Od idei korczakowskiej samorządności do niemożności jej spełnienia w publicznym szkolnictwie

Abstract

The purpose of the historical and problematic research was to establish the sources of student self-government in public education and to establish their relationship with the pedagogy of Janusz Korczak. Eighty years had passed since Korczak’s death, and the political and school system changed. In the process of educational activities, the author distinguishes three generations of scholars who took up the issues of student self-government: (1) the generation that preserved the memory of Korczak’s pedagogical thought during the communist period; (2) the generation on the border of the political transformation in 1989 and (3) the generation of a new interpretation of Korczak’s pedagogical thought in the first decades of the 21st century. Research shows that Korczak’s idea of self-determination of young people in matters concerning their rights in public institutions is unique, because teachers and wielding power in the state lack courage to democratise the educational process in these institutions. The generations of educators and teachers mentioned in the article were not able to stop the reproduction of quasiself-governance in public education. The author encourages the renewed study of Korczak’s thought and renewed attempts to change for the benefit of educating school children and youth in democracy, instead of teaching only about democracy.