Krzysztof Ratajczak
School Legislation of Ecumenical Councils from the 12th Century until the First Half of the 14th Century and the Origins of Its Reception in Mediaeval Poland – An Outline of the Problem
The aim of the paper is an analysis of a broadly understood legislation of general councils which took place in an important period for the development of the then educational system and culture – at the height of the Middle Ages (12th-13th c.). While analysing the written records of synodal and council acts, several interesting aspects can be considered: the regulations related to the education of clergy (the diocesan ones, as the same issues concerning monastic orders were regulated by the inner legislation of general chapters), the organization of schools and teaching programmes, the records telling about the moralizing influence on the community of the faithful, and finally, the attitude of the Church toward the question of general access to education, including the functioning of universities. The presented study demonstrates a significant role of ecclesiastical school legislation for the development of the educational system in mediaeval Poland. Also, it can be noticed that all changes in this matter were the result of legislative activity of the Church but also responded to the educational needs of the contemporary society. The latter, in turn, stemmed from a general civilizational development of Latin Europe, the part of which were the lands being under the rule of the Piast dynasty.
Andrzej Meissner
Education of Peasant Youth during the Autonomous Era in Galicia
The paper deals with the following questions: the conditions of education of peasant sons, the educational opportunities on an elementary, secondary and higher level as well as the results of this process. In Galicia, especially after it had gained autonomy, there opened real possibilities for learning for peasant children on all levels of education. The offered education was at a very good level, and what is most important in the Polish schools by Polish teachers.
Most widespread was compulsory education in folk schools. The secondary school, which originally had an elite character, was becoming ever more democratic in the course of time, the fact demonstrated by a significant proportion of rural youth which in some gymnasiums reached 8-90%. Higher studies were also available for rural youth. In Galicia, when it enjoyed autonomy, 45,4% of pheasant sons studied in the Faculty of Law of the Jagiellonian University, in the Faculty of Philosophy 28,7%, in the Faculty of Theology 18,7% and in the Faculty of Medicine 7,5%. All in all, about 3800 persons of peasant origin completed their studies, which constituted 17,6% of all students.
However, education was obtained at the price of many sufferings and with huge physical effort. The graduates of Galician schools originating from rural environment were characterized by great diligence and an aspiration for professional success. In the second half of the 19th century, there began the process of formation of the Galician intelligentsia of peasant descent. The sons of peasants came to occupy high-ranking posts in various professions, they were prominent representatives of Polish science, actively participated in the educational, cultural, social and political life.
Romual Grzybkowski
The Revival of the Polish Scouting Movement after 1956 and Attempts to Incorporate it in the Structures of the School's Educational System
The Polish scouting movement, which wrote such a beautiful page of history during the Second World War, after 1945 found itself in an extremely difficult situation. The aims and the forms of educational influence of ZHP (pol. abbr. Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego – Polish Scouting Association) proved unacceptable by the government of a totalitarian state, which the Polish People’s Republic (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa – PRL) was. As a result, ZHP was originally marginalized, and then, for several years, had been completely dissolved. The reconstruction of the scouting movement started at the end of 1956, on the wave of a political thaw. Such actions led, in the years 1956–1958, to a formal recreation of ZHP, however, since then, this organization was entirely subject to PZPR (Polish communist party). Consequently, following 1958, ZHP was incorporated into the structure of a communist youth movement in Poland. Moreover, in accordance with the rules of the socialist political system and the principles of a planned economy, the scouting movement was „delegated” to work in school. Since then, in compliance with the guidelines of the Central Committee of PZPR, the activity of the Polish Scouting Association (ZHP) was to become an integral element of the school's educational programme. It meant that the scouting movement was supposed to actively participate in shaping of socialist attitudes in children and youth, according to the main task of the Polish school which was reformed in 1961. Unexpectedly, the party authorities and educational authorities were confronted with the opposition of ZHP leadership that they controlled. ZHP, for a long time, resolutely rejected the suggestion about a necessity to strengthen the ties of this organization and school. In reality, in early 1960s, the scouting movement defended the remnants of its autonomy, struggling against becoming one of the tools for shaping a young generation of Poles through ideologized Polish school. The practice showed that the arguments of scouts did not have any significance for communist authorities as they consequently kept on achieving their own goals.
Justyna Gulczyńska
Controversy Over the Constitutional, Organizational and Program Structure of General Secondary Schools in Poland in the Years 1944-1948
A new form of government of the Polish state was combined with its rather intensive influence on the character of the educational system, including general secondary schools. That time is distinguished by numerous controversies, which then appeared in various social circles, political parties, and referred to the constitutional and organizational structure as well as the program structure of this school level. In the first years the controversies were more of an evolutionary character, as at that time discussion and exchange of opinions concerning differing standpoints and concepts for the Polish route to socialism were still possible. After 1948 there was no more room for discussion; the decisions about this sphere were also made by one group – the people related to the communist party (Pol. abbr. PZPR). Already right after the cessation of war activities, the tendencies leading to the centralization of education management were noticeable, and consequently, ever more intense influence of the government of the working classes (lub the people’s government) on the functioning of schools, but, above all, on the teaching content. The process of centralization was linked with the so-called democratization process of school i.e., the question, of which the ruling communists made their priority. A consequence of democratization of the general secondary school and rendering it a tool for the manufacture of future citizens – devoted to and subjected to the government of the working classes – was the aspiration for closing private general secondary schools, and also the expulsion of religion from school. Such changes, falsely justified by the necessity to observe the principle of freedom of conscience and confession, led to the secularization of the school system. The discussed expulsion of the Church from schools, and at the same time from the sphere of educating a young generation, was supposed to serve the formation of a new socialist society in the future.
Głowacka-Sobiech
The Genesis and Origins of the Activity of Poznań Society for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences. In the 150th Anniversary of Its Foundation
The article presented recalls the 150th anniversary of foundation of Poznań Society for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences (Pol. abbr. PTPN). In the time of national enslavement, it was the most important cultural and scholarly institution for the residents of the Prussian partition. It was also a substitute of a university, which the inhabitants of Poznań demanded so much. PTPN was a carrier of university ideas advocated by the most prominent people of Great Poland of that period: count Tytus Działyński, archbishop Leon Przyłuski, the social activists: August Cieszkowski and Karol Libelt.