¿Qué Opinan los Maestros sobre las Competencias de Liderazgo Escolar y sobre su Formación Inicial?

For decades, higher education institutions have been incorporating sustainability principles. Spanish universities have considered it important that sustainability principles are integrated into the university curriculum, in order to contribute to the education of socially-responsible professionals. The present research aims to estimate pre-service educators’ awareness of selected challenges posed by Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), and it identifies the learning experiences that contribute the most to these students’ awareness of quality education. Moreover, the study aims to explore the potential of the use of the vignettes approach for the evaluation of students’ awareness. The study drew on a sample of n = 202 first year students pursuing education-related degrees at a Spanish university. The data was collected using a vignette survey, and the data analysis was conducted using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results show a high degree of awareness within the context of most of the challenges posed by SDG 4 and, in the search for the factors that contributed to the degree of awareness in the students, personal interests and classes taken at the university stand out. In addition, the study provides the methodological implications of the use of the vignette approach in the assessment of students’ awareness. This paper discusses the practical implications for universities of the integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) competences into the curriculum.

Diferentes investigaciones sobre la profesionalización de la dirección escolar muestran la distancia que hay entre la legislación al respecto y la capacidad real de los directores y directoras de desarrollar algunas funciones encomendadas, como las de liderazgo pedagógico y coordinación, las de innovación y las de relación con la comunidad. Por ello, en nuestro estudio nos propusimos identificar, con una metodología que permitiera obtener datos representativos y en un contexto geográfico amplio, los diferentes modelos de gestión escolar en centros de Primaria públicos y privados-concertados, y contrastarlos con la normativa vigente, para profundizar en qué funciones directivas los directores encuentran mayor dificultad y requieren, por tanto, condiciones de mayor soporte, formación y trabajo colaborativo con otros directores. Se ha trabajado con una muestra de 128 directores y directoras de centros de Primaria de la provincia de Tarragona (España). Los resultados evidencian una mayor presencia de modelos de gestión que de liderazgo pedagógico, así como el evitar actuaciones referidas a la coordinación y participación de la comunidad educativa en el gobierno de los centros. Aparecen, además, relaciones entre el liderazgo, el género y la experiencia en el cargo.

La usabilidad de la investigación educativa sigue siendo un desafío en las políticas, agendas internacionales, y en los foros científicos. En educación el desencuentro percibido entre los intereses de la comunidad investigadora y las necesidades del ejercicio docente es amplio. Pretendemos comprender cómo esa dicotomía influye en los usos, temáticas de interés y formas de acceso a los resultados de los procesos de indagación educativa, y plantear propuestas que faciliten la utilización de evidencias en la mejora de la práctica. Se utiliza una metodología cualitativa, con entrevistas semiestructuradas a informantes clave (responsables de políticas educativas, directivos escolares y docentes). Las evidencias de la investigación se usan, mayoritariamente, en planificación y gestión de procesos. Las temáticas de interés son heterogéneas (metodologías y funcionamiento educativo, principalmente). El acceso a los resultados de investigación, aunque variado (revistas, formación permanente, recursos on-line), está lastrado por un lenguaje excesivamente técnico, falta de tiempo y escasa aplicabilidad percibida. Se concluye que las políticas para optimizar el uso de la investigación deben promover la mejora de la formación inicial y permanente, el impulso de dinámicas colaborativas que involucren a docentes desde el diseño inicial de la investigación y el establecimiento de valores consensuados por la comunidad educativa.

In Europe, Roma and immigrant students continue to experience great inequities, as they face the probabilities of educational failure, segregation, and early school leaving. Previous research has shed light on the multiple factors that perpetuate this situation. However, the role played by family involvement and family educational expectations have been considered to a lesser extent. This research delves into how Family Education programmes provided by eight Spanish schools are playing a central role in increasing Roma and Moroccan families’ expectations of their children’s education. Based on the communicative methodology, this study was conducted in schools located in five Spanish regions. The schools serve minority students from low-socioeconomic status (SES) families and provide Family Education programmes in their own facilities. We applied a convergent mixed methods design, implementing qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques (semistructured interviews, communicative focus groups, communicative daily life stories, and questionnaires). The sample included Roma and Moroccan family members with low SES and teachers involved in Family Education. The results suggest that Family Education is increasing minority families’ educational expectations of their children’s education. Three elements have been identified as facilitators: 1) the co-creation of a high expectations climate in the schools; 2) the improvement of family members’ academic skills; and 3) the generation of new role models.

A holistic distribution of leadership, where the entire community is committed both to learning and the organisation’s development, is considered an important factor in educational success. Initial teacher education should contribute towards building teachers’ identities as leaders (teacher-leaders). Our research examines how teaching competences are built with regard to coordination, leadership, and collaboration with the community during teacher training. In this paper, we present the results of a questionnaire comparing the vision and perception of these competences in the context of student teachers, university lecturers, and teachers in state school. The results show visions aligned with a holistic form of leadership distributed amongst the three groups. Moreover, they reveal a close link between the construction of the identity of teacher-leaders and the practical and specific challenges of students’ teachers, university lecturers, and teachers. This implies that the initial training must expressly include the distributed leadership competences in the teacher education course, while also providing situations in which students, together with their tutors, gain these competences.