Chowanna Tom jubileuszowy (2019)

From the editors

The article is devoted to the scientific, didactic and organizational achievements of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology of the University of Silesia in Katowice from its foundation to the newest times (1976–2019). It presents the origins of the Faculty, including the functioning of education in the field of pedagogy and psychology in the structure of the Higher School of Pedagogy in Katowice, and then in the structure of the University of Silesia, the evelopment of the scientific and teaching staff (obtaining subsequent degrees and titles, scientific publications) and the basis for the Faculty to obtain full academic qualifications in the field of pedagogy. Also, the journals published by the Faculty have been characterized.

The article is devoted to the analysis of scientific achievements of researchers and teachers of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy of the University of Silesia in Katowice during forty years of its functioning in this academic centre. These achievements are presented against the background of the development of theoretical studies and empirical research conducted in leading academic centres in Poland in the field of preschool pedagogy, early-school pedagogy and media pedagogy.

The article presents the researchers and didactic workers who substantially contributed to the scientific and didactic development of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy. Throughout 40 years of activity, the Department, as a unit being a part of Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology of the University of Silesia, has cooperated with many prominent figures from regional, national and foreign academic centers. Currently, the Department implements an intensive research programme, takes part in the doctoral and postdoctoral promotions as well as successfully undertakes the education of students specializing in teaching

The 40th anniversary of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy encourages a reflection on the directions of scientific research activities that have been undertaken by the institution and its members, the education of students in the changing social, political and educational environment, its mission in the field of training early education teachers or the long-termactivities of the department employees related to the popularization of pedagogical issues in the environment. This study provides an overview of the educational offer, study programmes, curriculum content at the University of Silesia and competences of future and active teachers of kindergartens and primary school classes in the last forty years.

The aim of the article is to present the changes that have taken place over the years in the field of speech therapy in the field of diagnostics and therapy of a child at preschool age and early school. The article also describes synthetically the scientific activity of employees associated with the Department of Early School Pedagogy and Media Pedagogy operating in the field of speech therapy.

The aim of the article is to present the achievements of the employees of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy in mathematical education over forty years of its functioning.. Mathematics is a particularly important area of teaching a young child, which builds the basis for later education and largely determines its success or failure. It is a subject that is difficult by its very nature, and its hierarchical structure means that each element must be well mastered. That is why it is so important to train the teachers of kindergarten and primary education so that they can build a good basis for teaching this subject.

The article presents a concept of including child expression, especially the one focused on bodily activity, in activities addressed to pupils of kindergarten and of grades 1–3 of primary school. The text begins with an outline of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s idea of embodied subjectivity, and concludes with the characteristics of research conducted in the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy at the University of Silesia in Katowice. In addition, the article describes specific initiatives that have been launched in the Department, such as the creation of the Children’s Expression Centre and the organisation of Polish Expression Festivals in Katowice.

The article presents the problem of using drama in the development of social and emotional competences of children in early school age. In preschool and early school age children undergo many dynamic developmental changes, especially in the area of social, emotional, cognitive and communication development. All these changes help children better understand and organize the world around them and think about it in a creative and increasingly independent and complex way. Children develop their metacognitive abilities, they better understand their own emotions and behavior, and at the same time, assimilate the norms and principles of social life. In the article, the author points to the possibility of using drama to support emotional and social development of a child. Drama, thanks to the fact that it oscillates between fiction and reality, gives the possibility of safe exploration of various social and moral attitudes and expression of emotions. The article is a kind of summary of the most important notions and dimensions of the use of drama in work with children of early school age in the last two decades.

The present text is an effect of considerations devoted to art education of an early-school child focused on stimulating children’s creativity and artistic imagination. The first part of the article presents considerations regarding the issue of artistic imagination and creativity. The second part discusses the concept of designing artistic activities at the level of early school education as a stimulator of imagination and child creativity. The third part of the article is an attempt to present the possibilities of using the techniques of contemporary art as a platform for pedagogical activities.

The paper characterizes the problem of research in the field of media pedagogy conducted in the team functioning in the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Selected research areas conducted by individual members of the team are presented against the background of the development of media pedagogy in Poland. The research concerned sharenting, educational benefits achieved by students through the media, media education of parents, use of computers in pre-school education, persuasive messages or shaping competence in the field of information technology among the Masai on African land. The wide spectrum of analyses undertaken by the media pedagogy team is also the result of the team’s cooperation with various research centres in Poland and abroad.

Pre-school education, as the first level of general human education, has been an important area in the 40-year work of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy. During these years, the reality of pre-school education has undergone (and is still undergoing) a peculiar transition from the technological paradigm to the humanistic paradigm. In the technological approach, based on positive philosophy and behaviorism, the axis of education was the curriculum, and its central figure was the teacher. The role of the child consisted in adapting to the curriculum and the requirements of the kindergarten. Children’s needs and their capabilities were not exhibited in the process of education. In the education based on a humanistic approach, derived from anti-intellectual naturalism, pedagogical progressivism and humanistic psychology, the central figure is the child, and the main purpose of education is to support his/her development. The teacher is to be a helper, a guide and is to allow the child to grow according to his/her own developmental potential. Thus, the curriculum no longer plays the most important role, but the child does – the entity. Parents have also been involved in the process of pre-school education, and they have also gained a sense of subjectivity. Due to the fact that changes in education do not take place quickly, and the pre-school education system has been firmly fixed for several decades, it can be said that currently pre-school education is in the stage of searching for its (new) path. Some elements of the technological system are still present, but we also observe many changes towards humanistic, subjective education.

Selected Monographs of the Employees of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Media Pedagogy at the University of Silesia in Katowice Published in the Years 1979–2018 and List of Journals Where Their Articles Were Published (compiled by Stanisław Juszczyk, Anna Watoła, Marcin Musioł

The article presents the development, directions and areas of scientific research conducted by scholars at the Department of Social Pedagogy at the University of Silesia in Katowice from the beginning of the Department’s existence (1980/1981) until 2018. The conducted analyses emphasize first of all the expansion of research areas and the successive formation of the so-called “school” of social pedagogy characteristic of our academic centre. The areas of interest of the Department’s research staff correspond to the cognitive and research needs resulting from the current socio-cultural transformations that are significant for the course of socialization and upbringing processes. The results of scientific research have been reflected, among others, in scientific publications (monographs and articles), and the titles of the most important ones are given in the article.

The author describes, from the perspective of 40th anniversary of the Department of Social Pedagogy at the University of Silesia, the period of his leadership of this scientific department in the years 1980–2010. Moreover, the author tries to characterise the activities of the Department in the era of socialism and in later years, after 1989, in the period of post-communist social changes. He expects that comparative studies will enable to find the elements of continuity and change in the last decade, when the emphasis has been placed not only at the preservation, but also at the reinforcement of the tradition of social sciences in Poland.

In the contemporary world social participation of children is seen as an idea that should be implemented at various social levels. The idea itself is understood multi-dimensionally – as various social activities, including the participation in decision-making processregarding children’s matters. Today in a discourse on children’s participation its collective dimension is accented, which means social participation and access to social and civil goods of children as a social group. In the discourse on participation, which has been developing dynamically since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, various theories are used as a background against which children’s participationis considered and justified. The paper presents an outline of this problem and current tendencies in the discourse.

The subject of the analyses undertaken in this article is solidarity with the Other in global society. The first part of the article focuses on the status of the Other (the outline is based on the characteristics presented by Claude Lévi-Strauss, George Simmel, Zygmunt Bauman, Bernhard Waldenfels and Emmanuel Lévinas). The subject of the second part is the category of solidarity – its analysis has been made by referring to the sociological and axiological perspective. In the third part, which is a kind of summary, the ambivalence of the status of the Other in the context of globalization is presented.

The article is a review of research on racist feelings, attitudes and behaviours in relation to children. The authors focus on research tools used, including Clark Doll Test, Preschool Attitude Measure or Sticker Test. The analyses have shown that the phenomenon of racism and xenophobia is being increasingly raised in the scientific discourse in the context of this age group. In addition, it is emphasized that the concepts of race, religion or social class as key determinants of the place of man in society are unethical and immoral.

The article describes how social disorganization is conditioned by such phenomena as social cohesion, informal social control and the ability of the community to control criminal behaviour. The article reviews the research indicating the harmful practice of creating social housing zones in large cities, in which young people with low cultural and economic capital are concentrated. This tendency is not matched by the regularity of high cohesion and high informal social control in ethnically distinct neighbourhoods, but uniform in this respect, which has been revealed in the research. The response of educators, social workers, and youth activists to disadvantage areas is the organization of street work centers and group work centers in these places.

This article concerns the analyses and research on women and men coming from penitentiary correction centres and the youth from families at risk of delinquency. The research problem concentrates on the analysis of criminals who are parents and situations of children in historical and contemporary context as well as on specific difficulties in the functioning of special-needs children in social life in terms of special education. This article can inspire a new approach to dealing with criminals, enhancing their role as parents, which constitutes an important factor in the process of corrective actions.

The present text is an attempt to draw social attention to the place and role of art in the social/public space, and thus the artistic and social impact of art arranged in this space. Art, apart from its artistic and aesthetic value, has a social-educational and utilitarian value. Presenting works of art in public space can not only revise the way of thinking about art / perception of art, but also develop the need to implement its potential in everyday life. The artistic and social dimension of art is a peculiar configuration of good, truth and beauty – values so socially desirable.

Health inequalities are being increasingly considered in describing population health and creating health policies. Particular emphasis is put on the so-called social inequalities, however, it is emphasized that they may also be conditioned by biological or environmental factors. The latter type of inequalities is the subject of interest in the present study. The presented research results are a part of wider diagnostic activities that were undertaken within the Onkogranty II project. They include a comparison of data on the epidemiology of cancer caused by low physical activity and poor diet in the province of Silesia and throughout the country.

Investigations of social pedagogy are nowadays more and more frequently focused on areas which cover a wider context and go beyond one’s own scientific discipline. There is diagnostic research on recognizing health state of certain social groups or communities. The article presents the research results of subjective assessment of health state of the residents of Tychy. However, it is only a part of a larger project which began in April 2017, whose goal is to create Social and pedagogic model of local diagnosis and social participation in terms of health protection and promotion. The conclusions reached may contribute to actions aimed at increasing the health potential of local communities.

The generation of the turn of the 20th/21st century is given to live in a new, changing reality. Modern, young generation entering adulthood is brought up in a post-transformation society, dominated by consumption, accelerated pace of life and threats occurring in all spheres of its functioning. In Poland, socio-cultural transformation has become for young adults not only a source of new challenges, opportunities, but also of threats. The consequences of the transformations are difficulties of (especially) the young generation in adapting to the ever-changing, unstable reality. The rapid changes in the surrounding reality have inspired research on the problems of growing up (including risky and harmful behaviours), and the difficulties of a generation growing up in an unstable reality.

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