A child – the subject or “the object” of school celebrations, customs, and ceremonies? An attempt to outline the problem on the example of educational and child care institutions in Łódź in the 19th and 20thcenturies

The purpose of the work was to present the type, course and meaning of the widely defined school celebrations with children as the main actors in the multinational and multi-religious contexts of Lodz in the 19th and 20th centuries. The author’s intention was to provide an answer to the key question of this study: did children prepared for school celebrations and events and participating in them, were the subjects of the education process or rather, were they tool on which the school (e.g. boards of charitable organizations, municipal or church authorities, education authorities, teachers, or carers) exerted its influence. To what extent did the organization of school events result from the establishment’s rituals and to what extent was the need for this kind of “ceremonies” affected by the local (social and political) environment? The historical background of the work is the time before the Great War, the years of 1914–1918, and the time of Interwar Poland. Bearing in mind the historical and pedagogical aspects referred to above, the author tried to present events with young participants held in institutions run by charitable organizations (by 1914); ceremonies related to the promotion of students of initial years of municipal schools (1914–1918) and celebrations and ceremonies held in care institutions for girls and boys. The research is based on archive materials, press materials, historical and contemporary literature on the subject.

The purpose of the article was to present, with regard to Łódź multinational and multi-religious contexts of the 19th and 20th centuries, the type, course, and meaning of widely understood school celebrations, in which children were the main actors. The intention of the author was to answer the key issue of this study: did children, who rehearsed for school celebrations and events and participated in them, play the role of the subject of the educational process or were they a kind of a tool, i.e. the object of the influence of the school, that is to say its owners (e.g. boards of charitable organizations or municipal or church authorities), education authorities, teachers, or carers. To what extent did the organisation of school events result from rituals of the educational institution concerned and to what extent was the need for this kind of “ceremonies” influenced by the local (social and political) environment? The historical background of the paper is the time before the Great War, the years of 1914-1918, and Poland in the interwar period. Taking the historical and pedagogical aspects referred to above into account, the author tried to present the events with child participants held in institutions run by charitable organisations (the period until 1914); ceremonies related to the promotion of pupils in the first grades of municipal schools to next grades (the years of 1914-1918); and celebrations and ceremonies held in care institutions for girls and boys. The research is based on archive materials, newspaper articles, and historical and current literature.