Giving voice to problems faced by school leaders in Portugal

Figures & data

Figure 1. Types of problems and situations. A Framework. Source: by the authors, based on Alford and Head (2017) and Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky (2009).

Table 1. Categorisation of the totality of problems cited by the participant principals.

Category. Problems with:	Number of sources (n =  19)	Number of different problems	Number of references to the problem	Percentage of references to the problem (*)	Type of problem
Educational authorities	18	28	112	32%	Wicked 63%
Complex 36%
Leadership & Management. Personal problems of the principal	16	31	102	29%	Complex
63%
Wicked
21%
Teachers and teaching	17	9	64	18%	Complex
83%
Wicked
11%
Families and community	11	8	24	7%	Complex
55%
Wicked 45%
Non-teaching staff	9	6	21	6%	Complex
100%
Students	6	6	11	3%	Complex
100%
Portuguese society	5	4	13	3,7%	Wicked
100%

Source. Authors, based on the interviews.

(*) Percentages do not tally to 100 due to rounding of numbers.

Table 2. Problems with educational authorities reported by participants.

Subcategory of problems	More cited problems in this category	S.	R.
Problems with the school clusters	Difficulties related to the creation and development of the school cluster	7	10
	Geographical dispersion of the establishments of the school cluster	3	3
	Fragmentation and great differences inside the school cluster	3	5
	Problematic integration of teachers inside the school cluster	3	4
Problems with the lack of autonomy	Overdependence on the educational authorities	7	11
	Excess of bureaucratic tasks	7	12
	Excess of control and accountability	2	3
Problems with the placement of teachers	Difficulties experienced by teachers in their adaptation to school	3	3
	Difficulties to have teachers in some geographical areas	2	3
	High instability of teachers with no-possibility of school-based decision	7	20
Constant changes in policies		3	4
Authorities don’t give enough training and support to principals		3	10

Source. Authors, based on the interviews.

S. = number of participants citing this problem (number of sources)

R = number of times citing this problem (number of references)

Table 3. Problems with principals, leadership and management reported by participants.

Subcategory of problems	More cited problems in this category	S.	R.
Personal problems of principals	Personal worn-out	6	11
	Difficulties in balancing personal and professional time	4	9
	The non-existence of a professional career for the job. Lack of professional identity	2	3
Problems with the distribution of leadership	Difficulties inin finding effective middle leaders	3	5
	Difficulties in promoting collaboration among middle leaders	3	3
	Difficulties in the relationship with middle leaders	3	4
	Difficulties in recognition of middle leaders by the school community	5	5
	Leaders don’t know the reality of classes, and they don’t give feedback	1	3
Technical/Functional problems	Lack of financial resources	6	10
	Lack of time for people	5	6
	Lack of time for pedagogical questions	3	5
	Lack of time to reflect	4	8
	Too theoretical training	3	3

Source. Authors, based on the interviews.

S. = number of participants citing this problem (number of sources)

R = number of times citing this problem (number of references)

Table 4. Problems with teachers and teaching reported by participants.

Category of problems	More cited problems in this category	S.	R.
Problems with teachers	Low collaboration among teachers	5	7
	Teachers demotivation	7	8
	Ageing of teachers	6	6
	Lack of professionalism of teachers	5	5
	Resistance to changes	4	5
Problems with teaching	Low school results	3	5
	Difficulty in giving students a quality education	4	5
	Teacher classes are not observed or given feedback	1	3

Source. Authors, based on the interviews.

S. = number of participants citing this problem (number of sources)

R = number of times citing this problem (number of references)

Table 5. Problems with non-teaching staff, families, students, and Portuguese society reported by participants.

Category of problems	More cited problems in this category	S.	R.
Problems with non-teaching staff	Insufficient number of administrative staff	8	13
	Insufficient preparation and training of non-teaching staff	3	3
Problems with families	Parents with a lack of resources and studies	2	3
	Demanding parents	4	7
	Parents that don’t value school	5	8
Problems with students	Indiscipline, absenteeism and drop out	6	7
Problems with society	Society does not value the work done by school and teachers	3	5
	Excess of demands towards school	2	5

Source. Authors, based on the interviews.

S. = number of participants citing this problem (number of sources)

R = number of times citing this problem (number of references)

Alford, J., and B. W. Head. 2017. “Wicked and Less Wicked Problems: A Typology and a Contingency Framework.” Policy and Society 36 (3): 397–413. doi: 10.1080/14494035.2017.1361634

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Heifetz, R., A. Grashow, and M. Linsky. 2009. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

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