"Lá vem a diretora!" - um estudo foucaultiano acerca da subjetividade dos diretores escolares de Manaus

Abstract

The teacher principal has an important role in conduction the public education policy. From him, it is expected administration expertise and pedagogic leadership. For the students, he could be an authority symbol. For the teachers, he could represent the Education Department interests inside the school. This paper aims to investigate the discourse production conditions where the school principals in Manaus are inserted. Using the concepts of power, knowledge and truth by French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984), I invited five principals and ex-principals for individual interviews in which they had the opportunity to express themselves about this function selection processes, the school routine, the relationship with the teachers and the political parties interference in the school principals actions in Manaus. With these interviews I analyzed the discourses in many official documents, papers and interconnected them with the interviewees’ words. Thus, it was possible to bring forth the principals’ subjectivity traits and present the point of view of whom who deals with a variety of power spaces beyond expectations regarding competences and abilities for this function.