Opinion article by José Matias Alves, lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
"I will argue – following Antonio Bolívar – that decentralisation and professionalisation in school management, on their own, do not lead to improvements in educational processes and outcomes, unless they are accompanied by internal and external pressures, support, and encouragement from educational authorities that empower schools from within to carry out the proposed and/or necessary changes.
As is well known, it is not possible to decree a change in beliefs and values. A legislative measure may have a 'materialising' value (saying is doing) at the structural level, but it remains at the level of an appeal when the issues lie within the realm of culture..."
