La influencia del liderazgo del director en la construcción de una cultura organizativa orientada a la innovación de las escuelas

Abstract

The objective of this doctoral thesis is to analyze the influence of the principal’s leadership in the generation of a school culture favorable to innovation. Understanding the concept of “school innovation” as the introduction of changes that report an improvement in processes and results in the different areas of educational institutions. Based on this, it seeks to identify the school leadership style that is related to the generation of an organization that promotes innovation, to know the managerial leadership practices that facilitate and promote the involvement of teachers with innovation and to analyze the understanding of the Directors’ role as agents of change. The study considers as central topics: importance of leadership for school improvement, leadership styles, leadership for school innovation, culture favorable to innovation, among others. The development of the research was carried out in the Magallanes Region, Chile, in prominent schools through the National Performance Evaluation System (SNED), between 2016 and 2020. It is a descriptive study and is approached through a mixed quantitative-qualitative methodological approach. In the quantitative area, a questionnaire was applied that was answered by 126 teachers. The instrument considered 34 closed questions Lickert scale, which was in the construction process, validated by research experts and through a pilot study application, where its reliability was determined using Cronbach’s alpha (0.837). In the qualitative approach, a semi-structured interview was applied, validated by a group of experts. This was applied to 6 directors and 13 teachers of the schools under study. SPSS 19 statistical software was used for quantitative data analysis and Atlas ti software for qualitative analysis. The results of the investigation are presented by approach, and then a triangulation of them is carried out. In summary, according to the results from the statistical analysis of the questionnaire, as well as from the interviews applied to principals and teachers, it can be stated that: it is clearly confirmed that managerial action is fundamental in the generation of an innovative organization; the influence exerted by the director, to favor the involvement of teachers with innovation, is fundamentally based on actions that have to do with affective-emotional aspects; The results do not allow us to elucidate “the” leadership style that contributes to generating a culture favorable to innovation, but yes, it is possible to identify “the” leadership styles that are related to innovation; Teachers attach great importance to principals to generate and consolidate innovation processes, in addition to presenting high expectations in relation to: Being an example of commitment, having the capacities to manage change processes, establishing challenges, encouraging creativity, reflection, and enthusiasm for more effective ways of doing things.