The text presents a weighty problem of the authority in pre-school education, which as an element of educational practice plays a decisive role in the process of generating cultural awareness of the child. The direct subject of the analysis are fragments of teacher-student dialogues that focus on the problem of authority; its practical exemplification is St. Francis (also the patron of the kindergarten in which the research was carried out). The teacher is participation in the process of transmitting knowledge about authority and in creating an emotional relationship between authority and student is particularly interesting. The problem of authority, which was essential for the article, turned out to be important for recognizing the importance of the so-called pedagogy of authority within which the child’s identity is at stake. In this sense, the article is a contribution to the discussion on the construction of the child’s subjectivity in the institutional context.

Biographers usually focus on the analysis of a person’s life fortunes. According to recognised sociologists, philosophers and scientists – experts on history psychology, rarely do they analyse a selected aspect of interpersonal relations based on available historical resources. What was the essence of the bond between Piłsudski and his close companions? What was characteristic for those relations and what were their determining aspects in various periods of Piłsudski’s activity? Those are the questions that are being answered in this article. The author undertakes to reconstruct the evolution of relations between Józef Piłsudski and his companions based on numerous memoirs by his associates. His assets in competition for the leadership position, his features of character and even physical appearance are being analyzed. Objective factors, like war success, which helped him reach for authoritarian rules in Poland are pointed out. Some important questions are being answered: Who were the people that recognized his authority? Who was able to oppose him? A strong sense of historic mission to rebuild the country within Piłsudski’s circle, originating from common values shaped by national culture, has been pointed out. It is characteristic that despite the changes Piłsudski’s relations underwent, they consistently preserved the commanding character between the leader and his agents. These were formed by numerous factors, but undoubtedly the strong will of Piłsudski remained crucial. He was extremely successful in consistent building relations based on his own authority, which still resonates among his countrymen.