CULTURE OF OPEN DIALOGUE AND PLURALISM AS A PRINCIPLE OF A MODERN UNIVERSITY: A PATH TOWARDS THE DEMOCRATISATION OF EDUCATION

Abstract

A modern university is a space in which knowledge becomes public, and the educational process unfolds as a joint endeavor to create epistemic constants of the intellectual environment. The focus of the study is on the culture of open dialogue and pluralism as a fundamental principle of the existence of a university community. Dialogue in this context goes far beyond the boundaries of pedagogical techniques or communicative skills and appears as a philosophical concept, a condition for understanding, meaning-making, and the formation of civic subjectivity. The article reveals how dialogicity and recognition of the plurality of perspectives form a path to the democratization of education. Particular attention is paid to the conflict between the potential for genuine dialogue and the widespread practices of interpassivity, when the voice of participants in the educational process is heard outside the boundaries of constructive interaction. The institutional conditions necessary for the implementation of a culture of dialogue are outlined: academic freedom, transparency of procedures, integrity, etc. A university that cultivates these principles fulfills its deep mission, namely, becoming a place where freedom of thought becomes a form of communal life, and education forms both specialists and conscious citizens capable of supporting a democratic way of coexistence amidst differences.