Principals' Views in a Context of Reform: The Case of School Curriculum Policy in Portugal

Abstract

This chapter reports on findings from a wider research project undertaken in Portugal. It focuses on the views of school principals with respect to (new) policy on the school curriculum. School principals have to balance conflicting goals and to manage tensions of implementation, particularly in a context of intense school reform. As policy gatekeepers and interpreters, school leaders have a pivotal role to play in how policies are framed, managed, and discussed in the context of their schools. Data presented in this text are drawn from a wider 3-year study. Findings point to the existence of contradictory elements in the principals' accounts. In general, they are critical of the new curriculum policy and question the adequacy of the conditions currently existing in schools to put it into operation. Overall, the regulatory and centralized orientation stands in sharp contrast to the very essence of the policies that call for local, contextualized, and innovative solutions. Such findings need to be analyzed within a centralized and bureaucratic education system in which a logic of control and standardized management of education still dominates.

Citation

Flores, M.A. (2023), "Principals' Views in a Context of Reform: The Case of School Curriculum Policy in Portugal", Craig, C.J., Mena, J. and Kane, R.G. (Ed.) Teaching and Teacher Education in International Contexts (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 42), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 161-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720230000042018