A Maqasid-Based Conceptual Framework for Educational Governance: Toward a Normative Model for Institutional Legitimacy in Education

Abstract

Educational governance has emerged as a central framework for improving institutional performance, accountability, transparency, and stakeholder participation in educational institutions. However, existing scholarship has largely approached educational governance from organizational, managerial, and policy-oriented perspectives, with limited attention to the underlying normative foundations that give governance principles their ethical and institutional legitimacy. Consequently, a theoretical gap remains regarding the conceptual relationship between contemporary Maqasid-based thought and the foundational principles of educational governance. This study aims to develop a Maqasid-based conceptual framework for educational governance by examining how governance principles can be interpreted through higher purposive foundations derived from contemporary Maqasid theory. To achieve this objective, the study employs an analytical and conceptual approach, drawing on the literature of educational governance and contemporary Maqasid scholarship. The analysis identifies five overarching Maqasid-based foundations relevant to educational governance: justice, human dignity, responsibility, public interest, and civilizational development and sustainability. The study further argues that these foundations do not translate directly into governance principles; rather, they operate through a set of intermediary institutional values, including equity, trust, empowerment, ethical accountability, institutional prudence, and continuous improvement. The study proposes a three-level conceptual framework linking Maqasid foundations, institutional values, and educational governance principles. Within this framework, transparency, participation, accountability, efficiency, and sustainability are understood as institutional manifestations of deeper normative foundations rather than merely procedural governance mechanisms. The study’s principal theoretical contribution lies in proposing a conceptual pathway that explains how governance principles derive their normative legitimacy from higher Maqasid-based foundations through intermediary institutional values. By doing so, the study contributes to bridging the gap between educational governance scholarship and contemporary Maqasid thought and offers a value-oriented perspective for understanding governance in educational institutions