Towards an exclusive community? Political shift and changes to the school core curricula in Poland: a discourse analysis

Figures & data

Table 1. Knowledge of European integration and EU structures in the old and the new CCs—comparison of selected learning outcomes.

Old CCs	New CCs
1) ‘[The student] formulates and justifies his own opinion on the benefits of membership in the European Union, referring to examples from his own environment and the whole country’.	3) ‘[The student] considers the issue of benefits and costs of Poland’s membership in the European Union’.
2) ‘[The student] points at the European Union members on a map and justifies his own opinion on the issue of its further integration and enlargement’.	4) ‘[The student] locates its [UE] member countries’; 5) ”presents reasons and both positive and negative effects of political and economic integration in the world, taking into special consideration the European Union and disintegration processes based on selected examples”.

Source: (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a, MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2018).

Table 2. Social equality/diversity in the old and the new CCs—comparing selected learning outcomes (grades 1–3 of primary school—7–9-year-olds).

Old CCs	New CCs
‘[The student] is tolerant towards people of a different nationality, cultural tradition, etc.; knows that all people have equal rights’.	‘[The student] respects the customs and traditions of various social groups and nations, presents and compares people’s customs, for example, those regarding holidays in different regions of Poland, as well as in different countries’.

Source: (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012, MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017).

Table 3. Patriotism and anti-discrimination in the old and the new CCs—comparison of selected learning outcomes (10–14/15-year-olds).

Old CCs	New CCs
1) ‘Referring to selected examples, [the student] explains what he or she thinks patriotism is; compares this attitude with nationalism, chauvinism and cosmopolitanism’.	4) ‘[The student] recognizes the manifestations of xenophobia, including racism, chauvinism and anti-Semitism, and justifies the need to oppose these phenomena’.
2) ‘The student demonstrates an understanding of the concepts of positive values and their opposites, and identifies attitudes related to them, e.g. patriotism-nationalism, (…)’.	No corresponding learning outcome.
3) ‘[The student] demonstrates, referring to the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity, the consequences to which extreme nationalism may lead’.	No corresponding learning outcome.

Source: Author’s analysis based on: (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012, MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a, and MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017).

Table 4. Social equality/diversity and anti-discrimination in the old and the new CCs—comparison of selected learning outcomes (15/16–18-year-olds).

Old CCs	New CCs
[The student]: 1) ‘presents the main measures to protect human rights and freedoms in Poland’; 2) ‘describes the way in which the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children operate; writes a simple complaint to one of them (according to a template)’; 3) ‘justifies the importance of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg’; 4) ‘presents examples of actions taken by people and non-governmental organizations defending human rights; to the extent possible, he joins selected activities (e.g. signs an appeal)’; 5) ‘finds information on human rights violations in the world in the mass media (including the Internet)’; 6) ‘finds information on violations of human rights in a selected field (e.g. women’s rights, children’s rights, freedom of religion, the right to education, humanitarian rights) and designs activities that can remedy them’.	[The student]: 8) ‘presents judicial measures for the protection of rights and freedoms in the Republic of Poland and the manner in which the Ombudsman operates; writes a complaint to the Ombudsman (according to the template available on the website) (…)’; 9) ‘justifies the importance of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the context of the European Court of Human Rights; sets out the conditions that must be met for it to consider the citizen’s complaint; analyses a selected judgement of this tribunal’; 10) ‘indicates non-governmental organizations dealing with the protection of human rights and characterizes the activities of one of them’; 11) ‘obtains information on human rights violations in democratic countries in the mass media (including on the websites of non-governmental organizations defending human rights) and prepares an analysis on this subject’; 12) ‘shows the differences in respecting human rights in a democratic and non-democratic state; presents the problem of human rights violations in a selected non-democratic country’.
[The student]: 7) ‘recognises the manifestations of racism, chauvinism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia; justifies the need to oppose them and presents opportunities to engage in selected actions for the sake of equality’.	[The student]: 13) ‘distinguishes between tolerance and acceptance; explains how divisions are created in society between “us” and “others”; recognizes the causes, symptoms and effects of intolerance and stigmatization, and presents possible ways to oppose these phenomena’; 14) ‘discusses the causes and effects of stereotypes and stigmatization of people with disabilities, the mentally ill and those discriminated against’.

Source: (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a, MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2018).

MEN (Ministry of National Education). (2012a). Annex no. 4 to The Decree of the Minister of National Education of 27th August 2012, concerning the core curriculum of preschool education and general education in individual types of schools, OJ 2012, item 977 with changes. http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20140000803/O/D20140803.pdf

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MEN (Ministry of National Education). (2018). Annex No. 1 to The Decree of the Minister of National Education of January 30, 2018, concerning the core curriculum of general education for general secondary school, technical secondary school, and vocational secondary school of the second degree, OJ 2018, item 467. http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20180000467

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MEN (Ministry of National Education). (2012). Annex no 2 to The Decree of the Minister of National Education of 27th August 2012, concerning the core curriculum of preschool education and general education in individual types of schools, in the wording granted through the Decree of the Minister of National Education of 30th May 2014 changing the Decree concerning the core curriculum of preschool education and general education in individual types of schools, OJ 2014, item 803. http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20140000803/O/D20140803.pdf

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MEN (Ministry of National Education). (2017). Annex No. 2 to The Decree of the Minister of National Education of February 14, 2017, concerning the core curriculum of preschool education and the core curriculum of general education for primary school, including pupils with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities, general education for technical school of the first degree, general education for vocational school, as well as general education for post-secondary school, OJ 2017, item 356 with changes. http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20170000356

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