Abstract
<jats:p>The child has always been a crucial element of society, and its place and role have changed with the passage of time and the evolution of society. Despite this, this issue remains insufficiently explored in the literature. Hence, we present another book devoted to “The Child in History.” The primary goal of this publication is to present the heritage and history as the foundation for future transformations and to draw attention to the crucial role values play in the development of individuals (children) and communities. In this understanding, values are not treated as abstract entities, but as active and constitutive factors shaping both individual (child) and social (community) identity. This is another work in the “The Child in History” series. The first volume, describing the history of the child, was titled “The Child in History – A Korczak Thread.” The next volume, titled “The Child in History – in the Circle of Christian Culture,” was associated with the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland. The third volume commemorated the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining independence. Its title is “The Child in History – The Situation of the Child in the Reborn Polish State.” The three subsequent volumes of The Child in History are devoted to human dignity and human enslavement. The first one is titled “Dignity as the Foundation of Children’s Rights,” the second, “Dignity as the Source of Our Humanity,” and the third, “Values in the Service of the Child and the Community,” published on the occasion of the millennium of the first royal coronation in Poland, is a symbolic tribute to Bolesław the Brave. This volume addresses the issue of children’s rights and their socio-legal situation throughout history in the context of dignity and enslavement. The analyses contained within also provide in-depth knowledge of the educational methods used in different eras, the pursued educational goals, the preferred ideals, and the prevailing social norms. This publication attempts to answer the fundamental questions in the contemporary humanist and legal discourse: what values are crucial to the contemporary society? What were and are the sources of human rights? Was the individual dignity a paramount value and does it remain so? What were and are the historical and current causes of individual enslavement? What are the reasons for restricting human freedom and violating human dignity? The answers to the questions were presented in the following dimensions: individual (the evolution of education over 1,000 years of the Polish history, individual needs and capabilities of children, psychosocial development of children, the impact of the natural environment, the influence of cultural and social values, children’s rights); institutional (the activities of schools and educational institutions, including institutions for children with individual developmental and educational needs, methods and forms of education and upbringing, educational challenges and the face of social change, health education, forms of childcare); and social (the role of the child in society, pedagogical concepts, the development of educational and training theories, educational traditions, the child as a subject in philosophical, anthropological, sociological, philological, and psychological thought; the Polish perspective in a global context – considering the Polish educational experience in the context of global trends and comparing it with the practices of other cultures and nations). We hope that confronting the difficult aspects of the past of the child enslavement can help to identify today’s challenges related to protecting children’s rights and ensuring their safety. For this reason, the subject matter of this publication transcends historical boundaries and is interdisciplinary in nature. Its preparation engaged scientists and experts from the social sciences, humanities, and medicine, which allowed for a multifaceted and comprehensive approach to the analysed issues. In accordance with the indicated thematic areas, the book is organised chronologically and thematically. The authors of the individual chapters of the monograph are experts in various academic disciplines: philosophy and theology, pedagogy, history, law, and sociology; they come from Poland and from foreign centers: Albania and Lithuania. Due to the length and number of the submitted papers, we are presenting them in four chapters. Chapter One, “For the Sake of the Common Good,” comprises five articles. The scholarly reflections begin with an article by Rev. Marian Nowak, titled “Educational Accompaniment of the Child in Contemporary Spaces Between Dignity, Autonomy, and Dependence.” In addition to presenting and defining dignity in personalist pedagogy, the author analyses the educational relationship between educators and students as stretched across the space between dependence and enslavement, and the child’s autonomy and freedom. In the next text, “Axiocentrism and Paedocentrism in the Context of the Dynamics of Identity Changes in Multicultural Conditions,” Jerzy Nikitorowicz assumes that in a multicultural world, which is not an episode but a constant, we experience constant identity changes. Therefore, he treats identity as a phenomenon open to constant creation and becoming, emphasising the value of the cultural heritage of native culture as the foundation and core of identity. In the next article, “Towards the Teleology of the Child,” Father Andrzej Proniewski argues that the subjectivity of the child suggests the need to view the child in terms of purpose. The teleological direction refers to the purposefulness of the beginnings of existence and the ultimate goals of actions. As the author states, in the case of the child, teleology concerns the child’s individual dignity, their development and upbringing, processes in which every action is aimed at achieving a specific result. Julian Dybiec presented the enslavement and empowerment of the child in the evolution of agrarianism and industrialism. The author drew attention to Philippe Ariès’s great work, The History of Childhood, which deals primarily with the child of the upper social classes, ignoring the child of the common people. Hence, the article emphasises the peasant child’s smooth transition into society and the responsibilities of adults during the phases of agrarianism and incapacitation in the era of industrialism. This chapter concludes with a text by Elwira Kryńska, who presents the philosophy of childhood as a new paradigm for childhood research in the context of the Polish educational traditions and human dignity. The author believes that, in an era of transformation in Europe’s social structures and developing neoliberalism, drawing on the Polish educational traditions is extremely desirable, especially since the Polish educational traditions encompass not only what the past has produced in the field of national education, but also ideas that have been recognised as vital and particularly valuable, becoming the seed of the future and a constructive element of her work. The authors of the second chapter explored the topic of “Dignity in Educational Practice.” Halina Monika Wróblewska began this chapter by presenting the assumptions of education for sustainable development in the context of the challenges of the Education of Tomorrow, with particular emphasis on the development of creative abilities and competencies and the need to stimulate them. The author noted that education for sustainable development is closely linked to the efforts to promote a sustainable quality of life. Anna Józefowicz presented the issues (absent) from early childhood reading lists in the context of tomorrow’s education. The author noted and emphasises the value and need for school reading lists as an important tool for building social awareness among the world’s youngest citizens. She also presented a thematic and problem-based organisation of reading lists proposed in accordance with the early childhood education core curriculum and proposed her own typology of available reading lists. Elżbieta Jaszczyszyn is interested in the contemporary connotations of “being a child.” According to the author, the global research discourse identifies five main meanings of the term “childhood studies,” which is partly related to “children’s activity in the social space, but also their increasingly frequent experience of non-childlike roles.” Anna Łukaszewska reflected on the child in preschool education in the context of educational changes in the years 1945–1990. According to the author, the analysis shows that the change in preschool education was achieved, among other things, by improving the conditions for child development, from socialist to democratic upbringing. In the article “A Gifted Student – A Little Man with Great Needs,” Agnieszka Gronostajska addressed the issue of the specific developmental and educational needs of gifted students at the early stage of school education. Joanna Bugajska-Więcławska opposed the state’s tacit consent to the violation of children’s and youth rights as a result of articles 99–100 of the Education Law Act of 2016. In her considerations, she took into account the interventions of the Ombudsman for Children, the Ombudsman for Human Rights, and of other entities. Klaudia Wierzbowska reflected on the topic of “The Economic Circumstances of Child Labor in History: Between Exploitation and Necessity.” In the article “Polish Alternative Education: From Tradition to Contemporary Innovation,” Danuta Kądziołka analyses the development of alternative education in Poland from the late 19th century to the present day. Her analysis considered the impact of political changes after 1989 and legal reforms – particularly the 1991 Education System Act – on the dissemination of alternative forms of education, such as Montessori pedagogy, the Waldorf approach, democratic schools, homeschooling, and forest education. Jarosław Maciej Janowski reflected on the role of cognitive artifacts based on artificial intelligence technology in education – a philosophical perspective. In the article “Dignity and Inclusion: Ensuring the Rights of Minority Children in the Contemporary Educational Systems,” the authors Heliona Bellani Miço and Jonida Cungu explored the current status of minority children’s rights in education, with particular emphasis on Albania. They also emphasised the importance of dignity, equality, and respect for cultural diversity as the fundamental pillars of the inclusive education systems. The third chapter, “Education in a Historical Context,” begins with the article “Jan Długosz as the Teacher of St. Casimir as a Young Prince: The Metaphysical Meaning of the Jagiellonian Dynasty for the Polish-Lithuanian Legacy,” in which Augustinas Dainys discusses the development of Christianity in Lithuania and how it was described by historian Jan Długosz, the teacher of Prince Casimir Jagiellon, who became a Catholic saint, and of his brothers. The next article, by Agnieszka Baczewska-Murdzek and Joanna E. Dąbrowska, concerns journalism for children in the Kingdom of Poland, the first Polish magazine addressed to the youngest readers in the light of considerations on the dignity and independence of the human person. The history of the schools of the St. Casimir Foundation is presented as a fascinating exploration of the educational heritage of the Jagiellonian Dynasty. The history of Wanda née Posselt-Szachtmajerowa, spanning over forty years and encompassing the period of partitions, both World Wars, the Second Polish Republic, and several postwar years, is the subject of Katarzyna Dormus’s article “Implementation of the Idea of State Education in the Second Polish Republic as Exemplified by the Schools of the Wanda née Posselt Szachtmajerowa Foundation in Warsaw.” Educational issues of the Second Polish Republic are also addressed in Zbigniew Girzyński’s article “Integrating Preschool Education into the Educational System of the Independent Poland in the Light of Pedagogical Periodicals of the Second Polish Republic.” The idea of an elite, coeducational school, based on the pedagogical work of Maria and Jadwiga Domański, is discussed by Elżbieta Sochaj, who presented the history of the school, the spa town in which it functioned, and the profiles of its students and teachers, based on the surviving memoirs of graduates. In her article “Korczak’s Heritage – in the Fight for Respect and Rights of Children during World War II,” Natalia Iłendo presented how Janusz Korczak’s thought, pedagogy, and attitude to life became a source of strength and survival during the tragic realities of war and continue to inspire educators today. Magdalena Malik’s article “The Wrocław ‘Pafawag’ Factory and Its Leisure Activities for the Employees’ Children (1956–1966)” presents the forms of care provided by the company for employees’ children, based on materials from the State Archives in Wrocław. Danuta Apanel explored Childhood Landscapes in Central Pomerania (1945–1975) in the light of the memories of students at Universities of the Third Age, presenting narratives of urban and rural childhood based on archival sources, surveys, and interviews conducted in Koszalin, Słupsk, Ustka, Białogard, and Szczecinek. The third chapter concludes with an article by Agnieszka Suplicka, entitled “In Care of the Common Good. An Exhibition on the Activities of the Women’s Civic Work Union,” which she authored. The article emphasises the importance of organizing such initiatives, as they effectively complement traditional methods of conveying historical knowledge. It also highlights the inspiring value of pre-war initiatives, which can provide not only inspiration but also concrete solutions that serve as models for contemporary projects and strategies. The fourth chapter of the monograph presents articles devoted to “Defending the Dignity of Children’s Rights from the Perspective of Young Science Enthusiasts.” The first of these, Karolina Sznurawa, presented “Emancipatory Pedagogy” – Western Ideas in the Polish Reality, Their Opportunities, Threats, and Perspectives. Magdalena Chojnowska reflected on Individualisation in the Educational Process at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries and Today. Sylwia Romanowska-Jonio presented issues of digital hygiene in the context of the technological enslavement. Marta Kaliszewska wrote about the evolution of educational tools, from traditional chalkboards to the contemporary digital technologies such as tablets, educational software, and virtual reality. Anna Piekutowska’s article “Alternative Education – Returning to the Roots” presents four popular forms of alternative education: Maria Montessori Pedagogy, the Forest School, the Waldorf School, and the Democratic School. The chapter concludes with a co-authored article by Martyna Dowgiert and Amelia Suchocka, entitled Drama as a Method of Inclusive Education. We hope that the book will be widely appreciated by experts of the social sciences and humanities, as well as by educational authorities, teachers, and parents, as the Polish historiography still lacks research related to children and their history throughout the centuries.</jats:p>