8.10 Current debates and reforms
Address
Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji
Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE)
National Agency for the Erasmus+ Programme
al. Jerozolimskie 142A
PL-02-305 Warszawa
Tel: +48 22 46 31 091
E-Mail: wawrzyniec.pater@frse.org.pl
mateusz.jezowski@coleurope.eu
Website
The still relevant context for young people’s participation in culture is the influx of young Ukrainians to Poland due to the Russian aggression. They have been included in the Polish educational system, and it needs to be said that such a qualitative and quantitative social change is not without cultural consequences. The relationship between various national groups needs to be carefully tracked in the search of potentials it brings. Work of intercultural consultants must be broadened. It is important because according to a recent report on war refugees (Uchodźcy wojenni z Ukrainy – życie w Polsce i plany na przyszłość) around half of Ukrainian refugees in Poland have ever visited the country before, and fewer than one in five declare the knowledge of the Polish language.
As research shows, the youth tends to replicate the traditional division between high and mass culture, and treat the participation in the latter as a form of leisure, and not cultural activity. A situation in which young people treat culture as something exceptional and institutional, and not as a fixture of their daily life is a paradox, as for years now young people have stressed the need for acknowledgment of their work, including media such as hip-hop or graffiti. Key in this context would be an intergenerational agreement on treating the area of culture as a relational one, and avoiding firm distinctions among creators and audiences between high culture, and, implicitly less valuable mass culture and leisure.