Conceptual principles of educational management: evolution of approaches and their impact on the competitiveness of the educational system

This article presents a theoretical and conceptual analysis of the evolution of approaches to educational management and examines their impact on the educational system’s competitiveness amid contemporary socioeconomic transformations. The study is relevant because education plays an increasingly strategic role in developing human capital, the innovation economy, and the knowledge society, and because educational systems must adapt to globalization, digitalization, demographic change, and growing competition for intellectual resources. The transformation of education management reflects the broader evolution of management paradigms and is accompanied by a shift from centralized administrative models to more flexible, open, and strategically oriented forms of management. It is shown that throughout its historical development, education management has undergone significant changes—from administrative-hierarchical models focused on state regulation and control to managerial approaches, the concept of public governance, and network-strategic management, which take into account the complexity of the modern educational environment and the need for interaction between the state, educational institutions, business, and civil society. The study systematizes the main management approaches to education, identifies their key characteristics, management tools, and areas of influence on the competitiveness of the education system. The study shows that administrative-hierarchical and managerial models ensure stable system functioning, improve resource efficiency, and enable performance monitoring; however, they do not create sustainable competitive advantages in the long term. The study identifies the strengths and limitations of each management model and finds that the most effective approach combines their tools, depending on the educational system’s level of development and the characteristics of the socio-economic environment.