Children’s literature plays a key role in the process of socialization. It is one of the crucial factors which help the young reader to understand the surrounding world, also in terms of what is one’s own and what is other, different. On the one hand, its task is reflecting the existing reality, on the other-shaping specific attitudes towards it, for example through strengthening existing stereotypes or calling them in question. In English-language literature on the subject one can find numerous analyses of both broadly understood intercultural literature and depictions of individual nationalities, cultures, and races. So far, Polish children’s literature has not attracted much scholarly attention in this respect. It might result from the fact that the Polish population is to a large extent a homogenous group as regards race and nationality. However, this state of affairs is gradually changing, as Poland starts to attract migrants from all over the world and national and ethnic minorities already inhabiting the country are being discovered. In this context, it seems particularly interesting to ask if and how these social changes have influenced Polish children’s literature of today. The goal of this paper is to outline the issue of cultural diversity, in particular the presence of the national and ethnic “other” in the newest Polish children’s literature, according to criteria developed on the basis of Short, Lynch-Brown and Tomlinson’s guidelines (2014). The paper is also an attempt at determining to what extent Polish children’s literature corresponds with the model of intercultural education. As the analysis shows, Polish literature on cultural diversity is scarce, involves non-representative depictions of minorities, and lacks the “insider” perspective, and thus fulfills the postulates of intercultural education only in a limited way.

Polska szkoła jest miejscem, w którym wciąż stosunkowo rzadko spotkać można uczniów o innym pochodzeniu kulturowym. Mimo podejmowania od kilku lat na gruncie edukacyjnym problematyki różnorodności kulturowej i edukacji międzykulturowej oraz specjalnych potrzeb edukacyjnych odnoszących się również do uczniów cudzoziemskich praktyka szkolna wydaje się wciąż ukierunkowana na potrzeby środowiska homogenicznego, z uczniem przeciętnym, niewyróżniającym się, a nade wszystko nieodróżniającym się od pozostałych. Obserwacja środowiska szkolnego pozwala dostrzec zróżnicowanie dzieci z wyraźnym podziałem na „lepszych i gorszych” oraz pomijanie ich kontekstu kulturowego, czego skutkiem jest marginalizacja tradycji i norm kulturowych środowiska ich pochodzenia.Artykuł jest próbą krytycznego spojrzenia na miejsce ucznia odmiennego kulturowo w polskiej szkole, dostosowywania rozwiązań programowych, organizacyjnych, dydaktycznych, wychowawczych i innych do jego potrzeb, jak również na relacje uczniów odmiennych kulturowo z nauczycielami w polskiej szkole.

Rosnące w ostatnich latach znaczenie edukacji międzykulturowej powoduje, że rozwiązania w tym obszarze wypracowane w różnych krajach mogą okazać się inspirujące i godne rozpowszechnienia także w Polsce. Niniejszy tekst opiera się na jakościowej i ilościowej analizie treści wybranych podręczników używanych w Szwecji pod kątem zawartości w nich treści o potencjale międzykulturowym. Punktem wyjścia dla przedstawionych w tekście rozważań są uwagi dotyczące cech edukacji międzykulturowej, roli podręczników w kształtowaniu postaw międzykulturowych i problemów związanych z transmisją treści międzykulturowych w polskich podręcznikach. W głównej części tekstu wyodrębniłam dwie kategorie, w oparciu o które analizowałam zgromadzony materiał (udział podręczników we wspomaganiu rozwoju indywidualnego uczniów oraz udział podręczników w rozpoznawaniu, akceptacji i pozytywnym wartościowaniu różnorodności kulturowej). Każdej z tych kategorii przyporządkowałam następnie szczegółowe pytania badawcze. Artykuł kończy się wnioskami dotyczącymi możliwości zastosowania szwedzkiego podejścia w przekazywaniu treści międzykulturowych w materiałach dydaktycznych stosowanych w polskich szkołach.

This article will present two basic concepts of culture which both have a long tradition and both are currently used in discussing cultural diversity. I call them the container concept and the network concept. The container concept was widely criticised and the criticism led to the development of new models. These models are basically compatible with the network concept, but take it further in several aspects, especially with regard to the question of how cultural ascriptions lead to differences in power allocation in society. If we have new models of intercultural competence, this should be reflected in curricula and classroom practice. So the last section of the article takes a closer look at two curricular documents and presents a practical example of dealing with cultural diversity in a more inclusive manner.

The purpose of this article is to present the results of the research on the issues discussed in the educational initiatives undertaken by Polish non-governmental organizations. The results of the scientific explorations presented in the paper are the outcome of the PhD research project Intercultural Non-formal Education in Poland on the Example of Non-governmental organizations activity. The project included surveying 65 leaders of different non-governmental organizations from three cities with different cultural make-ups, i.e. Bialystok, Poznan and Warsaw. The study was conducted in 2010 – 2012 according to the eclectic research approach, which allowed gathering quantitative and qualitative data. Based on the analysis of the empirical material, the author of the article presents: the issues tackled in the initiatives carried out by Polish non-governmental organizations, the structure of their implementation and the types of activities undertaken (in view of the issues analysed). An outline of the research problems precedes the discussion on the research results.

Students about relations with Different/Stranger

The article presents the results of the research on the definitional view of the Other/Other, the sources of knowledge and personal experiences of the respondents relating to people different from them. In the first part of the article, the definitions of Otherness/Alien according to different authors are cited and the difference of these two conceptual categories is shown. In the next part of the paper, the negative reactions of society to otherness/ foreignness are presented, with particular emphasis on racist and xenophobic attitudes. Research showing the scale of pejorative behavior toward Otherness/ foreignness in Polish society is presented. The third part of the study presents the results of the author’s research on the relations of students of the University of Rzeszow and the State Higher School of Technology and Economics in Jaroslaw with Others/Aliens, who are part of their immediate environment, including students. The analysis of the research results is an attempt to answer the question “Who is the Other/Other in the perception of students?”.

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.

Challenge – opportunities – connections – dimensions of parental participation in the school space in the context of cultural diversity

School is an institution seen through the lens of its openness to relationships with the environment, with its partners, including the students’ parents. A desirable type of relationship between school and the family involves the families’ participation in school activities. In view of the above, this paper is focused on the determinants of parental involvement in the school life. They are structured by reference to the three dimensions of the Triangle of Participation model, which includes challenge (important matters, benefits), capacity (parents’ own abilities and circumstances), connection (the support provided). They offer a starting point for thinking about promoting and supporting parents’ participation in joint activities with teachers, accommodating for the cultural diversity of the parent community. They also make it possible to see the importance of consciously initiating and maintaining these subjects’ participation in school activities, which are adapted to suit the parents’ resources and capabilities, and the importance of showing support for their own initiatives, subject to common consent and legal regulations. Viewing parental involvement in the school life through the lens of these dimensions of participation is in line with the thinking of ‘school as a space of recognition’.

Attitudes of five-six year old children in preschool education towards cultural diversity in the cognitive component, stimulated by creative intersemiotic translation of a literary text

The article presents an original study based on the perspectives on diversity, not solely cultural but also diversity of the disabled and beyond the canon of corporeality. The conducted studies provided an answer to the question: Did the method of intersemiotic translation in transcoding the content of literary works on intercultural and inclusive topics into the language of theatre and visual arts impact the change of attitude towards cultural diversity? In the course of this pedagogical experiment, supplemented with survey and observation techniques, the attitudes of five – and six-year-old children (the experimental group, first and second control group) towards differences in the cognitive, emotional and behavioral components were distinguished. The method of intersemiotic translation implemented in an experimental group, leading to the division of children’s attitudes towards people who are different, as well as the acquired knowledge about otherness and discovering literary texts, developed methods for formulating accurate results in children. The results obtained are of great importance for intercultural education and carry great value, because the conducted experiment and the intercultural texts used aroused children’s interest in otherness, allowed them to understand it and understand that there is no alien thing that could not become their own.

From a diversity perspective, all students should receive an education that continuously affirms human diversity – one that embraces the history and culture of all racial groups and that teaches people of colour to take change of their own destinies. With regard to teaching, a diversity perspective assumes that teachers will hold high expectations for all students and that they will challenge these students who are trapped in the cycle of poverty and despair to rise above it. Individual teachers in individual classrooms play an important role in providing equity of opportunity to learn and in ameliorating racism, but more comprehensive conceptions of diversity education capture the school’s crucial role as well. This article wants to address diversity in the classroom and how racial and cultural diversity is valued and what can be done to improve it.