Expression of academic freedom in society and academic community

The aim of the present article is to discuss and disclose the conception of academic freedom, its expression in various universities around the world. The problem analysed is what is the relation of academic freedom with society and inside the academic community addressing the challenges of the 21st century. The aim of the article is to disclose the relationship of academic freedom, as the basic value of higher education and society as well as academic community based on the experience of other countries around the world. The work is based on the following conceptual approaches: conception of liberal higher education; conception of democratic higher education. The research methods used: theoretical – analysis of academic literature, international and Lithuanian documents, interpretation, evaluation and generalisation with the aim of disclosing the characteristic features of academic freedom, its expression based on the experience of other countries around the world. It should be stressed that there is no established appropriate and comprehensive definition of academic freedom, that is why in the present article, based on the scholarly observations, academic freedom is considered to be the foundation of activity of the university, part of its mission, paving the way for its professors, scholars, students to advance science and constructively criticise society. It should be emphasized that there is a need for institutional autonomy in order to ensure freedom of academic communityVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŠvietimo akademij