Inside the School

A Discussion on the Effects of School Management on Participation and School Climate in an Elementary School (Early Years)

Abstract

This report details activities undertaken during the Supervised Internship in School Administration (covering elementary and high school levels)—a course within the Pedagogy degree program at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar)—which aims to observe, understand, and contribute to the work of public school management teams. The study discusses key experiences from an internship at a state-run elementary school (Early Years) in São Carlos, São Paulo, focusing specifically on participation and school climate. To this end, we examined data gathered through the observation of school routines, School Council meetings, the Student Council, and Collective Pedagogical Work Sessions (ATPCs), as well as through dialogues and semi-structured interviews with students, teachers, and administrators. These data were then qualitatively linked to theoretical discussions—primarily those arising from the readings and reflections associated with the course. Throughout the analysis, we adopted a critical perspective, remaining attentive to the institution's weaknesses and strengths; rather than drawing absolute conclusions, we used the experience as a foundation for reflecting on everyday school dilemmas and potential avenues for improvement. The results highlight the challenges of fostering participation and a positive school climate in the face of institutional violence, conflicts, lack of family engagement, and staff turnover; conversely, they identify the promotion of distributed leadership, shared conflict mediation, and violence-prevention practices as key strategies for addressing these difficulties.