1. Introduction
Training rural primary school leaders in leadership skills is critical in the current context of digital transformation. As the world progresses toward digitalization, these leaders’ role becomes even more crucial to ensure that rural educational communities are not left behind. Integrating technology into education not only represents a challenge but also an opportunity to innovate and improve the quality of learning in environments that often face limitations in resources and infrastructure.
In rural Mexico, there is a huge need for training the directors (principals) of elementary schools in the public educational system to improve their leadership competencies. This scenario faces many unique challenges related to poverty, lack of access to basic services, traditional thinking, and resistance to change. This research aims to present the results of an educational strategy focused on improving the leadership skills of rural elementary school directors. Our research questions are as follows:
Q1. What is the current state of leadership skills for managers in rural schools in the State of Mexico?
Q2. What preliminary transformations were observed in the directors of rural schools in the state of Mexico after applying intervention actions?
The implementation of the proposal positively impacted their leadership skills, with an emphasis on digital transformation. It promoted the adoption of technologies and strengthened the relationship between schools and the community, empowering all actors involved. Our investment in developing skills for those leaders is an investment in the future of education in rural areas, ensuring that every student has access to quality teaching and the opportunities that the digital world offers.
2. Related Works
This section reviews Mexican educational contexts and existing research on leadership and technology integration in rural or other school settings. It also summarizes how the digital era impacts schools and leadership in rural Mexico.
2.1. Mexican Educational Context and Rural Leadership
Since 1990, Latin American countries have begun to outline educational policies and action strategies to improve the quality of education under the influence of the recommendations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), established in the World Declaration on Education for All and the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs. To respond to the educational demands of this global phenomenon, Mexico signed the National Agreement for the Modernization of Basic Education in 1992, which initiated a process of profound transformation by implementing a set of educational policy actions focused on the coverage, quality, and equity of education.
The concern in Mexico to have leader educational directors who will energize these processes has been present since 1995 and 1997, when people began to talk about school management and the importance of the management function. The educational reforms and evaluations generated by international influence and pressure implemented in the educational reform of 2009 were aimed at improving educational efficiency and quality, with an emphasis on quality; however, they created confusion, disapproval, and rejection by teachers and leader educational directors. The reforms include concepts defined in theory but are little understood in practice by the educational actors responsible for their implementation in schools.
The perspective of pedagogical leadership in the strategic educational management model (MGEE) takes up these approaches, since the following is recognized:
The results of the studies show the following regularities:
The process of interaction between educational leadership and digital technology in Mexico is slow.
There is an obvious contradiction among educational leaders between the need for improvement and resistance to the use of digital technologies.
There are low intentions toward the priority given to digital technologies by teachers and educational leaders in the didactic field.
Connectivity and hardware conditions in Mexican rural schools are limited.
Research on educational leadership in conditions of technological development is scarce.
2.2. Digital Era and Rural Leadership in Mexico
The digital age has radically transformed the way we communicate, learn, work, and engage with the world. Access to information, connectivity, and the use of advanced technologies have opened up new possibilities in almost every aspect of human life. However, despite global advances, in many regions of the world, and particularly in Mexico, rural environments face significant challenges that make it difficult to take full advantage of the opportunities that the digital age offers.
However, in the rural areas of Mexico, these advantages are limited by factors such as a shortage of technological infrastructure, a lack of Internet connectivity, and a lack of adequate devices. Rural schools do not have sufficient resources to provide all students with computers or other devices, and Internet access (at least in the school area under study) is nonexistent. This creates an educational gap that primarily affects students in rural areas who cannot access the same resources as those in urban areas.
An essential aspect of school leadership in the digital context is the ability to manage technological projects and seek alliances with external actors, such as government organizations, NGOs, or private companies, that can contribute resources or knowledge. In this sense, school leadership is not only limited to the internal management of the school but also expands to the construction of support networks that favor digital inclusion.
One of the greatest challenges facing rural schools in Mexico is the digital divide. The lack of access to the Internet and adequate devices is a barrier that prevents students in these areas from taking advantage of the same educational opportunities as their urban peers. However, the digital age also offers unique opportunities for rural schools. Technologies can be used to overcome geographical barriers and improve access to quality educational content. For example, online classes, massive open courses (MOOCs), and educational applications allow students in remote areas to participate in educational experiences that were previously out of reach. Digital connectivity can also foster collaboration between rural schools in different regions, promoting the exchange of experiences and knowledge.
3. Materials and Methods
This section presents the characterization of the pedagogical leadership competency process exhibited by the directors of rural elementary public schools in the P110 school zone to determine professional development needs. The empirical research was conducted during the school period of 2018–2019. It answers our research question Q1. What is the current state of leadership skills for managers in rural schools in the State of Mexico? We used a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) perspective, and interviews, surveys, and observations as methods.
The research population comprised the directors of elementary schools in the P110 school zone in the municipality of Huixquilucan, State of Mexico, Mexico.
To form the study sample, 11 directors were selected, composed of eight directors and three assistant directors of public schools distributed in nine primary education centers that belong to the P110 school zone. Of the total, seven were men and four were women. The ages of those who made up the sample fluctuated between 36 and 56 years, with an average of 20 years of service and nine years of service in a management role. Of the total number of directors in the sample, eight worked in another institution during the opposite shift. The directors lived in different locations, such as Xalatlaco, Capulhuac, Ocoyoacac, Huixquilucan, Mexico City, and Toluca. Most of them traveled an average of one hour from their home to the workplace, except for three who lived in Huixquilucan, with a time of approximately 15 to 30 min.
The subjects of this study had different levels of professional training; of the eleven directors, one had a PhD, two a master’s degree, seven a bachelor’s degree, and one with basic normal schooling in areas of education and various pedagogical and administrative disciplines.
The directors who made up the sample entered their position in two ways; six of them passed a vertical promotion examination process by the Professional Teaching Service. The remaining five, who were those with the most years of service, obtained their appointment as school directors by the career ladder.
The directors who led the educational institutions of the school zone left the classroom. That is to say, they were group teachers in certain years of their educational service. The above is referred to because it is considered that it is the practice from real experience in the teaching and learning process in which the pedagogical foundations are learned; thus, they can carry out with more probable success leadership centered on learning. All directors gave their consent to the research, and the school boards signed the corresponding ethical agreement code.
Current State of the Leadership Competency in Rural Elementary Schools
A scale of evaluation of the school director’s pedagogical performance level for school directors.
A survey of teachers (subordinates) to evaluate the pedagogical performance of their school directors.
Observation (comprehensive visits to provide technical and pedagogical support to public school principals and follow-up to the School Technical Council).
An interview with zone supervisors (chiefs) and experts recognized as pedagogical leaders.
Documentary analysis of the Continuous School Improvement Program, class teaching plans, and the School Technical Council (CTE) logs and results of external and internal evaluations.
A self-assessment scale was applied to the directors who made up the sample, and zone supervisors used the direct observation method during the accompanying process they carried out in the activity of direction. A survey was also applied to subordinates. The interview with zone supervisors (immediate bosses) was also a very useful technique to obtain information on the pedagogical leadership competence of school directors and to contrast the results of their opinions.
The self-assessment scale of the school director’s pedagogical performance level raises three dimensions, namely the direction dimension, related to general and specific functions of educational direction; the pedagogical dimension, essentially related to their management of the training process, that of subordinates, and the institution; and the psychological dimension, related to interpersonal relationships, charisma, and work environment.
In the first dimension, school principals rate themselves very positively, considering their performance as leaders to be excellent. Similar results are seen in the self-assessments of Dimensions 2 and 3.
The worst evaluated items were Q8, Q6, Q2, and Q7. The principals are not involved in the development of advisory actions on issues of digital technology management for the school’s teachers (Q8). They do not actively participate in professional activities with teachers, planning, modeling, and inquiring about leadership practices (Q6). They do not establish with the teaching staff teaching strategies that should be promoted in the school to develop cognitive, linguistic, socio-emotional, and motor skills in students (Q2), and do not promote the updating, training, and formation of teachers according to their professional and institutional needs (Q7).
- (a)
Moral authority
- (b)
Interpersonal relationships
- (c)
Distributing leadership
- (d)
Emotional intelligence
One of the researchers was inserted into the work system of public schools in zone P110 at the primary level in the municipality of Huixquilucan during the school period of 2018–2019, and this made it possible to observe the directors in their professional pedagogical activity, thus being able to demonstrate their pedagogical leadership competence.
When comparing the indicators that assess the performance of the principals in the pedagogical leadership competency of management (same as in the self-assessment scale), these results do not correspond with the information derived from observation in the comprehensive visits of accompaniment and advice, classroom observation, and follow-up to the School Technical Council. As regularities of these observations, the following are distinguished:
The principals’ activity is oriented more to fulfilling administrative tasks than to pedagogical actions.
They do not show records of pedagogical processes of follow-up, feedback, accompaniment, or advice to teaching practice.
They do not encourage teachers to investigate based on theory and advances in pedagogy to support their proposals or solutions to the identified problems. In addition, no use of digital technologies is encouraged.
There is no encouragement for collaborative work nor to promote learning among peers.
A contradiction is evident between the self-assessment of educational managers about their performance and the reality observed by the researcher inserted in the educational work system as a zone supervisor.
The aforementioned indicators were enriched by the documentary analysis of different documents, which reveal contradictions regarding the directors’ assessments.
Regarding internal assessments, the National Plan for the Evaluation of Learning (PLANEA), in relation to the achievement of fundamental learning that students must master in each school grade in reading and mathematics, shows that the subjects that have low results are Spanish and Mathematics, which ranges from reading comprehension to problem-solving through different procedures. In addition, the results in the analysis units of students from seven public schools are located below the average as a constant in school grades from the third to sixth grade of primary school.
Therefore, the authors conclude that the directors’ assessments based on their answers on the assessment scale have a certain bias, since they generally self-evaluate with constant and regular levels in most dimensions and indicators.
These results do not correspond to the criteria of the directors’ subordinates and immediate superiors and differ from the information obtained from comprehensive visits, monitoring technical advice, classroom observation, and support for directors, as well as feedback from the Continuous School Improvement Program.
4. Results
This section presents a professional development strategy proposed for the effective performance of the pedagogical leadership competencies of the school principals of the P110 zone at the primary level. Based on different sciences, it is characterized by contextualizing it for a successful and timely intervention. Likewise, the stages that comprise it are described.
4.1. Fundamentals of the Improvement Strategy
The strategy is aimed at developing the pedagogical leadership competency in school principals in the Huixquilucan municipality in the state of Mexico, taking into account the characteristics of the population and the social context in which it is inserted. Based on the diagnosis, the general objective, and the goals to be achieved in certain time periods, the actions are planned, as well as their execution and evaluation.
4.2. Main Characteristics of the Improvement Strategy
The proposed strategy is distinguished by focusing its attention on the development process in the pedagogical competence of management, particularly on the manager’s performance in this management system and its subsystems. It emphasizes that the manager requires knowledge, skills, capacities, and specific qualities to perform as a pedagogical leader efficiently, with a focus on digital transformation.
It is an essential theoretical and methodological principle that conceives personality as an active, self-determined subject with a certain degree of autonomy in its environment. This is relevant for the management staff that supervises school principals, since, to the extent that they are able to motivate by their example and training, they must understand the needs of others, generate emotions, awaken feelings, and encourage independence. They will be able to contribute to the professional pedagogical development of those supervised, ensuring that this development is reflected in a lasting way in their actions.
The basis of this strategy is undoubtedly the role of human motivations, since management work, like any human task, requires motivation, and it is essential that behavior and motivation vary according to the complexity of the tasks. Likewise, it is necessary for the training strategy for the director to consider the elements of emotional intelligence given the management of management in the midst of interpersonal relationships from a historical–cultural psychological theory.
It is crucial that the strategy includes as a basis the principle of developing the pedagogical competence of school principals. This competence must manifest itself in continuous improvements that allow them to solve the problems inherent to their profession through advisory and support actions. These actions must encourage reflection on practice, pedagogical dialog, learning among colleagues, and effective feedback.
Furthermore, it is essential to reconfigure leadership toward more democratic and collaborative approaches based on horizontal models without losing sight of the theoretical foundations that support this approach. Professional relationships must be based primarily on communication and joint activity, which are key to carrying out various actions. In turn, personality has an active character. It is formed and developed through activity, a process facilitated by communication, in which a mutual transformation exists between the object and the subject.
Thus, among all the personal components that participate in executing strategic actions, coherent actions, taking into account adequate communication, must achieve a favorable climate of understanding, comprehension, and satisfaction.
The strategy is contextualized by a successful and timely intervention from supervision, optimizing time, valuing talents, and sharing leadership and good management practices. In this sense, taking into account certain conditions, specifically of the directors to whom the proposal is addressed, the authors consider different levels of development of the pedagogical competence for the implementation of the strategy; therefore, it is determined from on-site advice and from accompanying actions, advice and learning among peers, and understanding the school as a learning community. The main features that characterize the strategy are as follows:
It responds to a contradiction between the current and desired state of the real performance level of the school directors of the P110 school zone of the municipality of Huixquilucan and the ideal performance level constructed from the pedagogical leadership competence of the school director.
Systemic approach in which the relationships of coordination, collaboration, subordination, and dependence between managers and collaborators are expressed. Likewise, this approach is evident in the interrelation between each component, namely the general objective and specific objectives, stages, actions, and strategy evaluation.
Structuring based on phases or stages related to creating preconditions, implementation, and evaluation for the improvement of the level of development of the pedagogical leadership competence revealed in the performance of school principals.
Dialectical character given by the search for qualitative change that will occur in the level of preparation of the principals to perform efficiently in their professional pedagogical activity of direction.
Character of an eminently practical contribution due to its persistent degrees of tangibility and usefulness, built from a theoretical foundation that supports it.
Objectivity: it is objective because the actions of the strategy arise from the result of the diagnosis and the needs and potentialities in the preparation of the principals to lead educational institutions with a scientific investigative approach.
Flexibility: it can be subject to changes in accordance with the needs, projections, and results.
Contextual character: The actions have the possibility of adapting to the characteristics and real level of development of each director and interacting in different contexts. It is inserted in the state’s management system and each institution.
4.3. Stages of the Improvement Strategy
The proposed strategy aims to develop leadership skills in primary school principals to ensure adequate professional pedagogical performance. In the following, we address the content of each of the strategy’s stages:
Stage I: The creation of preconditions for the professional development strategy of pedagogical leadership in public primary school principals in zone P110 of the municipality of Huixquilucan.
In this stage, the different actions are planned, the preconditions in materials and human potential are ensured, the workshops are planned, the work agreements with educational institutions and the teachers’ center are drawn up, the consultancies are planned, and the support material on the most up-to-date and appropriate theory of leadership and skills is prepared.
It is essential in this period to sensitize all participating agents to the need to apply the strategy, taking into account the social demand for being increasingly efficient in educational work.
A central action will be the organization of advisory and support actions for the supervision of school zones. Such supervision can be achieved through dialog, academic discussion, reflection on practice, peer learning, and pedagogical exchange as tools for decision-making. The aim is to improve educational practices and student learning so that supervisory and academic teachers can hold meetings, agree on the methods and ways in which the content will be addressed, and design guides and materials for directors, among others.
The researchers plan the actions with the guidance of regional pedagogical leaders. They must be designed prior to execution to analyze whether they need to be redesigned, and they are also subject to the criteria of other specialist colleagues to achieve improvement.
Stage III: An evaluation of the implementation of the professional development strategy for the pedagogical leadership of the school principal in zone P110 at the primary level. This stage aims at assessing the effectiveness of the strategic actions. It comprises three actions as follows:
Action 1: evaluation of the workshops, current approaches in educational pedagogical leadership, and institutional strategic planning.
Objective: verify the level of development of pedagogical leadership competencies of school principals based on indicators of educational pedagogical competence.
Instrumentation: design and evaluation of indicators of pedagogical competencies
Action 2: peer learning.
Objective: demonstrate, based on the exchange with the directors, the level of preparation achieved in the development of pedagogical leadership competency. Participants: researcher and directors.
Instrumentation: Peer exchanges will allow for the verification of the effectiveness of the actions carried out based on the opinion of the directors about the preparation they have achieved for the formation of the school’s pedagogical leadership competence. For this, evaluation surveys and testimonies, among others, will be used, taking into account the established dimensions and indicators. The researchers will record the opinions of the teachers of the group.
Action 3: develop advisory, tutoring, and methodological control visits to the centers.
Objective: systematically evaluate the formation of the pedagogical leadership competence of the director in their performance.
Instrumentation: This action is described in action two of the second stage. It has a double purpose; as the managers are trained and prepared, the process is feedback, and their performance is evaluated in the professional pedagogical activity of management that they carry out. The achievements and barriers that impede their professional development are noted; it is a systematic evaluation of the fulfillment of the actions based on assessment instruments.
5. Discussion
The strategy was implemented virtually during the academic periods of 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 and in person during the academic years of 2022–2023 and 2023–2024. In this section, we discuss the results that were obtained. This answers our second research question Q2. What preliminary transformations were observed in the directors of rural schools in the state of Mexico after applying intervention actions? We used again a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) perspective, and interviews, surveys, and observations as methods. Such empirical research was conducted during the academic year of 2023–2024.
Digital transformation in rural education faces multiple challenges that leaders must address with creativity and determination. These challenges include limited infrastructure, such as poor access to the Internet and technological devices, which makes it difficult to implement digital tools in the classroom. In addition, resistance to change and a lack of training in using technologies by teaching staff can hinder the adoption of new methodologies. Added to this is the need to adapt curricular content to a digital environment, ensuring that it is relevant and accessible to all students. In this context, educational leaders must be agents of change, promoting collaboration between communities, institutions, and governments to overcome these barriers and guarantee quality education in the digital age. Despite those challenges, we consider the lockdown forced the school principals to step forward and embrace change, with the help of the proposed strategy to improve their leadership abilities.
One member of the researcher team (as an educational official) was reinserted into the work system of public schools in the P110 zone at the primary level in the municipality of Huixquilucan in person during the 2023–2024 school year. The aim was to record the observations of the directors’ activity in their professional pedagogical practice and thus demonstrate the transformations in their pedagogical leadership competence.
When contrasting the results with those of 2018, the regularities that arose from observation in the comprehensive accompaniment and advisory visits, classroom observation, and follow-up to the School Technical Council distinguish the following:
Although the school directors of public elementary schools have experience as group teachers, they are acquiring leadership skills through their practice and the training received.
Records of pedagogical processes of monitoring, feedback, accompaniment, and advice on teaching practice are evident.
The Technical Councils are becoming spaces for professional development.
The principals have taken a leading role in using digital technologies in the educational process and have encouraged teachers to do the same. However, the technological and connectivity conditions in schools remain very limited.
The diversity of actions contemplated in the strategy has enabled directors to engage in transforming their professional development through the use of different improvement actions and methodological work.
We consider that the implementation of the strategy to strengthen the leadership skills of rural directors had a significant and positive impact on the schools and family environment. Training these leaders in management, communication, and teamwork skills fosters a more collaborative and motivating school environment, where teachers and students feel valued and supported. This strengthened leadership improves decision-making at schools and promotes families’ greater participation in the educational process, creating stronger links between the school community and the home. Thus, a virtuous circle is established, where effective leadership contributes to quality education, generating a climate of trust and commitment that benefits all actors involved.
6. Conclusions
The study of the current scientific literature on the subject of professional competencies, with an emphasis on educational leadership, concludes that it is not enough for the director to fully comply with the classic functions of management, namely planning, organization, execution, and control. To direct the educational process that is generated in the institution itself, it is necessary to motivate and significantly influence others to spontaneously achieve shared goals, encourage the realization of contributions of practical significance, above all, and solve the problems that the pedagogical group poses within the organization.
The research carried out showed that it is possible to transform the leadership competence in the directors of the primary schools explored, achieving substantial improvements in various dimensions, with an emphasis on the use of digital technologies, teacher support, teamwork, and educational planning.
The proposed strategy includes the combination of improvement, methodological, and self-improvement actions to stimulate reflection and the active involvement of the participants in their own transformation process. The strategy allowed us to improve the educational leadership skills of school principals, foster mastery of content, the degree of motivation and interest in management work, and the attitude toward one’s own limitations. This has implications for improving the quality of education, with an emphasis on student learning and the use of digital technologies.
Among the limitations of our research are the sample size (11 schools), the geographic distribution (state of Mexico), the limited existence of previous research on the subject, and that the research was interrupted to a certain extent by the 2020–2022 pandemic. As future work, we intend to implement the strategy in other rural school areas of the state of Mexico, which present problems similar to those detected.
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Jonatan Mireles-Hernández www.mdpi.com
