DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS’ ETHICS THROUGH BUDDHIST PRINCIPLES IN THE AI ERA

Abstract

The 21st-century educational landscape is undergoing a historic transformation driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), which presents both immense potential for enhancing school administration efficiency and, simultaneously, profound and complex ethical challenges. School administrators, in their role as ethical leaders, must therefore confront critical issues in the dimensions of student data security and privacy, algorithmic bias that may exacerbate educational inequity, and the risk of diminishing human interaction and humanistic values. This article, therefore, aims to propose a framework for developing school administrator ethics by applying Buddhist Dhamma principles to serve as a guiding tool and an intellectual operating system for navigating the digital ethics crisis. This framework is synthesized from three key principles: 1) Yoniso Manasikara (wise reflection) as a process of critical, causal analysis for assessing and implementing AI with awareness; 2) Brahma Vihara 4 (the Four Divine Abodes: Metta, Karuna, Mudita, Upekkha) to serve as a moral compass for governing AI policies, ensuring they are grounded in goodwill towards learners and just neutrality; and 3) Sappurisa Dhamma 7 (seven qualities of a good person) as a practical guide for administrators to "know the cause, know the effect, know oneself, and know moderation" in implementing technology with balance. The article proposes a three-step development process: 1) The Awareness stage (applying Yoniso Manasikara), 2) The Policy stage (applying Brahma Vihara 4), and 3) The Implementation stage (applying Sappurisa Dhamma 7), which can create a sustainable balance between technological innovation and humanistic values.