Preschool and early school education of migrants and minorities in Poland. Teachers’ competences in the light of regulations and practice

Pedagogical University of Krakow, ul. Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Krakow, Poland

^a Corresponding author: jwojniak@up.krakow.pl

Abstract

According to Polish Constitution all children, regardless of their nationality and legal status, have the right to education, and the obligation to study up to the age of 18 [1]. So far there have been no comprehensive solutions to support kindergartens and schools, as well as teachers and educators who are not prepared to work with children of different cultures, especially children with little or no knowledge of Polish language. Although Poland is still a relatively homogeneous from the ethnic and religious point of view, and ethnic minorities account for 2.5- 3% (about 1-1.2 million) of the population, number of foreigners living in Poland makes their education an increasing challenge. The paper is divided into two sections. The first one is an overview of the EU regulations as well as national legal provisions concerning education of children of the migrant background. The second part discusses challenges and tasks indicated by teachers who work with students of foreign origin. They involve not only adjusting the teaching content to intercultural requirements, but also, more broadly, adaptation of working methods to specific needs of various participators of educational process. Work in such circumstances forces teachers and school management to seek new solutions and, above all, to acquire or develop new, intercultural competences.