CIDEC Seminar
A Longitudinal Study on School Principals’ Autonomy as Street-Level Managers
Professor Sanfuentes will present an analysis of the role of school principals and the district level in the implementation of an unprecedented educational reform that has been underway in Chile’s public education system since 2018. In the first part of the presentation, he will share findings from a longitudinal qualitative research conducted with principals from the first territory where the reform was implemented. Drawing on emerging literature on street-level management, the study examines the key leadership practices principals employ to navigate the complex institutional, economic, material, and technical conditions involved in school management. In the second part, based on ongoing research focused on the middle-tier’s role in this reform, Professor Sanfuentes will discuss the methodological, theoretical, and ethical challenges involved in studying leadership practices from a transdisciplinary perspective. This approach combines multiple data collection methods to develop a nuanced, situated understanding of the phenomenon.
About the Speaker
Dr. MatÃas Sanfuentes
Dr. MatÃas Sanfuentes: Associate Professor, School of Business, University of Chile and Adjunct Researcher, Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES). His research interests include leadership, organizational dynamics and change, gender studies, organizational culture and identity, and the psychoanalytic study of organizations. He is clinical a psychologist and organizational consultant.
