HUMANISTIC FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE AGE OF DIGITALIZATION: PERSONAL DIGNITY AND FREEDOM, NATURAL LAW, AND UNIVERSITY RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

This article examines the development of university education in the age of digitalization as a humanistic issue concerned with preserving personal dignity, academic freedom, knowledge in the humanities, and the university’s responsibility to society. The study is motivated by the observation that digital and organizational changes in higher education are often described in terms of efficiency and competencies, while the value foundations of educational policy remain insufficiently explored. The aim of the article is to substantiate a value-based humanistic model for the development of university education in which professional training is aligned with the natural law tradition, Jacques Maritain’s integral humanism, and the personalist understanding of the human person. The study employed a qualitative expert survey with a ranking component and involved 30 experts holding mid-level administrative positions at Russian universities. Agreement among the assessments was evaluated using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. The findings showed that experts primarily associate educational development with respect for the individual, preservation of the humanities core, responsible freedom, historical understanding, the ethical regulation of digitalization, and specific institutional decisions within universities. The study also found that management practices become meaningful only when they translate values into procedures for feedback, transparent assessment, and support for student agency. The contemporary university must combine technological renewal with the development of morally mature and socially responsible individuals amid global change.