Liderazgo distribuido durante el proceso de elaboración e implementación de planes de mejoramiento educativo en una comuna rural en Chile

The management of educational centers is a relevant element for explaining improvement in the quality and equity of education. In Chile, attention has been given to a series of variables, such as leadership, curriculum management, resource management and student coexistence that will affect the achievement of student learning results. Starting in 2009, Plans for Educational Improvement (PME-PEI) were proposed as the main strategy for achieving continuous learning for each of these variables. The objective of this article is to understand the practices of leadership and organizational learning that occur during the elaboration and implementation of such plans. Qualitative methodology of the descriptive and inductive type, based on the hermeneutic method, was used. Six elementary schools and one combined elementary and middle school belonging to a rural commune participated in this study. The design is longitudinal using semi-structured, active interviews with individuals and focus groups. Results recognized four types of leadership that emerge during the process of elaborating and implementing the plans: strategic, tactical, spontaneous and pragmatic. Implications of these results for change and educational improvement processes are discussed.