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