People with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are often recognised as suffering from “social exclusion”. Attempts aimed at combating this exclusion include support in finding employment and preparing them for living independently. Unfortunately, for a large group of people with intellectual disabilities the aforementioned strategies of promoting social inclusion are unattainable, and thus alternative areas of social inclusion are sought after. The arts/artistic work may be one of them. Due to the fact that the study was conducted as participatory action research, the main areas of social exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities were exposed. This allowed for attempting to prevent this phenomenon. In this study, artistic work has become a laboratory of social practices toward people with intellectual disabilities and the solutions created in the realm of the arts may serve as an example for designing a normalising model of support for people with intellectual disabilities in other areas as well.

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.

The adoption of new research paradigms in the development of tools and methods for working with children in a multicultural environment

W artykule przeanalizowano działania prowadzone przez badaczy i badaczki w ramach międzynarodowego projektu „NEW ABC – Networking the Educational Worlds: Across Boundaries for Community Building”, realizowanego w unijnym programie badań i innowacji Horyzont 2020. Projekt ten charakteryzowała innowacyjna metodologia, łącząca aspekty badawcze i integracyjne, wykorzystująca paradygmat Participatory Action Research (PAR), współtworzenia, a także holistyczne podejście do dziecka („whole child approach”), podejście oddolne oraz zaopiekowania i empatii. Warto podkreślić, że aktywizujące metody związane z pedagogiką przygody oraz teorią zakotwiczenia w środowisku lokalnym były kluczowymi elementami projektu, pomagającymi dzieciom polskim oraz tym z doświadczeniem migracji realizować stworzone przez nich projekty społeczne. Animowane przez pary nauczycielsko-asystenckie dzieci używały do tworzenia zajęć specjalnego spacerownika miejskiego umożliwiającego im zakorzenienie się w lokalnej kulturze oraz dziedzictwie miejsca zamieszkania. Artykuł szczegółowo omawia, w jaki sposób zastosowane metody skutecznie przyczyniły się do realizacji założonych celów projektu, podkreślając ich istotną rolę we wspieraniu wszechstronnego rozwoju dzieci w międzykulturowym środowisku edukacyjnym.