A JOURNEY THROUGH THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: a study carried out in the secondary education of São Tomé and Príncipe

• Autor(a) principal: Fernandes Ruas Coelho, António Joaquim
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Miranda, Branca Margarida
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Exitus
• Texto Completo: https://portaldeperiodicos.ufopa.edu.br/index.php/revistaexitus/article/view/1967
• topic: Supervisão pedagógica; Desenvolvimento profissional docente; Delegado de disciplina; Pedagogical supervision; Teacher professional development; Heads of department; Supervisión pedagógica; Desarrollo profesional docente; Delegado de educación secundaria

Intermediate school leaders play an important role in improving pedagogical practices and curriculum development and, in this context, pedagogical supervision emerges as an indispensable tool for the professional development of teachers. Our investigation focuses on these leaders in São Tomé and Príncipe on the subject heads of department of secondary education, stating as a general objective to know their representations regarding the required competences and functions and how these intersect with the representations of the directors of school and pedagogical supervisors in the light of legislation and literature. The study follows a mixed methodology, collecting data of a quantitative and qualitative nature. We built a questionnaire composed of closed and open questions that was applied to 130 on the subject heads of department of secondary education. Quantitative data were subjected to descriptive statistical treatment and qualitative data were subject to content analysis. The results show that the on the subject heads of department dedicate more time to bureaucratic tasks, followed by pedagogical tasks and, finally, tasks with a controlling nature, although they mentioned that they value pedagogical tasks more. They also mention support, help, collaboration, and evaluation as tasks inherent to the performance of the function, which allows us to infer that they are situated in collaborative supervision, with significant evidence of monitoring and regulation. It is perceived that the on the subject heads of department seek to increase their skills and knowledge, in terms of disciplinary and didactic content, to improve their performance and the quality of education.