Barbosa, Luciana Fernandes, “We are the pilot of the ship, the commander”: Directors, democratic management and challenges for the maintenance and operation of daycare centers in Duque de Caxias-RJ 2023. 124.f. Dissertation (Master’s in Education, Contemporary Contexts and Popular Demands). Postgraduate Program in Education, Contemporary Contexts and Popular Demands, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Nova Iguaçu, RJ, 2023.

This research is located in the field of Early Childhood Education and aims to highlight the challenges and strategies of four directors in ensuring care for children in their units and in their relationships with families. The fieldwork took place in the Municipal Education Network of Duque de Caxias, a municipality in Baixada Fluminense, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The study seeks theoretical support in Paro (2007, 2012 and 2015), Lima (2020) and Souza (2019) on school management and its democratic character. To contribute to the analysis of the role of the director within the layers of bureaucracy, we used the studies by Lotta (2018), Pires (2016), Correia (2018) and Abrucio et al (2021) and because it deals with space management of early childhood education. The propositions of Kramer (2005, 2011, 2019 and 2021), Guimarães (2011), Corsino (2012) and Monção (2021) help us think about the singularities of this educational stage. Official documents are also consulted (Brasil, 1988, 1990, 1996, 2009, 2014) that point out the legal aspects of democratic management in Brazil and that deal with care for children aged 0 to 5 in the country. Developed in a qualitative approach (André, 1991, 2013, Lüdke; André, 1986), the research had as an instrument of data production the conduction of interviews based on the proposition of three everyday situations elaborated by the researcher. The dialogue with the interviewees was intended to highlight how these managers (re)act in the face of obstacles to guarantee the care of children in the school units where they operate and in their relationship with families. The description and discussion of the data were carried out through the analysis of the interviews and described in the last chapter of this work, extracting some excerpts from the participants' statements and confirming them with the theoretical framework of this research. The research results reveal that the principals use strategies that involve welcoming and dialogue to resolve demands regarding children's attendance and maintaining the school day, valuing good relationships with the school community, according to them. Despite acting as a link between the needs of the community and the Municipal Department of Education, as mid-level bureaucrats, these managers have limited actions in the implementation of public educational policies, but with recognized importance in their role relative to their professional performance. It is hoped, through the results obtained with this study, to give visibility to the management of early childhood education, to disturb and, if possible, affect ways of thinking about the organizational policies of these institutions that are committed to the quality of this educational stage.