Diagnóstico de las competencias de liderazgo escolar en directivos salesianos

Abstract

The importance of school leaders and their skills to face daily challenges requires ongoing reflection and adequate training for those who carry out the educational mission. Extant literature confirms that school leadership exercised by school principals and directors is one of the most important cornerstones for improving student learning. These pandemic times have also required identifying key practices in school management that both contribute to putting students and their needs at the center and affect their learning processes. This paper reports the results of a study carried out in 2020 with 300 Salesian school directors from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, countries making up the Southern Cone Region. The study addresses the strategies that the Salesian school of the Americas is developing to promote the quality of its educational centers in the continent. The aim was to assess the degree of appropriation of the managerial competencies by those who work directly in the management of the schools. Based on a quantitative approach, this study relied on an online survey. Results describe the characteristics of Salesian leadership and showcase formative processes that can be strengthened in the coming years and that become more relevant in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.