Tasks of intercultural education in the context of the war in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine initiated by the Russians makes one aware every day of the destruction of ideas and principles of peaceful problem solving developed over the years, and of the paradigm of cultural coexistence created in intercultural education. The aim of the article is to point out the need to undertake new tasks through intercultural education in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Shaping a culture of peace, “making peace” has now become the leading task of intercultural education. The text points to the task of building on “good memory” as an opportunity and possibility of dealing with “bad memory”, the emancipation of national memories, the revitalization of heterology – the science of the Other, intercultural competences, the elimination of stereotypes and prejudices, one-sided negative and aggressive propaganda, etc. The article emphasizes the responsibility of intercultural education for creating the principles of democracy, revitalizing values symbolizing the common history with Ukraine, cooperation and collaboration in the process of functioning in European culture.

Cultural changes with war in the background – eliminating Russian culture from the space of Western culture as a form of solidarity with the nation and culture of Ukraine

The main axis of the article is the socio-cultural phenomena occurring since the outbreak of the Russian invasion in Ukraine in 2022, which has caused important changes not only in Europe, but also in other regions of the world. These changes have obvious political, economic, demographic, social and less obvious cultural dimensions. The latter take various forms, among which one is particularly controversial – it is the elimination of Russian culture from the cultural space of Western and other countries, among them Poland. This stems from solidarity with the Ukrainian people and an attempt to influence the attitudes of the Russian society, who, as research indicates, endorse the Russian invasion. The boycott mainly concerns artistic culture, symbolic in terms of the works of both living and deceased artists, contemporary and classical creations, both proand anti-war artists. Against this background, a public discussion unfolds on the legitimacy of all forms of boycott and the issue of collective responsibility. The theoretical context for the consideration of these phenomena is the concept of cancel culture. Empirical illustrations, on the other hand, are the studies on the discussed phenomena based on the opinion of students of social sciences.

Prejudice-based bullying against minorities. On the role of immigrant background and intergroup processes in explaining and limiting the phenomenon

Societies are becoming more ethnically and culturally diverse. This growing diversity offers new opportunities for both individuals and societies. At the same time, it also creates challenges such as a polarized political climate and an increase in hostile behaviour based on prejudice, such as ethnic discrimination and peer violence against immigrants. Recent research on the forms of bullying of minority groups by peers suggests that prejudice has some influence on specific patterns of bullying, but not enough attention has yet been given to this either in the conceptualization of bullying itself or in the design of intervention and prevention programs. It is therefore suggested that further research and the design of prevention programs could be targeted to give more attention to prejudice as one of the factors underlying this form of peer violence. The article is of a review nature and has been organized in a conceptual way, i.e. the focus is on prejudice-based bullying, which is the subject of research, but at the same time, arguments for the presented point of view will be presented to justify further empirical research in this problem area.

Developing professional competencies of teaching staff in the context of work in a culturally diverse environment on the example of the 2nd School of Intercultural Education

The aim of the article is to present the 2nd School of Intercultural Education (IISEM) “Strengthening the potential of children and youth with a migrant background” as an example of a cyclical training activity addressed to people involved in educational practice. The paper is a voice in the discussion on the professional competences of teachers, educationalists, psychologists, intercultural assistants, etc. who work in dynamically changing conditions of cultural diversity. Therefore, their competences should be systematically developed in the dialogical relationship between pedagogical theory and practice, in the process of lifelong education, taking into account the specificity of the environment in which the school operates and the challenges and needs existing in it. The article consists of three complementary parts. The first outlines the socio-cultural contexts of contemporary education. Against this background, the goals and specificity of IISEM are shown. The third part presents the methodological package “Towards the integration of Polish and Ukrainian students”, which contains scenarios of educational activities being the result of the work of IISEM participants in culturally diverse environments. The content presented in the text is the result of my own experience and observations resulting from five months of cooperation with the School participants as a mentor and the work of the editor of the substantive methodological package. These activities were accompanied by systematic consultations with IISEM participants, observation of classes conducted during the School (including the implementation of some of them), the evaluation of IISEM (using surveys and interviews with its participants) and analysis of the collected data. The content comprised in the text can be useful both to people interested in intercultural education, both in its theoretical aspects and in educational practice.

The Other in the space of cultural institutions. „Struggle” for accessibility – the case of the Museum of Cieszyn Silesia in Cieszyn

In the increasingly diversified world, openness to difference becomes a priority. This difference can be understood broadly. It may refer to people with foreign cultural experiences, with other cultural resources or with their shortage. It may also concern individuals or entire groups with special needs. Opening to the needs of such people and educating the society in this regard is one of the many tasks of cultural institutions. The need to make an institution more accessible is becoming a constantly growing challenge for its employees. The text addresses the problem of adapting cultural institutions to the legislative requirements introduced by the Act of 19th July 2019 on ensuring accessibility to people with special needs and the Act of 4th April 2019 on the digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public entities. This issue was discussed in reference to the research results obtained with the use of the case study method in the research conducted in the Museum of Cieszyn Silesia in Cieszyn. What was taken into account in those studies was architectural, communication-information and digital accessibility. The interviews conducted with museum employees were analysed.

Mobility of young adults from Central and Eastern European countries – a Polish-Czech-Slovak-Ukrainian comparative study

The young generation is treated as the future of society. This generation’s size, skills and knowledge, as well as economic activity, socio-cultural involvement, marital intentions and family (procreation) plans determine the quality of society. Thus, an important issue is the outflow of young people who decide to migrate abroad. It is therefore important to recognize both the current experiences and the life plans of the young generation in this field. In post-communist countries, the fall of the communist system had a major impact on the increase in mobility. Political, sociocultural and economic changes have contributed to the emergence of new migration-related phenomena and the so-called fluid migration, characterized by free movement of labour, massiveness, diversity and plasticity. The surveyed youth from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have experiences related to functioning within open borders, unlike the youth from Ukraine, where the borders are closed. Wioletta Danilewicz notices the existence of the so-called migration culture, i.e. the acceptance (by the participants of migration processes) that these are phenomena constituting an inherent element of their lives, despite their awareness of the unfavourable co-occurring elements. The research results presented in the text indicate that the surveyed young adults do not fully follow this trend.

Core value and related principles, qualities, attitudes as reflected in the University of Vienna Code of Ethics

This paper is an attempt to address the following research questions: What core value and its associated principles, qualities, and attitudes are reflected in the University of Vienna’s Code of Ethics? What perception of the university does this document reveal? The first part of this paper is a description of the essential historical facts pertaining to this university, its organizational structure and the formation of world elites. The second part explains the importance of the code of ethics as a means of helping to direct human conduct toward social, educational, and economic goals. The third part was focused on the main axiological quality (value), as well as the aretological (virtues/characteristics), normative (principles/norms) and behavioral qualities comprised in the content of the Code. The value marked most clearly in the Code of Ethics of the University of Vienna was responsibility. It is also a desirable attitude of university members that predisposes them to exhibit qualities such as honesty and loyalty. The principles of conduct specified in the Code included: legality, expediency, economy, openness, risk minimization, sustainable development, “face to face” communication in situations requiring confidentiality.

The Global South beyond cultural diversity. The discourse of exclusion in language textbooks

The aim of the article is to present the results of the analysis of the contents related to the Global South in language textbooks, which, due to the cultural aspects of teaching a foreign language, are of particular importance in intercultural education. The method of content analysis was used in the study, with inductive and deductive data coding in the Atlas.ti 7 program. The results show the ways of discursive exclusion of the Global South, characterized by one-sidedness and Eurocentrism noticeable in textbooks images of this world region. The collected data made it possible to distinguish such elements of the discourse of exclusion as victimization (linking the image of the Global South with various problems), exoticization (descriptions of the Global South in the context of traditional rituals or the richness of nature) and incapacitation (absence of representatives of the Global South in the texts or presenting them as passive beneficiaries of external aid). Despite the potential of shaping intercultural competences that language education brings, in the aspect of the Global South, it seems necessary to modify the content of textbooks in the direction of diversity, equal treatment of cultures, getting rid of the sense of superiority and ethnocentric attitudes.0

Messages directed to potential volunteers via Polish-language websites. An example of voluntary work in African countries

Internet communication is widely used by Polish NGOs in communicating with the public. It is also used by foundations and associations that organize volunteering in Africa. The purpose of this article is to characterize the communications concerning participation in volunteering in the African area, which have been posted on the Polish-language Internet by the aforementioned NGOs. This article presents theoretical issues relating to the Internet as a tool of communication in NGOs, the image of the Other in Polish society (in relation to Africa and the inhabitants of the continent) and volunteering in Polish NGOs. It presents the results of the author’s own qualitative research conducted using an analytical technique, the content analysis method. Messages posted on the websites of NGOs focus on the person of the volunteer experiencing exotic adventures and gathering attractive experiences, at the expense of presenting the beneficiaries of the volunteer’s activities. The described communications present reality in a way that perpetuates stereotypes, while conveying information about the professional, ethical and intelligent nature of the activities of foundations and associations.

„CAS is the hardest and easiest subject in school” – teachers’ experiences in the IB DP program. An interactive perspective

In the article, the focus is on the International Baccalaureate Program (IB DP), which places great emphasis on the comprehensive development of students by providing the necessary knowledge and practical skills while taking into account the student’s interests. Special attention is paid to the subject of CAS (i.e. creativity, activity, service) because when analysing the selected literature on the subject, we noticed that the topic of CAS, implemented as part of the international IB curriculum, is overlooked and not explored in pedagogical research. The issues discussed in the article are part of broader considerations devoted to the reconstruction of the social world of schools implementing the international baccalaureate program. The empirical material comes from 19 unstructured interviews with teachers of international schools in Poland and participant observations carried out in these institutions. Reaching for a qualitative research strategy and grounded methodology procedures, we reconstructed the methods of defining CAS by the surveyed teachers, as well as strategies for managing this subject. It turns out that CAS is perceived by the respondents as a distinguishing feature (showcase) of the international program, and the strategies (mentor and administrative) for managing this subject implemented by the coordinators are not permanent and absolute.

Social activities and the process of profiling the social world. The case of the right-wing and liberal interpretation of the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border

When in the second half of 2021 the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border rapidly inflamed, it became a subject of numerous articles published in major opinion weeklies of different ideological orientations. Their analysis using the profiling concept developed by Jerzy Bartmiński allowed to reveal two alternative profiles of people trying to cross Polish border from Belarus (illegal immigrant versus refugee) and different images of the social world hidden behind them, manifested in ideological (right-wing and liberal) language codes. According to J. Bartmiński’s concept, profiling is reconstructable practically in every text of culture, and the reconstruction of profiling makes it possible to obtain a cognitive definition, i.e. one that allows to present the way the speakers understand the events of the social world, the ways of ordering, categorizing and evaluating them. The reconstructed profiles were used in the analysed texts to generate different action patterns (defense of sovereignty versus helping people in a humanitarian crisis), which, however, have a common area, which is identifying the figure of external enemy and inner traitor.

Polarization: the polemic with the article “Fanaticism as an educational problem”

The criticism of the article “Fanaticism as an Educational Problem” focuses on the selective treatment of fanaticism symptoms, ignoring the role of political polarization and age in analysing this phenomenon. Gałkowski and Gałkowski’s article (2023) presents a valuable proposal for a minimal educational program, but it requires considering a broader social, cultural, and individual context in diagnosing fanaticism and applying effective tools to counteract this phenomenon. The starting point of the debate is the observation that fanaticism remains a negatively perceived label that excludes individuals or social groups, hence the need for clarification on how cultural diversity and intercultural communication can contribute to it. Fanaticism is associated with an existential crisis, but there are also specific developmental phenomena in children that can be mistaken for fanaticism. Literary works can help in understanding this phenomenon. The proposed examples indicate that fanaticism is primarily a group phenomenon characterized by action rather than solely an attitude to the truth. In preventing and dismantling fanaticism, it is important to consider emotions related to uncertainty and develop skills to cope with it. Finding effective alternatives to psychoactive substances in emotional regulation and violence prevention poses a challenge. Fanaticism can be present in the inertia of customs and can be recognized by sensitive young people in society’s reactions to demands for social change. The situation of individuals expelled at the Polish-Belarusian border highlights the difference between uncompromising commitment and fanaticism. Human rights should be respected without exceptions, and the willingness to accept external judgment distinguishes activists from fanatics. Building relationships free from fanaticism in communities, especially in the case of refugees, requires considering the atmosphere and pedagogy of the place, which play a crucial role in combating fanaticism.

Stop and think. Thinking against fanaticism

Piotr Kowzan’s polemic proved that the issue of fanaticism remains an important educational problem, but also more broadly: a social one. Formulating a response to a polemic allows for rethinking and clarifying some themes. It also turns out to be important to return to the very definition of fanaticism as well as to point out that the problem is important because fanaticism threatens primarily people of value: those who perceive values and are actively engaged in their realization. In our response to the polemic, we try to point out three issues that are important in our opinion. Firstly, we emphasize that fanaticism is always harmful, and although this harmfulness is not always significant, even in the best case, fanaticism is harmful at least to the fanatic himself. Secondly, we oppose the claim that countering fanaticism can be as destructive as fanaticism itself. Thirdly, we maintain the claim that the basic symptoms of fanaticism are: an inability to make any compromises and a rejection of the very possibility of making an exception to an accepted rule of action. In conclusion, we recall Hannah Arend’s vitally important call to maintain a balance between activity and reflexivity.

Refugees as a challenge for intercultural education

The article presents the author’s concept of the continuum of intercultural relations referred to the cultural differences concerning refugees. This concept is based on the distinguishing of four stages of relationships: narrowly understood tolerance, cognitive interest, intercultural dialogue and cultural symbiosis. The ordering criteria used to distinguish the stages were: the sign of emotions related to the culturally Other, the sociocultural identity of the interacting individuals (especially people from the society that receives refugees), and the presence or absence of direct interaction between an individual representing the receiving society and the refugee. The concept of the continuum is presented against the background of the ideas underlying the emergence and development of the idea of intercultural education in Poland.

To green Ukraine and to those green meadows... The Eastern borderlands of the Second Polish Republic as an object of sightseeing interest for Poles – an attempt at a summary

This article is an attempt to look at selected factors accounting for the popularity among Polish tourists a few years ago of the area known as the Eastern borderlands of the Second Polish Republic (Pol.: Kresy). Methodologically, the autoethnographic study involves an analysis of desk research (the 2019 CBOS survey and the observations made by other researchers). Starting from the CBOS quantitative data recording the scale of Poles’ trips in this direction, the author looks at selected qualitative circumstances which may, to some extent, be behind the preferences diagnosed in the survey, but also behind the broader interest in these sites. The considerations include the (geo)political reality, specific (Eastern borderland-like) experiences, Polish traces, literature, film and Galician and migration myths – assigned to three main thematic areas (Europeanization versus a good national self-sense, Polish traces, and literature, films and myths). Although the essence of the considerations seems to favour Ukraine, the “question of priority” was left – as it is the case in quantitative research – open, focusing on broadening the context of the whole issue.

Japanese religious syncretism

Syncretism is a conceptual model that signifies the alliance, amalgamation, or combination of the assumptions of different religious, philosophical and cultural systems that are objects of interest in cultural, religious and social studies. Nevertheless, less attention has been paid to this process as an educational phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the issues related to Japanese religious syncretism. It comprises the presentation of the main religious currents and spiritual traditions present in contemporary Japanese culture, as well as the idiosyncrasies associated with their peculiarities that carry the potential for informal cross-cultural education. This translates into some peculiar features of the cultural identity of the Japanese with their eclectic and inclusive qualities. In contrast to the negative connotations associated with syncretism in the context of the European cultural milieu and Christian dynamics, Japanese syncretism in this regard has positive connotations because it implies reconciliation between religious traditions and communities that would otherwise be considered as competing with each other. Insights into the nature of religious syncretism in contemporary Japan as a process of heterogeneous fusion of faiths and beliefs (and the resulting traditions, rituals and symbols) present in the public space and sacred architecture, and identified in cultural discourse, will specify the capital for cross-cultural learning and cross-religious tolerance.

Cooperation of migrants with Polish diaspora organizations as a factor of social capital growth in a multicultural society

The article concerns the activity of the Polish community in Canada in the context of social capital. It presents the results of sociological empirical research carried out using an online questionnaire survey among Canadian Polish youth who cooperate with a Polish community organization and the one that does not undertake such cooperation. The respondents participating in the study function in the multicultural society of Canada on a daily basis, which – as it turned out in the course of the analyses – creates an opportunity to acquire and accumulate social capital resources. The article also describes selected theoretical concepts regarding this resource. Their analysis was made by taking into account three components that appear in Robert Putnam’s approach: trust, norms and connections of the respondents. It was presented how respondents define trust itself and what level of trust they have in relation to selected social groups. Their view on the relationship between belonging to social organizations (e.g. The Władysław Reymont Foundation) with norms and morality was also described. The article also presents the frequency of respondents’ contacts with selected groups and their opinions on social organizations. The empirical considerations allowed to verify the research hypothesis that cooperation with The Władysław Reymont Foundation is conducive to the social capital of migrants.

Identification and sense of pride among young Americans of Polish and Tibetan origins

Ethnic diversity in the United States is a dynamic phenomenon that affects all aspects of the country’s social, economic and cultural life. This is one of the characteristics that defines American identity and makes the United States one of the most diverse countries in the world. The article focuses on the identity of young Americans of Polish and Tibetan origins living in the Tri-State Area (Connecticut, New Jersey and New York). Students attending Polish and Tibetan Saturday Schools were selected for the study. These are two distinct ethnic groups, but it is assumed that maintaining the cultural heritage of their ancestors is what characterizes both of them. The research results confirm this thesis and indicate that the sense of identity is a natural need of a young person, expressed in a dual cultural pattern and a developmental task that should be undertaken. In both studies, a strong sense of pride in ethnic origin emerged, although it was articulated in different ways by young people. Students from both groups presented high cultural competences in their country of origin and country of residence.

Children’s intercultural education in Germany (the case of the activities of Familienzentrum Lebenshilfe Elmshorn day care centres)

The article contains considerations on intercultural education in Germany based on the example of Familienzentrum Lebenshilfe Elmshorn day care centres. Against the background of these considerations and referring to the thesis that early intercultural education provides an opportunity to develop lasting competences in the field of broadly understood coexistence, the German concern for intercultural education, care, help and support is presented. The Federal Assisted Living Association in the district of Pinneberg offers initiatives in this area through six integrated day care centres in Elmshorn, Pinneberg, Appen-Etz and Wedel. On the basis of the analysis of the activities undertaken in the city of Elmhorn and in day care centres, integration activities are shown – the ones that take place both in an intercultural perspective and in the family space. The article emphasizes that early intercultural education broadens thinking about education, understanding that a child is a learning entity striving for self-fulfillment, developing their own strength and possibilities in the process of “dialogue” with an adult. Early cultural education is also a path to peaceful coexistence based on mutual knowledge and understanding.

Youth and the values of the democratic social order. A report from dynamic and comparative studies

The text is a presentation of the preliminary results of team research on the attitude of students towards the value of the renewal of social order, reconstructed in Piotr Sztompka’s “renewal decalogue”. On the basis of the results of the exploration carried out 30 years ago on “Youth in relation to the values and norms of social life”, a new scientific research was designed. It was carried out at several Polish and Ukrainian universities, in a group of students from several faculties. Ten values and forty norms of social life were assessed twice on a six-point scale. The respondents were first asked to indicate to what extent they considered certain values of social life as personally important and how they influenced their lives in various social situations. Then, they had to assess to what extent the given norms are noticed in their environment and are present in contemporary social life. The research report contains the results of the exploration of only a part of the study cohort, 272 students of pedagogy from Polish universities and 91 students from pedagogical universities in Ukraine. The obtained results were additionally compared with those obtained three decades earlier in a group of students of the same faculty.

Motivations of students coming from Eastern Europe to study in Poland – international, local and institutional context

The article comprises a presentation of the motivations that accompany students coming from Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine when deciding to study in Poland. The theoretical framework for examining the motivation of foreign students’ migration decisions is the push-pull factors model by Everett Lee. The analyzed material comes from an online survey of foreign students studying at the University of Wroclaw and the Maria Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin in December 2022 and January 2023. The study focuses on the factors that attract foreign students to specific destinations in three contexts: international (why Poland?), local (why a particular city?), and institutional (why a particular university?). The pull factors of greatest importance for foreign students from both universities turned out to be economic and cultural ones. The evaluation of the level of democracy in Poland was also significant. Taking into account the local context, it is worth noting that Wroclaw and Lublin attract not only with their original educational offer but also with their “urban atmosphere,” a “climate” conducive to ethnic difference. Social networks – understood as having family or friends in the country, the city of study or the chosen university – turned out to be the least important for the decision to study in Poland.

Intercultural education in the face of disability culture. Activities of selected NGOs in Lesser Poland Voivodeship – an empirical illustration

The article adopts a cultural understanding of the experiences of people with disabilities. Its purpose is an attempt to discuss disability as a minority culture in the context of the opportunities presented by intercultural education. From the perspective of the sociology of minority groups, the extent to which the dominant group’s perception of minority as cultural one is shared by the minority itself is relevant. In order to look at in-group concepts of education (using the Klon/Jawor database), the documents of NGOs from Lesser Poland Voivodeship involved in the education of people with disabilities were analyzed. The article refers to the minority nature of disability, the culture of people with disabilities, the state of expert literature on the education of this minority, and the results of our own research. It is based on an analysis of the literature on the subject and a study of the data collected from organizations dealing with people with disabilities, which set goals and tasks of an educational nature. The results of the conducted research indicate that there is a small number of initiatives aimed at building a culture of disability and that they are scattered, which in turn implies a lack of an institutional network of disability culture (at least in Lesser Poland Voivodeship).

Survival strategies of Ukrainian student-refugees (in the perception of general secondary school teachers)

The aim of the article was to identify and characterize survival strategies adopted by Ukrainian refugee students in general secondary schools. The study was grounded in qualitative research within the interactionist perspective, with the use of thematic analysis. The empirical material was collected through in-depth narrative interviews with twelve teachers from six schools located in cities of various sizes. The research revealed and described three main strategies employed by refugee students: distancing strategy (from teachers, education, and peer groups), engagement avoidance strategy (in classwork and homework), and non-learning of the Polish language strategy. The primary function of these strategies was to simulate the performance of school duties and assume the role of a learner. The strategies were students’ responses to the imposed situation of sudden and compulsory functioning in school in a foreign country, without knowledge of the teaching language and without preparation for participation in advanced secondary education. The strategies constituted a response to the lack of systemic, flexible, and functional solutions stimulating the adaptive processes of refugee students. The article concludes with practical implications regarding the necessity of developing a coherent concept of education for refugee students, as well as migrants who do not present sufficient competence in the Polish language at the secondary level.

Research and educational project “Ukrainian Teaching Materials 2022” for Wrocław’s pre- and early school education – a presentation of survey results

Alongside the tragic consequences of the armed conflict, the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022 resulted in an upheaval within the educational system in Poland. This situation posed challenges for Ukrainian children arriving in Poland as well as for teachers and students in educational institutions where refugee children were being admitted without restrictions. The author’s research and educational project “Ukrainian Teaching Materials 2022” for Wrocław’s pre – and early school education in 2022 aimed to support the development of language skills among refugee children in their native language and in Polish, and to support preschool and early school teachers in this endeavour by providing them with appropriately prepared methodological packages. A diagnostic survey identified teachers’ needs regarding methodological materials. At the same time, a follow-up focus group interview conducted 30–40 days later presented teachers’ reflections and experiences in teaching in linguistically and culturally diverse groups during the initial period of the war migration. The project was also aimed to raise awareness among teachers and to cultivate an open attitude towards using bilingual and Ukrainian-language materials in working with children with war migration experience. Due to the collected extensive research material, the research findings were divided into two parts: the first part presents the theoretical and methodological context of the project as well as the results of the survey. In contrast, the second part presents the results of the focus group research and discussion based on the literature review.

The article highlights changes in Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) in Singapore. In response to the country’s current and future needs, the government has been introducing various mandatory programs aimed at integrating ethnic groups and developing human resources through education. The aim of the article is to recognize the importance attributed to CCE in educational policy and to discuss the currently implemented approach. The diagnosis takes into account the broader social, political and historical context of the country, in which CCE is embedded.

This study is a review (content analysis of the literature) supplemented with actual indications and a proposal for a project that can be implemented by researchers representing universities from several countries. The aim is to show how universal design and broadly understood accessibility relate to the idea of intercultural education, or how they rather stem from it. Additionally, it will be important to develop these ideas within the thinking about the changing university – open and accessible to everyone as much as possible. Due attention will be drawn here to important issues from the point of view of the priorities and prospects of the European Union’s policy, also because of the obvious need to change the social reality towards the frequently mentioned inclusion. The ending will comprise the guidelines and recommendations for those designing future activities, those implementing ready-made solutions, as well as for theoreticians who try to organize their knowledge in this area.

The aim of the article is to carry out a literature review concerning the principles of cultural child rearing among Indigenous people in Canada as regards traditional practices and their contemporary adaptation in the shadow of the historical trauma of colonization. The main categories of analysis are cultural connectedness and cultural child development related to Indigenous understanding of child autonomy, discipline, spirituality, building relationships and community in Canadian Indigenous societies. In the first part of the article, the focus is on the importance of cultural connectedness and five areas of connectedness crucial to a cultural framework by which Indigenous knowledge is transmitted, preserved and promoted. In the second part, the principles of traditional child development in contemporary Indigenous practices with some examples such as the “Four Hills of Life” are explored. In conclusion, there is a brief reflection on Indigenous ways of child rearing in the context of its barriers and opportunities.

Recently, there has been an intense increase in interest in brain research findings among education professionals. In response to the needs of teachers, a number of proposals have appeared on the market, which are in fact so-called neuromyths, i.e. theories or methods, with an unclear theoretical basis and unproven effectiveness. Despite this, they are widely used in many countries. The purpose of the article is to check whether the obtained results will be related to the specific socio-economic situation of a given country. The study included 171 teachers from Poland and Israel. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire that had already been used for this purpose in other countries. The results indicate that the factor significantly differentiating the studied groups, was the place of residence. Polish teachers scored better on questions about facts of brain structure, but were more likely to believe false claims involving eating sweet things, brain neuroplasticity or the need to drink water. Israeli teachers, on the other hand, were more likely to accept as true false claims related to bilingualism, to simultaneous stimulating both the left and right hemisphere, to giving children a lot of educational toys, doing multitasking and using media. This may be a result of socioeconomic and cultural differences, concerning, among other things, the use of scientific publications, media or university subjects.

This article presents the problem of immigrant integration in Poland. The research objective was to analyze the degree of integration of the immigrants with the host (Polish) society. The authors adopted the concept of 5 dimensions of integration as the theoretical basis for their research. The studies were carried out using a survey questionnaire. They lasted from November 2022 to March 2023 and were carried out via the Internet. 224 immigrants took part in the research. The condition for participation in the study was residence in Poland for at least 2 years. The respondents were asked, among other things, about free practice of one’s religion, access to places where one can practice religion (churches, temples, mosques, etc.), making and maintaining acquaintances, encountering discrimination/hostility on the part of Poles, importance of religion and tradition in adapting to life in Poland, the choice of Poland in the event of the possible re-deciding on the choice of residence place or a possible change of residence place. The analysis of the indicators revealed that the vast majority of the respondents (61%) had integrated with the host society to a great extent. However, a large group of immigrants (39%) who had problems with integration was also identified.

The theoretical and methodological framework of the undertaken considerations is determined by the basic conceptual categories – the linguistic image of the world, culture and values. In the analysis of their educational context, some assumptions were adopted from the field of linguistics and sociolinguistics (the perspective of the cultural context in linguistic research), social and cultural anthropology (with particular focus on its anthropocentric-cultural trend), axiology (its phenomenological orientation) and cognitive psychology (its cognitive-developmental theories). At the same time, the assumption was made that the study of the linguistic image of the value of friendship appreciated by learners from the Polish-Czech borderland enables treating language as a source of knowledge (anchored in their own experience and culture) about the ways they understand the world. In the analysis of qualitative empirical material, a reductive and expansive method of data processing was used, as well as the assumptions of the interpretative approach to the analysis of the statement meanings in the context of: understanding the respondents’ thoughts, critical common-sense understanding and theoretical understanding. In preparing a full description of the linguistic image of the value of friendship preferred by children, a phenomenological approach was also used, consisting in moving from individual textural-structural relations of meanings and the essence of the respondents’ experiences to a synthesis in the form of a description of their axiological experiences.

The article comprises a static scientific-analytical review of the values and life meanings of Ukrainian youth in the conditions of war. The instability of the situation is characterized by the life circumstances that continue for a long time and significantly go beyond the social and natural norms in which people are used to living. In this social context, the value paradigm of a person is changing. On the basis of statistical data, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the problems that concern Ukrainian youth today was carried out, the types of their social activity, life priorities and meanings, dominant factors that influence the process of personality formation were determined. It is also stated in the study that the formation of the young people’s value foundations during the war is influenced by their emotional and psychological state, which in most cases is not stable and has a contradictory and changeable character. Extremeness and categoricalness in assessments, frequent changes in emotional moods and priorities in young people are a result of the experienced stress. Some important generalizations are made regarding the restructuring of the value sphere of young people under the influence of such a tragic socio-political phenomenon as war.

The situation in Ukraine caused by war since 2014 and the intensification of hostilities from 2022 have led many Ukrainian citizens to emigrate. Living in other countries requires the need to adapt to often different cultural conditions. Intercultural sensitivity is an important dimension of intercultural communication competence that determines if individuals effectively adjust to a new reality. This study aims to adapt the most widely used tool for measuring intercultural sensitivity, the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (2000) by Chen and Starosta, to Ukrainian conditions. This article comprises a presentation of a Ukrainian version of the questionnaire for measuring cross-cultural sensitivity, along with its psychometric properties. The obtained results showed that Chen and Starosta’s five-factor model of intercultural sensitivity (IS) did not fit the Ukrainian cultural context. A confirmatory factor analysis of the previous adaptations of IS, showed that the best model for the present study was the Serbian model. Therefore, we created a four-factor IS model containing 15 items (α-Cronbach’s 0.841). These factors, along with the items included in the Ukrainian version of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, were based on the 24-item Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) formulated by Chen and Starosta. This study contains a proposaal of an alternative model of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale that is better suited to Ukrainian culture. The questionnaire with a key is attached to the article for other researchers to use in their studies.

The text addresses the key competencies of the future relevant to the labour market from the perspective of students of the humanities and social sciences. It is based on the research carried out in three universities: in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (a total of 603 students were surveyed) in 2022 as part of the Erasmus+ project grant KA220-HED. Research results indicate that students perceive critical thinking, problem-solving, and interpersonal communication skills as the most important for future work, given that creativity is ranked in the middle of the three universities by students. Students ranked low emotion management, time management skills and digital competencies in the labor market. In terms of gender in the 4Cs, there are differences – for men, critical thinking is more important than for women, while communication and cooperation are more important for women. There are no differences in assessing the importance of creativity – this reflects the stereotypical image of differences between occupations perceived as more male and female.

The phenomenon of exclusion, marginalization and disadvantage is experienced by many social groups, especially the – culturally, nationally or religiously – Others. The article is a continuation of an earlier text published in the journal Edukacja Międzykulturowa [Intercultural Education], which concerned the theoretical foundations of multiple discrimination and a review of the research conducted in the intersectional paradigm. In this text, the focus is primarily on the analysis of research on multiple discrimination against mothers of children with disabilities. The research was aimed at learning about their experiences and answering the question: Do the surveyed women feel discrimination? And if so, does this unfair differentiation affect them because they belong to more than one group? To obtain an answer to thess research questions, in 2023 I conducted six narrative interviews with mothers of children with profound disabilities. The analysis of their narratives made it possible to conclude that they experience differentiation by others due to more than one criterion. In their case, the first factor of discrimination is gender – the female one, which intersects with another (or others): woman – a mother of a child with disability; woman – a person who does not work. The narrators share their experience of being stigmatized due to their appearance (too well-groomed, and therefore not sufficiently devoted to the child), educational and caring competences (responsible for the child’s behaviour that is inconsistent with social norms) and due to the abandonment or limitation of their professional career.

The European refugee crisis of 2015 had a profound impact not only policies, but also narratives related to migration. The article is aimed to analyse how the European refugee crisis was narrated in Polish textbooks on geography and civics – two subjects that cover contemporary socio-political events within their curricula. It looks at the textbooks not only as a source of information but also as a political and pedagogical mirror that reflects the ongoing discussions in society. The article builds on the vast scholarship on how the refugee crisis was narrated in Poland and investigates whether and to what extent the same patterns are reflected in the textbooks. Mixed methodology is used in the article to identify the main narratives and themes in the samples of Polish textbook. According to the study the narrations are less extreme and explicit than in the public discourse, they are also often incoherent and inconsistent, and hardly human-centred. While they are not explicitly politicized, they often replicate the main narrative frames from the media discourse.

The representation of the Romani culture in Western popular culture has long been based on stereotypes and prejudices of those who are not part of it. These stereotypes have shaped the common perception of the Romani. Cultural studies are focused on literature relevant in the postcolonial and critical discourse analysis. In the works created for the D&D games set in the fictional world of Ravenloft, one can find the Vistani, an ethnic group inspired by the Romani. What is shown here is how the portrayal of the Vistani coincides with the stereotypes pointed out by researchers in popular depictions of the Romani culture and how the viewers receive such characterizations nowadays. This exploratory study points out how the stereotypes and culture coding work in speculative fiction (namely fantasy genre) and how the portrayal of fictional culture could have real-world implications.

In the article, the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) is highlighted in the context of intercultural education and the ways are identified in which modern technologies can support the development of intercultural competencies. The authors analyze the theoretical foundations of intercultural education and the practical aspects of using ICT in the process of intercultural learning. By integrating ICT with intercultural education, it becomes possible to promote both the understanding of cultural diversity and collaboration skills in a globalized world. On the basis of the presented foundations of intercultural education, it is pointed out that ICT enables global access to information concerning different cultures, fostering understanding and tolerance towards intercultural differences. In their discourse, the authors focus on the possibilities of creating interactive educational environments using ICT, which stimulates active participation in the cultures of other communities. The article demonstrates that the use of ICT allows for the personalization of the teaching process, adapting it to the individual needs of students and supporting the development of their intercultural competencies. Additionally, the significance of virtual reality (VR) and distance learning in the context of intercultural education is analyzed, emphasizing their role in stimulating intercultural situations and global cultural exchange.