The celebration of José Querino Ribeiro's birthday centennial led this paper to rescue the relevant points in the work of this very important author of studies on school administration in Brazil. Its stresses the supposed paradox herein present and highlights two alternatives to train school administrators: one, specific and "technical", is grounded in the methods and principles of capitalist companies, with "managerial" appeal and strong emphasis on how to control someone else's work while the other is based on pedagogical foundations and the potential of education as a democratic practice.
José Querino Ribeiro; School administrators; Training; School Administration