Scientific paradigm changes are frequently accompanied by the reconsideration of central terms and ideas. This article demonstrates how this process is currently underway in Russian anthropological studies [narodovedenie] as part of a broader move away from ethnography to theoretical ethnology. The article also shows lines of succession and divergence between various paradigms currently dominant in Russian anthropology, including primordialism and constructivism, and presents the author’s vision of a definition of “ethnicity”, instruments needed to study ethnicities, the nature of “ethnicity,” the underlying axioms on which ethnicities are conceptualized. An initial attempt has been made in the article to outline the central positions that would provide for a principally new ethnological paradigm by way of a new definition of the phenomenon of ethnicity.

Scientific paradigm changes are frequently accompanied by the reconsideration of central terms and ideas. This article demonstrates how this process is currently underway in Russian anthropological studies [narodovedenie] as part of a broader move away from ethnography to theoretical ethnology. The article also shows lines of succession and divergence between various paradigms currently dominant in Russian anthropology, including primordialism and constructivism, and presents the author’s vision of a definition of “ethnicity”, instruments needed to study ethnicities, the nature of “ethnicity,” the underlying axioms on which ethnicities are conceptualized. An initial attempt has been made in the article to outline the central positions that would provide for a principally new ethnological paradigm by way of a new definition of the phenomenon of ethnicity.

The article serves as a summary of one of the parts of the research carried out under the NP-2550 grant in the Department of Education and Media in Education of the Faculty of Pedagogical Sciences at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The presented analyses concern the application of modern educational tools in the process of education. The work includes a discussion of the frequency, as well as ways, of using ICT devices by early education teachers. It shows the relationship between the presence of modern computer tools in the teaching process and the constructive-cognitive character of activities undertaken in the classroom. The research referred to was carried out among 148 teachers in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province. The analyses presented to the reader are mainly based on the quantitative data obtained on the basis of: knowledge and skills tests, observation, as well as surveys. The research material was supplemented with qualitative data obtained through the conducted interviews.

Theoretical framework within which this paper is set is the conception of teachers’ epistemological beliefs. The author’s attention is focused on the classification of teachers’ beliefs in the realistic, contextual and relativistic approach. The question that permeates this study is whether the teacher’s beliefs are consistent with their work in practice. A questionnaire was made for the purpose of the research and the sample encompasses 420 teachers in Serbia. Results show that the subjects mostly estimate that they belong to a constructivist profile. However, their answers indicate that their acting is different from their self-assessment. Research findings imply a need for an awakening of teachers with regards to personal epistemologies.

Linguistic pictures of world and its existence

The linguistic image of the world, as a fundamental concept of contemporary cognitive linguistics, has been the subject of numerous material and theoretical studies. This resulted in a multiplicity of its definitions, which the author of this article analyzed in terms of ontological points present in them. From the point of view of kantianism and constructivism, he tries to engage in a debate with supporters of philosophical and semantic realism who perceive the linguistic image of the world as the property of an objectively existing society.

Overcoming difficulties in subject identification in the Italian language

Identifying the subject in a sentence, especially if the subject is not obvious, is difficult for secondary-school students. The apparent simplicity of this topic might cause one to consider it lightly; however, it should be considered generative for textual comprehension, for the production of cohesive and coherent texts, and for moving from parataxis to hypotaxis. Traditional grammar equates the syntactic notion of subject with the semantic notion of agent and with the communicative notion of topic, giving rise to possible misunderstandings.
The present article offers a proposal that allows one to solve any ambiguity, developing a trajectory with two phases. Firstly, by using a functional criterion within the language (i.e., going from the singular to the plural of the sentence terms), students can correctly identify the subject. Secondly, through a semantic analysis carried out in competence-heterogeneous groups, students inductively comprehend the complexity of the function of “subject”, thereby linking the semantic criterion with the syntactic one.
This analysis, only initially teacher-led, fosters learning by discovery, which brings students to an active, inclusively realised construction of knowledge, and it allows each student to work within their zone of proximal development. This method overcomes traditional “normative” grammar and enhances the student’s centrality: students are not given a ready-made description, but, rather, they are encouraged to build one by actively acting upon on the language.

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELECTED THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The aim of the article is to point out differences between theories of the IR (International Relations) in the process of explanation of the institutionalization of international relations. Selected theories of the International Relations were chosen that belong to the rationalist and constructivist paradigm in the International Relations studies.
Since the 80s, institutionalization has been a matter of reflection of researchers. This follows from the dynamics and specificity of the contemporary international relations – quantitative growth of various forms of international institutions (international organizations, regimes, norms, or transnational actors). They start to play an increasingly important role. It is assumed that such institutions have an impact on the behavior of states in the international system. This raises the question of how to study that influence. The answer to that question is different depending on the theoretical perspective used for analyses.

What is referred to are the results of nationwide quantitative and qualitative studies conducted in several academic environments. The research constitutes the background against which the condition (the current health, inner intellectual and professional situation) of future teachers is shown as well as the determinants of their preparation for work in multicultural conditions. An authored multisided model of teachers’ education has been also presented. The research approach and interpretation of results have been subordinated mainly to social developmental psychology, the idea of constructivist understanding of individual and social development and intercultural education. In applying the constructivist approach, incorporated into pedagogy from other disciplines, the author’s proposal can be seen referring to constructivism with the aim of understanding experiences of adults. It should be emphasized that in the pedagogical literature this mainly concerns the knowledge of small children. The presented study provides a lot of new information and opens new prospects of further research on the border of intercultural education and general pedagogy, pedeutology, several sub-disciplines of psychology and sociology, as well as of other fields of broadly understood humanities, which can enhance the development of intercultural pedagogy.

The article is a summary of one part of the research conducted in the Department of Didactics and Media in Education, regarding the use of tablets in the teaching process. The paper provides an overview of the frequency of use, as well as ways of using the tools by students of the humanities. It presents the relationship between the presence of tablets in the teaching process and the cognitive-constructivist nature of acting. The presented study was carried out among 396 students of the humanities. The study used diagnostic survey methods, as well as the pedagogical crossover experiment.

Europeanisation is a process, but theory of Europeanisation is a theory of impact and influence configured as a feedback between the EU and its member states, as well as international organisations, third states, and furthermore, between the EU and persons (both citizens of the EU and the citizens of the states outside of the EU). In researching the impact of European integration (and the EU itself) on specific persons, one should note that, for instance, Europeanisation of the Council of the EU officials is neither top- -down nor bottom-up Europeanisation, nor is it ad extra or ad intra one. The purpose of this article is to sequentially examine only one type of Europeanisation, namely ad personam (EAP), with the use of tools applied in constructivism. The study of ad personam Europeanisation is conducted here on the example of the Council of the European Union (CEU) officials.

The purpose of the article is to demonstrate that ideas can be treated as a factor explaining political stability and change. Based on the completed analytical tasks, it has been found that ideas have their own dynamics and therefore they deliver unique effects, influencing change or stability of policies. The article demonstrates that the impact ideas have on the political process depends on the understanding of human behaviour in the field of politics. The article reviews the ideational dimension with reference to behaviours covered by the rational choice theory, by historical, sociological and discoursive institutionalism and constructivism. As a result of the analytic tasks, certain differences have been revealed between the above mentioned approaches in terms of understanding the impact of ideas. What the approaches have in common is a close link between ideas and political actors. The article covers theoretical issues without considering methodology aspects. It is based on the outcomes of study projects carried out by authors recognized in the so-called school of ideas, formed in political science following the “ideational shift” during the 1990s and reflecting until the present day on the ideational dimension of politics.

The presented paper is based on extensive multivariate studies conducted in some academic centres of Poland which differ in location (the centre - the borderland) and socio-economic potential. What prevails in the theoretical sphere are references to studies in the area of social psychology of development and to the idea of constructivism. The research results provide a lot of information on teacher education. On the basis of the conducted diagnoses, four dimensions of learning are indicated by the author (identity of the professional role, experiences in relations with the Other, practice, social participation) as well as the process of cogeneration. This constitutes a thought provoking material, which encourages changes in contents and methods (in the current model) of training teachers. Such an approach to teacher education seems appropriate and needed, in compliance with the critical-creative view on educational reality and striving for positive solutions to social (thus also educational) problems. The study enriches knowledge in the field of pedeutology, intercultural education, and some other areas of pedagogy (as a scientific discipline) and education (as a space of social life).

Richard Rorty postulates that we relinquish relying on the “Platonic” idea of something common to us all, something uniting us with others, and cease the search for both universal justifications and truths. Rorty fears, and backs his fears with examples from history, that referring to something uniting us may serve those who shall state that there is some right, true model of living, of collective cooperation, and that only one form of social and political organization is right for us. Because if there is a truth about human beings, about relations with others, then in accordance with the traditional way of thinking, we should act on it, and any opposing action, freethinking, should not take place. Each and every human being should act according to fixed – uncovered – standards, and those who disobey should be directed onto the right path. In short, one of Rorty’s firm beliefs is that the idea of human being, of truth, particular perspectives determine our choices – perhaps this is how Rorty’s intuition may be expressed within one sentence. But is such an opinion justified? In the hereby article I shall say it is not; whether we are universalists or constructivists, our choices may be of the same kind. At the same time, having the same metaphysical or constructivist beliefs, we may arrive at quite different choices.

This paper describes the concept of the praxial philosophy of musical education by David J. Elliott. Worldwide applications of this concept are becoming increasingly apparent. It challenges the traditionally understood education through art that draws on aesthetic fundamentals. The author makes an explication of the category of competence in the praxial concept of musical education. She is inspired by the idea of the reconstructive cultural competence of a subject proposed by A. Męczkowska.

Traditional education in the United States has been largely influenced by the Industrial Revolution. Educational technology helped prepare students for the industry. The modern information technology revolution has created a need for a different type of education, one that helps the student acquire the skills to process and use information to solve problems. One approach to education that does this is constructivism, an approach to education that helps students learn the structure of knowledge. Exemplary use of educational technology can be used to accomplish this goal. Exemplary lessons stimulate higher-order thinking to solve problems. Examples are provided that demonstrate this.

Textbook sets should be designed according to the constructivist theory of learning and teaching on which the curriculum for the environmental studies subject in the Republic of Slovenia was built. With the empirical research we wanted to establish how teachers evaluate the representation of some constructivist elements in the selected textbook sets for the environmental studies subject. We collected the data on a non-accidental pattern of teachers (n=63) that were teaching the third grade in the primary school. With our research we established that in the teachers’ opinion there are differences among the textbook sets regarding the consideration of the selected constructivist elements: stimulation of pupils’ independence, guidance into more active forms and methods of work, and mainly representation of the activity of pupils, which should develop their skills and abilities.