COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCIES AS THE BASIS FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL MODELS OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The study analyzes the definitions of the concepts of “communicative competence,” “leader,” and “leadership” in domestic and foreign scientific discourse and provides their conceptual harmonization in the context of transformational models of educational leadership in higher education institutions. The relevance of the article is determined by the need to modernize management approaches in higher education institutions in the context of digitalization, globalization, and growing demands for the quality of educational services, which requires a new management culture based on partnership, trust, and strategic communication. It is noted that communication competencies are a system-forming factor of effective educational leadership, as they ensure the ability of management subjects to constructively interact, facilitate collective processes, manage conflicts, form a common vision of the institution’s development, and maintain a positive socio-psychological climate in the academic environment. It is substantiated that in the context of transformational changes, communication takes on an important character and goes beyond the exchange of information, becoming an instrument of change management and institutional development. In the course of the study, we tried to make the most of the potential of competence-based and systematic scientific approaches, which allowed us to consider communicative competences as an integrative characteristic of the personality of an educational leader and as a structural element of a holistic management system of higher education institutions. The study found that the development of the communicative potential of educational process participants is a necessary condition for the implementation of transformational models of educational leadership, improving management efficiency, and forming an innovative educational environment focused on the sustainability and competitiveness of higher education institutions.