Leadership of portuguese community schools in the East Coast of the United States and the public policies of education: a multiple case studies

The Portuguese community schools of the United States located in the areas of larger Portuguese population concentration are social organizations that come materializing throughout decades the designs of the educative policies of the Portuguese government in relation to the expansion and preservation of the language, the culture and the history of Portugal. These designs of the educative policies are enrolled in the Constitution of the Republic (1976), in the Basic Law of Educative System (1986) and, over all, in the successive legislative norms (Decree-laws and ordinances) of the successive governments. Portuguese community schools in the United States are structuralized in analogous way to schools of the Portuguese geographic space. For this qualitative study (multiple case), four directors of Portuguese schools of the East Coast of the United States were interviewed; two schools are in the state of Rhode Island and the other two are in the state of Massachusetts. Also, it was administered the questionnaire on practices of leadership “Leadership Practices Inventory” (LPI) of Kouzes and Posner (2002) to collect additional data about practices of leadership on the directors of the schools. The LPI evaluates practices of leadership classifying them in five domains: (a) Model the way; (b) Inspire a shared vision; (c) Challenge the process; (d) Enable others to act; and, (e) Encourage the heart. Results of this qualitative research indicate that the Portuguese Government has not had an educative policy stimulant, coherent and consistent of support, incentive, maintenance and diffusion of the Portuguese language and culture and the directors of the studied schools they have a proactive and serving leadership style in conducting the management of Portuguese community schools. The five practices of leadership are highly practiced by the directors of the studied schools above all the practices “Enable others to act” and “Encourage the heart”.

Ativismo judicial e materialização das políticas públicas infanto-juvenis na constituição da república: Fixação de planos ideais de atuação para os atores do Sistema de Garantia de Direitos (SGD)

The research arose from the necessity of showing ways to be followed by the actors of the System Guaranteeing Rights of the Child and Adolescent (SGD), regarding the implementation of rights for young people, because the legislation in force in Brazil is currently considered a model around the world and, paradoxically, the fundamental rights of children and adolescents are not met, even with the constitutionally guaranteed priority. Thus, the study investigates the fundamentality rights for young people, enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, as well as the ways of effectiveness of these rights through the actions of actors of the System Guaranteeing Rights, especially the judiciary. Focusing realized, studying theories of fundamental rights, especially Structuring a Theory of Law (Strukturiende Rechtslehre), Friedrich Müller, who emphasizes the need for analysis of social reality in the application of the rule of law. Study also the public budget and public policies concerning children and adolescents, with emphasis on preparation of budget laws and the process of discussion, deliberation, choice and implementation of public policies for children and teenagers. It then presents the typical functions of the members of System Guaranteeing Rights, as well as prepare a plan for optimum performance for each of the actors, with emphasis on analysis of the implementation of public policies at the municipal level. Finally, it analyzes the theory of separation of three powers, and discusses the positive and negative factors for judicial intervention, concluding that the Courts can consider the action activist, from finding the omission of the Executive and legislative branches, as regards the implementation of the rights of children and adolescents, as well as the rights of children and young people are not realized in most cases, due to the omission of actors of the System Guaranteeing Rights