The paper aims to provide an overview of the main streams of perception of Israeli and Palestinian national identities by Polish authorities and society, as well as analyze their sources. The study covers the period of time when both of the national identities took shape, that is since the beginning of the mass Jewish migration to Palestine at the beginning of the XXth century until the present time. As the Jews have for a long time been an important part of Polish history and society, Poles have a strong perception of Jewish, and consequently also Israeli, identity. Polish Jews, who played a crucial role in establishing the Israeli state and shaping Israeli national identity, were treated by many Poles as “our Jews”. This perception was conditioned by internal factors, such as social relations, cultural proximity, historical memory or political views. In contrast, a  perception of the Palestinian identity from the very beginning was conditioned externally, because it resulted from international political developments and a narrative imposed by foreign powers. Another special feature of the Polish perception of Israeli and Palestinian identity is the fact that public opinion very often differs significantly from the political position of state authorities.

While searching for the ways of enhancing students’ educational efficiency, the authors set the framework for the issue from two perspectives-educational and emotional, stressing the existence of a strong interdependence between emotional and cognitive ones. The focus of study is students’ perception of educational processes, the emotional states they demonstrate and their interdependence. For the purpose of this research a battery of questionnaires was constructed and the results have shown that students’ emotional states greatly influence their perception of educational efficiency. Based on these results, the recommendation on modifying the management of educational processes is that students’ emotional states should not be excluded from the equation of a successful education. The factors that shape the emotional context of learning should be taken into account.

The aim of this paper is a short overview of the book of Evan Thompson Waking, Dreaming, Being. Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy, with some polemic remarks. Thompson presents an interesting approach to the problem of cognition, knowledge and self­knowledge the problems considered in philosophy, psychology, neurosciences, which if they interact create an interdisciplinary platform called “cognitive sciences”. However, Thompson proposes to bring on the debate within the field of a new discipline: contemplative neuroscience, for which he argues in the presented book. Using the methodology offered by this new kind of science he analyzes such phenomena as dream, perception, imagination, and even dying all of them in reference to the problem of what consciousness is.

Autyzm jest zaburzeniem neurorozwojowym, które manifestuje się w obszarach związanych między innymi z relacjami społecznymi, komunikacją werbalną i niewerbalną. W ciągu ostatnich dziesięciu lat liczne kampanie społeczne na całym świecie, także w regionie Półwyspu Arabskiego, podniosły ogólny poziom świadomości na temat tego zaburzenia zarówno wśród rodziców, jak i ekspertów. Jednakże tradycyjne wierzenia i przekonania pozostają nadal istotnymi czynnikami, które kształtują zachowania związane z profilaktyką prozdrowotną i nastawieniem do kwestii związanych z szeroko pojętym zdrowiem psychicznym. Niniejsze opracowanie omawia znaczenie tych czynników, a także religii, na percepcję zaburzeń ze spektrum autyzmu w regionie państw GCC (Rady Współpracy Zatoki).

Liberal or illiberal? Perception of Israeli democracy in the European Union

Liberal democracy perspective dominates the perception of actors and partners in the foreign relations of European Union. This stems from the declared fundamental values of the Union: respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. This also influences the judgment of Israel, who connected to the EU with cooperation but also criticised for its attitude towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Liberal democracies not only allow their citizens to exercise their right to vote but also guarantee a degree of protection from the state to all political life participants, maintain plurality, respect religious, ethnic and other minorities. Israel presents itself as a liberal democracy, therefore it seems important to verify if this view is shared by the European Union. The Union, member states and politicians in their documents or during the debates judge such aspects of Israeli politics as the occupation of West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, settlements in the occupied territories, policies towards minorities, non-government organizations, oftentimes taking a critical stance towards Israeli actions. This may indicate that, despite Israel being a close political and economical partner, it still does not comply with the fundamental values and leaves something to be desired.

The labour market in any field becomes more and more demanding and specialized, professional. For a more efficient absorption of graduates, the professional environment requires both advanced theoretical knowledge and practical abilities. During the study period, based on rational mechanisms, students form a perception related to the probability of finding an adequate job. In this article we model the constructed perceptions through Ordered Logit models. The application regards 88 students from two Romanian universities. The programme they are involved in is called “The Audit and Financial Management of European Funds”. The results obtained are in accordance with the logical mechanisms evidenced in the theoretical part. The explanatory variables that are statistically significant relate both to the scholarly results and to the student’s status on the labour market. The conclusions drawn are not limited only to the evaluated sample. They are easy to generalize, with necessary changes, to any university specialization.

In this paper, the authors consider theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence of the method of assessment and evaluation by using knowledge tests, which significantly influence the quality of acquired knowledge. The students’ opinions on how they perceive the effects of applying tests in the assessment of the acquired knowledge were examined. The sample consisted of 415 students of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad. The results indicate that in the structure of the perception of introducing tests as a method of students’ knowledge assessment, positive attitudes and students’ role affirmation in the process of knowledge acquisition slightly prevail.

This paper presents empirical research concerning Slovenian and Hungarian young learners’ (7–11 years of age) travel experiences, perceptions, and beliefs about their neighbouring countries (Austria, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia) and their citizens in order to enhance effective cross-border institutional cooperation. A non-random sample of young learners (n=200) from Slovenian and Hungarian primary schools in the border area participated in the study. The results highlight that young learners’ personal contacts with local people and travel events develop positive perceptions and understanding of their neighbouring national groups. Young learners also perceive socio-economic inequalities, however their knowledge of neighbouring languages is the key element in developing their awareness of and positive attitudes to cross-border cooperation.