22 October 2010, Ronda

Introductory information for ITAAT project – Polish partner

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN POLANDICT IN THE SYSTEM

OUR INSTITUTION IN THE SYSTEM

The education system in Poland

GENERAL INFORMATIONEDUCATIONAL LEVELS

ASSESSMENTSPECIAL NEEDS

TEACHERS

General information

Two separate bodies are responsible for the system of education in Poland: the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Compulsory full-time education lasts 10 years from the age of six. Compulsory part-time education lasts from 16 until 18 years of age.

98% of pupils attend public sector schools which offer free education within the framework of core curricula.

Since 2008 a new reform of the system has been introduced.

Pre-primary education

For children 3 - 5 years of age education in kindergartens is voluntary.

6 year olds are obliged to complete a year of preparation for primary education either in kindergartens or in schools.

After 2011/12 it is planned to lower the school starting age from 6 to 5.

Primary education

Primary school is 6-year and covers children aged 7-13 years of age (6 years from 2012).

There are two stages:Stage 1 – early school education, 7-10 years of ageStage 2 – teaching based on separate subjects, 10-

13 years of age.At the end of primary school children take an

external general obligatory test with no selection function, informing about the level of achievements of the pupils.

Secondary education

• Gimnazjum – 3-year lower secondary school for pupils 13-16 years of age.This is the 3 stage of education, administered – like previous stages – by commune authorities.

At the end an external general obligatory examination in the field of humanities, science and languages.

• Upper secondary schools – general and specialised liceum (16-19 years of age) or technical (16-20 years of age), administered by district authorities.

• Basic vocational school – 16-18/19 years of age; compulsory part-time education - out of school forms

Post-secondary education

• Supplementary general upper secondary school 18/19-20/21 years of age.

• Supplementary technical upper secondary school – 18/19-20/21 years of age.

• Post-secondary school non-tertiary school – 19 -21 years of age.

Higher and adult education

Higher education institutions are autonomous. They offer mainly first-, second- and third-cycle programmes.

Adult education is provided by continuing education centres, practical training centres and further and in-service training centres.

Structure of the system of education

in Poland

Special needs education

Most children with special needs are taught in separate schools or in special classes in mainstream schools.

They costitute 1,69% of all pupils in compulsory education.

Integration is subject to the recomendation given by competent body and/or the parents.

Teachers

Teachers must have a higher education qualification. Teachers should undergo continuous professional development. The Teachers’ Charter introduced in 2000 four categories in teaching career:

1.trainee teacher

2.contract teacher

3.appointed teacher

4.chartered teacher

ICT in Polish educational system

THE GOVERNMENT’S POLICYEUROPEAN AND COUNTRY FUNDS AND PROGRAMMES

SCHOOLSSTUDENTSTEACHERS

CHALLENGES

The government’s policyComputerisation of Polish schools is implemented within the framework of governmental strategy for the information society development.

As there is no such an institution like the British BECTA taking care of executing tasks connected with applying ICT in education, the Ministry of National Education itself is responsible for this job. Since 2008 an advisory body has been appointed to assist the minister in the field of computer and media education.

The government’s policySince 1998 computers have been introduced systemically within such programmes and projects – often co-financed by European Union funds - like:

Computer classrooms for schools, Internet centres of multimedia information in the school

libraries, Computers for continuing education centres and practical

skills training centres,Computer for every student (limited to a pilot project), Scholaris – the ministry of education Internet portal for

educational resources,Digital school (to be implemented in 2012).

Other programmes for schools

Interkl@sa – 1998-2011 national programme initiated by one of the Polish Senate members, supported by the government and the Polish-American Foundation of Liberty.

The programme provided schools with computers, Internet access, training for teachers and also an educational portal for students, teachers and parents.

The role of European funds

Aside from the funds which have been in the disposal of the Ministry of National Education, Polish schools have been absorbing European funds via regional operational programmes.

Many schools, especially rural ones, have applied for founds allocated for equalising the educational chances to buy hardware and software, and conduct extra curricular activities focused on ICT skills development.

EU educational programmes

Polish schools are the most active nations in eTwinning - the international collaboration programmme applying the intensive use of digital technology.

Some Polish schools have also joined European Schoolnet.

National core curriculum implemented since 2009/2010 school year.

ICT skills are recognised as a key competence at all stages of education.

Schools’ task is to prepare pupils for life in the information society.

The role of a teacher of particular subjects is to enhance acquisition of skills of searching, organizing and applying information from different resources using ICT.

Learning ICT in school

ICT is a separate subject with compulsory lessons for:1 and 2 education levels: information technology 3 and 4 education levels: computer science

Still there is expectation that information technology will be taught by a specialist, and not subject teachers.

HardwareAll the schools are equipped with computers and the

number of computers in particular schools is increasing gradually (the student - computer ratio is over 10; the highest being for lower secondary schools: in 2009 it was from 2,5 to 6 students for 1 computer).

The ICT equipment is - on principle - placed in computer labs or the library multimedia centres, but at present there are some subject classrooms with a computer, sometimes connected to the Internet.

Interactive whiteboards are purchased for more and more schools and now their number is increasing significantly.

Although all the schools have the Internet access, the technologies applied not always satisfactory .

SoftwareEquipping schools with software as well as hardware

is a competency of the administrative supervising authority.

At first the basic operational and educational software has been delivered to schools centrally, altogether with hardware as an objective of governmental programmes and projects. It is mainly Microsoft to prevail but some schools still use Open Source software.

Few schools use e-learning platforms such as Moodle.

Loads of the educational programmes used at schools are delivered by textbook editors as a part of educational sets.

Pupils’ digital competencies

Polish students have been winning a great deal of awards in European and world ICT competitions.At the same time PISA 2009 „Students On Line” results are disappointing:Polish teenagers are at the16 position at the international

ICT skills ranking of 19 countries.Only 3% of Polish pupils are proficient users of the Internet,

while remaining 25% encounter some difficulties.60,6% pupils use computers at school (with OECD average

being 74,2%), while at home 92,1% (which is also OECD average).

Teachers and ICT – initial trainingStandards of preparing teachers in the field of ICT

have been in force since 2003 as an integral part of initial teacher training.

New standards are to be introduced soon and a teacher is expected to:

1. inspire pupils for learning and creativity,2. promote and develop pupils’ attitude to citizenship and shape

their responsibility in the world of digital media,3. apply and develop teaching and assessing methods with ICT

usage,4. teach and learn in the ICT environment,5. engage in his /her professional self-development.

Teachers and ICT- in-service training

Since 2000 the skill of using information and communication technologies and employing a computer at work is one of the requirements of teachers’ professional advancement.

Teachers undertake either free training, such as offered by the government (co-financed from European funds) or by non-govermental organisations, for example Intel „Teaching for the Future” initiative, or paid by schools, or by teachers themselves.

ICT training is provided by specialized or general teacher training centres.

Challenges for the Ministry of National Education

Implementing eSchool system – equipping schools with essential infrastructure, hardware and software, for interactive and mobile learning.

Creating an electronic learning environment.Preparing legislation for e-learning at school. Providing adequate educational resources for online

teaching.Training teachers in the field of the distant and e-

learning methodology.

Challenges for schools

A computer connected to the Internet and an overhead projector as well as interactive whiteboard in every classroom.

Fast broadband Internet.Wi-fi.Computer labs open for all subject teachers and

mobile classrooms. Technical support for teachers.Programmes for school development in the field of

ICT.

Challenges for teachers

Integrating technology with subject teaching.Using computers and the Internet during classes. Profesional development - continuous training in

technical as well as didactic aspects of using ICT for subject teaching.

Our institution

MAZOVIAN IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING CENTRE

Head of self-government of Mazovia Province

Mazovian Superintendent of Education

schools

Minister of National Education

universities, ngos, museums, etc.

local self-governmental authorities

MSCDN Siedlce

MSCDN

Our place in the system

Location

Siedlce

Structure

Siedlce

TEACHERS - 101 000SCHOOLS - 7 277teachers trained by MSCDN - 45 000/year

MSCDN STAFF:• consultants - 95 • methodological advisors -70• external experts – 800/year• administration - 85

MSCDN in numbers

DEPARTMENTS - 7

Accreditation - 2007, May 31by The Mazovian Superintendent of Education

Recognized quality in the area of:training offer,information and publications, personnel,infrastructure.

Akredytacja

Quality

Main tasks

Diagnosing teacher training needs. Inspiring, organizing and

performing the in-service training for teachers and educational management.

Preparing teachers and educational management for implementing educational reforms and other legal acts.

Main tasks

Organizing various forms of cooperation and experience exchanges beetween teachers, their schools and other educational institutions.

Creating and developing centres of pedagogical information.

Enhancing teacher professional and personal growth.

Educational projects in MSCDN

MSCDN journal

MSCDN website

MSCDN e-learning platform

AREA: 5 districts: Siedlce, Losice, Wegrow, Sokolow Podlaski, Garwolin

SCHOOLS: 98 kindergartens241 primary schools119 lower secondary schools 78 +59 upper secondary schools 17 other educational institutions

TEACHERS: 9 000

MSCDN Siedlce Department in numbers

manager 1 consultants 9 ICT technician 1 office workers 6 cleaning persons 2 driver 1 in total 20

MSCDN Siedlce staff

Infrastructure

7 classrooms 1 computer lab

(16 computer units) 13 office rooms equipment: overhead

projectors, laptops, video, tv, scanners, printers, xerox machines, access to the Internet

• qualification courses• post-graduate studies• development courses• teacher council training • conferences• seminars• workshops• consultations

Forms of training

Training 2010 in numbers

1963 training hours

workshops

courses

licence courses

school council training

seminars

conferences and qualification courses are not included here

• School management, quality in education, teacher promotion

• Pedagogical and psychological assistance• Special needs education• Pre-school and early school education• Polish language, history, civic education, culture• Maths education,• Science education• Informatics and IT • Vocational education,

entrepreneurship• Health education, • Arts, music• Foreign languages• School library

Thematic areas

iwona.moczydlowska@mscdn.edu.pliwona.moczydlowska@mscdn.edu.pl