Administrative functions or practices? The "arts of making" management at Mirante school/Funcoes administrativas ou praticas? As "artes do fazer" gestao na escola Mirante

• Published in: Revista de Ciencias da Administracao 2013-04, p.180
• Main Authors: Vargas, Roberta Alvarenga de Almeida, Junquilho, Gelson Silva
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• ISSN: 1516-3865; 1516-3865
• DOI: 10.5007/2175-8077.2013v15n35p180

This article aims at broadening the view of management as a collective phenomenon, resulting from practices constructed by organizational subjects. Our guideline was Certeau's (2009) conception of everyday life, locus where social subjects develop the "arts of making" through practice. This empirical study was carried out at a public elementary school, referred to in this article as Mirante school. This school is part of the elementary education system in the City of Vitoria, ES, Brazil. Methodological strategy was based on ethnographic approach, carried out through direct observation complemented by interviews and official documents. The investigation shows that the "administrative functions" (FAYOL, 1970) are socially and appropriately (re)constructed through practices resulting from everyday actions by the subjects in the heart of the school. The results point at the complexity of the "arts of making" management, a phenomenon that is collective and not exclusively based on the actions of a manager.