Liberal Education in the Contemporary Political Thought

The article is devoted to the problem of the place ascribed to liberal education (and most of all to humanities as constituting its essential part) in contemporary political thought. In times when many rightist as well as leftist thinkers diagnose a crisis of liberal democracy and its educational system, displaying much anxiety about the still-lowering level of citizens’ willingness to participate in a public sphere, some of them propose their diagnosis of such situation and postulates of reform aimed at raising the level of citizens’ engagement in democratic life. One of the means to achieving that goal is implementation of the idea of liberal education, which might work in favor of students’ character development, their acquisition of a holistic view of reality, and their consciousness of the fact of overlapping character of relations binding individual and communal wellbeing. The article aims at presenting theoretical ways of defending humanities in face of contemporary restatement of the role of liberal education in Western societies. The course of argument is following: firstly the transition made in XXth century from “liberal education” to “education to liberalism” (resulting in specialization and vocational character of science) will be traced. Then the opinions of critics to such model of education will be shown, focusing on the representatives of three political doctrines: republicanism, communitarianism and liberalism. In case of each of these group of thinkers their characteristic attitude towards humanities, will be displayed.

Dispute over the Utility of the Intelligent Design Theory for Science

According to intelligent design theory, certain biological and cosmic phenomena were designed by an intelligent being, which could be just as well natural and supernatural. This design is to be scientifically detectable in basically similar fashion as in the case of the effects of the purposeful activity of man. However, critics pose an objection that unscientific character of this theory is discernible in that it is not useful for science because it does not inspire new scientific research and thus it is stopping the progress of science. It is claimed that this theory could easily explain any phenomenon, referring to the category of „intelligent design”, and in this case the word „explanation” has ironic overtone. It is indicated also that proponents of intelligent design theory do not publish the results of their research in renowned scientific journals. This objection could be answered in twofold way: methodological and sociological in character. According to the first answer, science does not depend solely on inspiring new research but also on offering a new view of the known facts, and the design conclusion could be made and justified independently of whether it enables to gain knowledge of its maker or method of its accomplishment. The second answer is that development of novel theories is in large degree hampered by the resistance of the defenders of an orthodox theory, and of established understanding of science, who basically do not display tolerance for revolutionary theories. The mechanisms such as the procedure of reviewing of articles or financing of research projects system, controlled by the defenders of status quo, are of great importance in that case. The chances to receive the grants which could facilitate and accelerate the development of a new, going against the status quo theory, as well as to publish articles inspired by this theory in recognized scientific journals are minuscule, and the change of such situation requires the change of the preference pattern in the world of science.

Disputes about the Creative Industry

In the context of the growing importance of the creative industries in the economy and emerging questions about a place of public, cultural, social, economic and innovative policy, an important question appears: what is an essence of the concept of the creative industries? The idea of integration, support and building an identity of the institutions, which activities are based on talented and creative work, has its origins in the United Kingdom and Australia. It is now entering Polish market and arouses interest in policy-makers, academics and practitioners. Still, for many people, the term seems to be vague and arouses a lot of controversy. The article shows the discourse on the creative industries, especially the ongoing debate between: European (mainly British), Australian and American scholars. Furthermore, arguments of critics and defenders of the concept are also presented. The arguments derived from the tradition of the criticism of mass culture which represent the current research on economization of culture are compared in this text. There are three main grounds of the dispute: the definition of the concept, the essence of the concept of a new sector and application in practice. Furthermore, two main phases in the discourse and the pragmatics of the creative industries are also presented: the transition from cultural industries to creative industries and emphasizing the importance of innovation and networking. The study used a critical analysis of the content of not only Polish but also foreign public documents, industry reports and scientific papers. The methodological conclusions drawn from the emergence of a new interdisciplinary research area are also presented. These findings specifically relate to Poland which is entering a crucial phase of policy development in the field of the creative industries. The need for an action is systematized: definitional, classificational and critical analysis of achievements and mistakes of the countries implementing policies to support the sector, as well as the need to adopt it to the local conditions. In the context of relatively limited academic reflection on the issues in Poland, the need of interdisciplinary analysis is also emphasized.

Civil Political Competences

Building and maintaining a high level of citizens’ political competences is the most important challenge of modern democracies. Political competence is not only a testament to the quality of democracy, but also gives hope for the stability of the regime. The subject of the present article are the different dimensions of civic political competence – namely, the axiological, psychological and systemic dimension. This approach to the matter allows to present a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon, analyzed both from the perspective of citizens – their skills, abilities and knowledge which can all be utilized to build and shape socio-political democratic structures, as well as from the point of view of wider social and systemic structures in which an individual operates. The elements named above together form the internal structure of civic political competence, wherein all its dimensions interact dynamically, and change thanks to this very interaction.

Sense of Self-efficacy in Mathematics of Male and Female Students

Women’s underrepresentation in strictly technical fields of study closely linked to mathematics is a universal phenomenon, registered not only in Poland. Conclusions from numerous educational reports are worldwide as well – it is girls who preponderate over boys in math grades at every stage of education. Furthermore, in Polish conditions, the results of external exams are not significantly diversified by gender. Thus, the consequences of different evaluation systems do not explicate the so-called „women gender gap” in terms of women academic and vocational choices. In Poland, for a few years there has been attempts to counteract the prevailing trend through „The Girls for Engineers” programme or systems of scholarships for female students of technical and scientific studies. Such activities are claimed to be legitimate, though still insufficient, because they focus on diminishing the symptoms of the phenomenon, regardless of its exact causes. The explanation proposed in the article refers to the effects of stereotype that „maths is a domain for males”. It has been assumed that such stereotype has an adverse impact on the perception of one’s competences of stigmatized people – i.e. girls. Such facet of analysis has not been adopted in Polish educational research so far. Theoretical background of own research constitute self-efficacy theory by Albert Bandura, which emphasizes cultural context of its formation process. The obtained results indicate that gender is a significant factor contributing to the sense of efficacy formed on the basis of specific achievements in mathematics. It indicates that a typical female student – in relation to similarly assessed typical male student – registers lower trust to her own mathematical competences. Discussion depicted the way in which unfavourable self-perception corresponds to motivation for learning mathematics and consequently to educational choices. The direction for further research has been indicated.

The Role of Cultural Capital in Labour Market Positioning. An Empirical Study

The aim of this paper is to analyse selected conditions of professional achievements of young polish employees with higher education degrees. The number of graduates has raised significantly in the last twenty years and they are employed not only as the professionals, but also on the positions, which do not demand academic qualifications. The author makes the hypothesis that the amount of cultural capital (in Pierre Bourdieu comprehension) has influence on the position on the labour market. On the basis of the qualitative research, there are the premises to acknowledge the influence of cultural capital on professional achievements. The conclusion from the analysis of polish graduates’ biographies is that occupational position of the employees equipped equally in cultural capital in the institutionalized state (diploma) may depend on the competences acquired during socialization process, which refers to the cultural capital in the embodied state. The paper presents a typology of young employed graduates in terms of their work expectations. The typology reveals how the primary socialization and acquired cultural capital influence the young employees’ attitude to their work and career – if they are preservative and focused on safety guarantees, or creative, looking for their professional development and self-fulfillment.

Origin and Methodology of the Study of Educational Plans of Youth from Grudziądz and the Region of Grudziądz

The research was handled by The Action-research in Contemporary Culture and Education – Practice and Theory team, and was commissioned by Rector of Nicolaus Copernicus University. The examination was held in 30 km radius from Grudziądz – the most efficient distance in terms of economics and everyday travels. We’ve found schools in Świecie, Nowe and Łasin in a circle of our interest. The population of examined region is ca. 155 000. An unemployment rate is significantly higher than average (over 29% in a region). Weak educational infrastructure, no industry. Research was conducted from March 20’ to April 18’ 2013 on 2016 students in 18 schools (regular and technical high schools). The main aim of studies was characteristic of a-level and pre-a-level students from Grudziądz and Grudziądz region and their educational plans. We focused especially on plans regarding higher education. All public school students, from all the high schools, were participating in a research. The auditorial survey was a main used method. The questionnaire was divided in 3 parts. The first was general information part, the second was educational plans part. The questionnaire contained also a set of questions to estimate economical, social, and cultural level - according to P. Bourdieu’s theory. The main examination was preluded by pilot examination which allowed us to tune up a research tool and a method.

Aspirations and Educational Plans of High School Students as a School’s Emancipation Success

Aspiration and educational plans constitute one of the most essential components of the process of planning the future. The school, on account of its individual and social meaning, can and should be place and time of the knowledge acquisition, the ability and competence, but of also creating educational situations supporting waking for aspiration and building the courage in conceiving educational plans. Enabling every pupil not only to get the formally authenticated education is an educational success in the emancipation dimension (and hence of getting the pass to higher levels of the education), but also of purchasing and developing convincing about the need the constant work on oneself, abilities needed for overcoming internal restrictions and outside, brave defining and creating oneself and of one’s surroundings. They are these are also tasks which result from basic functions according to Zbigniew Kwieciński’s the school is fulfilling which in the society: reconstruction, adaptive and emancipation. There was analysis of aspiration and educational plans of pupils of secondary schools in order to write the present text (of secondary schools and technicians) in the context of the emancipation dimension of the success of the school. Theoretical and empirical analysis lets for expressing the following conclusions: 1. The majority of the examined young stock is declaring the intention of taking the further learning on completion of secondary school, however in this group deciding more is of disciples of secondary schools than technicians. 2. Young people, standing on the threshold of the maturity and the independent living are dominated so to speak with feeling the objectivity, not whereas subjectivities, of what a tendency dominating among them of seeking of sources the practical success in extrinsic factors is resulting, not whereas in the own knowledge, competence or abilities. 3. They are demonstrating rather a tendency of the full conversion to found reality, than protesting her in any scope and extending beyond dominating outlines of conventional interpretation of reality. In the process it is hard to talk about the success of schools provided with the examination in the emancipation dimension.

“Rich Men” and “Poor Men” – Educational Plans of Youth from Grudziądz and the Region of Grudziądz and Their Symbolic Capital

The title “rich” and “poor” are respondents who took part in the research plans of youth education from Grudziądz and surrounding areas. During the analysis of the data was evaluated their symbolic capital [SC], which is the final instance of equity conversion: cultural, social and economic. It took the values that differ significantly from the average in the study group. In the 31-point scale, “poor” where called people whose measured SC received less than 9 points. The “rich” are people with SC bigger than 19 points. Group accounted for 7.7% and 8.1% of the population (respectively 155 and 164 people). 84.2% of population received in the measurement of SC score between 10-18 points, constituting 29% of the scale. That means that a high similarity of tested people for the measured SC. The data do not reflect the real inequalities that occur in modern society. For the SC test by gender, it was noted outnumbered the “rich” men, due to more frequent than in women taking more lucrative work. With regard to housing, most fell Świecie, where lives most of the capital rich at the same time the least poor capital. Slightly dropped Grudziądz, in which live almost as much “rich” and “poor”, which distracted in the area of small villages. Determined to continue their education was 85.4% “rich” and 65.2% “poor”. With regard to second degree studies, the declarations made 71.4% of the “rich”. 2/3 “poor” could not take such a decision at the time of the study. Nearly 1/4 of the group was not able to identify a particular direction, or university of their future studies. The “poor” often declared a desire to study in the fields to which it is easy to get (tourism, cosmetology, physiotherapy and available in Grudziądz educational sciences). The high ranking law reflects the desires and needs of their social advancement. The “rich” often give direction to ‘prestigious’ and harder subjects (medicine, science, law, and engineering). In both groups, there were no indications of ‘uniform’ subjects, popular in the overall population. Wealthy capital want to get through studies or maintain high social status and prestige occupations. Poorer searching in higher education relative economic security and greater social recognition.

The Phenomenon of Grudziądz. The Case of a City without a Higher Education Facility

The article is an attempt of characteristic – Grudziądz as a specific educational environment - phenomenon. As it was proved, Grudziądz is the biggest (almost 100 000 citizens, #40 in the biggest Polish cities list) city with no own university. This status might be both a cause and a result of other city’s problems. First of all – Grudziądz has the highest unemployment rate among all Polish cities – over 23%. Secondly Grudziądz has less investments than other cities in that region. Moreover, thirdly, there’s an proved opinion, that Grudziądz is unpopulating and is so called “town for a rent”. Situation on a educational market and a general economic and social condition causes in specific choices of young Grudziądzans. 1. They plan higher education more often. 2. They declare different set of majors than young Poles in general. Dominating faculties are: medicine, law, education, economics, architecture. 3. We’re finding a huge different – again in comparison to a general data – in a category of school type. Domination of universities, and no private universities. 4. Major – over 78% – chose regular full time studies. Specific a above mentioned choices indicates conservative and safe approach to youths future. Moreover it proves a responsibility. What’s even more important those date may be related to an information about leaving family home plans – that is why we may call it the accelerated adulthood and independence.

Paweł Rudnicki (rev.): Kazimierz Przyszczypkowski, Polityczność (w) edukacji [Politicality [in] Education], Poznań 2012

Anna Gondek (rev.): Krzysztof Frysztacki, Marcjanna Nóżka, Marta Smagacz-Poziemska, Dzieci ulicy. Studium szczególnego problemu miejskiego [Street Kids. A Study of a Particular Urban Problem], Kraków 2011

Dorota Grabowska: Report from the All-Poland Interdisciplinary Academic Conference “Remembrance Sites in the Awareness of the Contemporary Man”

Anna Sugier-Szerega: Report from the All-Poland Academic Conference ”Religious Identity in the Modernity”