School in the eyes of Polish seventh graders in the context of their life positions

Abstract

In the period between 2016 and 2018 throughout 79 educational institutions in Poland there was implemented a project called „Wychować człowieka mądrego. Wprowadzenie modelu pracy wychowawczej i resocjalizacyjnej z zastosowaniem metody tutoringu szkolnego jako profilaktyki pozytywnej problemów w polskiej szkole” [“To raise a smart man. Introduction of educational and resocialisation work model with the use of school tutoring as a positive prevention of problems at a Polish school”]. The added value of the actions taken was the opportunity to make an in-depth insight into the situation of Polish school in the view of the educational system reform that was underway at that time. The changes undertaken by the Polish Ministry of National Education were associated with the liquidation of middle school stage, and thus extending the education in primary school stage by two years. This situation turned out to be a multidimensional challenge for educational institutions, but above all for the students themselves, who have discovered a new set of educational procedures, not at the beginning of their education, but in its advanced point. This paper draws attention to this specific moment, focusing on what life positions the seventh graders were characterised by at that time, and therefore what was their attitude to themselves and the world around them. The considerations made in this paper are based on research conducted on a group of 764 seventh graders, who finally confirmed their definitely lower sympathy for school, as well as a significant use of life positions that influence the occurrence of negative interpersonal relationships.