Poland

Key Findings overall

Poland has undergone substantial changes in the domain of education. A variety of European documents have created a common ground for making Poles more aware of being European citizens. The number of pupils learning foreign languages at schools is constantly rising, with a predominance of English taught to 89% of all pupils at primary, lower, and upper secondary schools in the 2010/2011 school year. Other languages commonly taught included German (36.4% of students), Russian (4.8%) and French (2.9%). The popularity of particular foreign languages taught at schools is regionally diversified. 46.8% of all pupils attending schools learnt one foreign language only; two languages were learnt by nearly every second pupil. Teachers' qualifications are commonly very good. Apart from university education, one in three teachers had the status of appointed teacher, and chartered teachers - the highest rank in professional development - constituted nearly half of pedagogical school personnel. The remaining school personnel (23%) were contractual teachers. Pupils and students are given the opportunity to attend various extracurricular courses, classes and research groups organised in clubs and schools. Moreover, European funds are used for extra language courses in many Polish primary and secondary schools.

There are, however, a number of points which need more clarification, such as the status of teaching foreign languages at pre-primary level; the status of foreign languages in higher institutions; the use of subtitles in television and cinema to promote multilingualism in media; and radio broadcasting and some telvision channels which broadcast programmes in foreign or minority languages. Last but not least, more attention should be paid to languages in business, providing more help, instructions and initiatives for this sector. Language and cultural awareness are key to success in the global and international business market.

Promising initiatives and pilots

The language situation in Poland is moving in a positive direction. There are many new initiatives taken by different groups of people for whom language education is a priority as well as an obligation. The following initiatives are just some of the examples influencing language policy in Poland.

1. Conferences, workshops and seminars

Many conferences on the topic of multilingualism and plurilingualism have been organised in Poland. An important recent initiative was the conference under the Polish presidency, Multilingual Competences for Professional and Social Success in Europe, organised in September 2011. The aim of the conference was to launch an official debate on language education and its importance for better employability and career opportunities.

2. FIJED - Foundation Institute for Quality in Education was founded in 2010 as an umbrella organisation and meeting point for different associations, societies and organisations operating in the field of education. The aim of FIJED is to promote plurilingualism by organising events, conferences and meetings in co-operation with associations, publishing houses and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (see www.fijed.pl).

3. FRSE - Foundation for the Development of the Education System is one of the leading organisations on the Polish market dealing with activities such as study abroad (the Lifelong Learning Programme, Erasmus Mundus, Eurodesk), conferences, events (eTwinning) and competitions (European Language Label). Moreover, FRSE publishes Jêzyki Obce w szkole, European Language Label, Europa dla aktywnych.

4. Publications

There are articles and papers published in Polish and foreign journals which present the contemporary state of the art of Polish education. The book Internationalisation of higher education edited by Waldemar Martyniuk was published by FRSE in 2011.

5. SERMO - Association of Academic Foreign Language Centres was founded in 2006. Its members are the heads and deputy heads of language centres of Polish universities. There are different targets and aims of SERMO activities; for example, to standardise content as well as final targets of language exams at universities in line with CEFR. The members of SERMO meet at least twice a year during conferences organised by language centres. Co-operation with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Education, KRASP, other associations, the British Council, as well as international organisations, is among SERMO's ambitions (see www.sermo.org.pl).

6. There are many local and national initiatives which promote the learning and teaching of national, R/M and foreign languages. Just to mention some of them:

- Study in Poland - a programme addressed to international students who study at Polish universities (promoting Polish language and culture);

- CLIL - developed in primary, secondary and higher education

- the European Day of Languages organised every year in September across Poland in all types of schools.

These and other initiatives are good evidence that language and cultural awareness form a basis for education in Poland. This process needs time and the empathy of all interested parties, including government, education authorities, local businesses, as well as students and their parents. Polish cities should become more user-friendly, promoting tolerance and multilingualism as well as Polish hospitality to both Polish citizens and international visitors.