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2012-01-09

The inauguration of the Janusz Korczak Year at the Jewish Historical Institute

On January 5th, 2012, at 6 pm, at the Jewish Historical Institute, the Ombudsman for Children Marek Michalak and Director of the Jewish Historical Institute Pawel Spiewak inaugurated the Janusz Korczak Year. The ‘Moj Korczak’ series of meetings (Eng. My Korczak) were opened with a lecture by Krystyna Starczewska, the Headmaster of the Bednarska school complex. The lecture was called ‘Idee wychowawcze Korczaka wobec wyzwań współczesnego świata. Jak oceniałby Korczak dzisiejszą polską szkołę?’ (Eng. Korczak’s rearing ideas vs. present day challenges. How would Korczak evaluate Polish schooling today?).

This year marks both the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Orphans’ House, a children’s orphanage founded by Janusz Korczak in Warsaw on Krochmalna Street, and the 70th anniversary of his death in the concentration camp in Treblinka. The Jewish Historical Institute and the Korczak Foundation have arranged yearlong educational and cultural activities related to the Janusz Korczak Year in Poland. The basic goal of the project is to show possibilities of applying Janusz Korczak’s thoughts and practices in contemporary society, especially in relation to modern social melting pots. The program of the Janusz Korczak Year, prepared by the Jewish Historical Institute, aims to restore the memory of Korczak’s oeuvre. In addition to the ‘Moj Korczak’ series of lectures, training courses and workshops for teachers, the ‘Korczak na językach’ reading Korzak’s works will take place during the Museums’ Night as well as the Memory March at the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the ghetto liquidation action.

In her lecture, Krystyna Starczewska, a novel educator who implements Korczak’s pedagogical ideas, shed more light on the figure of the Old Physician and on his rearing program. She also recalled his fundamental theory on which he based his perception of the child and its subjectivity. ‘It is not that the child has to grow to become a human being; he or she already is a human’. Rearing children according to Korczak’s ideologies does not consist in shaping the child but it requires a dialogue with the child, the process of getting to know the individual. Educators and teachers have to know and understand the pupil before starting to teach him or her. Trust, love and respect are fundamental for rearing the child properly,’ stressed Ms. Starczewska. In her opinion, the idea of authoritarian rearing, which comprises orders and bans only, will never match Korczak’s ideologies.

Korczak, who based all his ideas regarding work with children on empirical knowledge, always pointed out that when children are raised in groups, the individual attitude to the child is not sufficient. ‘Rearing children must entail the release of their individual activity and eagerness to work for the benefit of society. The point is that the feeling or responsibility for themselves, others and for the place in which they currently live must be modeled in their characters.’ Hence the idea of a team work among pupils, while learning and carrying out projects together. According to Ms. Starczewska, it is of extreme importance that the educational system allow the autonomy of schools since school communities are distinct, as it is the case with particular school students.

For more information about Korczak and his children’s book, click here

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The inauguration of the Janusz Korczak Year at the Jewish Historical Institute

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