School management and the use of digital platforms in basic education: perceptions of public-school administrators in the Itajubá–MG microregion

Abstract

The movement toward incorporating digital platforms into basic education has intensified in recent years and was decisively accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, reshaping administrative, communicational, and pedagogical routines in public school systems. In this context, school management has taken on an even more central role in mediating among educational policies, the school's technological infrastructure, and the organization of teaching work, especially during emergency remote teaching and in consolidating pedagogical practices mediated by digital technologies in the post-pandemic period. Against this backdrop, this article aims to analyze the perceptions of public-school administrators in the Itajubá microregion, Minas Gerais, Brazil, regarding digital platforms, with respect to the infrastructure available in schools and continuing education. A qualitative approach is adopted, based on semi-structured interviews with principals and vice-principals (n=13) of public schools, with the data organized into two axes: (i) infrastructure and resources; (ii) training. The results indicate an expansion of administrators' responsibilities in coordinating work and reorganizing institutional routines, in a context marked by structural inequalities, infrastructure limitations, and weaknesses in professional training. They also confirm the need for ongoing, critical professional development so that these professionals can work in increasingly complex educational contexts.