Introduction

The word "Gestão" has its origins in Latin, derived from "gestio, onis." It means 'the act of managing, administering,' from "GERERE," 'to carry out, accomplish,' “[...] comes from the Latin verb gero, gessi, gestum, gerere, and it means: to take upon oneself, to carry, to call upon, to execute, to generate” (^{Cury, 2005}, p. 14). The Online Dictionary of the Portuguese Language defines it as a feminine noun that means "Administration; the action of managing, administering, governing, or directing public or private affairs" (^{Dicio, 2021}). This term is frequently used in various social sectors where there is a need for someone to coordinate, manage, and administer companies and/or individuals. What is certain is that wherever collective work exists, the need for a manager is eminent, whether in a simple organization or in the complexity of large companies or institutions.

The management of Paraná schools, the object of the proposed study, is a highly complex process, as it involves both physical and human variables. It involves human beings with rights and responsibilities that need to be respected and fulfilled. ^{Lück (2009}) mentions that the excellence of the offered education is sustained by the quality and efficiency of its management. The school manager needs to ensure the “[…] full functioning of the school as a social organization, with a focus on student formation and the promotion of learning” (^{Lück, 2009}, p. 15).

There have undoubtedly been many advancements in public schools in recent decades; however, there are still many challenges to be overcome for them to fulfill their function with excellence. In order for educational problems to be efficiently overcome, regardless of their scope, it is essential to identify, recognize, and accept them by those involved in the process, in order to plan and implement actions for improvement. It is the construction of strategies based on reality that will produce the necessary transformations to solve the problems.

The school manager is essential in overcoming problems and achieving educational success. According to ^{Cury (2005}, p. 18), “[...] democratic management is at the same time transparency and impartiality, autonomy and participation, leadership and collective work, representativeness and competence”. In this sense, the role of the school manager today is not merely limited to school administration but is seen as an agent responsible for bringing about change, ensuring that the school keeps pace with society, aligns with modernization, embraces new technologies, addresses inequalities, promotes human growth, and empowers individuals.

Considering the importance of the subject in the context of public education, this investigation aims to map and analyze the advancements and challenges that academic research points out regarding the school management of public schools in the state of Paraná, in order to better understand what recent studies have revealed about this topic. What do academic research (theses and dissertations) indicate regarding the advancements and challenges faced by managers of public schools in Paraná? This question expresses the research problem. Within a defined time frame, from 2009 to 2019, a State of the Art research was conducted using the database of the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD).

To achieve the stated objective, academic research, theses, and dissertations duly registered in the aforementioned period in the BDTD were used. The adopted approach is qualitative in nature, specifically a State of the Art study, focusing on the Management of Public Schools in the state of Paraná. According to ^{Romanowski and Ens (2006}, p. 37), “Conducting state-of-the-art studies enables an assessment of the research in a particular area of knowledge […]”, in this case, school management. As stated by ^{Romanowski and Ens (2006}, p. 39, emphasis added), “[...] state-of-the-art studies aim to systematize the production in a specific area of knowledge, and have become essential for grasping the breadth of what has been produced”.

The technique used for data analysis was Content Analysis, based on ^{Bardin's perspective (2016}). According to the author's viewpoint, categories emerged from the analyzed research that reflect advancements in school management in the state of Paraná over the last decade, particularly related to the democratization of education. However, according to the conducted investigation, there are still significant challenges to be addressed in this educational area.

Based on the results obtained in the investigation, it is believed that this research can contribute to a better understanding of the role of the manager in school organization, particularly in the investigated locus of the state of Paraná. The research allows for an understanding of the advancements and challenges in school management, assisting in decision-making regarding education professionals who undertake the mission of managing a public school. In the subsequent section, the reader will find the theoretical framework of this research.

School management in public schools in Paraná

The Federal Constitution of 1988 establishes, in Article 37, five principles for public administration: "The direct and indirect public administration of any of the Powers of the Union, the States, the Federal District, and the Municipalities shall obey the principles of legality, impersonality, morality, publicity, and efficiency [...]" (^{Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, 1988}). These principles define and guide public action, including the management of public state schools, whose sponsor is the State.

The General National Curriculum Guidelines for Basic Education, created through Resolution CNE/CEB No. 4/2010, address, among other issues, Democratic Management and School Organization. In Article 55, it states that “[...] democratic management constitutes an instrument for horizontalizing relationships, collective experiences, and coexistence, overcoming authoritarianism in planning, curriculum design, and organization, educating for the attainment of full citizenship [...]”, in a way that strengthens “[...] the joint action that seeks to create and recreate the work of and in the school” (^{Resolution No. 4, 2010}).

In articles 14 and 15 of the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education (LDBEN) n( 9394/96, specific guidelines for school management can be found. Article 14 states that education systems are responsible for defining "[...] norms for democratic management of public education in basic education, according to their peculiarities [...]”, guided by the principles of participation of education professionals in the development of the school's pedagogical project and the participation of the school and local communities in school councils or equivalents (^{Law No. 9394, 1996}). The autonomy delegated to the role of the manager is expressed in Article 15 of the said law. According to LDBEN 9394/96, Article 15, “[...] education systems shall ensure to the public basic education schools that integrate them progressive degrees of pedagogical, administrative, and financial management autonomy, observing the norms of public financial law” (^{Law n(. 9394, 1996}). The function of the school manager in a public school is mainly based on these laws.

The figure of the school principal, since its emergence in the educational landscape, has undergone various changes in concepts and functions. The degree of autonomy, the method of selection, and the responsibilities, which have transitioned from purely administrative to encompassing pedagogical aspects, are some examples of this. The role of the school manager, which was previously focused solely on administration, has now expanded to include coordination of the pedagogical process, taking responsibility for both administrative and pedagogical aspects of the institution (^{Souza, 1998}). Undoubtedly, navigating between these two spheres, administrative and pedagogical, has proven to be a significant challenge for managers who, in many cases, prioritize one over the other. The training offered to education professionals, preparing them for the role of school manager, needs to consider this field of practice and equip individuals with the competence required for the position's appointment and tenure.

In Paraná, as well as in other states of Brazil, the process of democratizing education began in the 1980s, following the end of the military dictatorship. In 1983, through ^{Decree No. 455 of April 19, 1983}, elections for school principals were implemented, with open voting for the entire school community and a two-year term for each mandate (^{Decree No. 455, 1983}). “The ideals of democratization, participation, overcoming techno-bureaucracy, and decentralization gained ground in the educational scenario in Paraná, as expressed in official documents” (^{SEED-PR Policies: Foundations and Explanations, 1984}, p. 2).

As seen throughout time, not only have the responsibilities shifted focus but they have also expanded as the educational space became more democratized. Another factor that emerged as a predominant democratic mechanism was the creation and operation of Collegiate Instances - Association of Parents, Teachers, and Employees (APMF), School Council, Student Council, and Class Council - present within public schools. According to the State Department of Education of Paraná, Collegiate Instances are organizations composed of representatives from all segments of the community with the aim of assisting the principal in the role of School Manager, making decisions and taking actions to address daily school issues, with the goal of improving the quality of the teaching and learning process (^{Secretaria de Estado da Educação, 2021}).

The responsibilities of the school manager in the state schools of Paraná are listed in the School Regulations, a collectively constructed document in each educational institution. However, these regulations, which outline the duties of the principal as well as other members of the school community, are developed under the guidance of the State. The document "Legal Foundation for the Elaboration of the School Regulations for Basic Education, produced by the State Department of Education" (^{Legal Foundation for the Elaboration of the School Regulations for Basic Education, 2017}) provides the responsibilities of the school manager. There are fifty-seven responsibilities that should be included in the School Regulations. Table 1 lists ten responsibilities considered primary by researchers, as determined by the State for the school manager of state schools in Paraná.

The responsibilities of the school manager, as seen in Table 1, are neither simple nor few. Within these fifty-seven demands, the responsibilities of the pedagogical and administrative spheres unfold. These permeate the daily life of the school and are closely linked to the actions and leadership of the principal. From this manager, the ability to monitor and guide each segment and to steer the school towards the success of the educational process is expected. ^{Lück (2000}, p. 28-29) states that “[...] the movement for increasing the competence of the school demands greater competence in its management. Therefore, the training of school managers becomes a necessity and a challenge for education systems”.

The training, both of teachers and school managers, is highlighted in research as a problematic issue to be addressed (^{Lück, 2000}; ^{Paro, 1996}).

It is known that, in general, the basic training of school leaders is not built upon this specific area of expertise, and even when these professionals have it, it tends to be theoretical and conceptual since this is typically the characteristic of higher education courses in the social field (^{Lück, 2000}, p. 29).

It is evident that the training of school managers needs to precede their appointment to the position. It is no longer acceptable for school leaders to learn on the job, through trial and error, to find alternatives for conflict resolution and effectively act in tense situations, ways to develop teamwork and monitor results, and how to plan and implement the school's pedagogical project (^{Lück, 2000}). School-community integration needs to be promoted. It is necessary to know, and know a lot, before entering the management of a school. Knowing how to create new management alternatives,

[...] how to conduct negotiations, how to mobilize and keep actors engaged in carrying out educational actions, how to maintain an open process of communication and dialogue, how to establish unity in diversity, how to plan and coordinate effective meetings, how to articulate different interests (^{Lück, 2000}, p. 29).

The manager needs to understand that challenges will arise in their institution at any time, and the entire team subordinate to them expects the first action from them in terms of resolving or confronting these adversities. It is worth noting that, “[...] the results of the ineffectiveness of this action are so serious in individual, organizational, and social terms that this practice cannot continue” (^{Lück, 2000}, p. 29). Professionalism in school management is a prerequisite for the success of both the manager and the institution they lead. In the following sections, the reader will become acquainted with the adopted methodological approach in this research.

Methodological approach

This investigation presents a qualitative research with a State of the Art approach, which is frequently adopted by researchers from various fields of knowledge, especially in the field of Education, to better understand a subject of study. In this research format, the State of the Art approach enables the interpretation of educational phenomena in their essence, with greater depth and clarity, as the method allows for the establishment of an empirical and detailed interpretation of a phenomenon, assisting in the understanding and extraction of variables related to the subject of study.

It is acknowledged that “[...] the analysis of the investigative field is crucial in this time of intense changes associated with the increasing advancements in science and technology” (^{Romanowski & Ens, 2006}, p. 39). In State of the Art research, “[...] the volume of production can be extensive, and it is customary, in addition to establishing the research field and the researched theme, to define a research period and establish a specific data source” (^{Vosgerau & Romanowski, 2014}, p. 171).

Based on the studies and insights of these authors, this research was guided by a State of the Art approach, with the investigative field being the school management in public schools in the state of Paraná. The objective of this study was to identify the advancements and challenges that academic research presents in the field of school management in public schools in Paraná.

To identify scientific research, theses, and dissertations focused on school management, an online search was conducted in the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT) through the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD). Regarding the mapping and identification of theses and dissertations in the mentioned database, the procedure took place on the digital platform on February 22, 2019, using the advanced search option and filtering feature provided by the platform itself, with the insertion of the keywords: School Management, Public School, Paraná. All the keywords used in the search are indexed in the Brazilian Thesaurus of Education of the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP). The time frame for the search was specified as 2009 to 2019 to obtain a scientific overview of the subject in the last ten years.

The digital database of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) was not utilized as it was not up-to-date regarding the latest publications related to the sought-after field of study. The choice of the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) allowed for more precise searches within the desired time frame.

Upon entering the keywords and the production period, the BDTD platform presented 105 research studies conducted at the master's and doctoral levels (Academic and Professional). However, after a careful analysis of the content in order to identify and separate the theses and dissertations that would be part of the analysis corpus, out of the 105 research studies, only 26 were considered suitable for the investigation process. From this reading process, an analysis³ corpus was formed, consisting of eight theses and eighteen dissertations published on School Management in public schools in the state of Paraná.

The eight theses and eighteen dissertations were read, focusing on specific parts such as the introduction to ascertain the research object, the supporting theorists, the methodology used, and the final considerations, as it is in this part of the work that the author revisits their entire investigative process, addresses the research problem, gathers the main results, and clarifies them to the reader. As science is open to flaws and verifications, it is in this part of the work that the strengths and weaknesses of the study are usually found, as well as future projections for new problems to be investigated.

According to ^{Chizzotti (2006}, p. 98), the Content Analysis (CA) technique aims to “[...] critically understand the meaning of communications, their manifest or latent content, explicit or hidden meanings”. This technique was applied to the final considerations of the theses and dissertations that make up the analysis corpus. From ^{Bardin's perspective (2016}), CA consists of a set of techniques for analyzing communications that use systematic and objective procedures to describe the content of messages. The purpose of content analysis is to identify and classify exhaustively and objectively all units of meaning existing in the text, as well as to highlight the document's main lines and key regularities (Bardin, 2016). This was the purpose of the study.

^{Bardin (2016}) advises that precise definition and rigorous organization of these units of meaning will help the researcher control their own perspectives, ideologies, and beliefs, in other words, control their own subjectivity, in favor of greater systematization, objectivity, and generalization of the obtained results. The author, widely cited in Brazil in research adopting content analysis as a technique for qualitative data analysis, presents three phases for conducting content analysis, namely: (a) pre-analysis, (b) exploration of the material, and (c) treatment of the results.

In the first phase, the material to be analyzed is organized with the objective of making it operational and systematizing initial ideas. This is the actual organization process, which according to ^{Bardin (2016}), occurs in four stages: (i) floating reading, which involves establishing contact with the data collection documents, the moment when one begins to get acquainted with the text; (ii) selection of documents, which entails marking what will be analyzed; (iii) formulation of hypotheses and objectives; (iv) referencing the indices and elaboration of indicators, which involves determining indicators through text excerpts in the analysis documents.

The second phase of the technique involves exploring the material, where the researcher carries out coding by creating codes as a systematic organization of ideas, and categorization, the process by which codes are grouped, segregated, or reorganized to configure meaning. This is the phase of analytical description, which pertains to the corpus subjected to an in-depth study guided by hypotheses and theoretical frameworks. Thus, coding and categorization are fundamental in this phase (^{Bardin, 2016}).

After organizing the material and exploring it, the treatment of results is carried out in the third phase of the technique. This phase is related to inference and interpretation, where the researcher condenses and highlights the information for analysis, culminating in inferential interpretations. It is the moment of intuition, reflective analysis, and critique (^{Bardin, 2016}).

It is worth noting that the ultimate objective of the content analysis (CA) technique adopted in this study is to provide useful indicators for the research objectives, which are related to identifying the advancements and challenges of school management in public schools in Paraná. This technique allows the researcher to interpret the obtained results by relating them to make sense of them. After presenting the general phases of Content Analysis, the data and results obtained through the aforementioned technique are presented, followed by a careful interpretation of these results.

Data analysis and results

The analysis corpus was composed of eight theses and eighteen dissertations, totaling twenty-six academic research studies. The Content Analysis technique from ^{Bardin's perspective (2016}) was conducted on the final considerations of the theses and dissertations that addressed the theme of School Management in the state of Paraná, as proposed in the methodology of this research. According to ^{Bardin (2016}), content analysis occurs in distinct phases. These phases, explained below, are presented as a narrative based on the research work process.

Phase 1 involved preparing the data for analysis. At this stage, the research studies were saved in PDF format and assigned a code to ensure the anonymity of the authors. The dissertations were assigned the code (D), and the theses were assigned the code (T), followed by a number corresponding to each author's research. For example, D01 represents the dissertation of author 01, according to the sequence in the IBICT platform on the day of data collection.

In phase 2, the material was explored. The Conclusions section of the 26 research studies was selected, printed, and read, with highlights made whenever the desired content (advancements and challenges of school management) appeared in the document. These highlights were then meticulously coded.

Coding was the third phase of the analysis. At this stage of the research, codes were created to operationalize the categorization process. Here, a code is understood as a system of symbols that allow for the identification of information. Subsequently, a careful reading of the selected excerpts was conducted, assigning codes that express the advancements and challenges found in the investigations. Throughout the reading of the Conclusions section of the theses and dissertations, the previously created codes were applied, resulting in a total of 103 codes, with 44 related to advancements and 59 related to challenges in School Management in public schools in Paraná. All the developed codes were recorded in a specific table, facilitating an overall view of all the findings.

Next, these codes were categorized. Following ^{Bardin's guidance (2016}), in this step, grouping and creating sets of codes based on their frequency and semantic similarity were performed. This action allowed for data clustering and the consolidation of meaning for such information. After the coding and categorization of the Conclusions section of all the theses and dissertations, the focus shifted to observing the codes that had the highest frequency and similarity in relation to the research results, in order to proceed with the content analysis.

The fifth and final phase refers to the actual Content Analysis. In this stage of the research, the codes with the highest frequency and similarity underwent four additional procedures, following Content Analysis (^{Bardin, 2016}), namely: (i) detailed reading of the findings; (ii) reflective analysis by the researchers of the results from the Conclusions section of the research; (iii) identification and creation of convergent category groups for the purpose of consolidating meaning, and (iv) creation of meaningful categories.

The categories that emerged from the content analysis became indicators that allowed us to understand the semantic occurrences and similarities present in and among the Conclusions sections of the theses and dissertations selected for this study, enabling the visualization of the State of the Art of scientific research focused on School Management, from 2009 to 2019.

It is known that a good content analysis goes beyond mere description. It is necessary to advance, to go further, in the search for a deeper understanding of the manifest content, through the inference and interpretation of the collected data (^{Bardin, 2016}). To infer means to deduce, to conclude, to arrive at a final conclusion through successive deductions, and to interpret means to explain what is obscure, to give meaning to the finding.

According to ^{Bardin (2016}, p. 15, emphasis added by the author), content analysis can be understood as a set of “[...] increasingly subtle instruments constantly improving, which are applied to extremely diverse 'discourses' (contents and containers) [...]”, where the primary function is the critical unveiling of what is investigated. For the author, content analysis is a thorough reading, determined by the conditions offered by the linguistic system, with the aim of discovering the relationships between the content of the discourse and its external aspects. The technique of content analysis allows for the understanding, utilization, and application of a specific content (Bardin, 2016).

The textual elements identified in the concluding remarks of the theses and dissertations are presented below, which gave rise to categories due to the quantity of occurrence and semantic similarity that the same code obtained. To exemplify each category, two textual fragments were selected that justify it, as well as their origin (thesis or dissertation). The search for advances and challenges in the school management of public schools in Paraná resulted in three categories that had the highest occurrence by code and semantic similarity. Table 2 presents two fragments, with the most representative words highlighted in bold, for each of the three categories that emerged from the content analysis.

It is “[...] based on the manifest and explicit content that the analysis process begins” (^{Bardin, 2016}, p. 66). The first category that emerged from the analysis refers to the democratization of school management. Driven by a democratic spirit that spread throughout the country from the 1980s, Paraná implemented more democratic policies in education. According to ^{Paro (1998}, p. 6), “[...] as society democratizes, and as a condition of this democratization, it is necessary to democratize the institutions that make up society, going beyond the limits of so-called political democracy and building [...] social democracy”.

The second category refers to teacher education. “The fundamental task of the teacher is to teach [...] but it is also to learn. A good teacher is not one who does not learn while teaching” (^{Imbernón, 2016}, p. 40). Due to the social and scientific changes that have taken place in the 20th and 21st centuries, teachers have been compelled to seek new ways of teaching, becoming increasingly specialized in their profession. According to ^{Imbernón (2016}, p. 49), we have evolved from “[...] a scarce initial education [...] to an initial education that has been changing throughout the 20th century and even more so in the 21st century”. In addition to analyzing initial teacher education, ^{Imbernón (2016}, p. 49) refers to the ongoing education of teachers, which, according to him, has “[...] changed even more [...]”, and has become essential for acquiring autonomy, professionalism, and improving student learning. It is important to consider that the challenges of teaching have multiplied. The problems are of a political, social, economic, pedagogical, and administrative nature, and in order to address them, it is necessary to provide teachers with proper education.

The election for school principals was the third category with the highest incidence of advancements. Undoubtedly, the election is a tool that can guarantee the democratization of school management. ^{Paro (1996}, p. 386) states that this process of selection “[...] not only promotes commitment to the educational purpose of the school on the part of the candidates, but also highlights the pedagogical aspects in the discussions held by everyone regarding the leadership issue”.

In Paraná, the election for director positions has been in effect since the mid-1980s. Despite many limitations, it is still one of the most recognized forms of democracy within schools. In this regard, there is "[...] no doubt that, if the problem is the lack of democratic tradition, it is through the insistence on mechanisms of participation and the exercise of democracy that greater involvement of everyone in their responsibilities will be achieved" (^{Paro, 1996}, p. 382). The following table, Table 3, presents the categories related to the challenges of school management as expressed in the research through the conducted Content Analysis.

Democratic management and teacher training are both the greatest advancements and the biggest challenges to be faced by school management in Paraná, according to the analyzed research. ^{Paro (2005}, p. 19) states that “If we want to move towards this democratization, we need to overcome the current situation that makes democracy dependent on concessions and create mechanisms that build an inherently democratic process in schools”. In line with this, “[...] it is argued that the teaching profession has become highly complex in this knowledge society, that the diversity of its users has increased, and that it is a fundamental element for promoting tolerance, solidarity, and social cohesion” (^{Imbernón, 2016}, p. 96).

Actions of a democratic manager, combined with well-trained teachers, tend to converge towards the success of the student's educational process. When the school and the community are involved, the school environment tends to democratize decisions and the participation of everyone, aiming at the improvement of the core activity, which is everything related to the construction of knowledge by the learner (^{Paro, 1996}).

The third challenge of school management, which emerged in the content analysis conducted on research published in the last ten years, is related to the excessive bureaucracy faced in the public education system. Bureaucracy is a term derived from Latin and French, which means "office." For many, it is synonymous with a schematization of what is considered correct, and one of its most striking characteristics is the inability to deviate from established rules and orthodox instructions. Pejoratively, the use of this term is associated with the legal procedures of a process. This view of bureaucracy is seen by many as a characteristic of laypersons.

Modern bureaucracy is an effective way to manage both in the private domain and in public administration. In education, it is perceived that bureaucracy is necessary as it supports and legitimizes management work. However, when in excess, it becomes an obstacle for the manager, who ends up being overly involved in bureaucratic matters to the detriment of the pedagogical aspects and the teaching and learning process.

The difficulty of the school manager in organizing the work team leads to each individual focusing exclusively on their own job responsibilities, “[...] without being able to have a collective perspective, mainly due to the difficulty of decentralizing power and the excess of bureaucracy and hierarchy” (^{Lück, 2011}, p. 90). The organization and harmony of school work depend on having a holistic view and the ability to handle both administrative and pedagogical issues without overlapping them.

Final considerations

Throughout the presented research, the aim was to map and analyze the advancements and challenges of school management in public schools in Paraná. To accomplish this, the IBICT platform facilitated the connection between researchers and registered research, based on the selection of keywords (School Management - Public School - Paraná) and the defined time frame (2009 to 2019).

Based on the categories that emerged from the final remarks of the theses and dissertations, it was possible to identify a higher incidence of advancements in relation to the democratization of education, teacher training, and the election for the selection of school administrators. As for the challenges, the categories related to the implementation of democratic management, teacher training, and school depredation obtained a higher incidence.

It can be inferred from the findings that school management, as the way educational institutions are coordinated and organized in order to better conduct educational processes, has evolved in the state of Paraná by incorporating a democratic approach, which is defined as “[...] a process through which decisions are made, actions are taken, and activities are collectively carried out, monitored, supervised, and evaluated, that is, with the active participation of all segments of the school community” (^{SEDUC, 2012}, p. 7). However, there is a need for theory to be translated into effective practice. There is still much progress to be made for public schools in Paraná to experience democratic management in their day-to-day operations, both in the administrative and pedagogical spheres. Therefore, investing in the training of school administrators is crucial.

The state of Paraná was a pioneer in adopting the democratic selection of school principals. The practice of direct selection, initiated in the 1980s, continues to be the method adopted by the state for school communities to choose their representatives through direct voting. Although it does not guarantee, it is an important indication that the democratization of education takes place within the school institution. As stated by ^{Lück (2000}, p. 22-23), “[...] it is not the election itself that democratizes, but what it represents as part of a broader participatory process, of which it is only a significant moment”.

Of extreme relevance, as well as concerning, teacher education was considered both an advancement by researchers and a significant challenge. In the past, the role of teachers was often filled based on the needs of the institution, disregarding the specific training of the professionals. However, according to the current legislation in the focused state, today “[...] initial and ongoing teacher education is mandatory and is also the responsibility of the school administrator” (^{Legal Basis for the Preparation of the School Regulations for Basic Education, 2017}, p. 14).

The legislation in Paraná does not allow teachers to take on classes outside their field of expertise. However, it is well-known that initial education is not sufficient to address the challenges of the classroom, and ongoing education is a right and duty that needs to be provided to teachers by the institution. ^{Fullan (1993}, p. 26) remains relevant when he states that “[...] teacher education still has the dubious distinction of being both the worst problem and the best solution in education”. This statement was reflected in the analyzed research, pointing out that it is one of the main advancements in school management as well as one of the greatest challenges to be faced by the administration of public schools in Paraná.

Being a manager of an educational institution is a significant responsibility, especially when it is serving a public organization supported by the society it represents. The manager, who holds legal responsibility for the institution, is also accountable for the students' learning outcomes and academic success. Additionally, they are responsible for coordinating all administrative and pedagogical activities within the school. They serve as a guide for the entire school environment. The quality and efficiency of their work directly impact the quality of education provided in the public school.

Therefore, the role of a school principal cannot be entrusted to amateurs. The training that they are responsible for promoting within their school needs to be present in their own qualifications before assuming the position. They must competently assume the legal responsibility for the institution, which includes the responsibility for student retention and learning outcomes, as well as the coordination of administrative and pedagogical work within the school, all of which converge towards the success of the entire educational process within the organization they represent.

In summary, the quality of education desired in schools, which is reflected in high levels of student learning, is closely related to the performance of the school principal. This can only be achieved if democracy prevails within the institutions and if the leader, one of the key individuals responsible for the entire process, is well-trained both initially and continuously for the position they hold.