La Dirección de Centros Educativos en Iberoamérica. Reflexiones y Experiencias

This contribution collects the vision of more than twenty-five specialists from twelve Ibero-American countries on aspects of the management of educational centers. Its presentation requires reflections on both the theme and the content. In relation to the theme, management, understood as a system of dynamization, support and accompaniment to pedagogical and institutional action, far from being in crisis, is considered increasingly necessary. Training centers and teachers face new, diverse and complex situations, a consequence of a more dynamic reality, a more demanding society and users who are more aware of the quality of services they require. The new situation makes it pertinent that educational responses take into account the complexity of the phenomena and are differentiated depending on the context and the recipients, highlighting the need and convenience of making informed decisions and support linked to their development. The development of the management theme addressed in this text includes contributions of diverse nature. On the one hand, those that four teams have been working with professionals from different countries for six months; On the other hand, it includes three other complementary ones also carried out by teams of specialists. Its implementation is linked to the meeting of specialists from the Educational Management Support Network (AGE Network: http://www.redage.org) held in June 2010 in the city of Santiago, Chile. There, the representatives of the member organizations presented and debated the current situation of school management in their respective countries, which constitute the basis on which the definitive contributions included in this text have been made. This covers a fundamental purpose of the AGE Network, which is to promote the exchange of experiences, the professionalization of managers and the promotion of knowledge about educational administration and management. The ultimate goal is to improve the functioning of training institutions (and, through them, training systems), ensuring that they are of quality and an instrument for professional and social change.