Ethical leadership and diversity: leadership practices for the educational inclusion of vulnerable groups in Slovakia

The war in Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022, continues to occupy public opinion with undiminished interest while causing catastrophic consequences in many areas of human life. The education system is an important link in the social chain that influences and is influenced by others, as an open dynamic system. Slovakia became a member state of the European Union in 2004, 11 years after its peaceful separation from the former Czechoslovakia in 1993. In the existing literature, there is a research gap that relates the historical past of the country to current political developments in the context of creating inclusive education pedagogical practices. Hence, the purpose of this research is to present and analyze the implementation of educational actions in the general framework of ethical leadership for the management of diversity in Slovakia. The qualitative method was used to collect the data with the tool of semi-structured interviews. The study group is made up of nine (9) school leaders. The findings of this study confirm the presence of a large number of students from foreign countries, especially from Ukraine and the different attitudes of school leaders on issues of approaching diversity in a bureaucratic system of education administration.