Carmen Montecinos

This study examines the career trajectories of secondary school principals in Chile, focusing on retention differences between internal and external hires. Using a longitudinal design and administrative data, we tracked 2769 principals employed in 2017, examining their roles and workplaces from 2015 to 2022. We applied multinomial logit models to assess how career paths varied by entry pathway. In 2017, 26% of principals were new hires, of whom 60% were external candidates and disproportionately male. Compared with internal promotions, external hires were more likely to transfer to other schools or roles, or leave the education system within 5 years. These patterns varied by school performance. In low-performing schools, retention rates for internal and external hires were similar. In mid-performing schools, external hires had higher turnover. Retention was lower in high-performing schools regardless of entry pathway. These findings are consistent with person–organization fit theory, which associates retention with a better fit between internal hires’ attributes and district-specific job requirements, as well as with the motivational effects of receiving promotions. Further research is warranted to examine the reasons given by principals and hiring officers for the observed trajectories.

Este estudio presentó una rúbrica de evaluación curricular basada en la taxonomía de aprendizaje significativo de Fink (2003) como marco de referencia para la enseñanza en educación superior. La rúbrica permitió evaluar la consistencia entre los objetivos de aprendizaje y las estrategias de enseñanza, así como la calidad del aprendizaje activo y significativo. Se analizaron once asignaturas de las áreas pedagógicas y didácticas de una Licenciatura en Educación Primaria en Panamá. Los resultados evidenciaron un nivel medio de aprendizaje significativo, caracterizado por la presencia parcial de aprendizaje activo, una reflexión profunda limitada y brechas en la coherencia curricular. Se concluyó que la rúbrica constituye una herramienta útil para identificar fortalezas y debilidades en el diseño curricular, contribuyendo al mejoramiento de la calidad educativa y a la formación docente en educación superior.

Purpose: Using the Job Demands-Resources model, this study examined principals’ intention to leave their school in relation to job demands that may limit a school’s capacity to provide quality instruction and job resources that may have motivational and buffering effects on principals’ responses to these demands. Design/methodology/approach: Based on data from an online questionnaire (N = 671), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses alongside a structural equation model were used to examine relationships among job resources (work climate and support from upper management), job demands (teachers’ disengagement and lack of resources), contributing to principals’ job-related stress and organizational commitment as antecedents to principals’ turnover intentions. Findings: Access to job resources correlates with higher affective organizational commitment. In contrast, demands associated with teacher disengagement are associated with increased job-related stress and turnover intentions. Principals with greater affective commitment exhibit a notable reduction in the association between these job demands and their turnover intention. Research limitations/implications: These include relying on turnover intentions as a proxy for actual turnover behavior and sampling only active principals; the use of a convenience sample; and testing relationship pathways among variables proposed by the theoretical model (JD-R), rather than testing for cause-and-effect relationships. Practical implications: Frequent turnover of school principals hinders sustained school improvement. This study identifies factors influencing turnover and retention, which can inform the implementation of policies and professional development programs that can address challenges related to job-related stress and resources that foster affective organizational commitment. Originality/value: This study addresses a gap in the research concerning the association of working conditions, motivational, and well-being characteristics of principals in Latin America, particularly in Chile. The research advances comprehension of international differences revealed by the TALIS surveys, specifically examining job demands and resources that affect principals’ stress levels, organizational commitment, and intentions to leave their positions, which could be associated with specific policies that define the work demands and priorities of principals.

This special issue emanates from the most recent Leadership for Professional Learning (LfPL) symposium titled ‘Educators and Professionalism in Turbulent Times’ held in Santiago, Chile, on 17–19 Ju...

Policymakers in Chile have focused on educational leadership since the mid-2000s, recognizing its importance for successful school reforms. This article reviews key structural reforms that promote school autonomy while simultaneously regulating public school leaders’ roles to align with policy goals, resulting in a centralization effect through institutional isomorphism. The discussion is divided into four sections as follows: the first addresses historical policies from the dictatorship that transferred public education responsibilities to municipal governments, fostering a quasi-market model; the second examines initiatives aimed at enhancing public school leadership, including defining principal’s responsibilities and strategies for attracting qualified leaders; and the third evaluates the New Public Education (NEP) reform, which reverts municipalization and introduces a new Directorate of Public Education, collaborating with the Ministry of Education to promote school autonomy within the Local Educational Services (SLEP). The fourth section analyzes policies for school leadership development. Despite the intention of enhancing autonomy, the article contends that autonomy is limited due to the pressures of policy alignment, leading to centralization through high-stakes performance assessments and performance contracts. Research shows that while principals may have some decision-making autonomy, it is often curtailed by the necessity to meet centrally defined targets and limited financial autonomy.

Heads of departments (HoDs), as instructional middle leaders, can play a role in school improvement processes. This chapter examines the improvement work of the heads of the Mathematics and Spanish Language Arts departments who participated in a mixed sequential exploratory qualitative-quantitative study. Qualitative data were gathered through individual interviews with HoDs and group interviews with teachers in nine effective secondary schools, followed by a survey involving 142 HoDs from 79 schools. The findings show that departmental work focused on improving student learning and the department structure strengthened teacher collaboration, trust, curriculum implementation, and teaching. HoDs worked primarily under the guidance and supervision of the head of the technical-pedagogical unit, the senior leader in charge of instructional leadership in Chile. To address the micropolitical dimension of teacher middle leadership, the main strategies used by HoDs involved shared leadership and consensus building. Survey results showed important variations in the organisational conditions for the work conducted by heads of departments and departments, raising questions about the effectiveness of various types of arrangements. These findings need to be interpreted cautiously as participants represent volunteers who may be biased towards a positive view of the contributions of instructional middle leaders in secondary schools.

El objetivo general de la investigación que se informa en este artículo fue conocer las percepciones y prácticas de la jefatura de la Unidad Técnico Pedagógica, del director(a) y de los docentes del primer ciclo de educación básica, asociadas al uso del Diagnóstico Integral de Aprendizajes (DIA) en el área académica. Utilizando un diseño mixto explicativo secuencial, primero se aplicó una encuesta en 20 centros escolares, con la participación de 80 docentes enseñando en el primer ciclo y 40 docentes directivos. En la segunda etapa se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad y observaciones en tres centros escolares seleccionados sobre la base de los resultados de la fase cuantitativa. Los principales resultados muestran un alto nivel de aplicación de las pruebas DIA en el área académica y una alta valoración de la información que estas entregan. Esta prueba se usa para identificar a los y las estudiantes que requieren más apoyo y para planificar el currículo. Aun cuando se observa alto nivel de heterogeneidad en cómo se aborda el trabajo con el DIA, un aspecto generalizado es la ausencia de protocolos para el uso reflexivo de datos. Un factor facilitador del uso de los resultados del DIA es el trabajo colaborativo entre docentes del ciclo y con docentes del Programa de Integración Escolar (PIE), junto a lineamientos que entrega la dirección del establecimiento. El profesorado mayoritariamente señala que no cuenta con suficientes recursos para atender a los y las estudiantes que requieren apoyo adicional, con tiempo para el análisis reflexivo de datos, tampoco se ofrece una formación en alfabetización para el uso de datos. Aunque el tamaño de la muestra es reducido, los resultados entregan pistas sobre posibles modificaciones al DIA para un mejor alineamiento entre las pruebas y el currículo enseñado. Además, se detecta la necesidad de generar oportunidades de aprendizaje profesional para fortalecer la alfabetización para el uso reflexivo de datos.

Las políticas de formación inicial del profesorado han buscado reforzar el componente práctico requiriendo a las universidades aumentar las actividades curriculares y establecer convenios con centros educativos. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar cómo los docentes universitarios y docentes de aula (tutores) entienden sus funciones al acompañar a docentes en formación que se encuentran realizando una asignatura de práctica en un centro educativo. En una primera etapa, se aplicó un cuestionario a 56 supervisores de práctica de 5 universidades chilenas (13 programas) y a 540 profesores tutores de 91 establecimientos que eran centros de práctica de esos programas. En la segunda etapa, se exploraron las perspectivas de los tutores a través de 12 entrevistas grupales. Los resultados muestran que hay más acuerdo que desacuerdo sobre las funciones de cada uno y cierta superposición, sin coordinación, en las funciones de estos dos actores. Más bien, se observan diferencias con relación a las prioridades en su trabajo con practicantes. Mientras que para los supervisores su función más importante es proporcionar a los practicantes herramientas teóricas para cumplir con las tareas contempladas para la asignatura de práctica, para los tutores lo principal es que los supervisores asistan a los centros de práctica para apoyar el desempeño de los practicantes y el trabajo de los tutores. Estas diferencias generan algunas tensiones, cuya resolución implica atender problemas estructurales relacionados con la falta de bidireccionalidad en las alianzas universidad-sistema escolar para la tarea compartida de preparar a la próxima generación de docentes. Por tanto, se sugiere avanzar en la construcción de significados, propósitos y prácticas compartidas que sustenten una colaboración auténtica y de impacto positivo en los centros de práctica, las carreras de pedagogía y sus estudiantes.