Ewa Jarosz
Uniwersytet Śląski
Poland
SUBJECTIVITY OF A CHILD –
ROOTS OF THE IDEA IN JANUSZ KORCZAK‘S LIFE AND WORK
Introduction
On the initiative of the Ombudsman for Children, the year 2012
was announced to be the Year of Janusz Korczak. In that year
was the 70th anniversary of the tragic death of Janusz Korczak
and his wards in a Nazi extermination camp in Treblinka. This
year also marked the centenary of the establishment of the
House of Orphans in Warsaw on Krochmalna Street by Korczak and
his co-workers. That place became a unique education centre,
and a place of specific educational experiments. There Janusz
Korczak, who was a brilliant educator, writer and philosopher -
developed his pedagogical concepts and his philosophy of
childhood and a child.
1
Janusz Korczak with children from the House of Orphans
The Year of Janusz Korczak was made out of respect for the
pedagogical, moral and intellectual authority of Janusz
Korczak, as well as the respect paid in many countries today to
this unique person. It was emphasized that the year was to be
devoted to Janusz Korczak in order to pay homage to a world-
famous precursor of the idea of respecting children’s rights,
to the first who promoted and put into practice the concept of
honouring children’s interests and emancipation and the
principle of their capacity for making their own decisions.
The Year of Janusz Korczak has assumed great national and
international significance in providing awareness of his
brilliant and unique biography. Most of all, it was supposed to
be a tribute to Janusz Korczak’s legacy.
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The official logo of the Year of Janusz Korczak
The Year of Janusz Korczak was announced as a great programme
of social education aimed at adults and at children, directed
to various organizations, social and professional groups, to
the world of politics, the media and schools. But most of all,
it was aimed at families and parents, at all families and
parents. By getting to know Korczak’s philosophy and pedagogy
we hoped to learn all how to love, respect and bring our
children up, as well as how to develop relationships with
children that enable them to “spread their wings” and use their
potential. By celebrating the Year of Janusz Korczak in Poland
and all over the world, we wanted to learn from his life and
his works how to treat children in different social relations,
how to care for them in their social environment, and – the
most important - what place should be granted to them in a
society. We wanted to learn from JanuszKorczak to see children
as fellow citizens, as co-creators of the present and future
world.
Subjectivity of a child in Janusz Korczak ideas
Three concepts, three Korczak’s ideas essential for his
philosophy of childhood and education were fundamentals for the
Year of Janusz Korczak. They were: the dignity of the child,
the rights of the child and the citizenship of the child.3
Helping all to understand these three concepts and, more
importantly, showing how to put them into practice, were
expected results of the Year of Janusz Korczak.
The Dignity of the Child
Janusz Korczak emphasised and taught that the child possesses
irrefutable dignity and freedom. But also, that these can be
easily infringed by violence, bad words or harm to a child, but
cannot be denied, taken away or destroyed. In Korczak’s
opinion, the dignity of the child was a consequence of a
natural law and it was attributed to a child, regardless of
his age, sex, nationality, race, religion or other conditions.
Every child, as Korczak indicated, has dignity as much as any
other human being. Furthermore, this dignity underpins the
child’s life in terms of freedom, subjectivity and its own
development.
The work of Hanna Sitarz-Pietrzak
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awarded in the competition for the best poster
announced due to the Year of Janusz Korczak
by the Polish Ombudsman for Children
A child, as Korczak persuaded, develops, asks questions,
learns, gets to know, encounters difficulties and obstacles,
makes mistakes and is amazed and disappointed – Korczak said:
“A child is a foreigner who does not understand the language or the street
plan, who is ignorant of the laws and customs... he needs a guide to answer
questions politely”.1
He also wrote:
“The child is a rational being. He appreciates the needs, difficulties and
impediments in his life. Not a despotic order, stern discipline or distrustful control,
but tactful understanding, faith in experience, collaboration and coexistence”2.
In Korczak’s view the child was an active subject in his own
development and in the creation of his world and that is the
way how a child should be generally seen; not as foolish,
unable to govern himself and silly.
“Children are not foolish. There are no more fools among children than among
adults.”3
1 Janusz Korczak, Prawo dziecka do szacunku. Warszawa 2012, Rzecznik Praw Dziecka2 Janusz Korczak, Jak kochać dziecko. Dziecko w rodzinie, Warszawa 2012, Rzecznik Praw Dziecka3 Janusz Korczak , Prawo dziecka do szacunku, Warszawa 2012, Rzecznik Praw Dziecka
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remarked the Old Doctor ( as he was called), who described the
relation with a child seen as a wise subject of his own
development, with the words:
“a good educator is one who does not force into but sets free, does not pull but lifts,
does not knead but shapes, does not dictate but teaches, does not demand but
asks….”4
Rights of the Child
Janusz Korczak was the first to say:
“I call for Magna Charta Libertatis, for the rights of the child”5.
Initially Korczak indicated three basic rights of the child:
the right of the child to die, the right of the child to live
in the present and the right of the child to be himself or
herself. Later, he also added the right of the child to respect
and to love.
In Korczak’s understanding these rights of the child were
unquestionable, basic education norms, pillars of an
educational relationship with the child, but also a basis for
the child’s position in society and his relations to adults.
According to Korczak, respecting the child’s rights in any
relationship should mean to understand, listen to, talk to and
respect the child’s opinions wherever a child is, in home,
school neighbourhood.
4 Janusz Korczak, Jak kochać dziecko. Dziecko w rodzinie, .... op.cit5 Janusz Korczak, Dzieła, t.7, Jak kochać dziecko. Dziecko w rodzinie, Oficyna wydawnicza Latona 1993
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The work of Piotr Zieliński awarded in the competition for the best poster announced due to the Year of Janusz Korczak
by the Polish Ombudsman for Children
Janusz Korczak was the first who talked on child rights,
defend them and try to promote them in his publications,
speeches, in his program in radio and in direct actions in
relations with people and children. He and others who worked
with him in the orphanage respected and honoured these rights
in the educational practice and everyday relations with
children of whom they took care. We could say that his fight
for children’s rights makes him the first Ombudsman for
Children in the world, What is more, Korczak explicitly
stated:
“human rights start from the rights of the child”
7
Korczak’s concept of children’s rights was, in fact, the basis
for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, submitted by
Poland, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United
Nations in November 1989. Therefore, it can be said that the
Convention on the Rights of the Child which is now a basic set
of standards for the conditions in which children should
develop, cared for and brought up, is the heir of Korczak’s
philosophy of the child. And as Korczak’s idea of children’s
rights was and still is an educational task for the human
race, as the set of child rights, stipulated in the Convention
from 1989, and putting it into practice, is an educational and
political challenge for the human race nowadays.
Children’s citizenship
In this concept special attention is paid to a value of the
child as a human being and a citizen. At its core, this idea
requires respect for children’s opinions and decisions. This
one right is especially difficult to understand and adopt.
Korczak’s “citizenship of the children” meant treating
them as rightful members of a community, as fellow citizens. It
also meant that the social value of the child was seen in the
context of the present, not only the future.
“Childhood years – this is real life, not an announcement”6
emphasized Korczak and in another publication he wrote:
“The child is already an inhabitant, a citizen and a man. It’s not that he will be
in the future, but already is”7
6 Janusz Korczak, Pisma wybrane, Nasza Księgarnia, Warszawa 19847 Janusz Korczak, Wstęp w M.Rogowska-Falska, Zakład wychowawczy „Nasz Dom”, 1928
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Janusz Korczak was first who demanded respect for a child as a
human person, and – as a result – he called for recognition of
the child’s will and decisions. Many times in his writings
Korczak expressed his faith in, and respect for children’s
wisdom and the child’s subjectivity but also his ability to
make constructive choices. He wrote:
“There are no children, just people, but with a different scale of concepts, a different
range of experience, different urges, different emotional reactions”8.
He wrote about social subjectivity of children from their own
perspective:
“We are experts of our own lives and affairs. We are silent though, because we do
not know what can be said and what can’t”9
and also wrote:
“If the grown-ups only asked us we would advise. We know better what bothers us;
we have more time to think about and observe ourselves; we know ourselves
better.”10
This deep respect for children and belief in their abilities to
take a standpoint, to express their opinions, to participate in
creating reality, to make decisions concerning their own
affairs and the affairs of others, was in Korczak’s time
something unique and original. As a matter of fact, full
8 Janusz Korczak, Dzieła t.7, Jak kochać dziecko.Internat, Oficyna Wydawnicza Latona, Warszawa 19939 Janusz Korczak, Pisma wybrane, ... op.cit.10 Janusz Korczak, Pisma wybrane, ... op.cit
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understanding of this concept and its internalization is still
beyond many grown-ups even today.
An image of a child as a human being, a citizen, a belief
in its potentials and ability to make constructive choices and
decisions about reality were indeed fundamental for Korczak’s
pedagogy and philosophy of childhood.
“Children are not more stupid than adults. They are just less experienced”11,
he noted.
Talking on a child as human being and on respecting the
child as a citizen, Korczak meant giving the respect which
children deserve, taking their affairs seriously and being
fair, taking their opinions and their will into consideration,
listening to what they want to say and offering them a chance
to make decisions. He also spoke about offering children an
opportunity to express opinions about their own affairs and the
concerns of others, the chance to take a standpoint and to have
these opinions respected. He wrote:
“A child cannot think "like an adult", but may in a childlike manner
wonder about serious adult issues”12.
Belief in children’s ability to wonder about serious
social issues and faith in children’s competence to take a
standpoint and make responsible decisions, also in a social
context, were reflected in a world-famous story about King Matt
11 Janusz Korczak, Prawo dziecka do szacunku. Warszawa 2012, Rzecznik Praw Dziecka12 Janusz Korczak, Dzieła t. 7. Jak kochać dziecko. Dziecko w rodzinie….. op.cit.
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the First, published in 1923. The book was translated to many
languages.
In the book, Korczak tried to explain to children how society
worked, how complex it was to manage and how responsible one
had to be, to solve various problems. By writing this story
Korczak expressed his faith in children’s citizenship and
children’s ability to understand complicated “adult” issues.
Korczak expressed his deep belief in children’s ability to
participate in society in his educational practice and made
children’s citizenship real in his relations with them. He
treated children in practice in the way he advocated in his
writings:
“The child wants to be taken seriously, requires trust, guidance and advice”13
and as he indicated as basic features of child upbringing:
13 Janusz Korczak, Jak kochać dziecko. Dziecko w rodzinie…………op.cit11
“tactful understanding, faith in experience, collaboration and coexistence”14.
Janusz Korczak’s “being with the child” was based on a genuine
dialogue. He listened to what children were saying about what
was going on, about their problems and, what’s even more
important, their ideas how to solve them. He talked to them
about the way they saw the world and adults. He often discussed
various issues with them and - what should be emphasized – many
times accepted their comments and criticisms. More, he
subjected himself to children’s criticisms and agreed to accept
their evaluation, because he deeply respected children’s right
to criticize the grown-ups and their activities.
The educational practice implemented by Janusz Korczak in
the orphanage that he ran, was in fact the first attempt to
make the concept of children’s democracy real. It aimed at
recognition of children’s right to be treated as equal members
of a community. Korczak implemented various instruments of
children’s citizenship development: a peer tribunal, a mailbox
for letters, letters of gratitude and apology, plebiscites of
friendliness and dislike and a “Little Review” (“Mały
Przegląd”) - magazine which was a forum for children’s
opinions.
What is most striking in Korczak’s educational activities
and opinions is just this basic principle of his pedagogy:
acknowledgement of children’s citizenship. Korczak said that
the child did not become a human but was a human being from the
very beginning, he wrote:
14 Janusz Korczak, Dzieła t. 7. Jak kochać dziecko. Internat. Oficyna Wydawnicza Latona,Warszawa 1993.
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“There are no children, just people, but with a different conceptual scale,
different range of experience, different urges, different emotional
reactions”15.
He was the first to speak directly about ‘children’s
citizenship’ using exactly this term. He emphasized that the
child was a citizen, who had rights and competences to make
decisions and undertake activities in a social context, he
talked on child social participation when he wrote:
“Irrefutable is his right to voice his thoughts, to active participation in
our considerations and verdicts concerning him.”16
He called the children “fellow citizens”. What is more,
Korczak was a spokesman for children’s equality with adults. He
promoted of recognition and respect for their affairs and
decisions as important as the adult’s ones. We can read in his
writings:
“Unintelligently we divide years into less or more mature ones. There is no
such thing as present immaturity, no hierarchy of age, no higher and lower
grades of pain and joy, hopes and disappointments.”17
Korczak’s thoughts concerning children’s citizenship were
a kind of a distant in time premiere, for the contemporary
concept of children’s social participation and their
citizenship, developed within modern theories of childhood and
seen in the Convention on The Rights Of The Child. Nowadays,
this concept is a basic for recommendations and proposals
15 Janusz Korczak, Dzieła T.7, Jak kochać dziecko, Internat. Oficyna Wydawnicza Latona,Warszawa 199316 Janusz Korczak , Prawo dziecka do szacunku...op.cit17 Janusz Korczak, Prawo dziecka do szacunku....op.cit.
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concerning children’s protection and support, as well as for
creating adequate conditions for their development. The
contemporary concept of “child participation” means resistance
against exclusion of children from making decisions about their
lives. It also favours undertaking socially inclusive
activities for children in order to participate in social life
and developing children’s activities for others, for a
community. It also means opposing and counteracting violence in
upbringing and disrespect for children’s rights in various
situations and contexts. Furthermore, it should be understood
as opposition against manipulation, using children for one’s
own advantage, creating threats in the virtual world and in the
media. It also means struggling with other types of children’s
inequality in the world “arranged” by adults.
If we compare this modern concept with the views of Janusz
Korczak, who emphasized:
“Children account for a considerable portion of mankind, of the population,
of nationals, residents, citizens – they are constant companions”18
it seems that 70 years after his death, a vision of a child
treated as a subject, a “child-citizen” is slowly coming true.
The position of the child advocated former by Korczak is at
last granted to children today, even though it is mainly
expressed in political standards – various conventions,
declarations and recommendations.
Janusz Korczak’s concept of a child in today world
18 Janusz Korczak, Prawo dziecka do szacunku, Warszawa 2012 , Rzecznik Praw Dziecka
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Korczak’s “child-citizen” has been accepted finally by
many parliaments and has appeared in many documents. In social
life, however, the child’s participation is only developed to
varying degrees and in different ways. In daily life,
implementation and development of children’s participation in a
society encounters many obstacles, mainly of a socio-cultural
nature. Along with other countries, these trends are visible in
Poland – the homeland of Janusz Korczak. Similar social and
cultural barriers in the process of promoting children’s
citizenship and their social participation also occur in other
societies. As far as Poland, traditionally, in homes, schools
and in the street, children are often looked down on, not taken
seriously, treated disrespectfully and still seen as silly, not
able to make decisions and only those who are growing towards
becoming a human being. They are subjected to the will and
decisions of adults, and sometimes to violence and physical
abuse. Research conducted in 2011 and repeated in 2012 by the
Ombudsman for Children showed that almost 70% of Poles accepts
minor corporal punishment, so–called ”spanking”; nearly 40%
approve of more serious punishment in children’s upbringing,
so-called “hiding”; and one fourth of Poles consider beating as
an efficient educational method. Such a situation calls for
social education in the field of treating and upbringing
children. This problem cannot be solved by a single The Year of
Janusz Korczak.
In Poland, most often children are not allowed to question
adults’ decisions, to criticize, to interfere in “serious”
adults’ matters, or to present their opinions or standpoint.
Children themselves say:
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“We (children) all know the expression “not to talk back”, it is used by a
frightening majority of parents.. “Talking back” is something that offends
them and, they think, it questions their authority”.
This is one of the opinions that was sent to a special
competition for children entitled “Do children like fish have
no voice?” that was organised on the occasion of The Year of
Janusz Korczak by the Polish Ombudsman for Children.
In Poland, absolute obedience to parents and educators is
still seen as one of the basic values in the process of
upbringing. For most Poles the thought of co-decision making
with children about their affairs, the idea of creating a
community with them in which all members have equal rights and
can co-decide and co-create social reality, is definitely too
rebellious vision of the world. It is best expressed by Polish
children themselves. In their words, sent in the contest,
mentioned above, they wrote:
“The adults? They think they know everything better. Most often they tell us:
”When I was your age…”, “You don’t know a thing about it”, “What can you
know about this or that…”. And me? What I do, think, feel, what I want to say-
doesn’t it count? Does it matter at all? I am a human being and I’ve got the
right to make my own choices and mistakes- who doesn’t? I’ve got the right to
say what I think. I know the term “democracy”. I know what it consists of. It
means freedom of speech and choice. So, where is democracy for us?”
The Year of Janusz Korczak was understood as a programme for
the great social pedagogical education. Its effects will not be
of course visible straight away and they cannot be directly
measured. However, we may hope that in more than one parent,
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educator or teacher this Year, and the figure of Janusz
Korczak, his love and respect for the child and his dignity
will plant a seed which will bring fruits in the future – more
common respect for children and their subjectivity.
The Year of Janusz Korczak can be considered a success
if we take into account a number of different events organized
in Poland and around the world within the framework of this
programme. As a result of efforts of the Ombudsman for Children
and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the concept of 2012
as the Year of Janusz Korczak, became an international idea. It
should also be emphasized that in Poland the activities of this
year were mainly bottom-up initiatives of schools,
kindergartens, universities, associations and organizations. In
total, above 500 events of different kinds were planned in this
Year in Poland, including numerous conferences, seminars and
lectures, exhibitions, education workshops, performances, art,
recitation, photography and literary competitions, and many
other events such as outdoor parties, picnics, concerts, film
shows or outdoor games. Outside Poland, about 100 events were
organized for the Year of Janusz Korczak. They included
publication of Janusz Korczak’s writings in national languages,
presentation of the film “Korczak” by Andrzej Wajda, as well
as exhibitions, conferences and and seminars. What is also
interesting is that the number of Internet pages mentioning
“Janusz Korczak” grew significantly within the last year. In
Google there are over 1 300 000 pages only in Polish. Most of
them present the figure of Korczak, his thoughts, writings.
Others, feature reports on events related to Korczak.
Epilog
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Janusz Korczak was one of the most beautiful, but also the
most tragic figures in Polish history. The beauty of his person
and his biography was not in his death together with children,
but in his work, his wisdom, the concept of good which he
followed and in his courage to promote his ideas on child in
times when neither parents nor educators realized who the child
was and how he should be treated and brought up, in times, when
it was not realized that children should have rights to protect
them and to ensure their appropriate development with respect
for their dignity. Janusz Korczak was the pedagogical genius.
Korczak’s thoughts are still up-to-date. Not only did his
pedagogical genius surpass his times, but it surpasses our
times as well. We are not ready yet, not mature enough to
create our relation with a child according to Korczak’s
understanding. We are not mature enougf to fully respect
child’s subjectivity. We cannot yet take, and develop as common
the attitude promoted by Korczak - of which he was a living
example:
“I spoke not to the children but with the children. I spoke not of what I would
like them to be, but of what they would like to and could be”19
We have still much work to do in this field.
19 Janusz Korczak, Dzieła T.7, Jak kochać dziecko. Kolonie letnie, Oficyna Wydawnicza Latona, Warszawa 1993
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