The following article considers the relation culture versus nature from a cultural perspective. Assuming “double” subjectivity (self-awareness) of man as a constituent feature of human nature, which distinguishes man from the world of nature and situates him/her in the world of culture, the author attempts to show that both the idea of cultural determination through nature and the idea of determination of nature through culture have their historiccultural origins. They both “respond” to particular social demand: to a positive or negative outlook on nature or culture, depending on which of these two “worlds” is dominant in academic discourse and philosophical reflection at a given time.

In the presented paper the author proves that the myth belongs to the most popular terms in the late 20th and the early 21st centuries. Not only is it present in ethnology, philosophy, cultural and religious studies but also in sociology, psychology, pedagogics, literature studies or political sciences. Drawing on various cultural theories (e.g. the theory of communicative action) and traits of traditional and modern societies, the article analyzes the relationship between mythical and rational awareness, differentiating between the myth and science. To secure this aim the author, in the initial part of the paper, presents the functions of mythical ideas and myth-creating acts and discusses the relationship between the myth and the truth and its opposites. In the main section of the paper the author presents the effects of lack of categorical differentiation in myths between the two exemplary disciplines: nature and culture. The final section of the paper focuses on the modern possibilities of applying mythical stories to the education process understood as an didactic action (teaching), self-education (learning) and upbringing and self-upbringing in children and the youth.

The following paper presents two aspects of learning in an education process: self directed and teacher directed learning. Factors deciding on the course of these two processes were described. It was assumed that the factors classified as natural (congenital, those of internal nature and those existing in nature) existed independently of man and that the learning process depended on them. The factors dependent on man, on the other hand, are a component of culture. Dependent on them are the teacher’s activities, and among them directing a student’s activity. The recognition of these differences (independent vs. dependent on man), is essential for the responsible realization of the education process. It is connected to the acceptance of invariability of cognitive functioning of individual persons and the ability to modify cultural models.

The text describes conception according to Man and Woman as significant differentiation in Nature and equal dignity in Culture. The article is an attempt to show two ways of shaping relationship between men and women (traditional gender polarity and reverse gender polarity), and consequences for the development of their relationships.

The issues undertaken in this study involve the presence of some considerations concerning the relation nature – culture in the teaching contents of course curricula in sociology (including sociological subdisciplines), implemented within pedagogical studies. In a particular way, history of sociology is related to the process of the 19th century industrialization – the period which, with no doubt, turned out to be of key significance for the birth of modern society as it radically changed the relation humanity – nature. The author tries to show the centrality of the relation nature – culture in sociological discourse, but on the other hand – the different sociological contexts of the same relation. What is particularly emphasized are: the dispute between naturalism and antinaturalism, the sociological understanding of culture and the existence of contemporary social and cultural movements which discredit the instrumental attitude of modern civilization to nature.

The question of self-formation of a human being, that is the formation of the self, is being debated today in the fields of different academic disciplines, including philosophy, pedagogy and psychology. Depending on the approach a given discipline adopts, different aspects of this process are highlighted, including the cognitive, social, moral and cultural one. Similar concepts are as follows: self-realization, autocreation, autorealization, autoformation, work on oneself and auto-education, or the so-called “self-becoming”. Self-formation is a process of development of the self, of one’s whole personality and it is a creative process of cognition and realization of personal and moral values, being a conscious work on oneself in all possible forms and ranges. Whereas the process of self-training, which means self-acquisition of knowledge and abilities, is sometimes emphasized in modern teaching programs and educational reports, the question of self-formation of one’s personality, working on oneself, the process of becoming in the axiological aspect – the question of self-education – is pushed aside. The formation process of an axiological structure in a person does not have an end – there is no moment in one’s biography in which one’s personality would be fully defined. There is a need for further research on different factors of the self-education process and its relation to the general pedagogy.

The aim of the article is to present mutual conceptual relationships of “nature” and “culture”, considering the definitional context and the emergence of the concept balancing the cultural and naturalistic dualism in order to demonstrate a transgressive dimension of integrative education. The author of the article considers the definition of mutual shaping of people and their environment as the leading definition, which is inspired by ecological anthropology which the author transfers to the area of education and special education, conducting discussions on the integrative system in Poland.

In deliberations on “nature or culture” with reference to children with chronic diseases, their needs and defense mechanisms against an illness were considered. The article shows therapeutic, pedagogic and prophylactic goals to be realized by teachers in hospital schools. They are intended to enable a hospitalized child self-realization despite the difficulties caused by the disease they are battling. It can be assumed that contact with not only parents and other family members, but also teachers and peers give them a semblance of a regular life. It is with teachers that a child often pins their hopes of returning back to normal, resuming being a pupil and accepting life as it is. This approach takes into consideration biology and the nature of illness on the road to social life culture.

The following article concentrates on the issue of the theme of nature present in the selected musical compositions. Furthermore, it discusses examples of motifs connected with nature expressed by various means of musical expression. Understanding the symbolic language of music in education allows the recipient to interpret imitation of nature in music.

The article includes reflections on the factors determining the effective teaching and learning of children in early childhood education age. The first educational stage is the period, when children together with teachers should devote a lot of time to learning how to learn, recognising their own possibilities, and searching for effective methods of memorising, storing and recalling information as well as developing skills. It is important, that this search is accompanied by the awareness, that success depends both on the innate and cultural factors, in particular the arrangement of the teaching process with regard to the wide spectrum of available teaching methods.

Control and assessment is an integral part of the school education process. It serves educational and didactic goals. An interesting question arises: is it possible to develop an assessment system in Physical Education which would be universal and common for all levels as well as comprehensive in terms of the object of assessment and its criteria? The assessment model proposed in this paper enables students to acquire the abilities of self-assessment and teaches them to take responsibility for their actions and self-development. This kind of assessment encourages creativity, involvement and cognitive activity. It also develops self-confidence and confidence in one’s abilities, thus increasing self-esteem. Such an approach to assessment transforms the relations between the teacher and a student – they both become members of the same team who have one and the same goal: to make the learning process successful.

The following paper is an attempt at drawing social attention to the value and role of a good upbringing in everyday life. The realization of its role both as a modelling factor and a determinant of the quality of tasks and capability to accomplish tasks, fulfill aspirations and needs seems to be crucial for the process of upbringing. It is also noteworthy that education and working out a good upbringing model – in the process of education and socialisation – provide an individual, at every stage of their life, with the benefit they will be able to derive from all their lives. A good upbringing is an autotelic and instrumental value, which serves an individual and the whole society. Considering the social utilitarianism of a good upbringing, it is worth raising awareness in all educational environments responsible for the upbringing and education of the young generation to become mature.

The “reality” is an important category of pedagogical thinking. Education generates enormous layers of simulations today. But realism as an epistemological stance – at least in some shots – it is not able to meet this category. The text shows the dysfunctionality of disputes and reviews in the humanities (including those in pedagogy) that are carried out according to the dualistic division of the epistemological basis in philosophy between realism and idealism. Paradoxically, it could dissuade the interest in reality as a crucial category for education and pedagogical thought. The tradition of realism is worth to read again and look for its potential, but it can’t mean building a museum in the midst of debates in the humanities. You need to open realism to a dialogue and an experience.

The article concerns the analysis of situation of people sentenced to imprisonment and detained in penitentiary unit. It especially concentrates on resocialization process and its results against the effects of isolation and changes in maturity, responsibility and social competences of the convicted. As a result of these analysis a new method of treatment of the convicted as well as tasks and functions for penitentiary personnel was proposed. Penitentiary personnel instead of educating and taking care of the convicted should act as a counselor, possibly therapist, curator and manager of the institution. Otherwise the stay in prison preserves a demanding attitude, lack of habit of making any effort, work or self-discipline. ‘There is no resocialization’ as the convicted repeatedly claim, and it is indeed reflected in practice. It is worth mentioning the message of Maria Grzegorzewska and applying it to the convicted: ‘there is no criminal – there is a human being’. The criminals who are treated as immature people, incapable of taking responsibility for their lives and decisions after a few years spent in a penitentiary unit behave rather like children not adults. The convicted are adult people and should be treated in this way to be able to carry out their adult roles.

The article presents a fragment of a wider research project, which was implemented in the Chair of Social Pedagogy at the University of Silesia in Katowice, in collaboration with the University of Limerick (Ireland). The project was aimed at the diagnosis of health promotion and health education implementation in schools. Presented results focus on the concept of the health promoting school implementation in Poland. The study involved coordinators of school-based health promotion in schools with national health promoting schools certificate. The questionnaire prepared at the University of Limerick, and then adapted to Polish conditions was a tool used in the research.

The article presents the results of diagnostic research of opinions of school coordinators of health promotion about their function. The research was conducted with the use of a Polish version of the National Questionnaire on SPHE and Health Promoting Schools in 2015 in schools which hold a Health Promoting School National Certificate. The research covered the process of selecting a teacher to hold a function of a coordinator of health promotion, their expertise and subjective reflections on their function. Conclusions from the research included recommendations concerning selection of adequate persons to hold this function and their training.

Travelling has become an extremely valuable “benefit” of pedagogic sciences. A journey is perceived as an educational project. As Olga Czerniakowska writes, a journey is and can be an educational project, which originates, is carried out and is ongoing even though the journey has ended (it is retained as a memory, experience and knowledge). A journey understood as an educational project contains in itself a message, preparation, awareness of a goal, and experience, but it is also meaningful for the individual’s development. The proponent of the concept of a journey that develops, educates and is not only “popping into” places is Marek Kamiński – traveller and explorer of the polar regions. As I see it, Marek Kamiński himself and his writings are very representative of the concept of an educational journey. The purpose of this article is to present selected aspects of Marek Kamiński’s writings and show the significance of his travel literature in the context of educational processes, as well as to indicate its usefulness for inspiring deliberations on growing up, searching for adulthood and its realizations.

In view of the significance of the presented problem the authors point out that the modern development of occupational ethics and the raised economic standards result in an increased demand for punctual individuals in various aspects of social life. The authors also indicate the insufficient research material in this area. The hermeneutic insight into the nature and significance of punctuality made it possible for the authors to propose, among others, that punctuality constitutes a mental disposition facilitating inter-human communication; punctuality may be considered to be a personal determinant of the quality of cooperation in occupational environments. The authors propose to examine the term “punctuality” first of all as a feature of character or personality, as a component of volitional control, as component of personal a principle of upbringing and as a component of the ideal of upbringing. The authors prove that punctuality, a very important feature of the human nature, has also its clear cultural foundation. They propose their own viewpoint concerning the shaping of the volitional sphere in children and the youth, especially as regards punctuality.

The present study undertakes the issue of justification of cultural texts as a valid source of impulses for pedagogy – debating the approach and its marigins represented by the book by Krzysztof Maliszewski Ciemne iskry. Problem aktualizacji pedagogiki kultury [Dark Sparks. The Problem of Actualization of Pedagogy of Culture] (2013). I am interested in a methodological debate for the pedagogy of culture. My intention is to prolong the Maliszewski’s point of view within an overall relationship: pedagogy versus culture in search for new sources of inspiration. There is an urgent need of ligitimization in methodological terms of this extended vision of pedagogical influence towards pedagogical discourse, overpassing the limits of a narrow scienticism or academic research rigour. The key suggestions stem from literary studies and from cultural anthropology. The basic “sparks” within the title should be taken out from the culture together with other metaphores describing this methodological situation, as the fragment poetics and anthropology, both becoming in my approach essential for post-conventional integrity of discourse. The fragment poetica seems more suitable to represent specificity of the humanistic cognition than the spark metaphor itelf. Similarly useful seem to be: gliding of concepts as in K. Mannheim, glimmering of senses following J. Brach-Czaina, truth clearance as in M. Heidegger, explosions and the lines of semantic intersection as analyzed in J. Lotman. I have chosen for pedagogical legitimizing the texts possibly remote from the status of truth in pedagogy, since they are dealing with literary fiction within the literary conception of possibile worlds. The main idea of my paper brings a suggestion that if we are able to confirm the status of possibile worlds for pedagogy, i.e. make the literature stable and legitimate source of pedagogical knowledge (experience), then the metaphors of sparks, points of condensation, density of meanings, allothopy, will gain cognitive value of enriching and endeepning pedagogical discourse as such. While K. Maliszewski has chosen his fragments from the culture, he suggested them to be just missing to be restituted but it seems to me not enough in order to bring an essential transformation of pedagogy. I indicate the need of actualization of the overall relationship of pedagogy versus culture.