Page 24 - Educational Leadership in a Changing World

Marta Ambite et al.

Lastly, as Kristjánsson (2006) notes, young people’s attention has
been diverted to social network sites, which reflect a society in moral
decay. Thus, a major challenge facing this leadership model is to shift
students’ attention away from these questionable models and redirect
it towards the figure of the educational leader, in order to meet today’s
ethical and moral challenges, respecting human dignity and contribut-
ing to human improvement.
An exemplary figure of educational leadership that is being studied
again today is Janusz Korczak (Liebel & Markowska-Manista, 2019;
Tsabar, 2021), a Polish pedagogue, doctor and writer who devoted his
life to the care of orphans in Warsaw. His pedagogy was grounded in
respect for the dignity of the child, the promotion of autonomy, and
moral education through personal example (Fuentes & García Bermejo,
2024). Korczak’s leadership was not based on the imposition of rules,
but rather on the ethical conduct he modelled, which inspired chil-
dren to imitate him in a thoughtful and autonomous manner. In fact,
his orphanage became a democratic community, where children prac-
ticed self-government through their own parliament, court and news-
paper (Efron, 2005). This model enabled them to cultivate a sense of
justice, responsibility and self-discipline, thereby illustrating that ef-
fective leadership does not restrict autonomy, but rather strengthens
it by fostering a reflective admiration that motivates students to reach
their fullest potential.
Korczak also embodies Carr’s (2002) idea regarding the need for ed-
ucational leaders to cultivate virtuous character. Korczak himself em-
phasized that the educator’s responsibility is to continuously improve
to become a force for change and a leader capable of transforming chil-
dren’s lives (Efron, 2005). Undoubtedly, his life proves that the true ed-
ucational leader does not dominate, but accompanies; does not impose,
but inspires; and does not restrict, but liberates.

Some Final Thoughts
In this chapter, we have attempted to answer the research question
regarding the current challenges of educational leadership through a
panoramic review of recent research on three key themes: the emo-
tional dimension of leadership, especially related to the capacity for car-
ing; the responsibility to promote culturally inclusive contexts through
the effective recognition of the value of diversity; and attention to the
ever-complex nature of the leader, as the primary cause and foundation

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