369 research outputs found
Ignacy Solarz (1891-1940) in Polish post-war educational literature. Conclusions for the contemporaries
No full textIn the article the author tries to analyze the place of Ignacy Solarz and his educational activity in the publishing output of the theoreticians and practitioners of Polish education/andragogics from the end of the Second World War until modern times. The author indicates three post-war waves of increased interest in the achievements of this remarkable education activitist working mostly in rural areas among Polish teachers/andragogues. Each of these waves resulted in an increased number of publications devoted to his educational ideas and practice: firstly in the 1940s, when the authors tried to refer directly to Solarz’s post-war activity, then between the 1960s and the 1980s, when Solarz was mainly presented as a promoter of people’s the People’s Republic of Poland, whose educational ideas could be used for education in the new – people’s – social reality, and lastly at the beginnings of the Third Republic of Poland, when the authors tried to focus on Solarz’s achievements in the context of the search for Polish models of civic education and democratization of rural education. The second part of the article presents a proposition of the author to read anew the educational/andragogic achievements of I. Solarz, emphasizing the common, socially universal educational values and practical educational actions. Only such an approach to Solarz’s legacy, as the author of the article believes, can help to integrate him in the general Polish educational legacy and to save the activist from gradual but clearly progressing sinking into oblivion
Equine Assisted Learning: An Evidence-Based Intervention for Families
No full textabstract: Background: It is estimated that 50% of all mental illness arises prior to age 14, an incident attributed in part to disruptions and imbalances within the family system. Equine assisted learning is a complementary and alternative approach to family therapy which is being used increasingly to promote mental health in both adults and children. This study sought to build and deliver an evidence-based, family-centered equine assisted learning program aimed at promoting family function, family satisfaction and child social-emotional competence, and to measure its acceptability and preliminary effect.
Method: Twenty families with children 10 years and older were recruited to participate in a 3-week equine assisted learning program at a therapeutic riding center in Phoenix, Arizona. Sessions included groundwork activities with horses used to promote life skills using experiential learning theory. The study design included a mixed-method quasi-experimental one-group pretest posttest design using the following mental health instruments: Devereaux Student Strengths Assessment, Brief Family Assessment Measure (3 dimensions), and Family Satisfaction Scale to measure child social-emotional competence, family function, and family satisfaction, respectively. Acceptability was determined using a Likert-type questionnaire with open-ended questions to gain a qualitative thematic perspective of the experience.
Results: Preliminary pretest and posttest comparisons were statistically significant for improvements in family satisfaction (p = 0.001, M = -5.84, SD = 5.63), all three domains of family function (General Scale: p = 0.005, M = 6.84, SD = 9.20; Self-Rating Scale: p = 0.050, M = 6.53, SD = 12.89; and Dyadic Relationship Scale: p = 0.028, M = 3.47, SD = 7.18), and child social-emotional competence (p = 0.015, M = -4.05, SD 5.95). Effect sizes were moderate to large (d > 0.5) for all but one instrument (Self-Rating Scale), suggesting a considerable magnitude of change over the three-week period. The intervention was highly accepted among both children and adults. Themes of proximity, self-discovery, and regard for others emerged during evaluation of qualitative findings. Longitudinal comparisons of baseline and 3-month follow-up remain in-progress, a topic available for future discussion.
Discussion: Results help to validate equine assisted learning as a valuable tool in the promotion of child social-emotional intelligence strengthened in part by the promotion of family function and family satisfaction. For mental health professionals, these results serve as a reminder of the alternatives that are available, as well as the importance of partnerships within the community. For therapeutic riding centers, these results help equine professionals validate their programs and gain a foothold within the scientific community. Additionally, they invite future riding centers to follow course in incorporating evidence into their programs and examining new directions for growth within the mental health community
Catalog of quasars from the Kilo-Degree Survey Data Release 3
No full textWe present a catalog of quasars selected from broad-band photometric ugri data of the Kilo-Degree Survey Data Release 3 (KiDS DR3). The QSOs are identified by the random forest (RF) supervised machine learning model, trained on Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR14 spectroscopic data. We first cleaned the input KiDS data of entries with excessively noisy, missing or otherwise problematic measurements. Applying a feature importance analysis, we then tune the algorithm and identify in the KiDS multiband catalog the 17 most useful features for the classification, namely magnitudes, colors, magnitude ratios, and the stellarity index. We used the t-SNE algorithm to map the multidimensional photometric data onto 2D planes and compare the coverage of the training and inference sets. We limited the inference set to r 0.8 is optimal for purity, whereas pQSO > 0.7 is preferable for better completeness. Our study presents the first comprehensive quasar selection from deep high-quality KiDS data and will serve as the basis for versatile studies of the QSO population detected by this survey
Zofia Solarzowa, the one, who had inexhaustible strength for showing people their lives in a creative wa
No full textThis article is dedicated to the life and work of Zofia Solarz, the pioneer of Polish folk education and andragogy, an enthusiast and creator of folk theatre. The reader is given an opportunity to learn about her education and life, full of family intricacies. Also presented is her evolution as an education activist and cooperation with her husband, Ignacy Solarz. The author provides the genesis and mode of operation of folk high schools, which resulted from the Solarz couple's joint work reflecting their great devotion to folk issuesArtykuł poświęcony został życiu i działalności Zofii Solarzowej, pionierce polskiej oświaty ludowej, pionierce andragogiki, miłośniczce i twórczyni teatru ludowego. Czytelnik ma możliwość poznania usianej licznymi rodzinnymi meandrami drogi edukacyjnej i życiowej bohaterki, jej stawania się działaczką oświatową, ale i współpracy z mężem, Ignacym Solarzem. Autorka przedstawia genezę powstania i funkcjonowanie uniwersytetów ludowych, ich wspólnego dzieła, będącego wyrazem ich wielkiego oddania sprawie ludowej
Religion and International Relations in the Middle East as a Challenge for International Relations (IR) Studies
No full textThis article addresses the search for religion’s “suitable place” within International Relations (IR), taking as a starting point the social changes in the world (“reflexive modernity”) and the postulated “Mesopotamian turn” in IR. The assumption is that religion is present at each level of IR analysis in the Middle East and, thanks to that, more and more at the international system level. This presence of religion serves to undermine one of the basic assumptions lying at the heart of the modern international order (and therefore also IR), i.e., the so-called “Westphalian presumption”. The author, inter alia, emphasizes how more attention needs to be paid to the “transnational region” constituted by the Middle East—in association with the whole Islamic World. A second postulate entails the need for a restoration of the lost level of analysis in IR, i.e., the level of the human being, for whom religion is—and in the nearest future, will remain—an important dimension of life, in the Middle East in particular. It can also be noted how, within analysis of IR, what corresponds closely to the level referred to is the concept of human security developed via the UN system. The Middle East obliges the researcher to extend considerations to the spiritual dimension of security, as is starting to be realized (inter alia, in the Arab Human Development Reports). It can thus be suggested that, through comparison and contrast with life in societies of the Middle East as it is in practice, religion has been incorporated quite naturally into IR, with this leaving the “Westphalian presumption” undermined at the same time. The consequences of that for the whole discipline may be considerable, but much will depend on researchers themselves, who may or may not take up the challenge posed
Aid to life – Montessori pedagogy in the service of autism spectrum children
No full textThis article explores the feasibility of implementing Montessori principles outside traditional Montessori environments, focusing on children with autism whose families cannot afford Montessori schooling. It examines whether Montessori education can effectively address the needs of autistic children in non-Montessori settings. The author, a Montessori educator, describes her efforts to adapt Montessori methods in diverse environments, including public kindergartens, schools, therapeutic centres, and extracurricular activities. The research refers to the growing prevalence of autism, as noted by the World Health Organization, and the necessity of inclusive educational approaches. The author presents practical examples of children’s interactions with Montessori materials and innovative adaptations of Montessori philosophy to suit various settings. Special attention is given to activities inspired by Montessori’s Great Stories, demonstrating their potential in engaging children from different backgrounds. The paper argues that Montessori education should extend beyond specialized institutions to benefit a broader range of children, particularly those on the autism spectrum. It highlights the importance of preserving the core tenets of Montessori pedagogy – individual, spontaneous activity, and holistic human development – while adapting to external conditions. The article provides valuable insights into integrating Montessori principles in non-traditional settings, advocating for more inclusive educational practices.This article explores the feasibility of implementing Montessori principles outside traditional Montessori environments, focusing on children with autism whose families cannot afford Montessori schooling. It examines whether Montessori education can effectively address the needs of autistic children in non-Montessori settings. The author, a Montessori educator, describes her efforts to adapt Montessori methods in diverse environments, including public kindergartens, schools, therapeutic centres, and extracurricular activities. The research refers to the growing prevalence of autism, as noted by the World Health Organization, and the necessity of inclusive educational approaches. The author presents practical examples of children’s interactions with Montessori materials and innovative adaptations of Montessori philosophy to suit various settings. Special attention is given to activities inspired by Montessori’s Great Stories, demonstrating their potential in engaging children from different backgrounds. The paper argues that Montessori education should extend beyond specialized institutions to benefit a broader range of children, particularly those on the autism spectrum. It highlights the importance of preserving the core tenets of Montessori pedagogy – individual, spontaneous activity, and holistic human development – while adapting to external conditions. The article provides valuable insights into integrating Montessori principles in non-traditional settings, advocating for more inclusive educational practices
The Labyrinth as an Anti-Home in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves
No full textThis paper examines the spatial model of a house as a labyrinth in Mark Z. Danielewski’s experimental novel House of Leaves in relation to Yuri M. Lotman’s concept of an anti-home. The aim of the paper is to analyze the spatial organization of the house presented in the novel and its influence on the characters. It also examines the connection between the mental state of the inhabitants and the changing nature of the labyrinth by demonstrating how the subversive spatiotemporal organization of domestic space accounts for the transformation of the novel’s protagonists.
Educational ideas within the Peasant Movement in the early 20th century: Three engaged voices
No full textResearch objectives (aims) and problem(s): The aim of this paper is to present the key ideas and proposals for educational work that emerged within the Polish peasant movement in the first half of the 20th century. It examines the principal educational and upbringing concepts advanced during this period by three prominent peasant movement activists: Stanisław Thugutt, Juliusz Poniatowski, and Ignacy Solarz. The basic research problem considered in the article is the question of which pedagogical achievements of these three activists can be considered timeless and valuable today.
Research methods: The study mainly makes use of original publications by the selected peasant-movement activists, as well as the methodological assumptions of the social history of education.
Process of argumentation: Based on an analysis of the collected source material, an attempt was made to identify the most important educational ideas proposed by each of the three rural educators.
Research findings and their impact on the development of educational sciences: In total, twelve educational ideas and proposals formulated by Thugutt, Poniatowski, and Solarz are identified, many of which may be regarded as timeless and still relevant today.
Conclusions and/or recommendations: The author argues that the pedagogical achievements of Thugutt, Poniatowski, and Solarz should be recognized as an important illustration of Polish contributions to the New Education Movement and considered a valuable and still relevant component of Polish educational heritage
MICROWAVE OPTICAL DOUBLE RESONANCE IN ELECTRONICALLY EXCITED
No full textAuthor Institution: The James Frank Institute and, Department of Chemistry The University of ChicagoMicrowave optical double resonance lines have been observed by monitoring the fluorescence of a sample of which was irradiated with a strong microwave field. As the microwave frequency is swept through a resonance between excited state rotational levels, the spatial distribution of the fluorescence is altered and signals the absorption of microwave energy by the sample. The spectrum has been observed at both zero and finite magnetic field, and it has been shown that the microwave transitions are electric dipole transitions. The decoupling of the electron spin by a fairly weak magnetic field indicates that the molecule is bent
Contrasting patterns in the invasions of European terrestrial and freshwater habitats by alien plants, insects and vertebrates
No full textAim To provide the first comparative overview on the current numbers of alien species that invade representative European terrestrial and freshwater habitats for a range of taxonomic groups. Location Europe. Methods Numbers of naturalized alien species of plants, insects, herptiles, birds and mammals occurring in 10 habitats defined according to the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) were obtained from 115 regional data sets. Only species introduced after ad 1500 were considered. Data were analysed by ANCOVA and regression trees to assess whether differences exist among taxonomic groups in terms of their habitat affinity, and whether the pattern of occurrence of alien species in European habitats interacts with macroecological factors such as insularity, latitude or area. Results The highest numbers of alien plant and insect species were found in human-made, urban or cultivated habitats; if controlled for habitat area in the region, wetland and riparian habitats appeared to support relatively high numbers of alien plant species too. Invasions by vertebrates were more evenly distributed among habitats, with aquatic and riparian, woodland and cultivated land most invaded. Mires, bogs and fens, grassland, heathland and scrub were generally less invaded. Habitat and taxonomic group explained most variation in the proportions of alien species occurring in individual habitats related to the total number of alien species in a region, and the basic pattern determined by these factors was fine-tuned by geographical variables, namely by the mainland–island contrast and latitude, and differed among taxonomic groups. Main conclusions There are two ecologically distinct groups of alien species (plants and insects versus vertebrates) with strikingly different habitat affinities. Invasions by these two contrasting groups are complementary in terms of habitat use, which makes an overall assessment of habitat invasions in Europe possible. Since numbers of naturalized species in habitats are correlated among taxa within these two groups, the data collected for one group of vertebrates, for example, could be used to estimate the habitat-specific numbers of alien species for other vertebrate groups with reasonable precision, and the same holds true for insects and plants
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