Education as a factor of post-war reconstruction: Polish experience

The purpose of the study is to clarify the Polish experience of modernizing education as a significant component of large-scale post-war reconstruction of the state. The methodological basis of the work is an interdisciplinary approach with particular emphasis on the structural-functional systematic analysis of historiographical facts and the comparative-historical method based on the principles of objectivity and historicism. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the comprehensive analysis of the problem of reforming Polish education as a key factor in the country's post-war reconstruction. The article has concluded that the reforms in schooling at all levels became the basis of the post-war reconstruction project, which was implemented by the Polish communist authorities after the expulsion of the German occupiers. These reforms were based on the principles of uniformity, universality, free and open education. Their goal was to overcome the consequences of many years of occupation, modernize and consolidate public life, and dynamically develop all branches of industry and agriculture. Significant obstacles to the implementation of democratic educational initiatives were the deepening of authoritarian phenomena in the socio-political life of the country, which fell under the influence of Soviet totalitarianism. This was manifested in the centralization of all levels of education, the ideologizing of its content, subordination to the control of the party bureaucracy, class selection for admission to higher education, etc. However, despite the aforementioned shortcomings and political pressure, during the so-called Stalinist period, the educational reforms opened up the paths of social mobility on an unprecedented scale and reformatted educational institutions from primary to higher levels. Of course, the consequences of the changes were far from the expected results, but at the same time they represented a bold attempt to change the face of Polish education, modernize post-war society and rebuild the economy taking into account the challenges of scientific and technological progress.