Integrity in the practices of educational life-creation

Abstract

The article is dedicated to elucidating the role of education in shaping a culture of integrity. Integrity, as a fundamental virtue of human existence, constitutes the value-normative framework of meaningful life-activity within various life-styles, serving as the foundation of the “art of living” as an ideal model within the practices of educational life-creation. Based on the thesis that academic integrity – when understood in the context of spiritual production – is a key indicator of the moral quality of society itself, the article emphasizes the identification of manifestations of non-integrity within the educational environment. By addressing typical forms of academic misconduct, the article seeks to uncover the latent motives that drive young scholars toward plagiarism, falsification, and fabrication of research outcomes. It is demonstrated that effectively countering such manifestations within educational life-creation cannot rely solely on reinforcing external regulatory mechanisms or control over adherence to integrity codes. Instead, the primary focus should be placed on cultivating an internalized imperative to be honest and virtuous—both among agents and recipients of educational activity. In this context, the experience of self-cultivation of the “noble person,” as conceptually defined and practically implemented by Hryhorii Skovoroda in the practices of his own life-creation, is examined. This allows for a more precise delineation of the historical-national specificity and cultural parameters that have shaped the culture of integrity in the retrospective context of Ukrainian society. It is our hope that an attentive engagement with the historical experience of cultivating a culture of integrity will not only reveal the pathological representations of the “successful” scholar figure in the contemporary academic landscape, but also contribute to the development of an effective mechanism for the spiritual renewal of Ukrainian society. Expanding the horizon of this problem requires emphasizing the global implications of educational integrity for the image of Ukrainian education and science. Therefore, the article advocates for the necessity of a deliberate humanitarian policy aimed at fostering a culture of integrity across all levels of societal existence. The role of education is substantiated as a space of life-creation, in which knowledge fulfills not only an instrumental but also a form-generative function.