Maria Grzegorzewska Research Articles

A canon of editors and colleagues of “Special School”

The hundredth anniversary of “Special School”, Poland’s first magazine dedicated to the education and upbringing of disabled children, provides an excellent opportunity to revisit the profiles of individuals who, in diverse and often challenging socio-cultural contexts, advanced the field of special pedagogy while continuing Maria Grzegorzewska’s mission. This publication aims to present the biographies and significant achievements of the magazine’s founders, with reference to the reflections presented in the last issue of “Special School” from 2023.

Jan Pilecki, PhD (1935–2023)

Doctor of Humanities Jan Pilecki, a special educator, student and continuator of the ideas ofProfessor Maria Grzegorzewska, has associated his entire professional life with education,performing various functions in educational and academic institutions. From 1977 to 1997,he was employed at the National Higher Teacher Training College (currently the Universityof the National Education Commission, Krakow). He was a respected teacher, the author ofseveral monographs and many articles and chapters in collective works.

Doctoral Theses in the Digital Age – ICT use by Social Sciences PhD Students of The Maria Grzegorzewska University

The article is a result of a complementary advanced publication workshop accompanying the curriculum course exercises for PhD students, on the role of ICT in the research work of a scientist. To fulfill the extended course requirements the participants decided to write relevant paper, if possible, related to their individual research endeavors and their relations to the digital world. The paper consists of a collection of short chapters written by young researchers. They express their own views, based on early research experience, relevant generally to the inclusion of critical digital age components in their theses. The chapters are only moderately consulted by the tutor in the direction of finding a common denominator related to social sciences.

Kultura ubóstwa na warszawskiej Pradze

This article presents a study of the urban culture of poverty conducted between 2019 and 2021 in Warsaw’s Praga district, culminating in a PhD thesis written at the Maria Grzegorzewska University (APS). The research conducted provides a better understanding of how the persistence of the culture of poverty, a kind of social “disability” and, at the same time, a social necessity, is sustained. It points to problems in the relationship between respondents and their social environment, as well as to mechanisms of marginalisation and self-exclusion. The article consists of three parts. The first presents the concept of the culture of poverty, the second presents the form and conduct of the research, and the third presents the research results and conclusions.

Maria Grzegorzewska as a director of the State Institute for Special Pedagogics

The article describes the over 45-year period of functioning of the State Institute of Special Education (PIPS) under Maria Grzegorzewska's leadership, i.e from its establishment in 1922 until Grzegorzewska's death in 1967. The university's history is shown based on a query of archival materials, which are primarily in the resources of the Maria Grzegorzewska University, and legal acts. The focus was on the status of the Institute, as well as the organization with its curricula, staff and the number of graduates. Grzegorzewska's desire to transform PIPS into an independent research and teaching institution, and then a university with master's studies, is presented. This goal was achieved in 1970–1973.

From Lifelong Creativity to Self-Authorship: The Humanistic and Creational Dimension of Women’s Citizenship in Education – Maria Grzegorzewska and Irena Wojnar

The developed issue aimed to search for sources and categories of meanings used to define the essence of citizenship in the context of the adopted humanistic and creative perspective. The research problems concerned the following: 1) the areas of civic activity in the subjective and social dimension of reference; 2) the place of women’s lifelong creativity in the humanistic and creative dimension of citizenship, and 3) the space of transgressive development in women’s lifelong creativity in education. Due to the research problem that arose in the procedure of analysing the lifelong creativity of selected female characters, secondary sources and evidence of their professional work were taken into account. Sources of the interpretation of citizenship were adopted based on Maria Ossowska’s (1946) essay Wzór obywatela w ustroju demokratycznym [The Model of a Citizen in a Democratic System], in which the author distinguished and characterised 13 civic virtues and identified abilities proposed by Charles Taylor (2001). My perspective on interpreting the sources of citizenship combines the humanistic and creative dimensions, an added value contained in the title approach: from lifelong creativity to self-authorship. Self-authorship is understood as the forces of subjectivity, intentionality, the meaning of life and creative adaptation. The lifelong creativity of women in education and their achievements determine their cognitive and social value and emancipatory nature. Women’s lifelong creativity shows the presence of important areas of transgressive development related to the acquisition of knowledge and scientific achievements and the activities carried out in the field of social practice, referred to as (self-)realisation.

Ponadczasowe ideee Marii Grzegorzewskiej we współczesnej polskiej pedagogice specjalnej

Introduction: The life and multifaceted activity of Maria Grzegorzewska (1887–1967) are a valuable historical source. However, what is most invaluable in the work of the precursor of Polish special pedagogy is the timelessness of her ideas, the echoes of which still resound today. Research Aim: The article attempts to indicate the influence of Maria Grzegorzewska on the development of modern pedagogical science and practice. Evidence-based Facts: Not only the scientific, organizational and educational activities of Maria Grzegorzewska, concerning surdopedagogy, oligophrenopedagogy and pedeutology, but also her views, which have a timeless character, were brought closer. Summary: It has been shown that despite the passage of time, Maria Grzegorzewska’s pedeutological, deontological, and axiological concepts have not lost their relevance, because they are based on universal values that are the foundation of the teacher-educator’s work.

Janina Doroszewska’s contribution to the development of therapeutic pedagogy

This article concerns the profile of prof. Janina Doroszewska and presents the course ofher education, professional activity before starting work at the State Institute of SpecialEducation (PIPS), the history of her cooperation with Maria Grzegorzewska, the importanceof her organisational as well as scientific and didactic activity for the developmentof special education, with particular emphasis on therapeutic pedagogy, and her role inprotecting the legacy of Grzegorzewska.

The work of Professor Edyta Gruszczyk-Kolczyńska – care for small children and the quality of preschool education

During the next turn of civilization, in the face of social, political, ecological and technological dilemmas, the upbringing and education of new generations should once again be at the forefront of the concern and attention of the family, state and educational institutions. After all, the quality, manner and scope of actions taken towards young children today will determine the way and quality of our world functioning in the future. The article presents the unique event of awarding Professor Edyta Gruszczyk-Kolczyńska, Ph.D., with the first Medal of Maria Grzegorzewska in the new century of the history of the Maria Grzegorzewska University, for exceptional merits resulting from the Professor's concern for the high quality of pre-school education.

Opening of the Museum of Maria Grzegorzewska and the Maria Grzegorzewska University

The article presents two important events related to the celebration of the University Holiday,which took place in May 2023. The first was the ceremonial unveiling in front of theOchota District Office at Grójecka st. 17a, a plaque commemorating the creator of specialeducation and patron of the university – Maria Grzegorzewska. The second was the openingof the Museum of Maria Grzegorzewska and the Maria Grzegorzewska University inthe newly built D building of the university, which was prepared in stationary, virtualand interactive versions.

Philosophy of anthropocentrism in the system of modern values

The report, which was presented as part of the ceremony of awarding the title of Doctor Honoris Causa at The Maria Grzegorzewska University (Warsaw, Poland), first of all, expresses sincere gratitude to the Polish people, the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, and the Government of Poland for their great support of Ukraine in the fight against the Russian aggressor and invaluable assistance to Ukrainian women and children. The issue of the philosophy of anthropocentrism, which is highly demanded in the context of the globalized information and digital world and the creation of artificial intelligence, is actualized. The new challenges and existing threats that arise in this regard in the value-semantic and psychophysical spheres of human life are characterized. The phenomenon of anthropocentrism as a metaphilosophical synthesis of different approaches to the study of the prospects of human life is substantiated. The author shows the human perspective in the modern world on the basis of the affirmation of the value principles of their further development.

Maria Grzegorzewska's indications from 1918 on special education.Origins and activity of the State Institute for Special Pedagogics (19221976)

The article presents Maria Grzegorzewska's indications regarding the need to organize special education in Poland after 1918. It is assumed that this is the first text by Grzegorzewska on this matter, published in the "Roczniki Polskiej Ligi Nauczania" [Annals of the Polish Teaching League]. Second part of the article is associated with the organization and activity of the State Institute for Special Pedagogics from 1922 to 1976.

Letters to the Young Teacher – a reminder

The aim of the article is to recall the ideas and values of Maria Grzegorzewska, the creator of special education, contained in Letters to the Young Teacher. It has been shown that over the years they are not only up-to-date, but also have gained particular importance in the need to reflect on the role of the teacher and the modern school in preparing the young generation for an unpredictable future. It was emphasized that the teacher, both in the past and today, is the most important link in changes in education.

100th anniversary of the Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw

This article is a report on the jubilee celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Maria Grzegorzewska University and presents the most important events organized by its employees in order to commemorate and promote the mission of the Patroness of the Year 2022 Maria Grzegorzewska.

Organization of special education in Poland in the interwar period. Plans, achievements, deficiencies in the special education system

The article presents special education in interwar Poland. After regaining independence in November 1918, the Polish authorities faced the need to rebuild the state, individual spheres of social life and education which had been under the authority of the partitioning authorities for over 100 years. Special education, which dates to the first years of the 19th century in Poland, also needed to be rebuilt. In the interwar period, activities in this field were undertaken primarily by people involved in the upbringing and education of abnormal children, as children with disabilities were called at that time. It is their commitment, seeing the sense in working for this group of children, that contributed to the resumption of the activities of institutions established during the partitions, as well as the creation of new ones. They developed working methods, prepared teaching aids, conducted propaganda campaigns, and educated the society. Very important for the developmentof special education, and not only in the discussed period, was the establishment, on the initiative of Maria Grzegorzewska, of the National Institute of Special Education an institution preparing teaching staff for special schools, one of the few operating at that time in Europe. Despite numerous difficulties, in the years 19181939, it was possible to develop the foundations on which the reconstruction of special education after World War II was based.

Szkic biograficzny Marii Grzegorzewskiej – patronki roku 2022 w Polsce

This study, prepared on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education, presents an outline of Maria Grzegorzewska's biography and selected aspects of her activity in the field of special education, aimed at fulfilling her vocation to social service for the disabled.

Students' responses to Maria Grzegorzewska's Letters to a Young Teacher

The problem of the article is situated in the field of pedeutology and concerns specific resources of pedagogical knowledge, generating personal pedagogical theories of students preparing to perform the profession of early education teacher. The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Maria Grzegorzewska University and the celebration of the year 2022 as the Year of Maria Grzegorzewska were considered by the authors as unique opportunities to confront the thought of the patroness, her pedagogical credo contained in Letters to a Young Teacher with the reflection of contemporary young adults inspired to speak by the content of the correspondence. The direct stimulus prompting first-year preschool and early childhood pedagogy students in the 2019 and 2020 academic years to reflect on the role of the teacher was the reading of a selected Letters ...by Maria Grzegorzewska. After reading its, students wrote responses to the patroness of their university in the form of quasi-formal essays, the content of which was then analyzed to reconstruct the dominant themes. This paper presents selected results of the qualitative content analysis. The students' statements are organized according to the temporal criterion, as they report their past educational experiences, refer to the present, and also outline a vision of the anticipated role of a teacher in the future, after the stage of academic education has been completed. The main conclusions confirm the lasting vitality of pedagogical thought of the University's founder among contemporary young people. Outlined student collective portrait of the teaching profession is not overly idealized and devoid of features, hope arouses critical reflection of students on the role of the teacher in modern times

Developing the creativity of future teachers of early childhood education: an educational project using children’s folklore texts

The article is a description and a proposal for a project implemented in 2021/2022 at the Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw among students of pedagogy (3rd year), specializing in pre-school and early school education. The first, theoretical part of the study presents information on children’s folklore and the role it plays in the education of the youngest. The issue of shaping the creative imagination through poetic texts as perceived by various researchers and theorists of literature was also discussed. The second part of the study is a presentation of various methods of work with the use of folkloric texts, carried out by students of preschool and early school education as part of academic classes in the following subject: Design and methodology of Polish language classes. It was ensured that the developed project would combine the implementation of an academic programme, and at the same time develop creativity in future teachers of early childhood education. The activity was aimed at developing the creative competences of future teachers of early childhood education and acquiring practical skills necessary for the effective performance of these skills in future professional work.

"Pagan angel" – reflections on the religious attitude of Maria Grzegorzewska

This article is an attempt to find answers to find answers to questions about Maria Grzegorzewska's religious attitudes, their conditions, manifestations, and significance for her personal and professional life. Referring to the basic terms related to the discussed issues, the author presents considerations based on describing Grzegorzewska as a "pagan angel", hoping that they will become an inspiration for a more in-depth analysis of her personality.

Following the footsteps of Maria Grzegorzewska in Warsaw

This article does not focus on the biography or scientific achievements of Maria Grzegorzewska. Rather, it concerns her relationships with Warsaw and shows a short history as well as architectural values of the places where she functioned as a schoolgirl, student and director of PIPS, with particular emphasis on her attitude towards the proposal to leave Warsaw, demolished during the occupation, and actions to improve the university's premises.