Effective leadership for educational quality and university accreditation in the Colombian Caribbean

Research on school leadership in the context of accreditation of higher education in the Caribbean demands the strengthening of the pedagogical leadership of the rectors of these institutions, for which the contribution of this research is important, which analyzes the effective practices that have contributed to the improvement of educational quality, from the perceptions of different actors, through a multiple case study method with a qualitative and interpretive approach, which involved looking at four institutions and an analysis at three levels of complexity until reaching the crossover of cases. The main results indicated that the actions and elements related to personal skills, professional skills and pedagogical training that the directors have, facilitate the configuration of effective leadership practices. At the same time, they are transversalized by the ethical being of the leader in his human condition, giving leadership a moral character with a social sense. In order to potentiate effective leadership practices in leaders with the purpose of improving the quality of education and university accreditation, it is essential to establish forceful public policies that vindicate the current role of rectors and guarantee their applicability from the institutional level in order to achieve transformations of high level.