Dissertations for the History of Education, vol. 54 (2017)

09.04.2018 | 17.04.2022

Articles

Marcin Broniarczyk, The School Years and Peregrinations of Adam Kazanowski, Marshal of the Court of the Crown

Summary: Adam Kazanowski was a close friend and a favorite of King Władysław IV Vasa. Thanks to close ties with the monarch, he made a great political and financial career. This article discusses the educational aspects of the biography of the marshal of the court. On the basis of known sources and available literature on the subject, it is impossible to establish the school that Kazanowski attended. Until now, it seemed that at least his studies in Padua should not be questioned. However, the analysis of his correspondence shows that at the time when his name was recorded in the Paduan sources, he was in Warsaw, since he was sending letters to Krzysztof Radziwiłł from there. Further identification problems are caused by the fact that at about the same time there were four members of the family bearing that very name. While the marshal’s education history remains a mystery, on the basis of his later activity, however, it can be said that he had a good command of foreign languages, was well-versed in history and politics, and accumulated a certain amount of general humanistic knowledge, but still, he did not belong to the intellectual elite. In his case, the journey through Western Europe he made as a retainer of Prince Władysław Vasa from 1624 to 1625 certainly had an important educational impact.

Joanna E. Dąbrowska, Professor Ryszard Wroczyński – on the 30th Anniversary of His Death

Summary: This article presents the achievements of Ryszard Wroczyński (1909–1987), an outstanding Polish humanist, in the field of the history of education. The scope and dimensions of his various activities are known not only to academics. However, his extensive archival research and his historical heritage remain unknown to some, as he is usually identified with social pedagogy. The focal point of his work was history. He published a synthesis on the Polish educational heritage – a two-volume book Dzieje oświaty polskiej [The History of Polish Education] and a monumental elaboration on the history of physical culture, Powszechne dzieje wychowania fizycznego i sportu [World History of Physical Education and Sport]. Among other historical achievements of R. Wroczyński, it is worth mentioning the critical editions of source texts of the pedagogical classics, works on the pedagogical aspects of Warsaw positivism and biographic works. His impressive scientific activity is confirmed by his work in three scientific centres and his long-term position of the editor-in-chief of two quarterlies, “Przegląd Historyczno-Oświatowy” and “Wychowanie Fizyczne i Sport”.

Roman Pelczar, The Implementation of Compulsory Education in Folk Schools in Austrian Galicia, 1774–1873 (on the Example of the Latin Diocese of Przemysl)

Summary: In 1774, state authorities in Austria and its crownland Galicia introduced compulsory elementary education for children. The aim of the article is to show the conditions and the degree of fulfillment of educational obligations by the plebeians living in Galicia. For this purpose, the situation in the Latin Diocese of Przemysl was analysed. The compulsory school system was intended for children from peasant and bourgeois families. In order to implement it, state institutions issued several legal acts. Nevertheless, attendance in almost all compulsory schools was low throughout the analyzed period. The problem was particularly striking in rural schools. Peasants did not want to send their children to school. They did not see the benefits of education. They preferred to employ children on their farms or send them to other people for gainful employment. Children often went to school only at certain times of the year or regularly left school during the school year. In towns, too, the degree of fulfillment of school duties was quite unsatisfactory. In general, boys had a better attendance record than girls. In spite of the compulsory character of schools, state authorities often did not enforce educational obligations.

Katarzyna Piórkowska, Education and Further Training of Social Workers in Poland in the Interwar Period

Summary: The article discusses the education of social workers in Poland in the interwar period. The first “experts” in social welfare were social carers, who oft en were not adequately trained for their profession. Instructions issued by the Ministry of Social Welfare and short, several-month-long training courses were employed to improve their professional qualifications. Catholic Social Courses, organized in 1907 in Warsaw by Fr. Jerzy Matulewicz and others, are seen as the beginning of professional education of social workers. Helena Radlińska was the initiator and organizer of the system of social education and human development in the interwar period. She created the Social and Educational Work Study at the Faculty of Pedagogy of the Free Polish University (1925). Pedagogical research was also of particular importance to the field. It was conducted, among others, by Bogdan Nawroczyński’s Pedagogy Chair in Warsaw, Zygmunt Mysłakowski’s Chair in Kraków, the Institute of Social Affairs in Warsaw, the Institute of Special Education in Warsaw, the Pedagogical Institute in Katowice and the Pedagogical Institute in Warsaw. A separate contribution to the education of social workers was made by Catholic education and further training centres in the field of care and education.

Iwona H. Pugacewicz, The Establishment and Organization of the Imperial University of France (1806–1870)

Summary: The purpose of this article is to describe the Imperial University of France from its formal establishment in 1806 to the early 1870s (i.e. the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune). The introduction points out the main reasons for the crisis in European university education, with particular emphasis on the situation in France. The post-Revolution reconstruction of secondary education is described and the initial stage of preparations and building foundations for future university education is analysed. Subsequently, the renewal of higher education is discussed. The basic ideological and political assumptions Napoleon Bonaparte employed to create the new university structure are presented and its central and territorial organizational basis is described. Since the Napoleonic University was first and foremost a corporate-organized, hierarchical administration of French education, a separate subchapter describes its internal structure, the main control authorities and the rules for their operation. Two penultimate parts, which precede the ending, are devoted to the proper higher education system: University’s academic faculties derived from ancient artes liberales and faculties bearing a more professional character – i.e. theology, medicine and law. The closing remarks include a summary of the above considerations and emphasize the incompleteness of the French higher education model as outlined above, which should be supplemented with an analysis of the operation of non-university teaching establishments.

Michał Wojda, The Evolution of the Education System on Slovak Territories from the Age of Enlightenment to the Post-War Period

Summary: The article discusses the evolution of the education system on Slovak territories from the Habsburg Empire in the Age of Enlightenment, through Austria-Hungary and the First Slovak Republic, to the post-war period of Stalinism. The author underlines the importance to isolate Slovak territories from the historical narration that treats them merely as part of the history of other states. The focus is given to the absorption of many diverse education systems on the Slovak territories, their reception and further changes under partial independence of the First Slovak Republic and thereafter. Educational institutions and their reforms are also presented. The study examines the influence the Catholic Church had on the education system of the First Slovak Republic, the ideologization of education in accordance with the Catholic doctrine and the combination of the public and religious spheres in education that used to be separated. A detailed analysis is given on how the dependence on the Church transformed after a great reform of the system that was undertaken by communists in the post-war period. The model presented in the article shows the long way from religion-based to completely secularized education. It was found that the great influence the Catholic Church had on the Slovak education system was followed by severe consequences in the form of persecutions of the Church during the Stalinist period.

Marcin Wolniewicz (Марчин Вольневич), On the History of One Textbook. The Soviet Discussion on the Second Volume of the Mock-up of The History of Poland

Summary: The idea of writing a textbook on Polish history was a flagship project of Polish historiography in the period in which the historical profession was subjected to the process of Stalinization. Prepared by the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, it was envisaged to provide a canonical interpretation of the national past. The project was carried out under the watchful eye of communist authorities and in close coordination with the Institute for Slavic Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Scholars affiliated with the latter institution were involved in preparing the Soviet version of Polish history. The successive stages of creating the textbook in question were accompanied by scholarly meetings attended by both Polish and Soviet academics. This article deals with Soviet scholars’ discussion on the second volume of the work known as the mock-up version of Historia Polski (1764–1864). The discussion was held when both Polish and Soviet historiographies were undergoing profound changes initiated by the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The analysis of the opinions formulated by Soviet scholars during the meeting held in the Institute for Slavic Studies on 4–5 April 1957 and during the conference held in Sulejówek on 14–17 April 1957, as well as the examination of the changes introduced to the final edition of the work in question support the conclusion that Soviet historians accepted the fact that, following the liberalization of political system, their Polish counterparts enjoyed the right to autonomously shape the interpretation of the history of their own country. Consequently, the Soviet critique had a limited impact on the final version of the textbook in question.

Materials

Katarzyna Buczek, A Draft of the General Rules for the Volyn High School in Krzemieniec

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