TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sense of self-sufficiency as a barrier for forming the open religious identity in “destitute time”

The pedagogical reflection on methods and condition of creating of an open religious identity of youth was presented by the author in the perspective of the current social situation, rather unfavourable towards activities in the field of religion especially bearing traits of the openness to the Otherness. Such a situation has been defined by the philosopher and poet Friedrich Hölderlin as the “destitute time”. Therefore, the author has made this quote of Friedrich Hölderlin and Rainer Rilke as necessary philosophical context of the reflection. In a search of the complete overview and description of the open religious identity and determinants of the process of its forming, the author focuses on the selected questions such as religious fundamentalism, sense of self-sufficiency in religious dimension, reflectivity and parrhesia which in in an essential way, positive or negative, determine the discussed process.

About being (not)rooted in Silesianness. New Silesia as a space for creating a biography

New Silesia was the result of a communist project, that was implementing the vision of building a socialist world and creating a new man. This process had fundamental importance for people coming in masses to Upper Silesia to work and for their biographies to be constructed. In the article I present a trajectory reconstruction of the identity of a woman participating in the research. Her biography is an example of the identity processes related to the arrival and life in the „forming” city.

From the struggle for survival to world-class education – key programs in Singapore’s educational policy

The article draws attention to historical, political and legal aspects of the changes introduced in the Singapore education system. Educational reforms in this country have led to the formation of a highly effective system, i.e. world-class education. The aim of the article is to indicate some key programs of the government’s educational policy that have contributed to the country’s transition from the third world level to a leader of the first-world level. The article is a descriptive overview set in a temporal perspective. As such, it highlights the main changes in the organization and the functioning of the education system. Its five phases have been isolated and their specific features have been described. The effectiveness of the strategy adopted by Singapore has been assessed in the context of its political culture.

Praxeological aspect of literature in intercultural education – the case of selected French language textbooks

In contemporary times, intercultural education is becoming increasingly important because of the economic, social and ideological challenges facing the Member States of the European Union. Mutual understanding and agreement is achieved, among other things, at the institutional level of the school, by learning the language of another nation, and through this – ways of understanding the surrounding reality. The selection of appropriate means that can contribute to the realisation of these assumptions also concerns literary content, which serves as an example of culture-creating human activity, but also as an expression of concrete experiences of people living in a given community, speaking a different language and capable of different religious or ideological perspectives. According to the CECR guidelines, language and cultural education must take into account the preparation of the student to contribute actively to the environment around him / her. The aim of the article is to analyse, using quantitative and qualitative methods, the importance of literature in intercultural education, on the example of French language textbooks and the fragments of literary texts they contain. From the perspective of social challenges, the teaching of literature acquires a praxeological dimension as one of the conditions for effective educational interventions. The literary material submitted for extraction is only a representation of a vast field of literature, nevertheless its selection from the perspective of FLE contributes to the realization of the tasks of intercultural education, the aim of which is to know and establish relations between native and foreign culture.

Courtesy stigma – a challenge for intercultural education

In the article, I describe sick people and people from their immediate environment as Other. I present sociological concepts and research results regarding courtesy stigma. I present an analysis of the narrative interview regarding the mother’s experience of stigmatizing a sick child. Intercultural education is to prepare for life in a diverse world, shape the understanding of difference, learn to get rid of prejudices and stereotypes, therefore, in the end of my considerations, I propose solutions to this pedagogical concept that can improve the well-being of sick people and their relatives stigmatized by the environment.

The model of a contemporary female Catholic as designed by religious girls on the threshold of adulthood. A report on focus group interviews

This article describes the model of a contemporary Catholic woman as designed by religious girls on the threshold of adulthood. In the struggle of young people with existential dilemmas, both specific models and abstract role models may prove to be helpful. Both have become the subject of research carried out in 2021 conducted using 10 focus group interviews with 35 female students in the final years of secondary schools. The focus groups were created by recruiting 17–18 years olds girls of the Roman Catholic faith living in western and northern Poland and attended religion lessons. This article contains an excerpt concerning the model of a Catholic woman in the contemporary world designed by interviewees. The projection task showed that the created role models go beyond the stereotypical images of Catholic women, less refers to a specific traditional Christian personal models and is an exemplification of a new female perspective in Catholicism.

Identity in the age of globalisation (a report on Manford Kuhn’s Twenty Statements Test taken by the students from Poland and Zimbabwe)

The global reality, and in particular the extensive network of economic, political and also strategic interdependencies, especially over the past several years, has led to a significant conversion of the educational model. As a result of the real changes taking place, whole social categories can be observed, whose life, work and also study are completely uprooted from a specific place and the concept of “we” goes beyond the borders of the local community. This raises the question of the factors that shape the “self” in the changing global world of the 21st century. The aim of this article is to compare the categories within which young people from Poland and Zimbabwe define themselves and to identify the dominant elements of a description of the “self” concept. The research tool is the Twenty Statements Test designed by the symbolic interactionist Manford Kuhn. McPartland’s (1959) codification key is used to interpret the test results.

Axiological determinants of the attitudes presented by students of aiding courses aimed at the elderly. The case of Poland and Germany – an intercultural perspective

Functioning in a culturally diverse world has become an everyday reality. European integration, globalisation, and migration of people have become contributing factors in this regard. In this context, a key role is played by intercultural education aimed at identifying, understanding, and supporting diversity. This article is empirical in nature. The survey objective was to diagnose and describe the attitudes and system of values of students of the helping professions towards older persons in Poland and Germany. The diagnostic survey was the research method used. Kogan’s Attitudes Towards Older People scale (Kogan OP Scale) and Schwartz’s Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) were used in the survey. The survey was conducted from October to December 2018. German students (200 persons) constituted the main group, while Polish students (167 persons) were the comparison group. The survey results revealed statistically significant differences between Polish and German students in their attitudes to older persons.

Germany on the way to intercultural care for the elderly

Globalization is a process that has brought many changes in recent decades. Improvement and further development of economic aspects meant that people were offered new opportunities, and this outside the country. It is not only the existing infrastructure that is responsible for the fact that the world is increasingly becoming a multicultural world. Despite many changes, differences between cultures in terms of their attitudes and beliefs, but also the meaning and interpretation of everyday life, are still visible. Migration is closely related to labor policy. If legal requirements allow, the goal of many migrants is to earn money abroad. Over 100 nations live and work in Germany (Visser / de Jong 2002, p. 110). Germany is a multicultural country. Due to the growing number of elderly people, caring for them must adapt to a multicultural clientele. Interculturalism is of great importance not only for care but also for society as a whole. Multicultural work teams are and will continue to be an increasingly common form of work in Germany (Barth, 2000). Not only more and more care recipients, but also more and more carers come from other countries and cultures. For this reason, practice and a change of approach are needed to deal with this topic in a delicate and structured way.

The idea of restorative justice cities on the example of Wrocław

The article aims to present the idea of restorative justice cities and attempts to apply restorative practices by local government institutions and nongovernmental organizations in Wrocław, as well as ways of involving local communities in solving social problems and conflicts affecting city residents. It refers to the concept of restorative justice, which becomes an effective tool for repairing social relations by rebuilding interpersonal bonds, it also plays an educational role, contributing to the revitalization of communities and building a civil society. The article points to the importance of local and environmental communities which, as victims of crimes or conflicts, but also as entities co-responsible for their causes and effects, may be involved in the remedial process in various ways.

Contact with the Other in the “different” time of the pandemic. Reflections on the inclusive school culture

The concept of an inclusive school culture indicates the need for a multifaceted opening to different Others and their diverse educational needs. In this context, strategies oriented towards virtual contact and online relations with Others in a “different” world from the one were familiar with become particularly important. This article addresses the issue of (e)inclusive school culture in times of the COVID-19 disruptions. It presents selected illustrations of empirical research showing that despite the fact that the implementation of the idea of inclusion in the school learning environment is not easy during the pandemic, it is still possible, to provide various opportunities for students to build relations with Others in the spirit of the integration education and justice for all.

Muslim education in Rajasthan. A case study of madrasa for girls in Bikaner

The aim of the presented paper is to describe the functioning of madrasa in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Muslims constitute the second largest religious group in India and thus the largest religious minority. The low literacy level of Muslims and Schedule Castes/Schedule Tribes is well documented in research studies. The method used in this research is that of the case study. The presented results are the effect of the larger project on illiteracy conducted by the author in India in 2011–2020. Martha Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach was used to analyze madrasa’s activity.

Significance of regional education in shaping regional identity before and in the pandemic times

The undertaken considerations concern the role of regional education in shaping the regional identity of children between 5–12 years old before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The basis of scientific analysis is the experience of children and their mothers. Regional education should lead to the development of the individual and collective identity of an individual, root a young person in his own cultural heritage and enable him to function creatively in a multicultural society. An outcome of the conducted research indicates minor impact of regional education in the range of shaping a regional identity of examined children during the period before the pandemic and its exacerbating ineffectiveness in the Times of isolation and distance learning. Mothers propound the need of action in the area of regional education in order to make children aware of their responsibility for their place of residence, the local community, the protection and multiplication of the cultural heritage of the region. The research indicates the need of consideration both: the current condition of regional education in kindergarten and school space and its actual role in the process of shaping children’s and youth’s regional identity.