Training of public-school managers in the light of practical reflexivity

Abstract This study seeks to interpret school managers’ experiences and meanings during their training in a continuing education program offered by the government of the Brazilian state of Paraíba. The study used the constituent elements of reflexive dialogue to understand school managers’ training, obtained through participant observation during a module of a continuing education program for school managers with 35 school principals and a workload of 24 hours. The results point to a dissonance between training content and the managers’ demands and reality, creating a binomial theory vs. practice. It is also possible to identify the political problems around hiring school principals and the consequences of such a process in school management. The research concludes that the training of public managers anchored in practical reflexivity can be a mechanism to contribute to democratic management.