Inclusion of Children with Disabilities from the Palestinian-Arab Community in the Israeli Education System

Summary The concept of inclusion is implemented in Israeli educational system with introduction of 1988 Special Education Law (SEL). The political, socio-cultural and economical changes improved the general status of people with disabilities in the Arab and Jewish communities. However, the Jewish education system, and the Arab education system in general differ, that applies also to the issue of special needs education. Students with disabilities representing minority groups suffer from additional barriers. The main aim of the article is to discuss the issue of integrating students with disabilities into general education in Arab schools in Israel. The situation of children with special educational needs (mainly with intellectual disabilities) in educational system in Israel is discussed, with focus on children from Palestinian-Arab community. The Arab teachers attitudes and behaviors toward the inclusion and disability are analyzed. Although, the research within the topic is limited, the available results indicate rather negative attitudes of Arab teachers towards disabilities. This state might be partly embedded within the socio-cultural context. The further research within the topic is necessary.

From Idea to Presentation to Publication. Papers of the Forum of Young Pedagogues at the Pedagogical Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Summary The aim of the article is to introduce / recall the idea of Prof. Maria Dudzikowa, who for a quarter of a century was the head of the Summer Schools of Young Pedagogues at KNP PAN, what is and what role does the work on the Forum of Young Pedagogues as an experience in writing scientific texts and editing collective works.

Why Polish Teachers Quit Jobs in Public Schools? Research Report

Summary The aim of the article is to present the reasons for leaving the job in public schools by Polish teachers. The author describes the current situation of teachers in Poland, paying attention to their salaries and some expectations set for them. Based on the research results (N = 108), it was found that Polish teachers most often leave teaching in public schools for: financial reasons (too low salaries), being mobbed by the headteachers, divisions in the teachers’ group and also too tough and outdated education system. These reasons are connected with internal and external motivations. Interestingly, after quitting a public school, almost 40% of the respondents wanted to stay in education field, 12% wanted to emigrate and 10% of respondents declared to move to the job which will be connected with ICT.

Professional Learning Communities in the Contemporary Basic Education in Finland

Summary In the article I will pay attention to schools as Professional Learning Communities which include: shared values and vision of education, collective responsibility, reflective professional inquiry, collaboration and group, as well as individual, learning. I also analyze trust and respect, closely related to PLC in contemporary Finnish education.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) in Singapore (Potential and Limitations in Shaping High-Quality Education)

Summary The aim of this article is to recognise the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) model adopted in 2009 in Singapore as a national mode. The explicit use of the term of PLC together with related terms makes it possible to understand an educational policy which is focused on the implementation of concepts developed in a different, foreign context. The orientation adopted in Singapore identifies PLC not only as reinforcing incentives for teachers and their professionalism, but more broadly, as reinforcing the already high-quality education. The arguments and evidence presented in this article are mainly based on literature and research review, as well as on analyses of source documents.

About Statistical Thinking in Pedagogics. On the Margin of the Reading of Wiesław Szymczak’s book The practice of Statistical Inference

Summary The article is devoted to the issue of statistical thinking in pedagogy and research conducted in this discipline. Inspired by the readings of the book by Wiesław Szymczak, The Practice of Statistical Inference, it contains comments on popular associations and misunderstandings about what statistics is, what its principles and goals are, and therefore also comments on the using of statistical methods inconsistently with the underlying assumptions of statistical theory.

The Word Leading to Agreement

Summary The concept of the language as an instrument for children, that leads to their mutual understanding in the classes 1–3, depends on the comprehensive educators approach to the relations between linguistics and the philosophy of language, developmental psychology, sociology of culture, and the history of the Polish society. The child’s undertaking of the school education imposes on the teacher the obligation to accompany it not only in mastering the elementary knowledge of the native language’s grammar system, but also in creating situations that overcome students fear of making difficult decisions when solving interesting tasks. When using the functions of the language: fatic, communicative, informational, expressive or meta-linguistic, pupils go through the several stages from the incorrect speech to correct speech, and they master the elementary structure of the reading texts intended for the little recipients. The described process would be strengthened depending on the pupil’s social background, and conditioned culturally and environmentally. This in turn affects the perception of the poetic language function and aesthetic attitude towards art.

Happiness, Chance or Hard Work and Ambition? Primary School Students about the Determinants of Professional Success

Summary The text presents chosen results from research over the choices, aspirations and educational and career plans of young people (including some aspect of the perception of success). The chosen modules of the survey conducted in 2020 in a medium-sized city (approx. 80,000 inhabitants) are presented. The research goals were as follows: to characterize aspirations and plans as well as educational and professional choices made by young people; to present their opinions on the category of ‘success’ (including professional success) with its determinants; to characterize factors on educational paths of young people which enable or disable them to achieve professional success (technical, vocational schools vs general secondary schools) and prestigious versus non-prestigious professions; and to characterize the process of career counselling (students evaluation of the process and their expectations toward it). Previous studies in this field have shown that, for example, personality traits are poor predictors of entrepreneurial behaviour, while beliefs and judgments about one’s self and the world may be a determinant of success. Therefore, it can be assumed that positive beliefs about the determinants of success, such as optimism, hope for success, will contribute to a more positive perception of the transition process from education to the labour market. Importantly, the way of perceiving the determinants of success determines the adoption of a passive versus active attitude in shaping one’s fate. Therefore, the author of the article is interested in the way, that primary school students perceive the life and professional success (the dimension which they use to identify success or withdrawn from this identification), as well as in the way they perceive the factors that determine it. Those students’ perceptions may determine their attitudes towards shape of their lives.

The Importance of the Sense of Agency in the Process of Social Activity and Participation of Young People

Summary The social activity of young people is essential for the development of their participation in the social life. It’s conditioned, inter alia, by educational measures directed at stimulating the behaviour of the young people, strengthening their sense of consciousness and responsible influence on the environment. The article presents a deeper insight into the mutual dependence between the individual’s sense of agency (and thus the subject’s belief in his/her ability to influence the reality) and his social activity (understood as the readiness to act for the benefit of others). They are not meaningless for building the social capital of the young generation, which in the near future will be responsible for the fate of the world. One of the analytic categories used to consider the presented issues is the construct of pro-development orientation, the constructive features of which include both trust in others and the world, as well as a sense of agency.

ACT as Support Form for Adolescents in Building Healthy Eating Habits

Summary The aim of the article is to describe the process of the change of eating habits in adolescence in reference to the psychological flexibility theory which has its origins in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The processes of mental and physical development of teenagers are also included. The article contains descriptions of the mechanisms of formation and change of the eating habits in adolescence. This content was referred to all elements of psychological flexibility: mindfulness, values, acceptation, cognitive defusion, self as context and committed action.