Resumo

HERNANDEZ ARRIAGA, Mario. Educational reform and primary education principals’ training needs in Estado de México. RIDE. Rev. Iberoam. Investig. Desarro. Educ [online]. 2019, vol.9, n.18, pp.153-183. ISSN 2007-7467.  https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v9i18.416.

Several studies carried out in the international context have shown that educational reforms, whose purpose is to train primary principals, do not consider their training needs; besides, the contents are imported from the business world; that is why its effectiveness in practice is weak and deficient. In this context, this research aimed to recover and analyze primary principals’ training needs, promoted through the approval of a standardized test, in 2015.

The methodology used was mixed with a criterial sample; to delve into the voices of the directors, Team Kawakita Jiro technique was applied to 18 principals in Naucalpan (México) educational area. The main results showed that the principals need more knowledge and skills in current educational legislation (19%) and less in theoretical bases of the plan and programs of studies (2%).

Based on these results, it was concluded that it is insufficient to have been promoted the principals through an evaluation process and presented with grandiloquence to society as suitable, because their training is carried out only in practice, without theoretical references. Also, because many teachers show apathy toward educational reform, signed in 2012, principals have in the first-place training needs for appease teacher’s discomforts and generate a harmonious work culture, suitable for the improvement of student learning.

Palavras-chave : primary education principals; training needs; educational reform.