TRAINING SCHOOL MANAGERS, AN APPROACH TO IMPROVING TEACHING QUALITY: PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL MANAGERS AND TEACHERS FROM FOUR PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE

Abstract

The present study analyzes the perceptions of managers and primary school teachers from four public schools in the municipality of Ka Mpfumo (two), Lhamankulu (one) e Ka-Mubukwana (one), in Maputo, Mozambique, in relation to the training in school management in which the managers participated. This is a qualitative study that presents partial results of a study carried out within the scope of doctoral studies in Education. The study used semi-structured interviews and had four school managers and eight teachers as respondents. The intentional sampling process was used to select schools and respondents, selecting directors of schools that benefited from the training course for school managers at the Teacher Training Institute in Maputo, in the period 2014-2017, and teachers who worked in these schools before and after training managers. The study, among other aspects, revealed that those interviewed recognize the importance and need for continuous training of school managers. They realized that the continuous training of school managers contributes not only to updating knowledge acquired in the past among participants, but mainly to the development of new skills for innovative, proactive, democratic and flexible management. The results also showed that the fact that the methodology used in training was Project-Based Learning contributed, to a large extent, so that managers (trainees) could have the opportunity to reflect on real problems that affect their institutions, and exercise possible solutions.