THE POWER OF EMPATHY IN THE WORK OF HEADS OF GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the first stage’s results of the study of general secondary education institution head’s managerial competence in Ukraine: to present a profile of administrative competence generated on the basis of empirical data; to confirm the need for the development of empathy as an important competence of leaders in the educational field; to analyze the empathy formation among the heads of general secondary education institutions in Kyiv.

The article presents an indicative profile of managerial competence of a manager defined by the authors. The structure of the profile includes 5 main competencies - key professional abilities: developmental orientation, emotional intelligence, cooperation, ability to create a safe environment, organizational ability.

These competencies are manifested in the activity and are formed on the basis of relevant competencies – personal qualities of a manager, the development of which is the key to his professional success. The study presented in the article confirmed that empathy is a basic mental property for forming basic competences of educational institutions' managers.

The study was conducted in 2019/2020, experimental sampling consisted of 105 educational leaders from 10 schools in Kyiv. The average age of participants is 36-45 years old; women – 89%, men – 11%. All surveyed have high education and work experience in secondary educational institutions for at least 5 years.

Scientific novelty is represented by the results of psychological diagnostics of empathy potential, the level of development and individual characteristics of empathy in respondents; as well as the conclusions about the possibility of purposeful development of empathy in heads of educational institutions.