Educational leadership and citizenship education: actors' visions and practices

Abstract

This article focuses on the relationship between school leadership and citizenship education in Chile, after the 2016 Citizenship Education Law, which reframed the scope of school experience in this field. Qualitative primary data from a sample of schools with a high indicator of Citizen Participation and Formation measured by the official Education Quality Agency, is analysed in order to describe and examine leadership styles and practices. Results from interviews with school head-masters and head-mistresses, teachers and students, show that educational leadership has a relevant although indirect role in citizenship education, especially through a sense of identity and a sense of institutional belonging. On the other hand, the implementation of the Citizenship Education Law has not, as yet, changed the reductionism of the area to the subject and teacher of History, or the emphasis on values over political literacy, that characterize prevailing practices. The study reveals that the Citizenship Education Plan demanded by the law, has had only minor consequences on current school practices, but there is a promising potential in terms of greater visibility and reflection in this area.