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

Fat Doughnut Thursday in Polish schools. All of them. :):):) Tradition!!!

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Yum, yum.

Another topic for an essay at the primary school Polish final exam

Do you agree with the statement that dreams have causal power? Write an essay justifying your position. Illustrate your arguments with examples from the literature.

Most students wrote about Little Prince etc.

Here is an example of a bad dream which is fulfilled due to horrible crimes:

[....]
To make your dream come true, you just need to be steadfast and not give up. You should strive for them at all costs and bravely face all adversities. However, it is important to remember that fulfilling some dreams can have serious consequences. A good example supporting my opinion is the book by Juliusz Słowacki entitled "Balladyna". In the play, the title character dreamed of marrying a rich man and having a perfect life. When the opportunity arose, the girl did everything to fulfill her plans/aspirations. Fearing that her plan would fail, she decided to kill her sister in order to become the prince's wife. However, the girl did not stop at one crime, she began to want more. She was determined enough to take the lives of innocent people. She killed her own sister husband and lover to become queen and have absolute power. In the end, she managed to make this dream come true, but she paid a very high price for it. The punishment for her way of achieving her goals was to be electrocuted by lightning.

Szkoła podstawowa? At what age do they do that exam?

15. Why?

Today, when I did some individual testing on students, I gave them a little bonus due to the holiday of Women`s Day. So, if a student deserved 4+ for their written assignment or oral presentation, I gave them -5 or even full 5 (B)

The 8th March - Women`s Day in all educational institutions - from kindergarten to uni.

Flowers, cards, other presents, snacks, theatricals, displays, speeches etc.

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I forgot concerts and games. Sorry.

Performances:

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And contests, too. Sorry.

Performances on 8th March are the funniest and most applauded when boys dress as girls, keeping up old traditions of cabaret and stand-up comedy. I did too when in high school - I borrowed female attire from my mum and sister and the effect was breath-taking. :):)

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When rightist PiS came to power in 2015, I naively hoped they would get rid of some leftist regulations which had been introduced by the previous government. Of course, they didn`t do it and if they changed anything, it was for worse, not better. it is amassing how those rightist morons copy idiotic stuff from leftist Europe when it comes to education. :(:(:(:(

What regulations I don`t like? E.g. in the past a student who didn`t bring his/her home assignment to class usually got an F ( students could avoid it by taking "unprepared" option whose number was limited). Today, it is illegal coz students can be assessed only through actual performance. The lack of performance is not a reason to give an F.

In practice it means that a lot of teachers stopped assigning any homework to avoid confrontation and arguments in class.
In my case, most students still do it but there are stubborn ones who don`t and then we waste a lot of time when they try to do it in class. Those brilliant ones usually do well but the example they set to the rest of the group is demoralising.


Which is really bad coz it has been scientifically proven that students need additional contact with the taught material out of class. It is especially important in case of English which is not only crucial in job hunting etc but also is chosen by most students as a foreign language at final exams at the age of 15 and 19.

@pawian
How about assigning a homework to do: "watch an English speaking movie once a month, make personal review that can be used if wanted to during a presentation of the movie for the class (strictly verbally as to practise English and for it not to last for too long)"

It would spark interest in the English language (as it would be linked with entertainment) for the pupil, and a reason to practice not only English verbally but, also public speaking and giving room to be brave

Things like that are harder to set up than you'd think, however they are possible. The key is finding what interests the individual personally. Hard enough with some adults, harder yet with sullen teens.

Once you've got it though, you can do a lot with it. The better private schools are good at this.

@jon357
Due to material wealth it can be, I remember being tasked by my school in 1990's to pick a book and read it, make a review and present it to class in elementary school. School had a library so it was possible to do for every pupil.

So a school movie "library" would help out, or a movie channel subscription or something I guess.

The problem with educational reform is that you can't cherrypick bits and pieces from different countries/systems and apply them randomly to existing systems or apply a modified version. Poland probably looked at Finland which has one of the best education systems in the world. They get no homework and there is no standardised testing. So PIS thinks that they can emulate Finland's success by doing something not quite the same but vaguely inspired by it. So now Polish students still have to do homework but it doesn't affect their grades if they don't. A pointless piece of reform. PIS could have gained a few Brownie points by consulting with teachers and asking them what changes, if any, they would like to see. But that would be a consultative process and that's not PIS style.

There are degrees of possibility here. Schools have had libraries for many decades. They have had a huge impact on some kids. Not on others.

Like adults (and perhaps more so) they all have very different circumstances and personalities that are being shaped in different ways. You have to find what motivates each one; and this is tricky since so many end up not motivated at all


This is key to any reform.

All very true.

There's also the cultural factor. According to Poland's cultural profile (as in the work of Hofstede) you would expect Polish education to work best as teacher-centered, rule centered and results oriented (Finland has a very different cultural profile in which you'd expect more student-centered and process-oriented approaches with lax rules to work better).

You can try to ameliorate some of the harsher aspects of the Polish system but that's the culture the kids are coming from and will be functioning in after school and trying to made the system student-centered will just irritate both student and teacher and produce graduates who don't function well.

Work with the culture not against it (and if you do want to work against it, do so in small, barely perceptible baby steps, incrementalism, not revolution)