The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical and experiential background for a better approach to the question "What are the learning needs in management training for personnel working at the management level within ministries of education?" The paper reviews the literature on management training for personnel working in educational systems, with some specific consideration of ministries of education central offices, and Latin American educational management issues. Through a bibliographic essay, the following issues are dealt with: the nature of the managerial function, the humanistic trend in management, contempory educational issues influencing the managerial function, the management development process, the learning needs of educational managers, appropriate training methods for management development, and issues in the management of Latin American educational systems. It is suggested that the educational systems undertake action research to address these issues, using the ideas expressed in this paper as an underlying foundation. (DCS)