PEDAGOGICAL LEADERSHIP: COGNITIVE AND MORAL-ETHICAL DIMENSIONS

Abstract

Introduction. Under the conditions of the educational environment transformation and the growing demands for educational quality, the development of pedagogical leadership has acquired significant importance.
Purpose. The study aims to analyse theoretical and practical issues related to the pedagogy of leadership, with particular attention to its cognitive and moral-ethical dimensions.
Methods. The research employed a combination of methods: 1) theoretical methods (critical analysis, synthesis, comparison, and generalisation of reference literature on leadership); 2) a project-based method (used to design tasks for students’ self-work within the course «Pedagogy of Leadership»).
Results. The study addresses several issues related to the theoretical foundations of pedagogical leadership: 1) the conceptual framework of the study («pedagogy of leadership», «formal leader», «informal leader», «distributed leadership», «transformational leadership», «resonant leadership», «leader’s emotional intelligence», «emotionally aware leader»); 2) the dimensions of pedagogical leadership within educational institutions (charismatic, emotional, anticipatory, participatory, cultural, formative, and administrative); 3) the specific features of pedagogical leadership implementation in higher education at different levels; 4) the characteristics of resonant leadership; 5) manifestations of dissonance in the educational sphere. The «one-boundary model» is presented as a tool for developing leaders’ self-awareness and understanding the limits of their professional responsibility. The study presents a set of activities («Key Definitions», «My Anti-Crisis Plan», «Leadership Competency Map», «Managerial Decisions and Their Consequences», «Thesaurus of Leader’s Personal and Professional Qualities») for organising self-work for students of the second (Master’s) level of higher education (specialty A1 Educational Sciences) within the course «Pedagogy of Leadership». They are aimed at developing students’ ability to analyse key concepts of leadership pedagogy, conduct ethical evaluations of managerial decisions, design personal stress-management strategies, assess their level of leadership competency, and systematise the essential characteristics of an effective leader.
Originality. The findings prove that the cognitive and moral-ethical foundations of pedagogical leadership determine the value orientations, professional attitudes, and peculiarities of educators’ leadership behaviour within the educational environment.
The author-designed activities proposed for self-work within the course «Pedagogy of Leadership» have proved to be effective in practice.
Conclusion. The study confirms that a teacher or academic staff member who assumes a leadership role acts as a subject of an adaptive educational system. One of the key principles of a leader’s professional activity is responsibility for personal experience and the outcomes achieved.