Page 29 - Educational Leadership in a Changing World

Current Challenges of Educational Leadership

vene, overcoming basic limitations and granting a more genuine mean-
ing tofreedom of choice. Furthermore, thedevelopmentof thiscapacity
also implies an ethical development on the path to human fulfillment or
flourishing, in that one not only attends to one’s own affairs, but is also
capable of assuming shared responsibilities of a political nature, based
on the central axis of the common good (Aristotle, 1894).
The second idea we wish to emphasize relates to the fact that the ed-
ucational treatment of cultural diversity does not necessarily imply a
relativization of the pillars of any culturally grounded approach to life,
but rather their recognition and consideration as contributions to the
discovery of a more fulfilling way of life in common, that is receptive
to different sensibilities (Fuentes, 2014). Indeed, it would be a contra-
diction if, when we speak of educational inclusion, we meant the ex-
plicit or implicit exclusion of the principles and values of members of
the educational community, which includes not only students but also
their families and local communities of reference. This does not, how-
ever, mean renouncing the school’s potential to contribute to this idea
of good. In other words, the school and its members are not excluded
from intercultural dialogue about the cultural elements that enable the
best forms of human cultivation. A cultivation that is precisely part of
the word culture, which comes from the Latin cultus and derives from
the verb colere, meaning ‘to cultivate.’ And like all crops, it can be di-
verse, but not infinite, since not all fruits or products of the field are
beneficial to humans.
Finally, we have identified the ethical character of the educator as
a challenge for educational leadership. There is no doubt that from
Socrates to Korczak, our history is shaped by figures of extraordinary
worth who, for various reasons, have guided and continue to guide our
existence. Their ways of living, and even dying, have shaped our cul-
tures and have served as a reference for our decision-making, both in
matters of everyday life and in more profound ones that help us answer
the big questions. We not only remember their ideas or their words, but
we also remember the people who said them. Thus, idealism is not only
a system of thought or philosophical theory; it is also Plato, Kant, and
Hegel, whose names and texts remain alive after centuries or millen-
nia. The educational relevance of these exemplars remains alive today,
among other reasons because they embody ideas that are brought to
a level of understanding accessible by their similarity to other human
beings.

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