Oslo, 2-5 September
2004 - The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Education to tolerance in the context of Freedom of Religion or Belief
(FORB) appears in public debates in Poland whenever the topics of the national
identity, the construction of historical memory, the meaning of democracy and
multiculturalism occur. It also appears with the more general question of
purpose of education. Needless to say, multiculturalism can be defined through a
variety of ideological constructs, but the statement of Giroux (2000) calling
for using this concept for promoting pedagogical practices seems the most
useful in the context of Poland in the united Europe. In Poland,
multiculturalism and/or interreligious relations are not experienced by
majority of students. Multiculturalism, the concept not widely known and
debated yet in Poland, surely goes beyond pluralism of different
cultures/religions in modern societies and it aims at creating a public space
which reflects various communities as not merely tolerated, but as those which
can enrich dominant culture, recognise their own identity and create new ones.
It is worth also to remember that the European Community policy, through the
proclaimed principle of unity in diversity, protects
multicultural/multireligious interests and education reflecting a diverse
variety of Europe’s nations.
Since Poland is one of few still
relatively homogenous countries (with only about 4 percent of minorities),
multiculturalism/interculturalism is seldom addressed, in terms of school
curriculum dimension, and multicultural/intercultural education in relation to
FORB. Therefore, as a concept and practice, remains mostly unknown to Polish
teachers. In its core multicultural education and/or education in relation to
FORB challenges any discrimination (ethnic, racial, religious, economic,
linguistic, and gender). Critical pedagogy needs to be elaborated in Poland as
well. What is understood by this term is an approach excluding a traditional
one way transmission of knowledge, because such model does not pay attention to
the experience and viewpoints of students, therefore it cannot be multicultural
or intercultural/interreligious. Multicultural/intercultural education and
education tackling FORB, emphasises not only mutual attitudes but a need for a
curriculum revision in order to reflect global perspective. Development of
multicultural/intercultural, decentralised syllabus in Poland, as Tulasiewicz
(1993) noted, should address: knowledge (including topics interested to the
youth), attitudes (tolerance and non-discrimination), skills (including
learning languages and travel skills), values (equality and democracy), and
exchange. Multicultural/multireligius approach should be integrated into all
school subjects, not to form a “topic” for learning. It should be also
acknowledged that multicultural/multireligious curriculum is not a danger to
national Catholic identity and components focused on preserving national
heritage and tradition. The inclusion of intercultural/interreligious
perspective into Polish school system is highly and urgently needed in Poland.
New learning strategies are needed also, the strategies which were recognised
so far as the most effective in Western countries. Programs enhancing student’s
openness toward representatives of other cutlrues and religions are not present
in Polish schools and need to be presented as examples of good practices. They
are present, however in informal education, particularly implemented by the
NGO’s.
The theoretical framework and
procedures that work for race/religion/culture equality in schools and in
society are not widely known in Poland. Each country has different history,
although parts of it may overlap, and different cultural heritage, although
again, some of it may be common for more than one, particularly neighbouring
countries. Each country, therefore, has to create and follow own model of
interreligious group relations within society. Learning about past and current
debates, acknowledging examples of good practices may have a paramount
importance.
Literature
·
Giroux Henry A. (2000), Insurgent
Multiculturalism and the Promise of Pedagogy. [In:] Noel Jana, Ed. (2000),
Notable Selections in Multicultural Education, Guiliford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, pp. 176-184.
·
Tulasiewicz Witold (1993), The European
Dimension and the National Curriculum. [In:] King Anna S. & Reiss Michael
J. (Eds.), The Multicultural Dimension
of the National Curriculum, London & Washington D.C., The Falmer Press, pp.
240-258.