The expression of leadership in teaching practice: a study of university professors in administration courses

Abstract

The classroom and teaching-learning strategies have been debated in order to explore the importance of the educational processes in the construction of reality. Thus, this article aims to verify the relationship between the perception of teaching practice of professors in Higher Administration courses and the concepts of leadership expressed in the classroom environment. A qualitative approach was used to interview fourteen professors from the Universities of Santa Catarina. The results showed the expression of leadership in each professor's teaching practices, considering the following dimensions: University, Student, Regulation, Professor, and Educational Process. In general, professors believe the University is an ideal place for education, where students need to be subject to the teaching processes and the law has a positive impact on their practices. The professors consider themselves to be transmitters of knowledge and authorities in class; this way, dialogic expository classes are chosen as a strategy. Finally, when teaching practice was related to leadership approaches, it was concluded that, although professors express leadership in their practices, it is not possible to limit their behaviors to this single conception.