The aim of the article is to present a strategy of the educational use of art in primary school grades 1–3. The strategy is being implemented in the form of a pedagogical innovation in a school in the Silesian province. It is based on joint perception of a work of visual art and musical material as well as artistic and kinaesthetic creative activity evoked by this perception. The text includes a presentation of individualising pilot experimental studies of a selected case.

Jednym z wielu obrazów współczesności jest wzajemne funkcjonowanie osób reprezentujących odmienne kultury, narodowość, rasę czy religię. To sprawia, że w poszczególnych społecznościach pojawia się szereg nieporozumień czy konfliktów, powodowanych brakiem wiedzy o wzajemnej kulturze. Rysująca się coraz powszechniej odmienność we współczesnych społeczeństwach generując wielorakie obawy i lęk uniemożliwia zachowanie poczucia bezpieczeństwa. Tymczasem odmienność/różnorodność kulturowa, etniczna, narodowa winna być postrzegana jako wspólne dobro służące budującym się wspólnotom. Tym samym ujawnia się brak świadomości, że odmienność kulturowa to wartość, swoiste bogactwo warunkujące szerokie możliwości holistycznego rozwoju, a nie zagrożenie tożsamości czy wolności. By stan taki osiągną potrzeba świadomości i wiedzy. Niniejszy tekst jest zatem próbą zainteresowania społeczeństwa przedmiotowym zagadnieniem, które można oswoić i rozwinąć dzięki edukacji międzykulturowej, która może przybrać różne formy edukacji, także poprzez poszczególne dziedziny sztuki, takie jak teatr czy film. Wspomniane dziedziny sztuki stanowią nie tylko pole edukacji, poznania różnorodności, ale są narzędziem kształtowania postaw, zainteresowań, wyrażania emocji czy modelowania sposobu myślenia o odmienności. Propozycje konkretnych (wybranych) spektakli czy filmów, oparto zasadniczo na pełnym przekonaniu, że sztuka stanowi nie tylko wartość autoteliczną, artystyczną, ale jest narzędziem formującym kierunek myślenia w określonym zakresie.

Corrida the toros is considered a symbol of Spain. Corrida as a spectacle similar to a theatre spectacle is subject to rules. All elements of the spectacle, stages as well as tools used during corrida fall under strict rules, the same applies to the costumes worn by “actors” taking part in the corrida. Traje de luces – a lucent costume, which next to the bull itself is regarded as the most recognisable symbol of corrida. Matador’s outfit is considered as a piece of art by ones, others will see it as a ostentatious costume. What is it in reality? The answer to this question is not easy and obvious. The delicate handwork and fivestar materials position the costume of the matador as a work of art; however, garish colouring and exaggerated embellishments seem rather gaudy. Traje de luces should be always considered in a wider context, because only in that case its symbolism and meaning can be actually interpreted. Outside the corrida de toros the bright costume of the matador is only a colourful outfit, however in its natural environment, that is on the arena, it gains a completely different meaning. In this article, I will introduce various points of view on the topic.

My paper deals with the significance of introducing the cultural component in foreign language teaching as well as the necessity of developing young people’s sensitivity to culture, especially to art and literature. In the article, the basic definitions and relevant terms connected with culture are discussed, according to the current status of glottodidactic knowledge. The question of how and to what extent should the cultural component be introduced in the school is also raised. Moreover, the aims of teaching cultural elements as well as their role and importance in foreign language learning are presented. In the final part of the text I describe an example of a practical pedagogical application of the cultural component, which can be used during English classes. This crosscultural studies project consists of three lessons, focused on a chosen aspect of British culture, namely the creation of two representatives of the 18thcentury art and literature. The presentation of this project supports the thesis that the combination of teaching language together with cultural elements is possible. It also serves as an example of how to achieve this aim and, simultaneously, how to make lessons both educational and untypical, which means more entertaining for the students. All in all, the aim of the article is to emphasise the need for aesthetic education as well as to raise teachers’ and educators’ awareness of the aforementioned problem.

The image of the modern school in the artistic view of selected fields of art. Selected aspects

The school institution has always been subject to social criticism. The negative image of the school was not always fully justified and true. It happened that the words of criticism contributed to the improvement of school’s image. The school is one of the most important social institutions, it is therefore essential that its assessment be objective and the difficulties encountered / shortcomings have become an impulse for discussion, dialogue, and then for correction and supplementation. This text is an attempt to indicate the role of the art that presents selected areas of the functioning of the school. In the text, I refer to historical examples of art involvement in the educational and upbringing process at school, thus trying to signal that art was already an important element of education in the past. It was creating the image of the school. Today we can notice a similar practice. On the one hand, the presence of art in school creates its image, and on the other hand, art that works outside also creates its image. In the text, I present a number of examples of how school is perceived in an artistic image of fine arts, film and theater.

The category of visualisation in literary studies – the interdisciplinary aspect

The concept of “visuality” describes the image of the channels of perception presented in different forms. The text has visual features, due to the content, but also due to its symbolic, sign system. Philologists have been dwelling on the idea of the “visual” ability of a language, by means of fiction, which singles out the existence of pictorial art forms such as landscape, portrait and sculpture. The great interest in the category of visualization is said to be because of modern types of communication. The aim of this article is to review some aspects of the category of visualization, in its current state and its representation in the art of the modernist’s era. The category of visualization covers a wide range of concepts, such as creolized texts, some semiotic studies, intermedialism, iconic texts, the theory of ekphrasis and hypotyposis. It was established that the “escalation” of the image role has led to the need to highlight the concept of “visuality” within modern linguistics. Visual thinking is interpreted as a kind of non-classical rationality. At the moment, philologists know a wide range of concepts that include the term “visual”. For example: visual culturology, visual political science, visual sociology, visual anthropology, the theory of visual communications. We found out, that the modernist era, puts emphasis on the elusiveness, the mystery, the enigma and on the undeciphered inner, so that the hidden meaning was increased. It was believed that all references suitable for perception by the human eye are codes that hide an eternally existing idea. Such a visual presentation allows the recipient to understand the essence of the work on an intuitive level. Symbolism was an integral part of modernism. For optimal study of visualsm, a hypothetical-deductive method was used to get acquainted with the existing materials at this stage of development. Modernism is a set of artistic trends in the art of the second half of the nineteenth – mid-twentieth century. Its supporters were inclined to believe that life forms in the twentieth century exhausted themselves, and the periods that were considered successful for realism were in fact epochs of decline. The new literary phenomenon of the time was called modernism, and the search for positive ideal images began, in contrast to the destruction of public opinion and the crisis that appeared in the place of past ideas. Modernism has destroyed all ties with traditional aesthetics and the ideals of the past. At the same time, the visual aspect of modernism became a mixture of two oppositions the visual and the written text.

Tunnel to the Third Power – art-based research in the practice of higher education

The article presents the artistic-educational-research project Tunnel to the Third Power, implemented by two communities related to artistic and educational spaces: a group of students of Artistic Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Warsaw, who are prepared to work as art educators, and the second group: the students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. The methodological basis of the implemented activities was art-based research. The theoretical basis of the project was the art-as-pedagogy of Clair Bishop and the widely commented educational turn in contemporary art. The artistic basis was the project of the artist Piotr Grabowski Tunnel. The importance of mankind for the future. The article discusses the assumptions of the project, its implementation and research conclusions. The student project was also shown as an example of using art-based research in the practice of higher education.

Taming the Other by theatre – the case of the project “NIEW(INNY)”

The aim of the article is to show the potential of theatrical art in intercultural education, and more specifically in the process of taming the broadly understood Otherness. The first part of the study presents the conceptual categories: the Other and the Stranger in the perspective of intercultural education. The intercultural intentions of art are also characterized, with particular focus on theatre and emphasizing the role of theatre activities in developing attitudes of tolerance towards cultural diversity. The most important features of theatre allowing for the recognition of theatre as an effective and attractive tool for intercultural education were indicated. The second part of the study is related to educational practice, as it is a record of an original theatre project addressed to primary school students, aimed at sensitizing to cultural differences. As part of the project, a spectacle dealing with the issues of various dimensions of Strangeness / Otherness (biological, economic, cultural, geophysical, mental) was realized, emphasizing their relativity and contextuality. There were also theatrical and intercultural workshops referring to the performance and to developing the attitude of tolerance with the use of such theatrical techniques as: movement games, drama, theatre improvisation, voice games with theatrical intention.