Directive leadership in educational centres of Asturias

Abstract

This article presents an investigation, carried out in the autonomous community of Asturias, whose main objective is the study of directive leadership. The development of this investigation followed a systematic collection process, and the analysis of the information is articulated in four phases: initial exploration; theoretical basis; empirical investigation; and presentation of results. The methodology used was mixed, using interviews and opinion questionnaires. The first means analysed the culture which has been developing around directive management, while the questionnaire contrasted the obtained results through specialists from different sectors – Educational Inspection, directors with experience and university professors. The conclusions contribute relevant information to improve the educational quality, on surfacing strengths, weaknesses and possibilities of improvements in different dimensions considered, discriminating different perspectives on the management of educational centres which impact differentially on educational communities. This fact incites reflection upon the criteria which have been applied to educational policy, models of training of management teams, the programme of direction and the added value of institutional leadership