“The History of and Teachings on the Constitution” (1953–1957) – an exemplification of historical time. Political, methodological and educational aspects

Abstract

The periodical publication for history teachers titled “The History of and Teachings on the Constitution” (1953–1957) constitutes an interesting historical source that explains the relationship between the science of history and history lessons in the period of the “new beginning”, i.e. the implementation and subsequent embedding of Marxist concepts in historiographic research and teachings. The featured bimonthly had a significant influence on “injecting” the Marxist ideology in school environments. It was the dispenser of theoretical directives aimed at affecting school practices. The magazine was a propaganda tool used in order to shape specific opinions and attitudes of the collective and individual people subject to intellectual and emotional manipulation. It constitutes a rich resource in the topic of post-war Polish historiography of the 1950s. The magazine explains the methodological grounds inspired by Marxism as well as clarifying the determinants of the socialist model of history taught at school, in its substantive and ideological as well as didactic and pedagogical aspects.