Constructing the Humanistic Knowledge Amidst Crisis Periods: The Role of Leadership in Formulating Democratic Educational Culture

This paper highlights new elements about the role of leadership in education. The consequences of multiple crises are analyzed in direct interrelation with economic, social and educational factors. Based on the interpretative framework of the discussion about functional education, the single-sided focus on the association between knowledge and labor market is deconstructed. The necessity for a socio-political view tied to understanding the social role of education and the shift to the humanistic construction of knowledge is pursued. The concept of progress is redefined with emphasis on the structural interpretative criticism so that the educational capital becomes meaningful on the basis of political morality, inter-culturalism and social equality as democratic educational values. Besides, the individual liberal model of personal success is revisited, without any negations, so that within a globalized environment the individual element is embedded in the collective element of social happiness for people through the coexistence of different social subjects.