The culture of memory and its importance for comparative research

The contextual analysis including the embedding of phenomena in their logic of historical events is the basic task of comparative education. The article presents a new approach to comparative education in the Polish comparative discourse, based primarily on the ideas of pedagogical constructivism, opening a discussion on a new methodological paradigm, which is the place of historical context and memory in comparative research. Taking into account the importance of historical thinking in the methodology of comparative education is important insofar as it shows a wide context and allows for understanding and not only presenting phenomena.

Opening education – intercultural and pro-environmental education for the future?

This article is aimed at presenting the main assumptions of the opening education in the context of the need to develop regional, intercultural and pro-environmental education. The reflections and diagnoses presented in the text draw on both the author’s research and teaching experience, as well as on a critical view of educational policy developed in Poland. The author asks if opening education can be used as a tool for the democratizing and ecologisation of knowledge, shaping an open society and social imagination. In the context of late capitalism, the dominant neoliberal rationality, the multiculturalism of the world, the climate and environmental crisis, an important aspect of the discussion is the diagnosis of the need to practice opening education to the future.

Fanaticism as an educational problem

Education is such an introduction into values thanks to which they become a constant point of reference in action, and in this way the habit of referring to the norms indicated by these values and their application is perpetuated. However, unconditional, ruthless and passionate compliance with the norms is a symptom of fanaticism. Referring to two philosophical concepts, the article is an attempt to answer the question of how to educate people to opt for the values while avoiding shaping a fanatical attitude in the educated person. The approach of L. Kołakowski and R. Rorty, emphasizing the principle of inconsistency, and the approach of A. MacIntyre pointing to the virtue ethics are analyzed.

Memory of the past in the activities of national and ethnic minorities of the Silesian Voivodeship (selected examples)

Organizations of national and ethnic minorities have been subjected to research analysis. They are discussed in many contexts, yet, there is a lack of studies devoted to memory-forming aspects. The aim of the research was to show the activity of minority communities in the Silesian Voivodeship. Their activities aimed at consolidating the memory of generations were presented, showing initiatives of a material and spiritual nature.

Melchior Grodziecki as a contemporary role model for peace education in culturally diverse Cieszyn

St. Melchior Grodziecki is presented in the context of peace education, which constitutes a set of fundamental principles of upbringing and role modelling in the modern world, while taking into account the aspect of the Saint’s veneration in the culturally diverse town of Cieszyn. The Saint’s biography is presented in the context of the epoch in which he lived. The issue of peace education and searching for role models significant in the life of contemporary people constitutes an important area of consideration. Attention is drawn to the reverence of St. Melchior Grodziecki in culturally diverse Cieszyn, with special reference to the year 2019, which was declared in the province of Silesia as the Year of Melchior Grodziecki. Melchior Grodziecki is an important model for the inhabitants of Cieszyn. On the basis of his biography, it is possible to explain and show what an important role is played in human life by history, which determines human fate and influences the choices made.

(Not)others? – self-stereotype of people with a homosexual orientation

The aim of the article is to present the self-stereotype of people with homosexual orientation. For this purpose, the study involved the application of the Twenty Statements Test developed by Manford Kuhn, used to describe oneself and perceive oneself. The theoretical basis for the considerations is the theory of biculturalism in relation to the acquisition of identity by a minority group. It shows the process of acquiring „biculturalism” by people with homosexual orientation, which proceeds in the opposite direction than in ethnic groups. 90 people of homosexual orientation participated in the study. The research material was collected using the snowball method. The respondents described themselves primarily in terms of groups and categories, and the research results indicate three pillars of their identity: sexual orientation, gender, sense of being human. The statements of the respondents also highlight the difficulties they face due to their sexual orientation – stereotypes, discrimination, social exclusion. The article shows homosexual people as perceiving their „otherness”, while pointing to their broad interests, passions, positive character traits, as well as negative attitudes of society towards this group and their possible consequences.

Working abroad in educational and occupational experiences of individuals (as exemplified by migrant live-in/elderly caregivers in Germany). Selected survey results

As a response to social needs, the job of a round-the-clock live-in caregiver for the elderly is a type of employment that requires mobility in the demanding labour market. The cause for this has been a rapidly growing demand for senior care. In the German market, caregiver’s work is particularly often carried out by migrant workers, including Polish nationals. As a Poland’s close neighbour sharing broadly the same cultural background, Germany has become for many Poles a potential labour market. A bilateral survey was carried out to identify experiences, earlier educational and occupational paths, motivations, opinions, evaluations, and attitudes of respondents employed as migrant live-in caregivers in German households. The sample consisted of 119 individuals. The survey results demonstrate that the respondents view their occupation as caregivers as, on the one hand, a source of income and an escape from financial hardship and, on the other hand, a challenge that allowed them to prove their value and satisfy the need to be useful. Working as caregivers, they learn and develop their interpersonal skills (relations with other people, patience, humbleness) and intramental skills (reflections on the transience of human life, the old age, handling the death and loss).

Strangers (still?) at home. Online entries by Magdalena Ogórek and Rafał Ziemkiewicz as an example of hate speech and the strategy of exclusion

This article is devoted to the issue of the hate speech in Polish public discourse. One of the ways to become aware of the negative nature of hate speech can be intercultural education. In 2018, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw organized an exhibition “Strangers at Home”, dedicated to the events of March ’68. In addition to the memorabilia related to Jewish-rooted people’s leaving Poland, there were also records of contemporary hate and hate speech, juxtaposed with some examples from 1968. Among them, there were the entries of journalists Magdalena Ogórek and Rafał Ziemkiewicz, which have the character of contemporary anti-Semitism.

Dehumanization of the Other. The role of popular art in raising awareness of the problem. The case of Men Against Fire (2016)

Dehumanization is – in the broadest sense – the process of depriving a person of positive human qualities. This problem, considered mainly in the field of social psychology, has strong pedagogical significance. The article is aimed to show the potential importance of popular art for intercultural education, precisely: to show the role that popular art can play in raising the awareness of the problem posed by dehumanization of the Other. To achieve the intended goal, the author indicates the justified presence of popular art in education, introduces the concept of the Other, i.e. a person who is beyond the horizon of a given person’s experience, who is outside a given community or is cognitively dangerous, and outlines the issue of dehumanization. The exemplification was conducted on the example of the episode of the British science fiction series Black Mirror – Men Against Fire (2016). The considerations are carried out from the perspective of contemporary aesthetic education, which refers conceptually to the Polish theory of aesthetic education. Humanistically oriented, contemporary aesthetic education must be conducted in the vein of pluralism and interculturalism; it should also contribute to the development of a person’s holistic personality: from their aesthetic sensitivity and moral orientation, to their ability of critical thinking and creativity. In the article, the possibilities are indicated of using popular art in education by building theoretical interpretive contexts.

How gender and cultural origin differentiate the diagnosis process of people with ADHD?

The aim of the article is to answer the question of whether gender and cultural origin differentiate the process of diagnosis towards ADHD. This text was inspired by the insufficient identification of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD in girls and women as well as cultural, ethnic and racial minorities. Analyzing in detail the course of the diagnostic process towards attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the author points to its components that may be responsible for diagnostic errors, leading to the lack or incorrect diagnosis of ADHD in people from both mentioned groups. The following issues stand out in the foreground: diagnostician’s prejudices, cultural competences of a diagnostician, cultural bias of diagnostic tools, parents’ fears and prejudices, which affect the final result of the diagnosis of people towards ADHD. The author in her article referred to modern knowledge about: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), its symptoms and causes, rules of psychological and pedagogical research and the latest results of scientific research in the presented topic.

eTwinning – a tool for creating a transcultural society

Significant changes in education that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in terms of organization, in the form of the transition to distance learning, significantly increased the interest of teachers and schools to use the international eTwinning platform. The main task of the eTwinning program is to encourage international exchange by building a network of cooperation and interaction between students and teachers from various European countries. This, in turn, according to the author, is a way to build a transcultural society. Going beyond the current understanding of culture as a homogeneous creation, the author uses W. Welsch’s concept of transculturalism and Wittgenstein’s understanding of culture as a way of being and the result of intercultural interactions. Therefore, the article is devoted to the using of the eTwinnig tool in the process of shaping a transcultural society. There are also some presented examples of international eTwinning projects that have already been completed and are in the process of being implemented with the direct goal of acquiring intercultural competences by all its participants and those for whom this is an indirect goal, carried out while performing other tasks.

The rhetorical model of debate teaching – a genre perspective

Debate is a genre that has gained popularity due to its educational value on different levels of the education system. The essential advantage of using debate as an educational tool is that it prepares students to participate in public debate outside the classroom environment. The available models of teaching how to debate are rules-oriented (showing students the rules of conduct valid in the debate) or argument-oriented (teaching the balance between affirmative argumentation and refutation and proper ways of building arguments). This article offers a new, genre-oriented model of debate teaching based on showing the relationships between genres that compose the debate. Exemplified by the Karl Popper debate format, popular in Central and Eastern Europe, four genres ingrained in a debate are depicted: affirmative speech, refutation speech, summarizing speech, and cross-examination. What has been also described is the intricate web of relationships and influences between those genres which build the educational debate’s ecosystem. Using the genre-oriented model in teaching debates and showing the relationships between the four genres will enable students to increase their understanding of the debating process and help them visualize how big impact their actions have on the course of the debate.

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.

The musical languages of Walt Disney’s animations in the process of intercultural education

Music from Walt Disney’s animations is an element of pop culture. However, it is not a world limited to popular music but a space where ethnic music meets new sounds. The world of contemporary music enters a dialogue with the music of the sources, becoming its new translator. Thanks to Walt Disney’s film productions, multicultural music education opens up a new dimension in which globalization becomes an ally of local culture. The article addresses how both sound and word are used to present a different culture. In the cited examples, the language with its rhythm and melody is treated as an interesting musical material. Selected Walt Disney films were analyzed – their soundtracks as well as articles and reviews, blogs about the studio’s musical productions. In the considerations, a lot of attention was devoted to the song, which is the carrier of the main content of the film and the most frequently played element of the film image. Some attempts were made to indicate its functions in intercultural education, but also the ways of its use in child education.

The importance of research commitment and reliable scientific reflection on pedagogy, its subdisciplines and multiand intercultural education. A reviewing article of the volume edited by Ewa Ogrodzka-Mazur, Alina Szczurek-Boruta, Barbara Grabowska, Anna Szafrańska: About the identity, condition and duties of pedagogy – tradition and modernity. Commemorative book dedicated to Professor Tadeusz Lewowicki on the occasion of his 80th birthday

Language and its socio-cultural power. A reviewing article of Irena Bogoczova’s book: Language policy in the Czech Republic in the context of the situation in Slavic-speaking territories

Inherited, acquired and individually shaped culture in selected creative biographies

The problem of identity forming is presented in the article on selected examples of creative biographies. The author points out how important in this process is the inherited culture, shaped in the family home and in the local environment. He also indicates how difficult the process of integration with the culture is when this culture is acquired in state educational institutions, conducting an internal dialogue to create an individual culture of being, achieving goals and values in positive freedom and civil disobedience. In the presented creative biographies, the author draws attention to the awareness of experiences and experiences in each of the cultures, to the ability and skill to resolve conflicts, negotiate, reconcile values, patterns, norms in the constant process of identity forming. The author draws attention to the development of a reflective identity project, conscious and responsible choices of content from each culture, the existential theme of the joy of living, being in harmony with oneself, which is particularly important in intercultural education.

Anti-refugee attitudes of social media participants and the goals of intercultural education

The purpose of this article is to present anti-refugee attitudes observed on the Internet which show the influence of virtual space on the formation of opinions on refugees. The data collected during the ethnographic research in the period 2015–2019 concern attitudes, behaviors and narratives negating the reception of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the grassroots criticism of Internet users against sheltering refugees in the Polish territories. Social media were shown as a tool for expressing public opposition to the prospect of accepting refugees into Poland. Among the data, there were contents that comprised an indirect or direct negation of the goals of intercultural education. An analysis was conducted of the content posted on the Facebook platform on the website “No to the Islamization of Europe”, the functioning of which focuses on informing and commenting on the events related to the “migration crisis”. The research material includes the data from 2018 – a period when the attention of the creators of this medium focused on the potentially negative consequences of accepting refugees into Europe. The conclusions of the research justify and explain the need for the goals of cultural education, which is shown here as a way to counteract stereotypes.

Anthropologists facing the unsettling landscapes of the contemporary world in the Cool Anthropology context

The article is a reflection on the place, tasks and purpose of cultural anthropology in the contemporary world. It was inspired by a discussion that took place during Ethnology Without Borders 2022 Conference. The 21st century shook the foundations of anthropology’s relationship with politics and society: from the devastating pandemic and the increasing effects of climate change, to the outbreak of war in Europe. The author ponders how anthropology should operate in the face of these crises. The presentation of various research concepts aims to bring closer where the problem is while everyone means well. The article presents the achievements of some anthropologists who criticize actions based on good intentions and draws attention to the achievements of Anthropology of Development, which the author illustrates with some examples from her own observations made during field research in Nepal and NATO training. The Cool Anthropology trend is potentially a right direction for development of contemporary anthropology. The questions posed in the article are intended to provoke reflection on the author’s thesis that as anthropologists who are part of a privileged social layer, should ask themselves the question: how to reconceptualize anthropological activities outside the resources of the academic spheres in order to become socially useful.

Preservation of the culture and language of the Lusatian Sorbs in Brandenburg

Lusatian Serbs, also called Sorbs, are people living in Upper, Middle and Lower Lusatia. This small nation is a remnant of the Slavic settlement in East Germany (Brandenburg and Saxony). Lower Lusatia now lies in the state of Brandenburg, and Upper and Middle Lusatia in the Free State of Saxony. According to official data, in these areas there are approximately 50,000 – 60,000 Lusatian Serbs, of which it is assumed that two-thirds reside in Saxony and one-third in Brandenburg. The article draws attention to formal and legal issues aimed at protecting the culture and the Lower Sorbian language. The analyses carried out concern the general provisions of the European Union, Germany and more detailed guidelines adopted in Brandenburg. Legal acts are important formal means of protection, the effectiveness of which is expressed by the way of practice. Unfortunately, in Brandenburg, many of the existing regulations have no proper effect on everyday life or are distorted. The article is an attempt to identify the assumptions with the implementation, to recognize the limitations, but also to discuss the directions of improving the existing state.

Sexuality education in Poland and in educational systems in selected countries – model solutions and international initiatives

The article is aimed at the analysis of literature, international documents, legal regulations and research reports on the implementation of formal sexuality education in selected countries. There are many contradictions among researchers about the definition of sexuality education, its scope, the age from which it should be taught and learnt, people who should be its providers, its content and forms. These discrepancies are also present in the public sphere, where two strongly polarized discourses (the conservative and liberal) exist. National policies regarding sexuality education vary in the European Union. In some countries sexuality education has the status of a compulsory subject, is regulated by relevant acts, similarly to teachers training for this subject. In others, sexuality education curricula lack solid legal and theoretical basis. The analysis of selected documents and acts shows that the most effective type is the holistic sexuality education, which being part of the cultural sensitivity approach, addresses the development of knowledge and skills of education recipients, as well as the elaboration of appropriate attitudes towards positive sexuality and sexual and reproductive health. The existing research indicates also that the availability of data on sexuality education should be improved and further analysis is needed to enable better assessment of the situation, to ensure the evidence-based policy creation and strengthen the best identification practices.

Religiousness and the sense of identity of students from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia

The subject matter explored in the article include the issues related to religiousness of university students. This category comprises their denominational structure, their attitude to religion, their self-evaluation of the essence of religion in life, the frequency of participation in religious practices. These categories are shown in relation to their sense of identity. The research with the use of the survey method was conducted among students from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia who live in culturally diverse territories. The research results show the ongoing changes in Polish and Slovak societies. Young people take advantage of the possibility of making choices and their choices concern not only education and professional paths, but also the beliefs, behaviour and activities in the religious sphere. The surveyed students’ freedom of choice is manifested, among others, in their sense of a multidimensional identity and in the consciousness of belonging to the Church. Among the surveyed university youth – in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia – one can observe the individualization of religiousness in the form of the departure from religious affiliation, as well as in “belonging without faith”.

The sense of identity of academic youth from the socio-ecological perspective

The article is aimed at analyzing the identifications of academic youth, with pedagogy students as an example, on the basis of the assumptions of Uri Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model. Particular importance was given to the socioecological and contextual determinants in which the sense of identity of emerging adults is formed. The aim of the research was to analyse the development of the sense of identity resulting from participation in the socio-cultural conditions surrounding the individual. The surveyed emerging adults (140 individuals) aged 20–25 answered the question “Who am I?” using the TST (Twenty Statement Test) by M.H. Kuhn and T.S. McPartland (1954). The research was a pilot study. The collected research material was developed using a holistic content analysis of self-definitions. On the basis of the research results, it can be concluded that the surveyed emerging adults most often use identifications related to the individual with respect to gender, possessed personality traits or to the defining oneself as a human being. In addition, there were categories of sense of identity resulting from social roles in the microsystem (a family member, a student or an employee). Less frequently, respondents identified themselves with their nation or religion, which are the result of macrosystem participation. In relation to this, educational and preventive premises were formulated.

Life plans of the inhabitants of the Polish-Czech borderland against a comparative background

The article concerns a part of the research carried out among learners and university students from the Polish-Czech border area (Prudnik, Nysa and Opole counties on the Polish side and Moravian-Czech district on the Czech side) within the Pradziad Euroregion Project. The theoretical aim of the project was to get to know the lifestyle and quality of life of the inhabitants of the Czech-Polish border area, their life plans and identity, as regards the activities of the Pradziad Euroregion, as well as the knowledge of young borderland inhabitants about the life and problems of their neighbours from abroad. The practical aim of the project was to raise awareness of the role of quality of life for the functioning of the society by popularising the issue (conferences, publications) and the possibility of enriching the knowledge of these young inhabitants. This article presents only the part of the research that deals with respondents’ opinions on life plans in the context of the Polish-Czech borderland. The analysis was focused on one of the specific questions of the research: What are the life plans of pupils and university students from the Polish-Czech borderland? The research results refer to the declarations related to plans to stay in the homeland, perceptions of the respondents’ place of residence, or perceptions of the different qualities of their own towns and countries. In the data analysis, statistical methods related to testing the statistical significance of differences between variables with the Chi-square test (x2) were applied.

Empathy of future teachers and their intercultural sensitivity

This article is empirical. It presents the results of a study aimed at determining the level of empathy and intercultural sensitivity of future teachers. Preparation of teachers to fulfil the pedagogical role of school, especially in the current situation caused by the war in Ukraine and the enrolment of approximately 200,000 Ukrainian children into the Polish education system, involves the necessity of adequate training of candidates for this profession. What is significant in this context is the definition of empathy, which should be understood as the ability to respectfully understand the other person and the inner power that guides and motivates an individual to pro-social behaviour. Another important element of that definition is cultural sensitivity understood as an indicator of cross-cultural communication ability, manifested in the readiness to interact with people from different cultures. The study was conducted employing a diagnostic survey with the use of a revised version of the Empathic Understanding Questionnaire by Andrzej Węgliński and the scale of intercultural sensitivity developed by Guo- Ming Chen and William Starosta in the Polish adaptation of Dariusz Majerk and Mariusz Korczyński. The survey involved students in pedagogical faculties from various higher education institutions in Poland. The results of the study reveal the need for pedagogical preparation of future teachers to fulfil their professional role to the highest possible extent.

Stress management strategies, a sense of perceived stress and assessment of depression risk in a group of students of the “Borderland University”

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between coping strategies, perceived stress and depression risk assessment in a group of students in the Polish-Czech borderland. 173 students from the University of Silesia participated in the study. The participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale and the Multidimensional Inventory for Measuring Coping with Stress. The correlation analysis showed that strategies described as adaptive (e.g., active coping, positive reappraisal and development) are negatively related to the perceived stress and severity of depressive symptoms. In contrast, strategies that can be described as non-adaptive (e.g., disengagement, denial) presented opposite (i.e., positive) relationship effects with the perceived stress and depressiveness. In the light of the obtained data, it seems that the repertoire of coping methods presented by individuals to deal with stress may be reflected in their perception of situations as aggravating and in their assessment of the risk of depression. Thus, future psychopedagogical interventions should focus on building personal resources by shaping adaptive (and minimizing those nonadaptive) coping strategies to improve mental health among borderland students.

In search of a participatory model in the intercultural education of students from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds – a research report

This article presents the results of a qualitative study based on the humanizing methodology and a transformative approach, conducted in a space of collaborative intercultural, participatory activities of children and university students, as well as female researchers. The intercultural activities and research were implemented in the third month of the war in Ukraine as a response to current challenges faced by Polish schools and universities. The results are obtained from participant observation (3) and semi-structured interviews (34) conducted with university students working with Polish and Ukrainian pupils, using the project method based on L. Lundy’s participation model in the space of the University of Warsaw. The analysis of the results presents the main aspects of how preschool and early childhood education students understand participation in their work with children from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. The study also showed how important it is to include Polish children and children with refugee and migration experience in the activities and joint participation, which allows one to build a safe space for verbal and non-verbal communication (through art) of children with children and adults.

A culturally diverse school in Poland. Experiences of Bydgoszcz teachers in the first period of the war in Ukraine

The article describes the experiences of Bydgoszcz teachers working in culturally diverse schools in the first period of the war in Ukraine (from February 24 to April 22, 2022). The basis of the article is the analysis of the statements provided by the participants of the conference “A Ukrainian student in the Polish education system. How to help teachers create a multicultural learning environment?” organized at the Kazimierz Wielki University, by its Department of Didactics and Studies on Culture of Education and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Centre for Teacher Education in Bydgoszcz. The statements presented in the article concern the experience of eighty teachers from Bydgoszcz schools of various levels as well as academics, doctoral students and students working in educational institutions. The article is a contribution to the methodical trend of intercultural pedagogy. It contains practical tips on the work of teachers in culturally diverse classes, developed on the basis of current statements provided by people taking care of refugees from Ukraine.

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’.

On the growing importance of intercultural education in schooling, social pedagogy, and social work

The article contains reflections on the growing importance of intercultural education in the context of Polish pedagogical literature. Statistics related to the internationalization of the Polish social context are explored. The following scientific journals in Poland and Europe were selected, considered important in the discursive space of social pedagogy and social work: European Journal of Social Work, International Journal of Social Pedagogy, Pedagogika Społeczna quarterly, Pedagogika Społeczna NOVA (Social Education NOVA), Praca Socjalna (Social Work) and the journal Edukacja Międzykulturowa (Intercultural Education). Their content was analyzed in terms of topics in the field of intercultural education with the use of quantitative systematic semantic analysis to establish how many articles (directly related to intercultural education and intercultural context) and in what periods were published in the selected journals. This part of the article is its empirical section, based on desk research of the existing documents. The thesis on the growing importance of intercultural education in the fields of social pedagogy and social work was presented and arguments in support of this thesis were formed.

Abilities and creativity in a intercultural perspective

Cultural variables are increasingly being taken into account in new models of ability and creativity. This is due to changes in the definition of terms, socio-cultural changes, and international cooperation. The role of international comparative research is growing. Usually, the divergence is used: individualismcollectivism. With few exceptions, most of the research is conducted in Western institutions. Western countries and highly developed Asian countries are most often compared with each other. The results of the research indicate cultural differences in recognizing and educating gifted and creative students. The article comprises an outline of the main areas of cross-cultural research on abilities and creativity. The conclusions indicate a discrepancy between the development of theoretical knowledge and school practice, where there are cultural barriers to the education of the gifted. The main problem here is the underrepresentation of students from minority groups in educational programs for the gifted. Teacher’s work with gifted students in multicultural conditions is a special challenge. It requires socially equitable and differentiated strategies for diagnosing giftedness. Gifted students from culturally diverse groups have specific educational problems and needs. They are doubly exceptional students.

Children’s literature sensitizing to situations of exclusion threat – selection and pedagogical implications

Children’s literature of the last decade of the 21st century presents a number of narratives that show the need to be attentive to numerous situations that threaten to exclude a person from certain social groups. These books can be described as particularly sensitive to harm of the neighbour. The aim of the article is to show the fate of literary heroes in selected children’s books, in which they directly or indirectly face the problem of discrimination and social exclusion. The situations that I would like to draw attention to are: homelessness of another person, poverty, exile. My goal is achieved by analyzing selected children’s literature of both Polish and foreign (mainly Swedish) writers. The text is composed of two parts. In the first, I present the existing state of knowledge in social sciences and humanities on social exclusion and the process of non-existence, in the second part of the text, I present conclusions from the content analysis of selected children’s literature. Each of the books selected for analysis can function in the early school readership as close to the ideas of intercultural education and philosophy of dialogue.

Education concerned with the intercultural “borderland effect” (a panorama of humanistic tropes and profiles in a retrospect)

The text comprises a normative concern for the educational “borderland effect”. Within the hermeneutical circle, there are: (1) M. Bakhtin’s semiotics of culture and the idea of “borderland effect” as a developmental mechanism increasing the polyphonic dynamics and value of the Other; (2) an analogy to the “decentration” mechanism according to J. Piaget and J. Habermas and the idea of dialogue inspired by H.–G. Gadamer; (3) M. Buber’s idea of two types of faith and difficulties of ecumenism; (4) H. Hesse’s idea of spiritual awakening and inner transformation; (5) the types of adaptation to the complexity of interactions and the vision of identity as “the third value”, following D. Mostwin’s analysis of the Polish emigration in the USA; (6) difficulties with the borderland effect in creating Polish schools in Latvia in D. Urlińska’s experiment; (7) F. Znaniecki’s concern to eliminate intercultural antagonisms; (8) normative strategies towards tradition, freedom and change, as diversified attitudes towards differences and the “borderland effect”; (9) the coupling of interests of the disabled in integrated schools as a borderland problem; (10) the concept of the “borderland order” as a mechanism of sustainability and oscillation in dual integration with shifting the local dominants; (11) B. Skarga’s cultural attitude open to irony, withdrawing cultural persuasiveness. The “borderland effect” brings change of the cultural “meta-pattern” for education. The analyses conducted by M. Mead and F. Znaniecki imply the intercultural education open to differences between the young, against the pressure of antagonisms of the world of adult people.

Tadeusz Lewowicki’s pedagogical project of multiculturalism in the context of questions about Conditio Humana

The presented article is the continuation of my research on Tadeusz Lewowicki’s pedagogical thought. Earlier, I focused on recognizing the concept of a human being and how it exists in T. Lewowicki’s scientific work as a pedagogical reflection. In this text, I make an attempt to embed pedagogical thoughts on a human being in the context of Tadeusz Lewowicki’s reflections on multiculturalism. My aim is to retry to recognize a human being (in the political project of multiculturalism) through questions about Conditio Humana. The context is provided by Hanna Arendt’s selected reflections on human condition as something closely (un)related to a human being and politics. The text is composed of three parts: the first introduces the issue of multiculturalism which is always a creation of a human being and politics; the second part concerns the influence of politics on “human life” (I have already used some motifs earlier, but without recalling them it is impossible to write about “human life” which in Lewowicki’s pedagogy is the condition for the emergence of a human being); the third, and the final part of the article is devoted to the need to ask questions about Conditio Humana as a pedagogical imperative of Professor Lewowicki’s project of multiculturalism.

New citizenship and patriotism at the cultural frontier: a cross-cultural context

The cultural diversification of states deconstructs the model of a homogenous national community, yet it requires the maintenance of the stability of democratic institutions in a situation where culturally different citizens are increasingly resistant to forced assimilation and subjugation. A multicultural state must actively protect the cultural identities of its citizens. Some dilemmas arise in the understanding of citizenship and patriotism, for which state multiculturalism and interculturalism at the level of an individual citizen become contextual references. Therefore, the subject of this article is the different types of new citizenship and patriotism, with model approaches to them. The author exposes multiculturalism, revealing the new citizenship and intercultural connotations of patriotism. She looks at these categories from a cultural borderland perspective. With reference to the pillars of coexistence identified on the basis of empirical research in this borderland, the author conceptualizes intercultural citizenship and patriotism. She also points to their multidimensional nature with an intercultural connotation. The author sees them as integrating factors of a culturally diverse society. Their national-cultural, identity, and community provenance gives an intercultural character to the integration process. Integration conceived in this way fosters the evolution of the nation-state into a heterogeneous national community operating within its borders.

Migrations as a challenge for pedagogy and intercultural education

The aim of the article is to show the issue of migration, its specificity and scale, and to indicate the challenges that this 21st century phenomenon poses to pedagogy and intercultural education. The multi-million crowd of migrants coming from a different cultural circle poses new challenges for the communities. Their essence is the need to overcome a reducing vision of the world. The research problem here is the understanding of the complexity of the international migration movement, and the introduction of the notion of taming strangeness and the category of the Other as a response of intercultural pedagogy to the challenges posed by migrations in the socio-educational space. The study used the method of desk research and critical analysis of sources, meta-analysis of concepts and categories constituting the research problem comprised in the title. As a way to understand the specificity of migration, there is a suggestion to analyze this phenomenon from the perspective of interdisciplinary sources and selected international documents. Theoretical analyses of the indicated categories lead to pedagogical and educational implications in the context of shaping the meeting space, an attitude of openness, developing a dialogical attitude, creative understanding of differences and acceptance of the Other in intercultural education.

Intersectional perspective in intercultural pedagogy

A meeting with the Other is related to the attitude of interest, dialogue, cooperation and understanding. However, negative reactions to otherness may give rise to different attitudes as well. These include discrimination and exclusion. In this article, the problem of multiple discrimination is addressed and intersectionality is presented as both an important method in intercultural research and an idea worth raising and developing in the practice of intercultural education. Multiple discrimination pertains to people who experience two or more forms of oppression at the same time (due to gender and disability; due to disability and residence place; due to ethnic origin, gender and place of residence, etc.). Intersectionality introduces a new quality to intercultural studies. As a research paradigm, it enables a critical analysis of these areas of exclusion and discrimination which have so far been shown mainly from the perspective of the needs and views of majority groups. Intersectional analysis can also become useful in educational practice: in preparing individualized assistance programs for people affected by discrimination, as well as in creating preventive projects to keep stigmatization and discrimination away.

Translations of religious source texts and intercultural education

The article presents the main concepts of biblical translation studies and their importance in intercultural education. On the example of the New Testament term παρακαλέω, the need to update religious translations of source texts is shown due to the changing culture and the loss of some traditional terms of their original meaning. In the theoretical layer, the importance is discussed of language in the formation of human identity and social structures, and the possibility is indicated of including these processes in the strategy of intercultural education.

Spirit of hikesia and education. A contribution to the pedagogical concept of asylum

In our cultural circle, the right to asylum derives its traditions from both legislation and religion, leads one’s attention to ancient times and the institutions of the Egyptians, Hebrews and Greeks. Moreover, it combines the issues of otherness, inclusion, persecution, suffering, fragility, duty, responsibility for the Other, as well as justice, hospitality, shelter and holiness. The importance of asylum, the growth of which in the 20th century was related to the European crimes of colonialism, the terror of totalitarianisms, the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, the fate of refugees and stateless people, does not diminish in the face of the wars and disasters of the 21st century. In this context, the question of how one can link the issue of asylum to education seems legitimate. In relation to this question, the essay focuses attention on the concepts of Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida and Patrick Declerck, drawing on various traditions of asylum and thinking about hospitality that have contributed to shaping the foundations of European educational and aid institutions. Using the achievements of these important traditions for the Western humanities and the concepts of the above-mentioned philosophers, I would like to point out the need to think about educational spaces in the perspective of asylum pedagogy.

Adaptation strategies of borderland youth – a report from generational studies

The conducted discussion is embedded in pedagogy of youth, Robert Merton’s theory of social adaptation, the concept of intercultural education and the concept of “intercultural identity” by Jerzy Nikitorowicz. In the article, the strategies are presented of the adaptation of young inhabitants of the Polish-Czech borderland to school conditions and the requirements of social life. The results of some diagonal studies among secondary school learners, conducted 13 years apart, indicated two dominant strategies of conformism and innovation, revealed a slight decrease in the average value of conformism (3%) and a significant increase in the average value of innovation (22% change). In that context, the features of permanent socialization taking place in the conditions of the Polish-Czech borderland were indicated: dynamism, bidirectionality, functioning/being “in-between”, cultural pattern, the principle of continuum. Empirically determined adaptation strategies of youth show how young people handle a complex reality and how they can join the mainstream of social life.

“We are trying to be a multicultural family...” – dualistic transmission of cultural heritage (a research report)

In this article, intercultural education in a mixed family (in Catholic-Jewish marriages) is explored. In particular, my focus is on the construction of various secular and religious patterns of bicultural family life and the possible forms and content of intergenerational family transmission in the adult generation of Jews. The research conducted in 2018–2022 was based on the biographical method – a total of 15 in-depth interviews were carried out. In the article, only a part of a broader project is presented. The biographies of four women of Jewish origin are explored – three of them are representatives of the third post-war generation. All of them try to combine ethnic and dualistic education, due to the type of bicultural marriage or the attitude to the dominant culture. The analytical part is a short reconstruction of the type of family origin, self-identification, cultural definition of one’s own family and opinions regarding the transmission of the Jewish heritage of each woman. Statements of the participants of the research about the ways of celebrating double holidays are collected in a table. The narrators create a culturally open type of their own family and in one case a culturally declared type (according to Alicja Szerląg’s classification).

Development support of immigrants’ social competences in the process of integration with the host society (the case of research carried out as part of the project Integration and Educational Support for Migrants (WIEM) under POWER 2014–2020)

The aim of the article is to describe the model of development support of immigrants’ social competences in the process of integration with the host society. Referring to the aim of the article, the authors formulated the following research problems: What level of the analyzed social competences do the surveyed immigrants have? What educational and consulting activities should be offered to project participants, i.e. people with low basic skills, corresponding to a level not higher than PRK level 3? What validation actions should be taken towards project participants after the implementation of educational and consulting activities? The theoretical part of the article addresses the concept of social competence and describes its elements. The empirical part presents the methodology and results of the conducted research as well as the conclusions and recommendations. 170 immigrants from Ukraine participated in the study. Most of the respondents had basic social competences. In terms of self-motivation (motivation), it was 94% of the respondents, assertiveness – 81%, self-presentation – 71%, communication – building interpersonal relationships – 95%, stress management / conflict management– 96%, and in terms of functioning in a team (including multicultural one) – 10%.

School education in danger? The Polish and Lithuanian perspective of changes and the situation of school in Lithuania. A study of one event

Representatives of every minority want their rights to be respected in the state in which they live and of which they are citizens. The problems related to education for national minorities are among the most complicated and arguable. Political controversies and disputes in magazine columns do not always translate into good relations in the culturally diverse environment. The text is aimed to present the situation related to the conflict in one of the schools in Lithuania, which began (as a kind of prelude) at the end of 2021 and developed in 2022. Our assumption was to analyze the described situation from three perspectives presented in: the Polish press in the context of some actions taken by the government and their effects, as well as the way of describing them; an analogical presentation of the Lithuanian perspective and the stakeholders themselves (including the headmaster of the school where the described situation took place). For a better understanding of the context of the described analyses, the text begins with a brief description of the current legal status, the educational network and its scope.

Around social problems – or in search of pedagogy in the discourses of youth organizations operating in Poland

In the article, the results are presented of the research on discursive constructions of social problems and their solutions, which are undertaken by selected youth organizations operating in Poland. Six of them were analyzed: AIESEC Poland [in Polish: AIESEC Polska], ATD Fourth World Poland [ATD Czwarty Świat Polska], UNESCO Initiatives Centre [Centrum Inicjatyw UNESCO], Center for Intercultural Initiatives Horizons [Centrum Inicjatyw Międzykulturowych Horyzonty], All-Polish Youth [Młodzież Wszechpolska] and National Radical Camp [Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny]. The article provides answers to the following research questions: 1) What do selected youth organizations consider to be a problem? 2) By what discursive strategies do they formulate problems? 3) What actions are they taking to solve the problems? The analysis of the content and applied discursive strategies covered a total of 696 texts of various genres and volumes (including programs, statutes, newsletters, entries in social media). The results of the analyses allowed for a description and comparison of the researched organizations using the categories of pedagogy and its different types (pedagogy of the current time, ethno-pedagogy, pedagogy of fear, pan-pedagogy and folkpedagogy), revealing similarities and differences in the scope of issues considered by organizations as problematic, including those related to (multi)cultural issues.

Scouting and the Polish scouting movement and the idea of interculturalism and education in the conditions of cultural diversity

The Scout and Polish Scouting movement is characterized by the possibility of meeting and cooperation of people from different backgrounds and cultures. A natural thing for this social movement is daily confrontation with Otherness/ Alienness in conditions of cultural diversity and undertaking various forms of educational activity based on the idea of interculturalism. The study presents some partial results of a research project devoted to the content referring to the idea of interculturalism and education in the conditions of cultural diversity, present in the program studies of the scouting movement. These studies contribute to the historical trend of intercultural pedagogy and the history of education in the context of ideological assumptions and activities of children and youth organizations. The article contains a description of the applied conceptual categories and the characteristics of the precursors and the contemporary scouting movement. In a chronological order, it presents a selection of examples of the content of scouting program studies that are related to the idea of interculturalism and intercultural education.

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.

Game as a tool for developing intercultural competence on the example of the Culture Crossover Project

In today’s world of rapid socio-cultural changes, which also include increased migration movements and the formation of culturally diverse societies, there is a need to implement methods and tools of educational work for the formation of attitudes of tolerance in multicultural communities. One of the effective educational tools used in intercultural education can be game. One of the most valuable types of games in this area are those that allow learning about cultures and the cultural differences resulting from them, referring not only to observable behaviour, but also to the hierarchy of values that form the core of the identity of a given social group – national, ethnic or religious one. The article is devoted to the presentation of an educational game created as part of the international Culture Crossover project. The theoretical and methodological assumptions of the game refer to Milton Benett’s DMIS and Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. The educational goal is to increase cultural awareness and develop empathy towards culturally different people by taking into account various elements of intercultural learning – from information about a particular culture, through knowledge of cultural norms and the ability to adopt local perspectives to critical understanding of the worldviews of other cultures.

National minorities and their participation in the construction of the contemporary state model. A review of the book by Zbigniew Kurcz: From nationalities to national minorities in Poland

The article contains a reconstruction of the struggle for linguistic dominance in global science over the centuries. In the beginning, the author presents various contexts of the role that Latin played in science in previous centuries. Then he presents the importance of French and German in this regard and the reasons for their decline. In turn, he analyzes the phenomenon of the dominance of English in contemporary global science; from its genesis through its increasing status to nearly its monopoly. What follows is the discussion of the controversies related to the primacy of the English language in scientific discourse: the accompanying epistemological and cultural invasion related to Anglo-Saxon values and the marginalization of native languages. The author also shows the distortion of content, ideas, thoughts and style when translating scientific texts from native languages into English, in order to adapt them to the assumptions of Western culture. However, there are also the views the essence of which is the conviction that publishing in English allows scientists to participate in global science and gain global visibility, as well as those that assume that modern scientific English has got rid of its imperial values and has a neutral nature, it is simply a form of international communication. In conclusion, the author expresses his belief that regardless of the language of publishing, scientists can maintain such values as passion and academic freedom.

The article reveals the peculiarities of intercultural paradigmatic shifts in the philosophical and pedagogical thought of Ukraine in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It has been proven that Ukrainian philosophical and educational thought (despite the fact that it objectively bordered with the Russian one and actively fits into the pan-European philosophical and pedagogical algorithm) had a number of specific national concrete-cultural features and colours. Its image was closely related to the formation of the “soul of the Ukrainian people”, which was formed by a combination of mental, cultural and moral characteristics. The matrix of paradigmatic shifts in philosophical and pedagogical thought of this period was focused on the semantic, ontological dimensions of human spirituality, pedagogical factors of personality development, the formation of the national discourse of educational science as a certain theoretical integrity. It has been confirmed that the philosophical and pedagogical thought, which unfolded within the framework of socio-political development of scientific and educational institutions and which performed a human-creating function in culture, was characterized by a tendency to create an intercultural “philosophy of teaching and education”, which became the background for pedagogical constructions of our (that?) time. On this basis, the most important constants in the development of education of this period are determined, which have heuristic significance and are in many respects compliant with modern educational transformations, which require comprehensive understanding, primarily from the standpoint of pedagogical anthropology.

The authors discuss the transformation in civic education in Rwanda. Before the arrival of the colonizers, Rwanda had traditions in education and uniting societies. Colonialism destroyed the educational system and divided the society. The re-introduction of the traditional system has been also explored – the example of the Itorero program and its impact on the unity and reconciliation efforts of the government – on the basis of various conducted studies. The main aspects that are taken into account in this study include: the significance of civic education, the Itorero program and the best predictors of success, and the role of civic education in promoting the well-being of communities and nations. The authors not only analyze the functioning of the Itorero institution, but also aim to seek answers to the questions of whether and to what extent the Itorero program affects civic education and to what extent it is an effective tool for uniting the Rwandan society.

The level of preparation of teachers before they enter the profession is an important factor affecting the level of culture of future generations and, consequently, the society as a whole. This preparation requires not only the proper implementation of the curriculum, but also the acquisition of self-efficacy skills. So far, the self-efficacy of pre-service teachers has been studied with respect to different variables. However, there is a lack of satisfactory comparative research among students from Poland and Slovakia, the countries of slightly different approach to preparation of pre-service teachers. To fill this gap, a comparative study of 355 Polish and 198 Slovakian university students was conducted using Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale. The purpose of the research was to determine which variables, including the country (Poland, Slovakia), course, form, year of study and participation in the field experience correlate significantly with the sense of efficacy of pre-service teachers. The obtained results indicate a satisfactory consistency between the Polish and the Slovakian version of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale. The research revealed a significantly higher self-evaluation among Polish university students and students of early childhood education. Part-time students with field experience evaluated themselves higher than full time students. The results emphasize that it is important to place high demands on future teachers and create appropriate conditions to improve their teaching and self-evaluative abilities.

The study presents theoretical starting points and research approaches dedicated to the teaching profession in an international context. It provides interesting insights into the relationship between teachers’ workload and their life satisfaction. The research presented in this study is focused on primary and pre-primary teachers. The authors present the results of a theoretical survey of the current studies and identify the intents of the research objective. They plan to expand the research objective to include a comparison of cross-cultural data between teachers from Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic. The findings are intended to provide valuable knowledge and inspiration for improving the working conditions of teachers. In addition, they can contribute to the innovation of undergraduate teacher education and lifelong teacher education programs. The current international research is aimed to find out how teachers in the early stages of children’s education, i.e. teachers of primary and pre-primary education, manage the demands of their profession through the lens of their specific professional activities. Subsequently, the obtained results are compared with the feeling of satisfaction in their life. The aim of this research is to provide an international comparison of teachers from Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The outlining of the values appreciated by academic youth and their perception of the possibilities of implementing and fulfilling them was based on the international comparative research conducted in 2019–2021 in the PolishCzech-Slovak-Ukrainian borderland. In the pedagogical analysis undertaken in the study of this subject matter, some theoretical and methodological conceptualizations were applied, which referred to: (1) Ronald F. Inglehart’s concept of changes of values, (2) the objectivistic approach to values and axiological maturity according to Adam Węgrzecki and (3) comparative analysis in international studies. Comparing the declarations of student groups in the investigated environments reveals significant differences in all value assessments, except for the implementation of moral values and a respectable life. The analysis and interpretation of the collected empirical material also indicate that the image of university students’ axiological preferences is characterized – in the context of Inglehart’s theory – mainly by secular-rational authority and post-materialism aimed at achieving a particular quality of life.

The aim of the article is to present selected results of research on the experience of everyday routine in Polish schools by students with a migrant background (from Ukraine (including from Crimea), Belarus, Chechnya, Georgia) and optimization of its operation. The theoretical field for research was Alfred Schütz’s concept of everyday life (2008), Geert Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions (2010) and some analyses of school everyday life (Krzychała, 2010, Cierzniewska, 2014, etc.). The research was participatory. It consisted of two stages (educational workshops and narrative interviews). Twenty people aged 10 to 14 years old attending four public elementary schools took part in it. The research results indicate that students with the migrant backgrounds positively perceive Polish schools (peers, teachers, their space, etc.). Despite the fact that in the initial period of education they experienced language and educational difficulties, discrimination from their peers, they spent time mainly in the company of their own group, etc. The research participants revealed a huge personality potential. However, their narratives shown that optimizing the education and integration processes of children and youth with a migrant backgrounds requires help from the teaching staff (e.g. teachers, intercultural assistants) and peers. Some learners felt the lack of adequate support.

Education of children with disabilities across the globe has been gradually evolving from segregation towards inclusion. The systems in Poland and India have also been following this path, yet due to their own unique historical, cultural, and social contexts, these countries have adopted rather dissimilar approaches to the process of inclusion. What is presented in this report are the results of the study, which aimed to explore both the attitudes of Polish and Indian teachers towards inclusive education of students with special educational needs resulting from mild to moderate disabilities and the significance of selected factors for their differentiation. Polish teachers generally declared more positive attitudes than Indian teachers. Two variables in Indian teachers (the location of the school where the respondents worked and personal contacts with people with disabilities) and one variable in Polish teachers (seniority) turned out to be important in differentiating their attitudes towards inclusion. Implication for practice and further research are discussed.

Global cultural exchange is a well-known, boundless phenomenon. Therefore, it is fundamental for countries to promote mutual understanding and tolerance of cultural diversity, to prevent stigmatization and social hermetization from migrant backgrounds, and to foster social inclusion, thus fulfilling the assumptions of sustainable development. Polish society is considered to be relatively homogenous in terms of culture, however, the increasing influx of immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe, poses a new challenge for its national schooling system and multicultural education. That is why the aim of the article was to verify the state of preparation of Polish schools for multicultural education, mutual attitudes of the participants of the educational process, and the relationships between them, as well as to indicate dependency between parents, students, and teachers. The article presents the results of quantitative research carried out in a group of early childhood education teachers from border regions. The results of the conducted research showed the state of intercultural education in Polish schools before the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The study is barely the attempt of monitoring the condition of intercultural education, especially in the current “new multicultural reality” in Polish schools.

The internationalization of higher education is steadily increasing, which can be observed also in the growing number of university students benefiting from the European mobility program European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (Erasmus+). The author’s survey questionnaire was used to investigate the motivations that influence the decision to participate in the Erasmus+ programme and to choose Lisbon as a student exchange city, as well as to learn about the benefits of mobility. Furthermore, the differences between the scholarship holders from Poland and those from other countries were presented. In general, students considered a number of factors when joining Erasmus+. International mobility plays an important role in both personal and educational development. The information obtained on academic mobility may contribute to the development and popularization of the idea of academic exchange programmes among students and may facilitate the planning of promotional activities of the university’s international relations offices.

Technology-enhanced international virtual exchanges (IVE), or Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), provide educators and students with the access and tools to connect with the world through collaboration with colleagues and peers in a global context (SUNY COIL Center, “Welcome”, n.d.a). In the IVE courses, students in different countries work together to broaden not only their academic knowledge, but also digital literacy, critical thinking, problemsolving, teamwork, and communication skills (Werner, 2015). In this study, technology-enhanced IVE are introduced and the benefits of IVE for educators and students are explored. Some concrete examples are also shared of how two professors from Ukraine and the United States reflected on the course of collaboration with our French partner professor to co-plan and co-teach a technology-enhanced IVE course in order to offer sustainable international education and provide students with the opportunities to gain diverse cross-cultural, cross-linguistic, and cross-disciplinary experiences, to demonstrate communication skills using technology, and to improve their intercultural competence.

This study comprises an analysis of the school education system in the context of using modern technologies. Its main goal is to present the benefits and limitations associated with the implementation of modern technologies in the school environment. Two fundamental questions will be asked: 1) What are the effects of using new technologies in education, including intercultural education? 2) Can modern technologies pave the way for implementing the ideal of education as an activity aimed primarily at shaping an individual capable of effective and creative adaptation to the social reality in which otherness, including cultural otherness, is common? The authors indicate the types of implemented technologies and assess their impact on adapting students to the extracurricular reality. Referring to the source data and postulates of the contemporary pedagogical and sociological thought, the authors highlight the topicality of the message requiring from the school the activation and development of students’ competencies that will be effectively and creatively implemented in their future professional and social life. It should also be noted that education takes place in cyberspace as well, especially when it is related to the use of modern technologies, which is why great importance should be drawn to cybersecurity.

Migration puts children in a difficult situation – it takes away their stability and constancy of everyday events and plucks them from a safe environment. The purpose of the article is to present the main assumptions and innovative ideas related to the author’s Positive Early Childhood Education Curriculum, as well as indicating the forms of work with students with migration trauma experience. The applied method was the educational project description. The extraordinary nature of the Curriculum is exhibited in the relocation of metatheoretical assumptions – from pedagogy of “lack” to pedagogy of “growth”. Therefore, it is recommended that the child’s well-being should be nurtured (M. Seligman, A. Antonovsky) alongside the development of intercultural proximity and “soft competences”, which are of importance for students with trauma experiences. The Curriculum allows as well for acquiring teacher’s self-awareness. It has been indicated how to implement the Curriculum assumptions – positivity, optimality, balance, and prospectivity for students with various cultural and biographical backgrounds. Special attention is devoted to strengthening the resilience in students with migration experiences and to the directions of actions to enable them the emotional, socio-cultural, instrumental, material and procedural, systemic, environmental and preventive support.

Due to the emergence of new social problems resulting from weakening pro-integration moods regarding culturally, ethnically, or religiously diverse societies, the Acting in Context by Training the Trainers in Social Empowerment (ACTTE) project was prepared and implemented. The Polish National Agency of Academic Exchange (NAWA) financed the project as part of the International Academic Partnerships program. The project goals were: 1) shaping competencies/skills in the field of DPA (Developing the Power to Act) in organized training participants (NGO employees and academic teachers), 2) developing tools for intervention work based on the concept of Empowerment. Within the training, the research was carried out based on the action research methodology and the use of scaling and uncategorized interview. The article presents the excerpt of the research, which was aimed at determining the changes in the competencies related to the use of the DPA approach in the project’s participants, as well as their subjective understanding of the DPA. The presented research results show the legitimacy of the project implementation by partner institutions, which are universities and non-governmental organizations. The competences and skills acquired by the project participants can be used in academic and environmental work.

The aim of the article is to discuss the Chinese educational culture in the context of the pursuing guanxi tradition. The article answers the question what guanxi is and how it is applied in the Chinese educational system. The subject of research is the educational system and guanxi culture and its practical implications. In the article, the existing studies are used of Chinese and other foreign authors. The qualitative research method involves analyses of secondary sources which outlined the methods and principles of operation of the old Chinese tradition of regulating social relationships in education in the network of three-sided personal relations: school-home, parent-teacher, and students-teachers.