Autonomy and curriculum flexibility in the eyes of principals: skepticism and adherence

Abstract

In this article the Project for Autonomy and Flexibility of the Curriculum (PAFC) is examined from the perspective of the school principals. Data are drawn from a wider research project which included, in the first phase, semi-structured interviews with 25 principals. Findings show divergent and even contradictory discourses: on the one hand, there is a dominant discourse, relatively radical and critical, which calls into question the curriculum policy itself and its implementation process, pointing to aspects that hinder the process of change. On the other hand, there is a minority of principals who reveal an adherence discourse, although often critical of the PAFC. In this case, it is possible to identify an appropriation of the rationale of the policy in question: the positive impact on students’ outcomes, the autonomy for teachers and schools, the possibility of interdisciplinary practices, the relationship of the school with the environment and the promotion of the process of change in classroom practices.