1. Background Information
The beginnings of citizenship education in Poland date back to the foundation of Komisja Edukacji Narodowej [Commission of National Education]. Established in 1772, this secular body corresponded to modern ministries of education. The history of citizenship education in Poland reflects the turbulent history of this country: its partitioning in 1772, regaining of independence in 1918, the time of the Second World War (1939–1945), and the falling under the sphere of influence of the USSR immediately after the war. In fact, Poland started rebuilding its school system only in 1989, after the fall of communism.
The first structured citizenship education curriculum, Nauka o Polsce Współczesnej [Education of Contemporary Poland], was developed in 1922.
In the last 30 years, the structure of the school system in Poland has been reformed twice (in 1999 and 2017). The Core Curricula have been altered many times – most recently due to the last education reform (implemented since 2017). These changes are strongly related to a shift in Poland’s politics. In 2015, a conservative and Euro-sceptic party, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość [Law & Justice], came to power in Poland. Its programme ideas, discourse and political decisions have clearly pushed the vision of citizenship towards an exclusive community.
2. Definition of Citizenship Education
In principle, citizenship education in Poland is implemented as a cross-curricular theme, integrated with other subjects, and as a stand-alone subject which is called Wiedza o społeczeństwie [Knowledge about Society]. No official definition of citizenship education exists. However, it may be reconstructed based on the Core Curricula developed by the Ministry of National Education.
'Education and upbringing in primary schools
The inclusion of this passage among tasks assigned to schools emphasises the importance of citizenship education in Polish education. This citizenship education is understood as one that gives priority to the national community, thus placing it among concepts based on a conservative approach to citizenship.
A detailed analysis of general objectives and learning outcomes related to civic competences identified in the Core Curricula seems to confirm this declaration regarding citizenship education only partially. It is indeed intended as education focused on preserving tradition, transmitting national heritage, emphasising the history and knowledge of the country, its institutions and laws.
The legal structure of student self-government does not contribute to the development of participation in children and youth, either. While mandatory and present in every school, the bodies of self-government have no legal capacity to issue binding decisions.
In light of the above, the promotion of actions aimed at supporting the school and local environments, indicated as one of the general tasks of the school, finds no adequate reflection either in the general and specific objectives of the Core Curricula, or within the legal structure of student self-government. Consequently, the scope of democracy at school, an experience that provides for the actual development of student civic skills, depends on a given school and the teachers’ degree of interest in and capability of creating conditions necessary for experiencing such democracy. This is confirmed by research in which school is indicated as a variable that differentiates the compared evaluations of school self-governments and their functioning.
The reference to universal values, acceptance and respect for other human beings, made in the Core Curricula in its description of the tasks of schools is also of declarative value. A detailed analysis of the Core Curricula shows that these issues are treated marginally. This has not changed for many years; however, the education reform of 2017 contributed to a further deterioration of the situation in this respect. Firstly, the provision obliging schools to conduct anti-discrimination activities has been removed from the applicable acts of law; and secondly, the political context of citizenship education has changed.
The current scope of citizenship education as a stand-alone subject at the level of primary school includes 12 thematic blocks: the social nature of humans; family; school and education; human rights; juveniles vis-à-vis the law; local community; regional community; national/ethnic communities and the homeland; civic participation in public life – civic society; mass media; democracy in the Republic of Poland; international affairs.
3. Ecosystem of Non-formal Citizenship Education
Non-formal citizenship education in Poland is implemented mainly by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), often in cooperation with local governments, cultural and educational institutions. There are approximately 143,000 registered foundations and associations in Poland, of which about 100,000 are active. Approximately 13% of them focus on education and child upbringing, 7% on social services and welfare, with a similar number dealing with human rights and democracy.
4. Legal Environment
The organisation and the scope of citizenship education is regulated by the decrees of the Minister of National Education: concerning the framework teaching plans
Throughout the first three years of school education in Poland (children aged 7–9), there is no division into school subjects. Nevertheless, the Core Curricula introduces different areas of education (e.g. languages, mathematics), with specific learning objectives.
The key stakeholders in the field of citizenship education in Poland include:
The Ministry of National Education, which defines the Core Curricula in this area, sets educational priorities for respective years, and supervises education at the state level;
Education offices, which supervise the implementation of educational policy at the voivodeship level, evaluate the effects of educational activities in schools;
Schools and teachers, who implement the Core Curricula and whose engagement in the development of students’ civic competences is of key importance;
Local governments, which implement a variety of local programmes related to citizenship education in its broadest sense, offer programmes addressed to schools, commission related tasks to NGOs, reward teachers for their involvement in this area, create opportunities for the formation of youth councils;
NGOs, which are the driving force behind the pro-democratic citizenship education, implement different projects, both in schools and outside the framework of formal education;
Academic centres, which educate teachers, including teachers of citizenship education, and attract researchers whose work contributes to enriching knowledge of citizenship education and forming the basis for recommendations, both in terms of systemic changes and practical solutions;
Other educational institutions, cultural institutions.
In terms of citizenship education and its implementation in Poland, two interrelated types of challenges may be identified:
Challenge regarding the concept of changing citizenship education;
Challenge regarding the shape of citizenship education itself.
The first challenge is difficult because it is related to the general concept of changing school education in Poland. The fact that citizenship education, already at the level of the Core Curricula, focuses primarily on the transmission of knowledge, and only to a small extent on developing skills and attitudes, results from the general character of the Core Curricula. The introduced amendments address individual objectives or learning outcomes while the overall concept of the Core Curricula (and consequently, that of citizenship education) remains the same. The current method and pace at which the changes are implemented do not contribute to ensuring the consistency of the document. Moreover, changes make sense provided that they are founded on a reliable diagnosis of school reality. The social approval of changes is larger when they are developed as a joint effort of all stakeholders.
The second challenge is even more difficult because it requires increasing the autonomy of schools, also within the Core Curricula. Only then can citizenship education be developed in such a form that its amendments would no longer be a result of political changes. Currently, the Core Curricula, extremely detailed and enjoying a high status in the Polish education system, enables a significant level of control over education in terms of its content, which also applies to citizenship education. Although the ideas constructed for the programmes of ruling parties do not linearly translate into the shape of education
For more specific challenges, a need arises to shift focus from imparting knowledge to developing skills. This applies particularly to social skills that allow people to be active in a democratic society which is diverse and where consensus is not always possible. It is also important to develop learners’ ability to critically evaluate processes and phenomena they experience.