The role of female school principals in the relationship between public schools and underprivileged families in an educational policy implementation context

This study discusses the role of female school principals in building relationships between public schools and underprivileged families who live in a slum in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Our analysis considered the context of an educational policy implementation proposal to bring schools and families together. With this approach, we want to illuminate rarely studied aspects in the literature, which deals with school-family relationships and educational policies implementation. The truth is that the performance of the principals with families and their influence in creating a school environment that is an opportunity to contacts and positive interactions - or not - ends up being neglected. Another issue discussed is the recognition that the position of the school principal is female, and since women are also responsible for interacting with schools in families, such relationships are influenced by the women's universe. This pattern brings specificities which we seek to explore in this study. In this sense, we hope to close a gap in the research area regarding public schools and underprivileged families. In the end, we found that the female school principals have a decisive role in creating a school environment that impacts the relationships with families.