A Philosophical Discourse on the Systemic Category of “Holistic Integrity” in Education Management

Within systemic and integrative approaches, the category of holistic integrity in the governance of contemporary education in Ukraine is examined at the theoretical and methodological level. The fundamental interrelationships of holistic integrity in governance are identified from systemic and synergetic perspectives. The managerial priorities for developing university holistic integrity are outlined with due consideration of transformational changes under martial law and in the context of post-war reconstruction. Drawing on the resources and experience of relocated educational institutions operating in territories under the control of the Ukrainian government, new organizational and managerial forms (nooforms) have been explored to strengthen the resilience characteristics of institutional holistic integrity. These include preserving academic staff and student populations; consolidating institutions with similar educational profiles; providing accreditation-related incentives; fostering proactive management; establishing secure information platforms; developing “underground schools”; and creating organizational and legal frameworks for implementing the “school without walls” concept. An important aspect of preserving the holistic integrity of an educational institution is organizational management aimed at countering occupation-created “clones” of schools and universities. To strengthen institutional integrity, foster the unity of educational institutions, and ensure sustained support from local authorities in host communities, Community Hubs are being established. An original governance model has been developed and implemented as a four-circuit, synergetic cluster-integrative system designed to ensure the educational institution’s state of antifragility. This foresight-based technology enables an institution to anticipate potential risks and develop adequate responses to challenges that have not yet emerged. The key positions of pragmatic scientific and managerial discourse concerning state policy aimed at safeguarding the holistic integrity of the national education system have been reconstructed.