Educational leadership as a driver of social transformation

Abstract

Despite the fact that the Venezuelan education system faces multiple adversities economic limitations, scarce resources, and complex sociopolitical condition there is a group of teachers and administrators who, driven by a deep vocation for service, embrace educational leadership as a tool to drive significant change in their communities. This article, based on a qualitative study and interpretive paradigm, analyzes how educational leadership at Guillermo Antonio Coronado National High School in the Petit municipality of Falcón state acts as an engine of social transformation, empowering teachers to harness the potential of their community. It is based on the theoretical positions of Freire's critical pedagogy, Dewey's experiential learning (learning by doing) as the axis for the construction of meaningful knowledge, and Bolívar's transformational leadership (teachers' capacity to inspire pedagogical and community change). Among the results, it was determined that the high school studied emerges as a case of resilience. Revealing that, despite limitations, distributed leadership and an active pedagogical approach have strengthened the social fabric, demonstrating that education can be a space for emancipation even in critical contexts.