Leadership and educational legislation as foundations to management action in schools.A qualitativestudy in thecontext of Catalonia

Abstract

Managing and leading an educational institution is a complex task that involves multiple duties such as managing students and teachers, fostering interpersonal and institutional relationships, managing economic and human resources, designing and implementing an educational project that adapts to the school context, etc. In order to approach this multidimensional task effectively, it is necessary to possess and master both professional and socio-emotional skills and competences, which are regulated at all times by the educational legislation in force. The purpose of this research is to study, describe and analyze the type of managerial leadership exercised in primary schools in Catalonia (Spain). To that end, a qualitative study has been carried out analyzing interviews to 60 headmasters. The predominance of technical-educational leadership in schools, the increase in resources demand by the management teams to efficiently carry out both administrative and pedagogical duties, or the use of innovative teaching methods to improve enrollment in schools are some of the most significant results obtained.