TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPIS TREŚCI

From bilingualism to intercultural education. From multilingualism to multicultural education

The study is a presentation - in an essayistic and exemplary approach - of the meandering history of multiculturalism and multinationalism in Poland. This history until 1918 is described in two dimensions - firstly, a rather peculiar and in fact harmful multiculturalism of rulers’ world (mostly foreign election kings and later aggressors) and, secondly, the developing, increasingly richer and introducing important values, multiculturalism of people. This is followed by an outline of the changes after 1918 (mostly the crisis of the multinational state), as well as after 1945 and 1989 - the birth of a national state in two different political systems. The recent years are the times of drifting apart from a pro-European (open to multiculturalism) state in favour of a state and a substantial part of the society which is increasingly less democratic and contests European and global problems. This constitutes the background for the discussed issues of multicultural education. What has been also considered is the (developed in Poland) concept and practice of intercultural education. Intercultural education seems to enhance in the best way the familiarization with and understanding of Others and, in consequence, the shaping of positive relations among people.

Newly arrived (refugees, migrants, transmigrants, immigrants) children require a shiftin intergenerational storytelling. Intergenerational storytelling enables culturally and linguistically diverse emergent learners exposure to not only language but socio-cultural knowledge, values and practices. This study examines the intergenerational storytelling and art session held at a co-joined pre-school and elderly care home. There were 15 pre-school children aged 4-6, half of whom were newly arrived in Finland, and 4 Finnish elder storytellers. The theme of the project was to utilize everyday socio-cultural practices. The study used Pink’s visual semiotic and Kress’ multimodality for analysis. The research investigated two questions: 1) To what extent can intergenerational multimodal storytelling benefit transmigrant, immigrant community engagement and identity? 2) In a globalized world, how do children’s relationships with multimodalities create learning (language, socio-cultural practices)? Data was collected from qualitative pre - and post-session discussions from the six storytelling sessions, video recordings made by the participants, and multimodal artwork created by the children after each storytelling session. The results revealed transmigrant children engaged with components of stories that connected to their residency situation. Additionally, children represented themselves in the art as response to multimodal storytelling sessions. Interactive storytelling was effective means for socio-cultural interaction between pre-school children and elderly storytellers/people.

The article is aimed at drawing attention to the research motifs explored by the author in his studies and, first of all, at raising questions about the sense of research into the Romani identity. An attempt is made here both to suggest some theories and methods which can be useful in identity studies and to signal the difficulties in carrying such research out. The major subject matter of the suggested research projects should address the problems of the Romani identity and culture, this ethnic group’s participation in education, and their specific social and professional activity. What seems to be justified (after a reliable diagnosis of the needs, problems, prospects and possible solutions) is the unceasing need for designing programmes, projects and local policies which address the Roma and which come into being with their participation. However, the activities conducted so far should be subjected to an in-depth analysis and evaluation, also in regard to the specificity of Roma communities from various groups and countries. This might help to indicate the elements of their identity, as well as the level of joint participation in the context of the still incomplete integration with culturally dominating majorities.

At the end of the 19th century, activities were initiated in the Ottoman State to increase the knowledge of the Muslims and Ehl-i Perde (those with a Muslim name but who do not fulfill the requirements of Islam) Kıptis (Roma) in various fields, particularly in religion. Imams were appointed to their settlement areas. Schools were opened. In the meantime, they were also recruited into the army where they received education/training in many aspects. The aim of this article is to examine the adaptation of the Roma into the Muslim society during the discussed period.

The paper comprises a retrospective overview of the educational situation of the Roma in the USA. In contrast to the European situation, efforts to establish schools for Romanies in the United States have been both few in number and - with only a couple of limited exceptions - unsuccessful. There are approximately one million Romanies in the USA, a number which is slowly growing and till now there are any schools established for Romanies to learn their mother tongue or to get integrated in the mainstream educational system of the USA.

The paper presents the results of research conducted among Russian Roma children. Two groups of children, 6-8 years and 8-10 years old, were tested with a Romani Language Assessment Test. The study was conducted in a Roma settlement of a small town not far from Moscow. The children were tested on different grammatical categories in Romani as their home language. The grammatical knowledge of the children about their home language is not considered to be used by the Russian teachers in classroom. The frame of Cummins (2015) “teaching through an intercultural lens” is taken as the starting point of the research. The research results showed that the Roma children at the age between 6-8 years know the most complex grammatical categories of Romani as their mother tongue, however children’s knowledge is not used by the teachers at school environment teaching Russian. There are no lessons in Romani as the mother tongue strengthening the children’s linguistic and cognitive abilities.

In 2013, the European Court of Human Rights decided the case of Horváth and Kiss v. Hungary in favor of the two Romani boys who alleged that they had been misdiagnosed as ‘mildly mentally retarded’ and consequently placed and retained in a special school for their whole primary education. This, they claimed, deprived them of the educational opportunity to pursue their chosen vocational interests. In this research note, I will provide a brief view of the history of special education in Hungary, and the history of mental retardation in its medical/pedagogic connections. I will suggest that the Court’s decision, while a positive development, fails to address the fundamental systemic racism of the entire medico/educational system in Hungary, and that until that more radical change is undertaken, a disproportionate number of Romani children will continue to be officially and unofficially treated as mentally deficient.

The article presents a training model aimed at the formation of sociocultural competence in 7-11 years old students from ethnic communities in Bulgaria, based on Geert Hofstede’s (2003) theory of culture. A schematical description of the teaching methodology of the model is offered as well as some results of a study among the trained students conducted according to pre-defined criteria and indicators. The article comprises methodological ideas for the formation of sociocultural competence in 7-11-year-old students in the conditions of digitalization considering the possibilities of the electronic textbooks, which are part of the compulsory educational content. It turns out that these textbooks are necessary for the purposes of training in the digital world, as well as for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Globalization phenomena not only enhance cultural cognition but also foster establishing close relationships, which might be also legally confirmed. Today, many borders - like the Polish-Czech one - are “dematerialized” and exist more in the memory and awareness of people than in the physical sense. For the needs of the analyses, the category of borderland in its territorial sense was applied. Living in the borderland provides chances for establishing close interpersonal relations. What enhances the establishing of such relations in the case of the Polish-Czech borderland are the similarity of languages, common history and cultural closeness. This also fosters contracting mixed marriages. However, do close neighbourhood and similar social environments really make people seek contacts with neighbours? Does this enhance shaping a positive attitude to cultural diversity. The conducted analyses were aimed at familiarizing with the declarations of the examined university students from Poland and the Czech Republic concerning the way in which mixed marriages are perceived in their environment.

In the empirical study of intercultural exchange presented in this paper, we assessed Erasmus students for knowledge of English as a foreign language (EFL) and their level of reflective judgement, to test for correlation between the two variables. The basic theoretical framing was derived from King and Kitchener’s (1994) reflective judgment model (RJM), based on 3 different levels of reflectivity, connected to progressive cognitive development of adults: pre-reflective, quasireflective and reflective. The results of the study show that the students displayed high levels of reflective judgment and importantly, we found a correlation between their standard of English and their level of reflectivity. The ability to communicate in English is a prerequisite to participation in the Erasmus programme, therefore it was expected that the students would score well for English knowledge. However, the results of the study suggest that being competent in the use of English as a foreign language may be a predictor of higher reflectivity amongst students in higher education. This creates a controversial pedagogical implication suggesting that learning English as a foreign language to a high standard fuels reflectivity.

The presented diagnostic study concerning intercultural competence was carried out in the pedagogical context of intercultural education. The research place was chosen purposively: it resulted from the intercultural character of Białystok. In the interwar period that the study refers to, the biggest national groups in the town were Poles and Jews. There were also Belarusians, Russians, Germans and Tatars. As part of the analysis of intercultural competence of students from Poland and Israel I focused on the respondents’ declarations concerning their knowledge of the social structure of pre-war Białystok. Then, I determined what motivates secondary school students to learn about the past. Developing the competence in the affective/motivational area is of key importance in intercultural communication. Identifying the reasons why secondary school students from Poland and Israel find it worth learning about the history of their ancestors is as important as knowledge of the history of our cultural group and other cultures. It was also important to determine the level of Polish youths’ readiness to communicate with students from Israel, and vice versa. Diagnosing the students’ competence allows educators to plan adequate educational activities aimed at broadening intercultural competence, to strengthen the existing resources, to improve the weak points, and fill in the gaps.

The article presents contemporary views on a new approach to children studies in social sciences and humanities, and particularly the “whole child approach” paradigm. The basic features of this approach are discussed in the context of integrating children from a migration background and their social functioning within the structure of education. A brief discussion on the necessary structural changes in social life and its adjustment to the needs of children is provided. The whole child approach is promoted as a key element of social cohesion strategies.

This article presents Finnish educational changes in the context of The Nordic Model of Social Democracy improved since 1963 versus English model of Neoliberal Democracy based on conservatism since 1979 with its roots in the late eighteenth century in Europe. The reform of education in Finland was supported by a new curriculum and different methods of teaching. In 1963 students started to have an access to the highest-quality education and it was not related to students’ place of living, richness or annual income. On the other side in England, privatization and centralization were the main pillars of the reform with neoliberalism, neoconservatism and its market competition in education. The central government was responsible for the provision of educational services, educational policy, and planning the direction of the educational system. Teachers faced an ultimatum: “either submit to re-education or lose your job” (Jones, p. 43). The 1988 reform strengthened the ideological control of education and accelerated differentiation between schools.

The text refers to contemporary research about children from diverse cultural backgrounds in Polish educational institutions. I reflect on the need to decolonise this research and to sensitise scholars to the ethics of research “about” and “with” children. I argue that this should be oriented towards participation and the right to be properly researched, as postulated by J. Ennew. Ethics is crucial in the search for non-discriminatory research strategies (also in the area of affirmative action) due to the dominating research “about” children rather than “with” children or from the perspective of children. I reflect on research practices with children from diverse cultural backgrounds in Polish schools and preschools. I also draw attention to the ethical need to verify research about this group of children in the light of protecting their rights in a new country, language, education system and new culture. The absence of children’s voices and the prevalence of narrations about them as well as the lack of participatory research with this group of children preclude a deeper insight into their situation and ways of looking at the world. With this article I aim at making children’s voices heard.

The author presents several theoretical approaches to defining place and space in social sciences, placing both categories in the context of the terminology of the pedagogy of place and space in theater. By showing the role of theatrical practices in educating “to” and “through” place, they indicate the convergence of these activities with the assumptions of regional and intercultural education. Referring to the practices of non-professional theaters operating on the border of north-eastern Poland, the author analyses the symbolic potential of this art form as a factor shaping the intercultural identity of young people.

In order to live a normal life, a person must answer the question about themselves - about their image, worldview, capabilities. Typically, one’s identity is built on the basis of the opinions of the environment. A person either compares themselves with it or uses the opinions of people who are important to them. In this way, the person builds their own inner continuity, which provides them with a sense of stability. It is a dynamic process which very often determines the colour and complexity of human life. Today, the closest environment are more and more often the social media. Especially for young people, they are becoming an important source of information about themselves and the world. Yet to what extent do social media offer opportunities for authentic manifestation of one’s self, and to what extent do they become a space for creating parallel identities? Young users are eager to use social media, which influence their lives and identities. The problem is illustrated with the example of China, a large and original social media market.