Volume 5 (2022): Edition 1 (June 2022)

This paper is aimed at proposing an analysis of the Russian geopolitical self-perception in the light of a “culturalist” approach. The paper uses Samuel Huntington’s “model of civilizations” as an interpretative prism, following a multidisciplinary approach which allows to epistemologically validate certain points of the Huntingtonian thesis, and to reject others. This approach does not invalidate the neo-realist theories of international relations regarding the Russian search for a relative increase of power through the use of material factors. If anything, the culturalist perspective must be placed side by side with the neo-realist one in order to better grasp some intangible elements, in particular the attention paid by Moscow to its (former) imperial dimension, the influence exercised by the autocratic tradition on Russia’s international posture, together with the role of geographic space, the ascendency of the Orthodox church, as well as Eurasianist cultural inclinations. Finally, through a critical analysis and a selective review of the academic literature on these issues (as well as of the political texts published by some of the most prominent Russian politicians and intellectuals), the paper aims to demonstrate the self-perceived originality of the Russian model and its difficulty in being placed within the Western political categories.

The goal of this article is to introduce a reflection on leadership in the educational context. Our reasoning will start from the concept of group in its sociological meaning, from Donati (2021) to Goffman (1959) passing through Tuckman’s five stages of group development (1977). In this way, we will argue about the idea of leadership, more in detail on an important element in which the educational leader acts: the culture at all its different levels:, that of the school and then that of the community, which represents a crucial junction for its influence on the way of conceiving educational systems (paragraph 2), the term used to designate the holder of leadership is educational leader, meaning the one who coordinates and manages tasks within an educational context (paragraph 3). The choice that inspires our approach to leadership concept is, from one hand to frame the theme in its transcultural perspective, we believe that any educational context today can only be conceived as an international and global theater, regardless of the origin of the actors and the audience that are there. In addition to people and the objects, the way of formulating concepts of use that have multiform tonalities, origins, and heritages, often far from the context in which they appear and act, they are hybrids. On the other hand, schools often experience internationality and globalization very concretely: they host foreign students and participate in international projects of cooperation with other countries (paragraph 4). In our final remarks, we will affirm and demonstrate that the reflections proposed in this pathway on the topic of leadership are intended to signal the importance of laying the foundation for an international content orientation on which the knowledge of the educational leader is based. Therefore, using the concepts that describe intercultural communication, we assume that sociology can undertake a more incisive analysis of the meaning of multicultural societies.

The article substantiates the need to form the strategic competence of future teachers in postgraduate education. The authors formulated the concept of “strategic leadership competence of a future teacher” and presented the components and indicators of the competence. The effectiveness of the curriculum “Pedagogical management and management in modern school” developed and implemented in the educational process in forming the competence of strategic leadership of a future teacher is proved. Confirmation is maintained by the presented results of the study, which showed positive dynamics in the level of the researched competence formation.

For the last decades interest in leadership skills training is a persistent feature of the design of contents in many educational curricula at different levels. This relevance has been highlighted in an abundant literature on leadership training and in the development of guidelines that some prominent transnational organizations have published as a convenient way to focus that training. This article summarizes the findings of the first part of a research devoted to the study of the approaches of the training in “leadership” and “digital leadership” by three stakeholders: training providers; scholars; and some major transnational organizations. The research aims to clarify the concept adopted, the priorities established and the competencies that have been considered suitable to be transmitted. Through a documentary review of leadership development training programs delivered by national schools of public administration in European Union member countries, this paper examines the perspective adopted to train civil servants in those competencies considered suitable to be transmitted when training for leadership and digital leadership.

This paper proposes a problematic reconstruction of the relationship between ethnic conflict, racial hatred, and media, focusing on the analysis of information flows and the social construction of the Other, as a public enemy, in war contexts. Through a socio-historical approach, analyzing sources offered by the press and international literature, we will examine the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994, where about one million people lost their lives in only 100 days. This case study is still particularly interesting today as an example of a timeless conflict, or rather of a 'forgotten (ethnic) war’

This expression refers to those conflicts that have profoundly marked humanity but have not received enough attention from the mass media. This is often the case for economic reasons, intrinsic to the information economy, as well as cultural issues and, to some extent, also because of the dependence of the media on the agenda dictated by politicians, who often choose to promote conflicts when there are special interests at stake.

Digital technologies have, however, partially limited the effects of this “forgetting.” Interconnection and digitization processes can sometimes transform the violent past into public memory, into pieces of shared history, so that the same mistakes are never made again.

The authors try to define a new aspect of the post-soviet space that arise with the war in Ukraine. Starting from a historical analysis, they consider the question of the concept of the security state and its role within new international dynamics, the new globalization, the transformation of the world via social-media and the new possible peace perspectives in the 21st century.

The issue of leadership is one of the most topical. The focus of the research is on identifying the characteristics a person must possess to be a leader, where the term indicates anyone who has a role in coordinating and guiding a group of people. In a globalised world in which production processes are carried out by teams of people, the possibility of identifying people with leadership skills or, better still, of training people to be leaders acquires fundamental importance. The article attempts to identify the intellectual, personality, emotional and relational characteristics of a leader and suggest ways to 'educate' for leadership, highlighting the centrality of psychology in the study, identification and enhancement of these characteristics.

Socio-economic, political, cultural transformations in Kazakhstan place great demands on each person, his knowledge, personal qualities, social skills. In this sense, what we want to highlight is the fact that the role and value of the modern educational system is growing, in which human capital becomes important as it is a criterion for the level of social development, also measuring the standard of living of society. Therefore, in such conditions, the essence of the concept of educational leadership proves its effectiveness.

In this regard, the relevance of the above concept is emphasized by the practical value of the accumulated experience of highly developed foreign countries in ensuring high-quality education, focused primarily on the development of leadership qualities of students / teachers / managers, the introduction of innovative ideas into educational practice. The paper is aimed at developing and modernizing curricula for professional development and teacher training in Mongolia, Kazakhstan in order to expand the competencies of target groups in the field of leadership. The results of the project include an interdisciplinary modular program for the master's degree level, which combines pedagogical, sociological, psychological, legal, economic and managerial elements, and a professional development program “Teachers-leaders”.