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REVIEW article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Leadership in Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1520947
This article is part of the Research Topic Leadership, Learning, Well-being, and Justice in Educational Organizations View all 5 articles

Challenges posed to Leadership: Systematic review based on the relationships between curricular autonomy and teachers' well-being

Provisionally accepted
Louise Lima Louise Lima *Alcina Oliveira Martins Alcina Oliveira Martins Elsa Estrela Elsa Estrela Rosa Serradas Duarte Rosa Serradas Duarte
  • Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Education and Development, Lusophone University, Lisboa, Portugal

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction -This study is part of a cross-cutting and interdisciplinary funded research project involving researchers from different areas -education, sociology and psychology, which aims to contribute to deepening existing knowledge about the relationship between autonomy and curricular flexibility and teacher involvement and well-being. The study presented in this article is justified by the gap found in a Systematic Literature Review carried out in the context of the aforementioned research project. This research aims to understand the challenges posed to leadership based on the relationship between Portuguese educational policies within the scope of Autonomy and Curricular Flexibility developed since 2016 and teacher well-being. To this end, the research is based on the following question: What challenges do leaders face in promoting a school culture in a context of innovation and inclusion?Methods -This article focuses on a systematic review of reports, recommendations, opinions and independent studies produced in the context of the development of autonomy and curricular flexibility policies in Portugal, published between 2015 and 2023. The selection of documents took into account the websites of the Ministry of Education in Portugal, the National Education Council, all the Teachers' Unions in Portugal and Transnational Organizations.Results -The results show that leadership practices based on a collaborative approach and policies that favor teacher autonomy were associated with improved teacher well-being and the development of inclusive pedagogical practices. However, bureaucratization and work overload continue to be significant challenges in teachers' daily lives. It was also found that the practices of pedagogical leaders can promote innovation and inclusion, requiring continuous institutional support.

    Keywords: Pedagogical leadership, Curricular autonomy, Curricular flexibility, Teacher wellbeing, Teacher professional development, Pedagogical practices, teacher training

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lima, Oliveira Martins, Estrela and Serradas Duarte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Louise Lima, Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Education and Development, Lusophone University, Lisboa, Portugal

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.