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

ABSTRACT

The increase in nationalist tendencies around the world after 2001 signifies changes in the concept of citizenship as reflected in the discourses of the parties coming to power. How does this translate into changes in education? In this article, I analyse the case of Poland. The research is focused on finding an answer to the following question: How does the postulate present in the programme discourse of the ruling, conservative party, of strengthening the national identity, translate into the changes in the school core curricula (CCs)? The applied method of analysis is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The approach by Ruth Wodak and Martin Reisigl was adopted. The application of discursive strategies in learning outcomes relating to national identity, social equality, and diversity in the old and in the new CCs, was investigated. The analyses demonstrated a significant discursive strengthening of the national identity on the one hand, and application of mitigation/exclusion strategies in relation to issues of social equality and diversity on the other. The analyses presented in this paper contribute to the discussion on the relationship between curriculum studies and educational politics by showing the influence of the dominant ideology of contemporary politics on the concept of citizenship in the national CCs.

KEYWORDS:

• National identity
• citizenship
• education
• core curriculum
• CDA

Introduction

The rise in nationalist tendencies around the world, visible after 2001, translates into changes in the concept of citizenship as reflected in the politics of the parties rising to power. A vision of a conservative community is being exposed, excluding various minority groups—and often not these alone—which are considered a threat both to the culture and to the security and sovereignty of the state (Jenne, 2018). This is accompanied by the glorification of one’s own country as special and unique (Abowitz & Harnish, 2006, 661; Rheindorf & Wodak, 2018; Wodak, 2019). These changes translate into political decisions and alterations to laws, and are related to various areas of the state’s functioning, including education (e.g. Bialystok et al., 2020; Osler & Lybaek, 2014). The area of school education is my focus in this article, specifically citizenship education. When talking about citizenship education I have in mind knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values represented in school education, on the basis of which one can say who citizens should be, what is required of them, and what kind of civic community is meant here. The political changes that result in educational changes provide a foundation on which to study how political ideas translate into the changes in the direction of school citizenship education. In this article I analyse the case of Poland. The parliamentary election of 2015 in Poland was won by the conservative and Eurosceptic party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) (PiS). This shifted the concept of citizenship present in the government discourse towards the right. The reform of the school structure, already announced during the election campaign, promptly began to be implemented and resulted in a rapid (prepared within one year) change in the school core curricula (CCs), with implementation starting in the school year 2017–18. Here I would like to examine the changes to the school CCs in the context of political change and explore how the ideas related to the concept of citizenship present in the party discourse translate into the school CCs.

The article may be of interest to readers from two points of view. Firstly, from the educational policy standpoint, the case is an example of how civic competences are represented in the national CCs and how they oscillate between transnational and national education policy (Sivesind & Wahlström, 2016). Secondly, from the viewpoint of the entanglement of nationalism and education, this study offers a detailed insight into the translation of nationalist ideas into the language of formal education. It showcases an example of how the growing importance of parties referring to the category of the nation and national interest, visible across the world and in Europe (Jenne, 2018), impacts formal education. The analysis of universal tendencies has to keep an eye on their local translation. To use Tröhler’s words, ‘borrowing’ is not simply copying, but translating into own idiosyncrasies (Tröhler, 2016, p. 283).

Basic assumptions

The first assumption to construct the basis of the analysis undertaken in this paper is that national identity, as a form of social identity, is discursively produced, reproduced, and changed by language and other semiotic systems (de Cillia et al., 1999, p. 153). Nationalism is a system of ideas that emphasizes congruency between nation and state (Gellner, 2008). Nationalism is not homogeneous. The distinction between ethnic and civic nationalism (Kohn, 2005) is not enough to describe today’s reality. Bieber (2018) proposes categorization of nationalism along two axes; the level of inclusion and exclusion, as well as whether nationalism is endemic or virulent (p. 521). Endemic nationalism, according to Bieber, is the equivalent of banal nationalism (Billig, 1995). It can be inclusive or exclusive, but is constant and steady as opposed to virulent nationalism ‘that rejects the status quo and seeks to reassert the will of an imagined community over a political or cultural space’ (Bieber, 2018, p. 521). Bieber claims that virulent nationalism draws on endemic nationalism, but needs a critical moment to start functioning (Bieber, 2018). On the other hand, Jenne (2018) draws attention to populism, which can strengthen the effect of nationalism. He finds it a problem visible in many states around the world, including Poland. One of the types of discourse in which the idea of nation or national identity is represented is the pedagogical discourse. Following (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990), I assume that the pedagogical discourse imposes and inculcates certain meanings arbitrarily selected by a certain group and treats them as worthy of reproduction (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990, p. 8). Imposing these meanings is possible thanks to pedagogical authority, understood as a legitimate agency of imposition (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990, pp. 20–22).

It is worth noting that translating political ideas into the language of the national CCs allows for an insight into endemic nationalism, which can be exclusive or inclusive. Due to the genre, there is no place for populism here. However, populism present in the public discourse can intensify the effect of the CCs. Secondly, I assume, after Vivien Schmidt (2008), that an insight into the dynamics of institutional changes is possible thanks to a discursive approach to institutions (pp. 309–314). If institutions are a social construct, if they are created, reproduced, and changed by social actors, the discursive approach makes it possible to explain how the ideas underlying institutional discourse are represented, what meaning is given to them, and how they are changed (Schmidt, 2008, pp. 309–314). Schmidt (2008) indicates three levels of the formation of ideas: the institutional level, the programmatic level, and the level of political solutions (pp. 306–308). Following Wahlström and Sundberg (2018), I see the analytical potential of distinguishing between these levels for curriculum studies, especially in the field of researching changes in education related to its reform. The research, the results of which are presented in this article, focuses on the programmatic level, where ideas are articulated and interpreted, and where the formation of a legitimating framework and/or indication of ways of consolidating or changing those ideas take place (Schmidt, 2008, pp. 306–307).

Thirdly, I assume that political ideas are, to a degree, implemented in school education, especially at the programmatic level, despite being subject to discursive modification (Nordin & Sundberg, 2018, p. 822). Hence, analysing the alteration of CCs in the context of political change gives an opportunity to examine how the ideas prevailing in the politics of the government are articulated, and which meanings have been selected and enforced in the core curriculum discourse.

Also, the discursive shape of constructive ideas as part of the state politics undergoes modifications with relation to the specificity of genres in which those ideas are articulated. The CCs contain a set of school tasks, learning objectives, and outcomes. There is no room for argumentation here, while intensification or mitigation strategies are present not only in the construction of individual learning objectives or outcomes, but also in the frequency of their appearance.

Moreover, of significance here are both the formal and the actual positions held by the core curricula in Polish school education. First of all, they are established by the Education Minister in the form of generally applicable law. Secondly, all school textbooks must be in line with these positions. CCs also make up a student assessment criterion, being followed by a criterion for constructing examinations. Schools are under an obligation to enforce CCs and are under pedagogical supervision in this respect. This does not mean, however, that there is linear causation between the ideas articulated in the policy of the government of a given state and the shape of education (Campbell, 2002; Steiner-Khamsi, 2013; Wahlström, 2016; Westbury, 2008). The modifications are often the effects of transnational influences, both in terms of the prevalent concepts of citizenship and citizenship education, as well as in terms of the very manner of organizing education, including constructing the CCs. For instance, fact-full education and standard-based education resulting in the construction of CCs where a dominant role is played by learning outcomes may weaken/limit/change those political postulates that promote value-based education.

Thus, educational policy at the international level has an impact on the shape of the national core curricula (Wahlström, 2016). On the other hand, the shape of education, especially citizenship education, cannot be considered in isolation from the cultural, historical, and socio-political context (Tröhler, 2016). Nation-states, regardless of the political system, are keen on ‘making loyal citizens’ (Tröhler, 2016), ‘fabricating identities’ (Popkewitz & Lindblad, 2000) that will engender a sense of belonging to the community (Symcox & Wilschut, 2009, pp. 1–2). This can be seen from the example of trends in the discussions about history curricula. After the crisis of historical education in the 1960s and 1970s and the emergence of the related educationalist ‘teaching history’ trend, there has been a return to historical education for political purposes, whether conservative or progressive (Symcox & Wilschut, 2009, pp. 5–6). Citizenship education introduces citizens into a specific socio-political order (Biesta, 2009). Results of research confirm that school CCs are the area where transnational and national trends concern the desired image of the citizen clash (e.g. Fozdar & Martin, 2020; Sant, 2017; Sen & Starkey, 2017; Szukala, 2016; Veugelers, 2011).

The change in public discourse concerning the kind of citizen desired in Poland, after the change of government in 2015 and the related changes in the school CCs, requires at least a brief outline of the Polish context. Poland belongs to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, those that experienced a long-term totalitarian regime. Its effects include: low sense of agency, lack of trust in the state, and low status of social activity (Wnuk-Lipiński, 2005, p. 114). Podemski claims that the communist regime in Poland left a mark in the form of a blindly adopted model of education (Podemski, 2013, p. 56), and that the crisis of historical education in the 1960s and 1970s was not experienced in Poland. The conservative model dominated in citizenship education and still prevails, visible both in terms of the historical curriculum (Burszta et al., 2019; Chmura-Rutkowska et al., 2013; Jaskułowski et al., 2018), literature curriculum (Popow, 2012), and other school subjects (Kopińska, 2019). This does not mean that elements of the liberal concept of citizenship education or a global one were not represented there at all, but their position was never dominant (Kopińska, 2019).

Research questions

The analysis so far shows that the central idea featured in the programme discourse of the ruling party in Poland is that of the nation and national affiliation, which are strongly positively valued and recognized as unique. This value is derived from the Catholic Church both in the social sense (reference to the role of the church in the history of the state) and in the moral sense (reference to moral teaching) (Kopińska, 2020). Cultural diversity is indicated as a European value, but is understood as being about the need for Europe to respect Poland’s distinctiveness—a conservative model of social life—rather than regarding any diversity within Polish society. The image which is constructed is that of a freedom under threat from the EU and from ‘harmful ideologies interfering with social structures’ (PiS, 2019, p. 8), endangered by a ‘cultural aggression’ (PiS, 2014, p. 13, 2019, p. 20) which must be defended against. The emphasis on the need to strengthen the national identity is also visible in those fragments of the party programme that refer directly to education. The shaping of a sense of national and state identity is defined there as ‘a permanent and important element of the agenda of the Polish school’ (PiS, 2019, p. 134), and the means leading to this goal are to be the appropriate priority for the teaching of literature and history, the selection of reading and curriculum content, and the shaping of appropriate attitudes (Kopińska, 2020). This gives rise to the following research question: How does the postulate present in the programme discourse of the ruling party, of strengthening the national identity, translate into changes in the school CCs? It follows from the party’s programme discourse that the threat is understood here primarily as a cultural one (including a threat to the position of the Catholic Church), concerning conservatively understood values and norms of social life; as such, it seems important to examine not only the discursive change of the CCs’ foundations within the scope of formulating objectives and learning outcomes directly related to the national identity, but also those relating to the issues of equality, social diversity, and anti-discrimination education. As the studies of Abowitz and Harnish (2006) show, exclusivity is a hallmark of the conservative discourse on citizenship (p. 657). It is true that all discourses on citizenship have defined boundaries, but the line between inclusion and exclusion is most deeply marked in the case of the conservative version of citizenship (Abowitz & Harnish, 2006, p. 659). The discursive strengthening of the national identity may consist not only of a change in the construction of objectives and learning outcomes directly related to the nation and the state, but also of a change in the articulation of goals and learning outcomes related to what is identified as enhancing and weakening this exclusive community. It is therefore necessary to ask the following more specific research questions:

1. How has the discursive construct of the school CCs changed in terms of formulating learning objectives and outcomes related to national identity?

2. How has the discursive construct of the school CCs changed in terms of formulating learning objectives and outcomes regarding equality, social diversity, and prevention of discrimination?

Materials and methods

The analysis covered two sets of documents containing the core curricula—those referring to the so-called ‘new’ core curricula introduced in schools in the school year 2017/2018, and those referring to the curricula in force prior to that point. The selected documents constitute the basis of school education in Poland. The list of analysed documents is as follows.

• The so-called ‘old’ CCs:

  1. The core curriculum of general education for primary schools (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012) divided into two educational stages: the first one—three grades (7 to 9-year-olds); and the second one—fourth, fifth, and sixth grade (10 to 12-year-olds).

  2. The core curriculum of general education for secondary schools (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a) divided into the next two stages: three-year lower secondary schools (13 to 15-year-olds) and three-year upper secondary school (16 to 18-year-olds).

• The so-called ‘new’ CCs:

  1. The core curriculum of general education for primary schools (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017) divided into two educational stages: the first one—three grades (7 to 9-year-olds); and the second one—fourth to eighth grade (10 to 14-year-olds).

  2. The core curriculum of general education for secondary schools (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2018) including four or five years of education (15 to 18/19-year-olds).

As mentioned above, the change of CCs in Poland was related to the reform of the school education structure, announced by PiS during the election campaign and consistently implemented after they assumed power. For this reason, there are differences in the scope of individual documents due to the change in the school structure in Poland. Nevertheless, each set of documents covers general education during the whole schooling process (from the first grade of primary school to the last grade of secondary school). However, when it comes to detailed analyses relating to the educational stages, I compared the corresponding fragments in the documents.

In the documents listed above, both the general parts and the more specific ones regarding individual subjects were analysed. The CCs of all compulsory subjects were taken into consideration, and when the core curriculum for a specific subject included the basic and extended level, the analysis covered the core curriculum at the basic level, completed by all students. As a result, the analysis covered the following aspects:

• General educational objectives and school tasks that are formulated in the introductory part of each examined document;

• General objectives constructed for individual subjects, which are described in the Polish CCs as ‘general requirements’;

• Learning outcomes that are constructed for individual school subjects, which are described in the Polish CCs as ‘specific requirements’.

The document structure of the new CCs relative to the old CCs has remained unchanged; however, the new CCs are more detailed and contain a larger number of general objectives, with the increase in learning outcomes especially being far more pronounced. Quantitative analysis is therefore of limited importance here, and the main focus should be on qualitative analysis.

The applied method of analysis comes from the group of approaches defined as Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Wodak, 2001). I adopted the approach presented by Ruth Wodak and Martin Reisigl (Wodak, 2001a; Reisigl & Wodak, 2001). First, from all school tasks, general objectives, and learning outcomes articulated in the old and the new CCs, I chose those relating to national identity on the one hand, and equality, social diversity, and prevention of discrimination on the other. Then I analysed them further. I researched the application of discursive strategies, described by Wodak and Reisigl (Reisigl & Wodak, 2001; Wodak, 2001a). Discursive strategies are ‘a more or less accurate and more or less intentional plan of practices including discursive practices adopted to achieve a particular social, political, psychological and linguistic aim’ (Wodak, 2001a, p. 73). The analysis also involved use of the exclusion strategy developed by Theo Van Leeuwen (2008, p. 23). However, in the case of the research presented in this article, it was not about the representation of social actors, but the category of national identity, including the representation of issues related to social equality/diversity and discrimination. The analysis was based on the following questions: What are the contours of the national identity reconstructed on the basis of the studied discourse? What is discursively included and excluded from the examined CCs (exclusion/inclusion)? What is being valued and how is it valued (predication)? What is intensified/mitigated and how (intensification/mitigation)? Finding answers to these questions allowed me to capture a potential change in the discursive construct of national identity in the new CCs, which in turn enabled assessment of the implementation of political ideas at the level of core curricula.

Organization of the analyses was as follows: after selecting the CCs fragments relating to national identity, social equality, diversity, and anti-discrimination education, the school tasks were analysed first, next the general objectives, and then the learning outcomes articulated both in the old and the new CCs. It is worth noting that during the analysis comparisons were made to those fragments of old and new CCs that corresponded with each other (taking into account the school subjects they concerned and for which educational stages they were formulated). However, changing the content of CCs means changing the way in which general objectives and learning outcomes are formulated. Therefore, the compared fragments of CCs may differ slightly in terms of the thematic scope. Nevertheless, due to the analysis method used, it is irrelevant for the inference. This investigation was not about one-to-one comparisons, but rather capturing the discursive change in the way of formulating objectives and learning outcomes related to the issues discussed in the paper.

Results

The order of presentation of the results of the analysis is as follows: first, I present the analysis of school tasks formulated in the general parts of the old and the new CCs. Then, I move on to the analysis of general objectives and learning outcomes formulated in the old and the new CCs. This allows me to grasp the change at three levels and draw conclusions.

National identity in school tasks in the CCs

In the general part of the Polish school CCs, general educational objectives and school tasks are formulated. Already at this point, a discursive change in the examined area is visible. In the old CCs one can read:

In social development, it is particularly important to shape a citizenship attitude, an attitude of respect for the traditions and culture of one’s own nation, as well as an attitude of respect for other cultures and traditions. The school takes appropriate steps in order to prevent any discrimination (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012, MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a).

Shaping the attitude of respecting the traditions and culture of one’s own nation and the traditions and culture of others is positively valued, defined as very important (predication). The use of the noun ‘respect’ means that the subject of such respect is valuable and worthy of recognition (predication). Respect for the traditions and culture of one’s own nation is neither intensified nor mitigated discursively in relation to the respect for other cultures and traditions.

In addition, this section gives the school the duty of taking ‘appropriate steps to prevent discrimination’.

The corresponding passage in the new CCs is as follows:

Education and upbringing in school (primary/general secondary school and technical secondary school) fosters the development of citizenship, patriotic and social attitudes in students. The school’s duty is to strengthen the sense of national identity, attachment to national history and traditions, as well as to prepare and encourage activities for the benefit of the school and local community, including volunteering. The school cares about educating children and adolescents in the spirit of acceptance and respect for other people […] (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017, MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2018).

The sense of national identity is constructed here discursively as something that requires strengthening. The same is true for national history and traditions, although in their case it is about strengthening attachment. The use of the nouns ‘strengthening’ and ‘attachment’ produces, as a result, an evaluative effect. Strengthening denotes making something stronger, while attachment refers to a positive feeling that makes us not want to part with someone or something. If the school’s role is to strengthen the national identity and attachment to national history and traditions, it is assumed that these values are important.

When constructing the school’s task of ‘strengthening’ the sense of national identity and attachment to national history and traditions, it is assumed that the current work towards this goal is insufficient. The discourse here seems to be transformative, though in fact perpetuation strategy is used here (de Cillia et al., 1999). The goal is not to change the national identity but rather to support continuity.

In the discussed passage, both respect for other traditions and histories and the school’s task of taking action to counteract any discrimination have been discursively excluded. As a result, the positively valued national identity, history, and national traditions are discursively intensified in comparison to the fragment from the old CCs. Besides, a new task appears, which is to take care of ‘raising children and adolescents in the spirit of acceptance and respect for other people’. On the other hand, the obligation to take anti-discrimination measures was discursively excluded. This is also a significant change. Anti-discrimination education is not limited to shaping the attitude of acceptance and respect for other people. Its aim is also, for example, to draw attention to the mechanism of the emergence of discriminatory behaviours and to counteract these behaviours. The task of ‘educating children and adolescents in the spirit of acceptance and respect for other people’ cannot be considered as equivalent to the anti-discrimination activities of the school.

As the analysis of the above text fragments indicates, the change regarding the discursive construction of school tasks is already visible from the introductory part of the CCs.

National identity in the discourse of general objectives (general requirements) constructed in the school CCs

National identity in the discourse of general objectives in the old CCs

What are the contours of the national identity reconstructed based on the analysis of the general objectives of the old CCs? First, national identity is combined with knowledge about the history of the country, its culture, economy, political system, and defence. Secondly, it is connected with the awareness and sense of belonging to a national community, patriotism, awareness of the values related to this community, and a sense of responsibility, as well as interest in one’s own country, co-creation of culture, especially at the local level, and skilful use of the Polish language.

Most of the general objectives related to shaping the national identity in the old CCs are formulated in such a way that, in fact, they go beyond the context of the nation and the state:

• By use of general phrases, e.g.:

In contact with the works of culture, [the student] shapes the hierarchy of values, his or her sensitivity, aesthetic taste, and sense of his or her own identity (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012).

• Simultaneous reference to the non-national, European, and global context, e.g.:

The student develops […] his or her own patriotism and a sense of identity (local, regional, national) while respecting other nations and communities - their value systems and ways of life (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a).

The analysis demonstrated that the objectives pertaining to equality, social diversity, and anti-discrimination are marginal. In fact, only two can be indicated here:

The student […] is open to different views (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a).

The student explains the basic human rights, recognizes the cases of their violation and knows how to protect them (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a).

National identity in the discourse of general objectives in the new CCs

Different results are achieved through the analysis of the construction of national identity based on the general objectives formulated in the new CCs.

What has changed is the ratio between general objectives limited only to the national and state context, and those that go beyond this context, referring to Europe, the world, and the globe. The former are much more numerous than the latter.

The overall construct of national identity based on the analysis of the general objectives formulated in the new CCs is similar to that resulting from the previous ones. The difference primarily concerns the component of awareness and the sense of belonging to this national community. The notions of patriotism and patriotic attitudes appear here, too, but unlike in the old CCs the emotional and romantic component of national identity is also indicated. Accordingly, already in the first grades of primary school there are references to ‘the ability to feel an emotional bond with the national community and the need to build it’ (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017). At the later stages of education, one can read the words “shaping positive emotional and spiritual ties with the fatherland¹“ (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017) and ‘recognizing and evaluating attitudes aimed at building a national community’ (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017). There is also a reference to the development of a sense of national pride relating to various areas of life and sectors of the state’s functioning: cultural, natural, economic, and even tourism aspects (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017). Moreover, unlike in the old CCs, there are references not only to the knowledge of the Polish language and the ability to use it correctly, but also to developing the value of the native language and its function in building a national community (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017), as well as about ‘sensitizing students to the beauty of the native language’ (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2018). Another important difference concerns the protection of cultural heritage. One can see a discursive change here. In this context we see terms such as ‘cultural heritage’, ‘national heritage’, ‘cultural heritage of one’s nation and one’s identity’, the ‘past’, and ‘tradition’ (the last two were not present at all in the general objectives formulated in the old CCs). The analysis shows a stronger emphasis on this issue, compared to the old CCs. Instead of ‘protection’, greater weight is given to the need to preserve this heritage, while emphasis is placed on its value (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017, MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2018). One can also read about respect, which is the basis of national identity (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017).

The issue of equality/diversity/anti-discrimination can be identified based on the references to the non-national, non-state context that complement some general objectives. Such objectives formulated there relate to the ability to participate in European culture, knowledge of the geographical environment of selected countries and regions of Europe and the world, knowledge of the world’s cultural heritage, knowledge of selected works from world literature, knowledge of universal history, and the ability to diagnose socio-political problems at the European and global level, etc. Apart from the objectives mentioned above, which in a way ‘complement’ the goals formulated in relation to the national context, there are only a few that can be associated with equality/social diversity and anti-discrimination. These include the following: knowledge about the socioeconomic and cultural diversity of the world, knowledge about human rights and their protection, respect for other people, tolerance, and respect for different views. An interesting case is the objective formulated in geography both at the primary and secondary school levels:

Breaking stereotypes and shaping attitudes of respect, understanding, acceptance and respect for other cultures, while maintaining a sense of value of the cultural heritage of one’s own nation and one’s own identity (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012).

Breaking stereotypes and shaping attitudes of solidarity, respect and empathy towards Poles and representatives of other nations and communities (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2012a).

These two objectives are the only ones—in my opinion—that are part of the anti-discrimination education of the school. Both are diluted by referring to one’s own nationality, while the second of the above-mentioned examples is somewhat surprising, because when talking about breaking stereotypes it first refers to Poles. I do not claim that such an objective is irrelevant; nevertheless, the problem of using simplified, generalizing cognitive schemas which may be harmful to certain social groups, and which combined with the lack of knowledge about those groups may be the basis of discriminatory prejudices and behaviours, is associated primarily with groups that remain in a minority or are exposed to discrimination for other reasons, which certainly does not apply to Poles in Poland.

It should be noted that neither the old nor the new CCs make any reference to diversity in terms of anything other than national or cultural diversity. Additionally, most of these objectives are related to knowledge rather than to skills, attitudes, or values. All references in this regard are weakened by referring simultaneously (within the same objective) to the national/state/domestic context. An exception is the objective of knowledge about the socioeconomic and cultural diversity of the world (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017). As for those objectives which relate to the areas of skills, attitudes, and civic values, they are expressed in terms of references to universal principles, e.g. knowledge of human rights and their protection. The terms social equality/inequality, and discrimination/anti-discrimination do not appear here even once.

National identity in the discourse of learning outcomes (specific requirements) constructed in the school CCs

Earlier studies (Kopińska, 2019) show that knowledge regarding the history and cultural heritage of the country, the whole of Europe, and the world as well as of the events and trends in both, European and world history, are the most frequently represented learning outcomes in terms of social and civic competences in the Polish school CCs. This applies to both, the old CCs as well as the new ones. In the old CCs, learning outcomes related to the knowledge of the country’s history accounted for nearly 20% of all the specific requirements related to social and civic competences. The same representation existed for knowledge about European and world history. In the new CCs, on the other hand, the importance of the knowledge about national history increases and accounts for as much as over 23% of all the specific requirements related to social and civic competences. The frequency of the learning outcomes related to European and world history, however, decreases and accounts for 16.6% of these requirements (Kopińska, 2019). Based only on this frequency analysis, one can speak of an increase in the importance of the learning outcomes associated with shaping national identity, although a considerable percentage of those relate to history beyond the national context and, in this sense, the national discourse is mitigated to a certain degree.

Another result in terms of the frequency of CCs analysis is also important. The relation between knowledge of the political and legal system at the national level and the knowledge of European as well as international politics and law has also changed. In the old CCs, the learning outcomes relating to the knowledge of the Polish political and legal system were twice as numerous as those relating to European and international law. In the new CCs, the relationship between them is 4: 1 in favour of Polish law and policy. It is worth emphasizing that the number of learning outcomes relating to knowledge of the Polish system of law and policy has not increased in nominal terms, although the number of learning outcomes relating to international law has declined significantly (despite the general upward trend in the number of specific requirements in the new CCs) while maintaining the same number of learning outcomes related to the knowledge of European integration and EU structures. However, the discursive analysis of the latter learning outcomes showed a change, in that the new CCs mention not only the benefits of Poland’s EU membership, but also its related costs (Table 1).

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).

Moreover, there is also the issue of disintegration processes. On the one hand, this is understandable due to, for example, Brexit and the anti-EU moods emerging in Europe. On the other hand, it is worth noting that there is a previously absent thread of ‘negative effects of political and economic integration’ when the issue of ‘further integration and enlargement’ of the EU is excluded. Such a change in the formulation of learning outcomes, combined with the political context and Euroscepticism presented by the ruling party, can be interpreted in political terms.

What is the discursive construct of the national identity based on the analysis of the learning outcomes included in the old and new CCs? What has changed and how? According to the previous comments, the discursive construct of national identity in the old CCs was primarily created using knowledge of the history of the country and its cultural heritage, articulated predominantly in the learning outcomes constructed within the school subjects of history and the Polish language. At the same time, as also stated above, this kind of knowledge was mitigated by the knowledge of Europe’s events, trends and cultural heritage. Secondly, the knowledge of the political and legal system of the country was represented in many more instances than the knowledge of European and international politics and law. In addition, the knowledge of security, defence, and the national economy was articulated. Learning outcomes related to shaping attitudes occupied a marginal position in the old CCs. Therefore, the translation of ‘awareness of belonging to the national and state community’ and ‘patriotism’ (articulated at the level of general objectives) into the learning outcomes was limited, because it focused on the area of knowledge, not attitudes.

In the new CCs, the knowledge of history and national heritage of the state, as well as of the political and legal system of Poland, are featured to a much greater degree than in the old ones. The discursive construct of the learning outcomes relating to knowledge about the EU has also changed.

The discursive change in the contours of national identity reconstructed based on the learning outcomes is already visible in the first three grades of school education (7–9-year-olds). In the case of both, old and the new CCs, the learning outcomes were formulated while keeping in mind the identification of the social group to which the child belongs, as well as their knowledge of the nation and of the Polish anthem, national symbols, and Polish folk dances. In the new CCs, historical knowledge at this stage, focusing on selected events and characters, is limited only to the Polish context and, moreover, is very specific. According to the old CCs, the student was supposed to know that ‘there are people who are especially meritorious for the place he or she lives in, for Poland, and for the world’. Such a formulation did not impose a specific list of these figures and did not exclude figures representing other nationalities or ethnic groups. Currently, the choice of characters only applies to those people who are related to the family history and only here is it possible to present characters regardless of national or ethnic origin {‘[The student] tells the story of his own family’ (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017)}. Then, a list of figures, entitled ‘great Poles’, is imposed and the choice of characters is excluded.

Recognition of the EU flag and anthem articulated in the old CCs was also excluded from the discourse of the new CCs, and the notion of the EU appears only once as an example in the following learning outcome:

[The student] mentions examples of social groups formed as a result of agreements and contracts (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017).

Both, in the old and new CCs, the issue of social equality/diversity and anti-discrimination on this stage of education is underrepresented; however, a change is visible in the new CCs. On the one hand, there is respect for others, albeit limited to respecting the differences between people in terms of physical fitness; on the other hand, the notion of tolerance towards people of different nationalities and cultural traditions, as well as the provision concerning equal rights for all people, present in the old CCs, disappear. Instead, there is respect for ‘customs and traditions of various social groups and nations’ (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2017) (Table 2). Therefore, traditions and customs of various groups are positively valued, while tolerance for people who represent them, and ‘equality of rights’ are discursively excluded.

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).

The analysis of learning outcomes constructed at the second stage of education (grades 4–8 of primary school, i.e. 10–14-year-olds) in the new CCs when compared with the corresponding learning outcomes present in the old CCs allows us to demonstrate the following changes:

• First, the sense of pride in the beauty of the native nature and national heritage is slightly more emphasized in the new CCs.

• Secondly, there is a discursive change in the learning outcomes associated with the concept of patriotism. In the new CCs, neither is there the learning outcomes related to the student’s interpretation of patriotism, nor a clear separation and juxtaposition of patriotism with nationalism (Table 3). The relationship between these concepts has been discursively disregarded in the new CCs. What has been retained is the ability to recognize the manifestations of xenophobia, including racism, chauvinism and anti-Semitism, as well as the ability to justify the need to oppose these phenomena (Table 3). The aforementioned abilities are obviously important in the context of anti-discrimination education. However, the negative evaluation of nationalism along with argumentation referring to historical events, as articulated in the old CCs, is no longer present in the new ones.

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).

The analysis of the learning outcomes constructed in the new CCs for secondary schools (15–18-year-olds) shows that the issue of the sense of national identity is not particularly emphasized here. As in the case of the old CCs, the learning outcomes related to knowledge about the state and its functioning, economy, and defence are prevalent. The increase in the number of the outcomes regarding knowledge in the new CCs, coupled with the maintenance of only a few learning outcomes related to civic skills, results in the latter losing importance when compared to the old CCs. The learning outcomes related to social equality/diversity in the new CCs are concerned with, just as in the old CCs, knowledge about human rights, their violation and protection, as well as about migration and social diversity. However, there are also certain changes in the same. As part of the issue of exile in the new CCs, a learning outcome was constructed indicating the differences between exile and economic migration. Along with the characteristics of ethnic diversity in selected regions of the world, a new detailed requirement appeared: ‘[The student] presents ethnic conflicts on the territory of the European Union Member States; he locates them, explains their causes and consequences’ (MEN (Ministry of National Education), 2018). Discursive changes are also visible in other outcomes (Table 4).

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).

In the new CCs, there is a reference to the student having knowledge of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (Table 4, point 9), which was previously unarticulated. It is also worth noting that the new CCs exclude those learning outcomes that are related to taking actions to protect human rights. By this I mean joining selected activities for the protection of human rights (Table 4, point 4) and preparing measures that may remedy their violation in a selected area (Table 4, point 5). The new CCs only refer to the preparation of an analysis on human rights violations (Table 4, point 11). Involvement in this area and shaping civic attitudes related to it has been discursively excluded as a result of the changing the CCs.

The learning outcomes related to anti-discrimination education are represented in the new CCs by two specific requirements (Table 4, points 13, 14). When compared to the old CCs (Table 4, point 7), a discursive change is visible here as well. With regards to secondary school in the new CCs, there is no learning outcome pertaining to recognition of manifestations of racism, chauvinism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia. As indicated earlier, this outcome is present in the CCs for primary school (Table 3, point 4). In secondary school, the focus is on intolerance (paying attention to the difference between intolerance and acceptance) (Table 4, point 13), stigmatization and stereotypes, as well as their causes, and effects. However, it should be noted that for both primary and secondary schools in the new CCs, an exclusion strategy was applied with regards to involvement in selected pro-equality activities (compare Table 4 point 7 with Table 3 point 4 and Table 4 point 13).

Conclusions

First of all, it should be noted that the postulate of strengthening the national identity present in government discourse had no justification in relation to education, because the analysis of the so-called ‘old’ CCs showed that both general objectives as well as learning outcomes were constructed in a manner so as to significantly emphasize the importance of national identity. The concurrent marginal role of the general objectives and learning outcomes related to social equality and diversity, limited both by their number and scope, allows me to conclude that, in the previous school CCs, constructed during the rule of the coalition presenting much more liberal views in the field of personal freedom, there was no definite implementation of the government policy. The liberal concept of citizenship was not well represented there, and, as a result, the shape of the civic community that can be reconstructed based on the analysis of the old CCs tilts towards a community of exclusion. This confirms the presence of a conservative shape of citizenship education in Poland, which occurred despite the political changes after 1989 and Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004, which thus indicates the transnational influence in the field of education policy.

Nevertheless, the analysis shows that another step has been taken towards a civic community wherein the endemic nationalism present in the discourse of the Polish CCs has become even more exclusive. This can be seen at all three levels of the CCs—school tasks, general objectives and learning outcomes. Firstly, the construct of national identity changes slightly with the inclusion of the emotional and romantic components of that identity and by emphasizing on national pride, which is clearly visible in the first three grades of primary school. Secondly, the strong separation of patriotism and nationalism and the negative evaluation of the latter were excluded. Thirdly, a strategy of intensification learning outcomes aimed at shaping the national identity was applied by—1) changing the relationship between the number of outcomes referring only to the national context and going beyond it to the benefit of the former; 2) changing the proportion between the learning outcomes related to Polish history, law, and politics and those related to Europe and the world to the benefit of the former. Fourthly, the discourse on European integration has changed slightly but significantly, excluding the issue of ‘further integration’ and including the costs and negative effects of integration. Fifthly, a mitigation strategy was applied to all general objectives of anti-discrimination education by simultaneously referring to one’s own nationality. And finally, the school’s task of taking action to prevent any discrimination has been excluded. The exclusion strategy has been applied to a majority of the few learning outcomes related to tolerance and equality of rights, including those pertaining to students’ activities for equality and aimed at protecting human rights.

On the other hand, it is worth noting that the ideas and postulates of the ruling party, constructed at the programmatic level, do not simply translate into the school CCs. Although the postulate of strengthening the national identity translates directly into the articulation of school tasks and is also visible in the case of general objectives and the analysis of learning outcomes constructed for individual school subjects that allows us to notice a certain inconsistency. This can be interpreted as the effect of combining the elements of the competence-based model and the performance-based model of curriculum (Wahlström, 2016). The ‘clash’ between transnational and national education policies is visible here.

It should be added, however, that the change of the Polish core curricula in the context of political change is still ongoing. The present Minister of Education emphasizes the need to re-examine the CCs and textbooks. He criticizes, for example, ‘a quantitative predominance of left-liberal concepts over right-wing conservative ones’, i.e. too much political correctness in citizenship education textbooks (“475 złotych na eksperta” 2021) or using of the name Nazis instead of German Nazis in history textbooks or showing religion in the world and starting with Islam instead of Christianity (“Czarnek o „zaczynaniu od islamu” w podręcznikach” 2021). Such statements indicate that the process of changes in education in the context of political changes is still progressing. It is accompanied by a populist discourse emphasizing the importance of Poland, Polish culture, tradition, sovereignty, and at the same time pointing to ‘threats’ from Western Europe.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun ;

Notes on contributors

Violetta Kopińska

Violetta Kopińska is an Associate Professor at Institute of Educational Sciences at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Her scientific interests focus on citizenship education. Recently, she has conducted research on citizenship education in the discourse of school textbooks and school curricula.

Notes

1. ‘Fatherland’ is understood in this paper as the country of the ancestors, not the country of one’s father. Such a translation of the Polish term ojczyzna into English seems to be closest to the meaning of the original, and is certainly better than ‘homeland’.