Między wychowaniem narodowym a wychowaniem państwowym w programach nauczania historii szkoły powszechnej (1918-1939)

Abstract

In the Polish state reborn in 1918, there were formed two major tendencies in education: national and Christian upbringing, and democratic and civil one. Initially, the ideology of national education that was formed towards the end of the 19th century was a dominant doctrine. Its proponents considered family, school and church (Catholic) to be the three essential factors in upbringing. Educated children were supposed to be religious, patriotic, dedicated to the country and the national cause, honour and dignity. The State was meant to cooperate with the Church and family in matters of education, and prepare the youth for their vocations or further schooling. According to the proponents of the democratic and civil ideals, a young citizen was to be prepared for his/her work and profession and maximally devoted to the Motherland. The issue of dispute was an alternative: which is of primary, and which is of secondary nature the Nation or the State? The term “state education” occurred in 1927 and it emphasized the state as the most perfect form of social life. The worship of the State turned into a worship of the leader overshadowing the notion and role of the nation. The fundamental assumption of the sanative state education was the aspiration to integrate biggest social circles around that idea. The educational reform of 1932 was aiming at exactly that goal. As a result, the educational school tasks were defined as civil and state. Curricula based on such foundations were not commonly approved. In spite of ideological variety in the obligatory curricula in the 1920-ties and 30-ties, the Polish school successfully formed national and civic attitudes of young people.