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POLAND is entering a new school year, and with it comes a new subject: History and the Present (Historia i Teraźniejszość – HiT, in its original language), which will teach the youth about some of the dangers of the communist system and how the European country got rid of them, embracing freedom and democracy.
This new history subject will cover the recent period in Poland and the world from the 1940s to the present day. In this way, even more, contemporary history, which was previously only taught up to the last grade of secondary school, will now also be taught to the youngest Poles.
One of the main objectives of this new subject in Poland is to make it partly easier for teachers in the last grade. Previously they hardly had time to introduce their students to various historical topics of great importance for the Polish country. These include what the post-communist period was like, why this system failed economically, what role the Christian religion played in the transformation of the country, what life was like under the Soviet yoke, and other topics previously marginalized in the Polish education system.
Part of the book that will teach about the evils of communism. In this passage, they talk about the death of the dictator Stalin, and then give way to the period of “De-Stalinization”. (Screenshot)
The extract from the new textbook is now available. It recounts some of the communist authorities’ abuses against Polish citizens and political dissent, how de-Stalinization came about after Stalin’s death – or the elimination of the dictator’s personality cult in Soviet-dominated countries in the Eastern Bloc – and even how some of today’s progressive ideas, such as gender ideology, are negatively affecting Western society.
The textbook also explains what patriotism is, points out some flaws within the European democratic system, and specifically criticizes the EU for giving greater power to major players such as Germany over other increasingly marginalized member states within that institution.
The new textbook in Poland also describes how political dissidents were persecuted, censored and even tortured under the Soviet regime. (Screenshot)
Critics have characterized the book as politically biased, especially attacking Polish education minister Przemyslaw Czarnek —for being conservative and Christian— and one of its authors, renowned Polish historian and economist Wojciech Roszkowski – who decades ago was praised for writing a similar textbook— for allegedly radicalizing his way of thinking.
Defenders of the textbook, on the other hand, point out that opposition to the teaching material stems from ideological indignation on the left, for if the book had a progressive slant, there would not be so much outrage.
However, critics themselves have accepted that teachers have room for maneuver in the use of teaching materials in classes and that other texts are also being revised and will be mandatory for the new History and the Present subject.
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.
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