This paper is based on a study on the school autonomy and administration policies carried out in Portugal, between 1986 and 2009, within the Knowandpol research project. Its main focus is the relation between knowledge and public action. It was developed through the following analytic dimensions: actors (social and cognitive mapping); ideas and their evolution; and the structuring of the political field by knowledge. It presents some theoretical assumptions of the research, the main characteristics of the policy under consideration, the methodology adopted to carry out the study and, finally, the key conclusions resulting from data analysis.
Public action; Autonomy; Knowledge; Policy-making; School administration