Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies.

Show me where such teaching was suggested in this thread. :):)

You can suggest to us how you will educate your pupils in 10 days. Unless it's not a subject you are interested in or you are not responsible to educate them about such events.

One of the primary tasks of school besides educating facts, is also social behavior and group rules. To avoid educating or even telling pupils about patriotism is a grave error as it roots them out of the Polish community. One can't fully comprehend Poland without patriotism, just like not teaching about freedom in U.S.A or social etiquette in Japan or the importance of bread in France.

Patriotism isn't just a feeling, it's a duty, loyalty and wishing the good of the country. Unless you want the country to go down the drain, I have a really hard time understanding why patriotism is bad.

Who said it's bad?

In Germany patriotism is obsolet and virtually forbidden.

Didn't notice to be fair but then I don't live there.

During Euro etc I definitely noticed displays of national pride. Definitely much more than in UK.

@Alien
That's right, same in Sweden basically. Not sure about U.S.A, but I read and hear a lot of complaints. But the U.S.A is the land of complaints and criticism.

@Lenka
In those countries football is the last place which one can show ones patriotism for their own country, otherwise feeling or being connected to it in any way is dealt with rather harshly.

How?

@Lenka
-.-
Normal tools which society use, social ostracism, isolation of the person from rest of society (which usually leads to contacting criminal elements as they are the only ones to contact him/her), imprisonments, interrogations, branding the person as an unbeliever/heretic/witch/crazy

You name it, the tools that have been used have varied throughout history. Towards patriotism in particular many scholars have linked it equally with nationalism which is a fatal error. Pushing genuine patriots into the arms of right wing monsters.

Can you give me an example because it does sound a bit surreal?

Today it is the Day of the Missing Teacher. Schools in urban areas have to cope with the escalating shortage of teachers - from 100 in smaller cities to a few hundred in Warsaw. PIS Ministry of Education ignores the problem and blames head teachers for everything.

Thank you, PIS, for destroying the educational system in Poland.

PS. Latest news - 3 major teacher unions united and rejected the Ministry`s proposition to increase salaries at the cost of higher workload.

Why the 14th October? Coz that was the day when the first Ministry Of Education in Europe was created over 250 years ago. It was called the Commission on National Education and that is why today the formal name of the holiday is National Education Day - NOT Teacher`s Day!!!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_of_National_Education

The Commission of National Education was the central educational authority in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and King Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its vast authority and autonomy, it is considered the first Ministry of Education in European history and an important achievement of the Polish Enlightenment.

Created mostly by active Freemasons, including Cardinal Podolski.

Funny, I didn`t know it.

It is unbelievable but I haven`t posted any photos of the day`s celebration so far.

This is a more formal side of it: anthem, school banner, speeches, flowers, cards, thanks, awards, etc.

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I chose random pics for the display above and now when I am looking at those teachers, one thing strikes me - all of them are old or middle aged - young ones are a rarity now.

A less formal side of the holiday: concerts, dances, stand-up comedians, quizzes, theatricals, etc.

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From my collection of other teachers` of English boobs and mishaps.
E.g, below: the teacher marked this homework as B- without correcting major mistakes like Whose tissues is it? It`s Uma`s tissues. :):):)

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On the first of September, students in our school were instructed they had to cover their mouths and noses. 2/3 conformed earnestly, 1/3 pretended they did.
Today, 1/2 still wear a mask while the other half don`t. Most teachers wear a mask, but one or two don`t, e.g, our priest who teaches RC religion.

Where I am we were told we have to wear masks but many/most teachers didn't. Newer guidance is that we can dispense with the mask if we maintain 1.5 meters between ourselves and the students... (never mind that the whole social distancing thing was made up out of whole cloth...)

I know a better way to describe where that stuff came from...

I always suspected the staff in my school are very orderly, disciplined and caring.

It has just occured to me I need to praise PiS for another good thing they are doing. Namely, schools remain open nationwide for intramural education. Yes, hundreds or even thousands have been affected by the virus and went online, but the rest are doing fine. Sending individual teachers or students on quarantine is a better option than closing down the whole school.

So far in my school two classes and two teachers have gone on quarantine - a small fraction of all. I am vaxed and most of my students, too - we don`t want online education. Well, some lazy students do, indeed, but they are minoroty. :):):)

Education Minister pledges to keep this option as long as possible.

So, thank you, PiS. :):):)

No such thing as "online education" there are various types of online activities that sort of emulate education but not much learning actually goes on...

Any attempts to close schools should be met by teachers going in anyway.

The rulers learn by their mistakes at least in the field of education.

I remember old times when a few uni students roamed the corridors of our school as trainee teachers every day. Now it is a few per year.

A few of my students are heavily dyslexic. They aren`t able to speak, read or write proper English. Also their listening skills are hugely impaired. That makes the whole educational process extremely difficult for them (as well as for their teachers). I pity those poor guys coz they are also handicapped at exams - in the Polish system, they can only enjoy the spelling waiver or get extra time. That is definitely too little in my opinion. Nobody in examining bodies cares that a student went through hell trying to make some progress.

How are dyslexic children treated in other countries?

In Polish 'dysleksja' is used in a very general way and might be better translated as 'learning disorder(s)' in English

In English dyslexia is a very specific processing problem restricted to visual input. Namely the dyslexic person's brain has trouble processing written language. They often can't distinguish d and b or if they see a stop sign they might see STPO or SOTP.

Almost all children go through a phase where they have trouble processing left/right distinctions in writing and in keeping the order or letters consistent. Almost all eventually get through this stage but an unhappy minority gets stuck and the condition remains.

There are other learning disorders as well involving audio input or motor control or sensory control.

In theory in the US allowances are made to help learning disordered children get through school (and there is therapy available for some, unhappily not all, types of learning disorders). In reality it largely depends on how wealthy the school district is (funding for schools is very local).

Also, since public education is being dismantled lots of disordered children are just out of luck. Hundreds of thousands of children disappeared from schools in 2020 and they still haven't been found and nobody seems interested in finding them or getting them back in school.

I got two jabs so I am considered immunised and quarantine rules don`t affect me. Two or three younger female teachers, refused vaccinations (fear of pregnancy complications) and have a huge problem now - they go on quarantine every two, three weeks after each time one of their students has been tested positive.

@pawian: "fear of pregnancy complications"
These concerns are fully justified.

What have you done to educate such students about their collective responsibility in their own intolerance, abuse and oppression of other minority groups throughout history?

It gives a whole new perspective to Kosciuszko's desire for their emancipation, doesn't it?

It sounds odd. Is it correct English???


Their means whose exactly??

Darling, can I offer some advice? When you have a question, try to formulate it in a clear logical way. We don`t know what you are thinking of. Are you at all? :):):)

Only for someone still hobbled by an ESL handicap and who also doesn't want to face inconvenient truths.


Yes.


I refer you to the first image.

So, what have you done to educate such students about their collective responsibility? If you haven't then why is that the case?