Abstract
The analysis of life on the housing estate and its educational and emancipatory character can lead one to suspect some form of total pedagogisation. One cannot ignore the fact that these modern social reformers and founders of the cooperative used the neighbourhood newsletter to diffuse the model of ‘a new man in the new housing estate’. In the context of the criticism of modernity, I wonder whether education really had an emancipatory character. I use Jacques Rancière’s concept of education and stultification. This is why the categories proposed by Gert Biesta, who studied the culture of learning and education, turned out to be vital for my analysis of the Żoliborz estate. The founders and teachers of the WHC school (Wacław Schayer and Stanisław Żemis) also pointed out to the difference between learning and education. The Żoliborz model of education, based on John Dewey’s concepts and the assumptions that social practices are experienced by the body, confirmed Gert Biesta’s thesis that civic education is the matter of organising democratic development conditions and a democratic living environment, and not the matter of implementing models of a perfect citizen, specific skills or competencies. I ask, however, the question whether the rather specific, experimental and hermetic educational model was beneficial for children and youth? Wasn’t this model too detached from the Polish social and cultural context?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Bauman was also hugely inspired by Mills’ sociology. He wrote: ‘Readers are fascinated by two facets of Mills’ sociology (…) the enlightening humanism of Mills’ sociology, a ruthless war waged against the notion of transforming humans into servomechanisms, (…) pure hatred towards « eager robots » and their managers, as well as warm, humane and, frankly, « unsociological » emotions permeating his writings on human abilities, which are human freedom, and on freedom itself, which is the independence of intellect and human action (Bauman 1964, pp. 290–291). In Bauman’s view, Mills’ approach was based on the conviction that all people are irrevocably free and equal. The contemporary concepts of educating through practicing democracy are also based on that conviction.
- 2.
The educational approaches introduced in the WHC have been widely covered in Polish literature. They were analysed on an ongoing basis and many publications were released between the 1960s and late 1980s. Therefore, there is no need for me to go into excessive detail on the philosophical and pedagogical roots of those practices (‘The RTPD was undoubtedly influenced by « new education » trends (Montessori, Decroly, Freire), the diverse « labour schools » theories (Dewey, Kerschensteiner and Błoński), Adler’s individual psychology, Rowid’s « creativity school » , Radlińska’s social pedagogy, (…), Spaskowski’s « school of the future »’) (cf. Kuzańska-Obrączkowa 1966, p. 18). Also, I will not provide an in-depth description of the functioning of educational institutions, although it is a very interesting topic due to the novel, experimental methods of organising children’s lives that were used in the estate. The topic deserves its own paper which would present the WHC’s educational achievements from today’s perspective and analyse it using both late-modern educational discourse as well as contemporary performative concepts. Academics will discover that numerous ‘events’ took place there, all of them built in accordance with John Dewey’s pragmatic philosophy and the extremely innovative approach of Aleksander Landy (cf. Demel 1982). Maria Kuzańska-Obrączkowa provides an extensive list of titles on the subject.
- 3.
An interview with Aleksander Landy] titled Czy szkoła nasza jest eksperymentalna? [Is Our School Experimental?] (Landy 1934). Aleksander Landy, a paediatrician, social activist and pedagogue, is the epitome of a pre-war Polish intellectual.
- 4.
In 1931, RTPD ran a preschool—for 40 children, school with 5 departments—for approximately 100 children, doctor’s clinic, summer vacation programme, after-school club, music school, puppet theatre and nutrition programmes for children (Warszawska Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa 1931).
- 5.
I consciously referenced Alfred Schütz’s ‘enlightened citizen’ and Mills’ sociological imagination because both have much in common with some aspects of humanistic knowledge which has the ability to transform human practices.
- 6.
Henryk Dembiński’s biographical note was provided by Szymański (1989, pp. 98–99).
- 7.
Dembiński probably refers here to Suchodolski’s idea expressed in Uspołecznienie kultury [The Socialisation of Culture], which was published in 1938.
- 8.
Contemporary humanities which conceptualise the category of work usually relate it to three issues: work as employment, work as a basic human activity (the anthropological approach), and finally as a political subject. As part of the critique of cognitive capitalism, as well as within the interesting arrangements of representatives of the Italian school of autonomous Marxism, and especially in the theoretical ideas of Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt regarding biopolitics, work is understood both as the object of a new form of exploitation and the subject of new political and social movements. Initially, their concept of immaterial labour basically did not take into account physical work and its material effects. It was only after a wave of criticism that it was extended to biopolitical labour as well. The same is true of the concept of Maurizio Lazzarato’s immaterial labour; cf. Lazzarato (2010), Immaterial Labour–Robotnicy opuszczają miejsca pracy [Workers Leaving the Workplace]; Catalogue of the exhibition titled ‘Workers Leaving the Workplace’ held at Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź in 2010. Although it is an interesting theoretical-political-emancipatory project, it does not refer to the entire humankind, as its author would wish, but only to a specific group of people involved in the so-called creative industry or cognitive capitalism. It would therefore refer to the most-privileged employees.
- 9.
In Poland, John Dewey’s philosophy became known very shortly after being published, thanks to the numerous translations at that time: Moral Principles in Education were published in 1921. A year later, My Pedagogic Creed translated by Józef Pieter and The School and Society translated by Róża Czaplińska-Mutermilchowa (published by Książnica ATLAS) were released, and in 1922, The Child and the Curriculum was published, translated by Helena Błeszyńska, with an introduction (written in 1913) by Édouard Claparède. In 1934, How We Think was published, with a short introduction by Z. Mysłakowski. Before the war, Philosophy and Civilisation was published, translated by Stefan Furman. It is also worth noting that the City School of Work, also known as the Experimental School or the Empirical School, was founded in Łódź in 1923. Romuald Petrykowski (one of the school’s headmasters) described his experience in organising this school in the years 1923–1929 (see Petrykowski 1963). About Dewey’s reception in Polish pedagogy, cf. Sobczak (1979), Radziewicz (1989).
- 10.
‘Anthropo-sociology’, a concept proposed by Lazzarato, is a field of reflection that analyses non-material work outside of business theories and examines it as ‘a radical synergy of the energy generation’ (Lazzarato 2010, p. 90).
- 11.
This view is based on the memories of Żoliborz residents which, of course, would require a broader analysis that would take into account the possible mythologisation and sentimentalisation of reality (cf. Chałasińska and Gawecka 2009; Bełkowska 2007; Marczykowa 2011). The last book [Workers’ Friends of Children Association School no 1 Named After Bolesław Limanowski in Żoliborz. 75 Years of Its Existence] provides a different perspective, stating the need to build a pluralistic society. One of the authors, Wiktoria Załęska-Śliwerska, writes that ‘under the Third Polish Republic—unlike under the Second Polish Republic—there has not been a single secular school: there is simply no one to stand up for it, as the party of true social activists has never been reactivated, true social activists that would follow in the footsteps of PPS members about whom I found out before the war, during the occupation and immediately after the end of war’ (Załęska-Śliwerska 2011).
References
Bauman Z (1964) Wizje ludzkiego świata. Studia nad społeczną genezą i funkcją socjologii [Visions of a human world. Studies on the social origins and purpose of sociology. Książka i Wiedza, Warszawa
Bełkowska K (ed) (2007) Na pięknym brzegu. Żoliborz, ludzie, książki. Towarzystwo Przyjaźni Polsko-Francuskiej, Warszawa
Biesta G (2010) A new logic of emancipation: the methodology of Jacques Rancière. Educ Theory 60(1):39–59
Biesta G (2011a) From teaching citizenship to learning democracy. In: Biesta G (ed) Learning democracy in school and society. Education, lifelong learning, and the politics of citizenship. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, Boston, and Taipei, pp 5–16
Biesta G (2011b) Towards the learning democracy. In: Biesta G (ed) Learning democracy in school and society: education, lifelong learning, and the politics of citizenship. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, Boston, and Taipei, pp 71–84
Biesta G (2011c) From learning cultures to educational cultures: values and judgements in educational research and educational improvement. Int J Early Child 43(3), 203–207
Chałasińska E, Gawecka A (eds) (2009) O pięknym Brzegu. Żoliborz, ludzie, wydarzenia [About the Beautiful River Bank. Żoliborz, people and events]. Towarzystwo Przyjaźni Polsko-Francuskiej, Fundacja ‘Żoliborski Fundusz Lokalny’, Warszawa
Dembiński H [alias ‘Kora’] (1938) O szkołę uspołeczniona i produkcyjną [The socialised and manufacturing school]. Życie WSM, September, pp 170–173
Demel M (1982) Aleksander Landy: Życie i dzieło [Aleksander Landy. His life and works]. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa
Dewey J (2008) Democracy and education: an introduction to the philosophy of education. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/852/852-h/852-h.htm. Accessed 7 Sept 2018
Fischer-Lichte E (2008) The transformative power of performance: a new aesthetics (trans: Jain SI). Routledge, London, and New York. https://dr2014theatretheory.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/fischer-lichte-c1-c2.pdf. Accessed 7 Sept 2018
Kormanowa Ż (1970) Postępowe tradycje inteligencji żoliborskiej 1918–1939 [Progressive traditions of Polish intelligentsia 1918–1939]. In: Anonymous (ed) Żoliborz wczoraj, dziś, jutro [The past, present and future of Żoliborz]. Książka i Wiedza, Warszawa, pp 67–101
Kuzańska-Obrączkowa M (1966) Koncepcje wychowawcze Robotniczego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Dzieci 1919–1939. Analiza założeń i funkcjonowania placówek [Educational concepts of the Workers’ Friends of Children Association 1919–1939. An analysis of school principles and functioning]. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wrocław, Warszawa, and Kraków
Landy A (1934) Czy szkoła nasza jest eksperymentalna? [Is our school experimental?]. Życie WSM, November, pp 5–6
Lazzarato M (2010) Praca niematerialna [Immaterial labour] (trans: Biskupski Ł). In: Sokołowska J (ed) Robotnicy opuszczają miejsca pracy = Workers leaving the workplace [catalogue of the exhibition]. Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi, Łódź. http://www.generation-online.org/c/fcimmateriallabour3.htm. Accessed 7 Sept 2017
‘Lokatorka WSM’ (1939) Dzieciom i nauczycielom do rozwagi [For children’s and teachers’ consideration]. Życie WSM, May, pp 121–122
Marczykowa I (ed) (2011) Żoliborska 1: Szkoła Robotniczego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół dzieci im. Bolesława Limanowskiego. 75 lat istnienia [Workers’ Friends of Children Association School no 1 Named After Bolesław Limanowski in Żoliborz. 75 years of its existence]. Wydawnictwo Hogben, Szczecin
Mazur E (1993) Warszawska Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa 1921–1939. Materialne warunki bytu robotników i inteligencji [Warsaw Housing Cooperative 1921–1939. The living conditions of workers and intelligentsia]. IAiE PAN, Warszawa
Mills C (1959) The sociological imagination. Oxford University Press, New York
Ossowski S (1936) O świecką szkołę [The fight for secular schools]. Lewy Tor [Left track] 9–10; reprint In: Ossowski S (1970) Dzieła, vol 6. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa, pp 110–114
Ossowski S (1970) Kultura robotnicza [Workers’ culture]. In: Ossowski S (ed) Dzieła [Collected works], vol 6. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa, pp 139–143
Petrykowski R (1963) Szkoła eksperymentalna w Łodzi 1923–1929 [The experimental school in Łódź in the years 1923–1929]. Państwowe Zakłady Wydawnictw Szkolnych, Warszawa
Radziewicz J (1989) Szkoła uspołeczniona i uspołeczniająca [The socialised and socialising school]. Zespół Oświaty Niezależnej, Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Społeczne KOS
Rancière J (1999) Disagreement: politics and philosophy (trans: Rose J). University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis and London. http://abahlali.org/files/Disagreement%20Politics%20and%20Philosophy.pdf. Accessed 7 Sept 2018
Rancière J (2004) The politics of aesthetics: the distribution of the sensible (trans: Rockhill G). Bloomsbury Academic, London and New York. https://pl.scribd.com/document/360491804/RANCIERE-Jacques-The-Politics-of-Aesthetics-The-Distribution-of-the-Sensible-pdf. Accessed 7 Sept 2018
Rancière J (2009) The emancipated spectator (trans: Elliott G). Verso, London and New York. https://imagemdissenso.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/the-emancipated-spectator-2009.pdf. Accessed 7 Sept 2018
Rancière J (2010) On ignorant schoolmasters. In: Bingham C, Biesta G, Rancière J (eds) Education, truth, emancipation. Continuum, London and New York, pp 1–24
Schayer W (1938) Spółdzielczy plan wychowawczy [The cooperative educational plan]. Życie WSM, September, pp 173–175
Sennett R (1998) The corrosion of character: the personal consequences of work in the new capitalism. W. W. Norton & Company, New York
Sennett R (2006) The culture of the new capitalism. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. http://asounder.org/resources/sennett_culture.pdf. Accessed 7 Sept. 2018
Sobczak J (1979) Recepcja idei ‘Nowego Wychowania’ w polskiej pedagogice okresu miedzy wojnami [The reception of the idea of ‘New Education’ in Polish pedagogy in the interwar period], vol 2. Wydawnictwo WSP, Bydgoszcz
Szymański JA (1989) Warszawska Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa 1921–1970. Zarys dziejów [Warsaw Housing Cooperative 1921–1970. History outline]. Wydawnictwo Spółdzielcze, Warszawa
Warszawska Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa [Warsaw Housing Cooperative] (1931) Sprawozdanie [1931 WHC report], Warszawa
Załęska-Śliwerska W (2011) Szkoła imienia Bolesława Limanowskiego. In: Marczykowa I (ed) Żoliborska 1: Szkoła Robotniczego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół dzieci im. Bolesława Limanowskiego: 75 lat istnienia [Workers’ Friends of Children Association School no 1 Named After Bolesław Limanowski in Żoliborz. 75 years of its existence]. Wydawnictwo Hogben, Szczecin, pp 63–72
Żemis S (1959) Praktyki rzemieślnicze w szkole RTPD na Żoliborzu (wspomnienie) [Craftsman internship at RTPD school in Żoliborz (Memoirs)]. Przyjaciel Dziecka 6–7:23
Ziółkowski J (1965) O socjologicznej wyobraźni urbanisty [On the sociological imagination of the urban planner]. In: Ziółkowski J, Urbanizacja, miasto, osiedle. Studia socjologiczne [Urbanisation, city, estate]. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa, pp 227–251
Życie WSM (1932) W przykrej sprawie [A sad case]. Życie WSM, August, pp 3–4
Życie WSM (1939) Hymn ‘Szklaniaków’ [The Glass Anthem]. Życie WSM, May, p138
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Matysek-Imielińska, M. (2020). ‘Total Pedagogisation’?. In: Warsaw Housing Cooperative. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23077-7_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23077-7_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-23076-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-23077-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)