Instrumental Rationality of Digital Platforms in Practices of School Principals

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 4, 1120 - 1154, 24.12.2025

Maria João Carvalho Paulo Marinho

https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1522797

Abstract

The study presented here aimed to understand and analyse the perceptions of school principals in Portugal regarding the effects of digital platforms on their professional daily lives. Data collection was carried out through a Focus Group with 31 school clusters principals from public education in the Northern Region of mainland Portugal. A qualitative research approach and a critical perspective were adopted in the data analysis, based on the content analysis of the produced discourses. The study’s results illustrate the effects of the digitalisation processes of school management on the professional and personal lives of school principals, particularly: increased workload and bureaucracy, emotional and psychological distress, and the constant effort required for adaptation and training.

Keywords

educational administration , school directors , digital platforms , digitalisation and platformisation in education

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