School autonomy at the service of educational success for all

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.5366

Keywords:

educational autonomy, distributed leadership, teacher collaboration, educational project, driving groups

Abstract

In this paper we examine how the educational autonomy has been configured in the light of national legislation and also of the European political framework, analysing its evolution towards a regulation that exercises a posteriori control, based on accountability, and that is linked to the neoliberal postulates. In view of this dangerous drift and the evidence that autonomy cannot be decreed, we present the results of a qualitative research that analyzes how a school in Cantabria (Spain) builds an inclusive educational project that responds to the needs of its context, making use of its own space of autonomy. We used data production strategies such as semi-structured interviews, document analysis, discussion groups with students and teachers (including the leadership team and the school counselor) and participant observations. We submitted these data to a process of analysis, using inductive and deductive strategies, and inferred some keys that can illuminate the development paths of autonomy in other schools: the construction of an School Educational Project shared by the community; the exercise of a distributive leadership; internal training initiatives; and the processes of evaluation in a spiral (internal and external).

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Author Biographies

Noelia Ceballos López, Universidad de Cantabria

Doctora en Educación por la Universidad de Cantabria. Actualmente es profesora del Departamento de Educación de la Universidad de Cantabria, donde desarrolla su labor como docente e investigadora en relación con temas como la inclusión educativa, los procesos de participación, la voz del alumnado, la investigación participativa y la infancia como investigadora.

Ángela Saiz Linares, Universidad de Cantabria

Doctora en Educación por la Universidad de Cantabria. Actualmente es profesora del Departamento de Educación de la misma universidad. Sus líneas de investigación incluyen: la formación inicial de los docentes y el prácticum, las dinámicas de inclusión y exclusión educativa y social, la voz del alumnado y la investigación participativa.

Published

2021-03-01

How to Cite

Ceballos López, N., & Saiz Linares, Ángela. (2021). School autonomy at the service of educational success for all. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(January - July), 22. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.5366