BUDDHIST INTEGRATED EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP : THE SYNTHESIS OF DHAMMA PRINCIPLES TOWARD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This academic article aims to analyze the concept of Buddhist-integrated educational leadership within the context of contemporary society, in which education faces rapid and multidimensional transformation across social, economic, technological, and cultural dimensions. The article raises a central question: whether leadership frameworks that focus exclusively on systemic efficiency and quantitative achievement are genuinely capable of responding to the goals of human development and educational sustainability. Drawing on Buddhist Dhamma principles in conjunction with modern educational administration theory, the article synthesizes an ethical conceptual framework oriented toward the holistic development of educational leaders across behavioral, psychological, and intellectual dimensions. The research methodology employs documentary research, through which data drawn from the Tipiṭaka, Buddhist canonical texts, and contemporary academic scholarship on leadership and educational administration are analyzed and synthesized, with the aim of generating deeper understanding of the roles and characteristics of educational leaders within the current Thai societal context.

The article demonstrates that Buddhist-integrated educational leadership constitutes a paradigm capable of addressing the limitations inherent in efficiency-oriented leadership frameworks, by developing leaders who achieve a genuine balance between administrative competency and inner virtue. This is realized through the integration of key Buddhist principles, namely the Four Sublime States (Brahmavihāra), the Four Bases of Social Solidarity (Saṅgahavatthu), the Three Qualities of a Good Merchant (Pāpaṇikadhamma), and the Six Principles of Harmonious Co-existence (Sārāṇīyadhamma), which collectively cultivate compassion, responsibility, justice, unity, and mindful and wise decision-making. These principles are applicable comprehensively across all dimensions of school administration, fostering a working environment conducive to learning, collaboration, and the wellbeing of both personnel and students. The article proposes that Buddhist-integrated educational leadership holds academic value in expanding leadership frameworks to encompass the ethical and human development dimensions, as well as practical value in providing a developmental pathway for educational administrators to lead their institutions toward long-term stability, strength, and sustainability.