Miejsce Janusza Korczaka w polskiej pedagogice akademickiej

Abstract

Janusz Korczak did not have any formal pedagogical education. He learned pedagogy on his own by studying the works of Western and Polish scholars. Almost 40 years of pedagogical practice – his working with children accompanied by his rich literature publishing and journalistic activity, made him a researcher-educator, expert and the advocate of children’s issues and rights. Polish pedagogy, however, was not open to Korczak’s innovative pedagogical ideas. University circles disregarded his achievements for a long time and his pedagogical contribution was scientifically and ideologically discredited. For conservatives it was too radical whilst for those close to the left it was not revolutionary enough. Slowly and with great reluctance, Korczak became regarded as one of the important Polish teachers. First, he was recognised as the creator of the original educational system and a leading representative of care pedagogy. Then, the anti-positivist turn and the change of paradigms in educational sciences allowed Korczak to become one of the most outstanding representatives of modern pedagogy. Today he is regarded as an educational reformer, creator of research on childhood, and a pedagogical and academic authority.