models and pedagogical practices. Besides to school management, that has affected the performance of educational institutions, Brazilian public policies, especially from the 1990s onwards, have been emphasizing this phenomenon in both the theoretical and practical spheres as a way to accomplish certain objectives and targets within the education sector. This dissertation aims to determine the variables that have contributed to making the Santos Anjos Municipal School achieve the Basic Education Development Index (IDEB) above the projected goals. The specific goals are: a) to identify the variables that characterize the quality of the Santos Anjos Municipal School education; b) to analyze how management practices relate to the IDEB; c) to evaluate the impact the city's culture has on the management processes of the school. This will be achieved through qualitative research; that is, the collection of data through observation, interviews and documents. The result of this study brought awareness of the variables present in the city's culture, in the school´s culture and in the management practices. The study found that several aspects related to the city and to the school´s culture have contributed to the quality of the Santos Anjos Municipal School´s education. The most expressive variables are: the cultural heritage; the relationship between families and school; the students appreciation of the school; the rationale for the school´s existence, its values, its guidelines and principles as well as the meaningful influence of the consecrated religious women´s ministry. Referring to the variable management of the school, the research found that team management, quality of teacher education, group planning, teaching excellence, the program "Unity produces life", the organizational environment and a welcoming atmosphere are the characteristics that most contributed to the quality of education.