Educational reforms and the development of concepts on early childhood education in Poland from 1990 to 2017

Abstract

The initial stage of institutional learning is important for a child's development due to the fact that it is a time of intensive development, the acquisition of social models, shaping the attitude to learning and expectations towards educational institutions. For many children, kindergarten and school are places that give them the opportunity to equalize educational opportunities and social inequalities. Initial education is a kind of scaffolding on which pupils build their understanding of concepts in their later years of learning, it is also the first place where a pupil should acquire a range of cognitive skills, not to overlook the patterns of rest and play. The future and quality of society's life depend on the quality of education, teachers' working methods, the development of integrated teaching methodology and the popularization of research results. The analysis of reforms and ideas and comparing them with school practice allows for evaluation and the drawing of conclusions in which direction the planned changes should proceed. The purpose of the article is to analyse, absent from the literature, the changes taking place in early childhood education related to educational reforms and the development of pedagogical thought. The article presents the evolution of views on the role of education. The most important reforms and changes in early childhood education are presented, and the concepts of integrated education discussed – from the ground-breaking 20th century concepts of comprehensive understanding of education, noticing the subjectivity of the child in the process of education in progressive, to the concept of integrated education and the way it is understood by Polish educators. The article also analyses the correlations between the assumptions of integrated education and educational practice.