The University Reform of 1918 was a renewal movement for universities, aimed at their democratization and modernization, initiated by student activities at the National University of Cordoba. Student movements took on a continental dimension and led to many changes in Latin American universities, especially in the field of autonomy and representation of students in university bodies. The introduction of university autonomy has had a profound impact not only on the functioning of the higher education system in Latin America, but also on other areas of social and political life in the region in the following decades. The article presents the Cordoba University Reform from a historical perspective and attempts to evaluate achievements in the implementation of its ideas in the today’s system of higher education in Latin America.
Higher education institutions (HEIs) typically generate income from two main sources; student
fees and research income. In contrast, the predominant waste streams in HEIs tend
to include; (1) assignment/examination mark submission process, (2) photocopying process
and (3) the funding application process. Unintended internal process complexities and barriers
typically aggravate the challenges already inherent in the research grant application
process. Although Lean Six Sigma (LSS) has been adopted by a number of HEIs in Ireland,
very few have adopted an integrated LSS approach for waste reduction in the research grant
application process. To identify barriers and waste in the research grant application process
within an Irish HEI in an EU environment, the authors used an online survey deployed to
240 academics and researchers. The survey response rate was 13%. The participating HEI
in this pilot study generated an annual income (including student fees and research income)
exceeding e240 million for the academic year 2017/2018. Using an LSS lens, this paper identified
the primary waste in the research grant application process from an academic and
researcher perspective to be; editing and revising applications, liaising and communicating
with collaborators and waiting for information. Organised thematically, the main barriers
were strategic thinking, collaborator identification and co-ordination, eligibility, process,
time and support & mentoring. The results from this study can be used to inform the next
stage of the research where empirical studies will be carried out in other HEIs to develop a
practical roadmap for the implementation of LSS as an operational excellence improvement
methodology in the research grant application process.
Following the 19th-century language debates on the language of science and higher education, this paper follows three Polish texts from the middle of the century dealing with the Galician school and university system. These dispositives of language discourse, defined here as an outcome of the transformations at the nexus of hegemony, linguistic theories and the remainders of the Republic of Letters ideology, are analysed concerning the positioning of the Polish language as confronted with German and Ruthenian/Ukrainian, as well as the political implications resulting from the perceived misbalance. Given the political context of Habsburg neoabsolutism’s hierarchical understanding of languages and its application, the authors deal with both deconstructing the underlying ideology concerning German, and sustain it regarding Ruthenian
The text is written on the occasion of the centenary of the Faculty of Law of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The author describes the history of the Jubilarian, discusses the achievements of the Faculty’s community and reveals some of its imperfections. The review presents the changes which the Faculty has undergone. The authors commentary is pervaded with the pride of he Faculty‘ s successes from the articular periods of the history. The author also expresses concern about the effects of the Polish higher education reform which is now in its initial stage.
Dialogue in the Classroom: Teaching Strategies and Their Reception by Students – The paper aims to explore Student Voice research within the academic context in terms of theoretical assumptions and a practical approach to its application in the classroom. In the first part, we focus on three main themes which build the explanatory framework: (1) Italian language teaching at Polish universities, (2) the current teaching methodology implemented in the classroom, and (3) Student Voice as a tool to better plan teaching activities. In the second part, we present the findings of a survey conducted among students learning Italian at the Faculty of Applied Linguistics, and we analyze their value for the teaching and learning process.
The aim of the paper is to show the scale of preparing habilitation reviews ending with untypical conclusions and the impact of such reviews on the outcome of habilitation proceedings in one discipline – sociology. The general analysis of the outcome of the review comes down to the final conclusion; the detailed analysis proposed by the author also takes into account the degree of strengthening or weakening of this conclusion. In particular, the weakening of a positive conclusion may indicate that the actual evaluation of the work is rather negative and differs from the nominal evaluation. The article begins with a theoretical introduction in which the author analyzes the legal aspects of reviewing the achievements to the habilitation degree, the imperfections of this process indicated in the literature, and briefly refers to American and Polish research in the field of pragmatics of RPT reviews, which provide tools to interpret the mechanism of formulating unobvious conclusions. A study conducted on a sample of 130 habilitation cases in sociology from 2012–2019 showed that the results of the pro-ceedings were rather consistent with the results of the reviews. Nevertheless, a set of “border proceedings” have been identified that have received reviews with a low degree of certainty (weakened) or some, but divergent, degree of certainty. In their case, the outcome of the proceedings was unpredictable, i.e. proceedings with the same review configuration ended in different ways.
The study concerns the functioning of disabled learners at the level of higher education. The period of university studies is usually associated with the change of the life routine practised so far. The changes comprise various fields and bring about the adjustment to new roles. This stage is a chance for becoming independent, for specifying one’s position in the group, for shaping one’s own “young adult world view”18. The article is aimed at presenting the typology of disabled students based on an analysis of the behaviour which they show as members of the academic community. The sources of these behaviour patterns can be sought in various interpersonal and intrapersonal factors resulting from the individual’s character. The presented authorial typology has been presented also in reference to the Personality Traits Theory formulated by Costa and McCrea. This has allowed for broadening this typology with some particular subtypes.
In the text the author makes a critical assessment of legal solutions regulating the education of teachers in Poland. In the realms of argument, he refers to his own experiences as a member of the Polish Accreditation Committee. The presentation of those experiences reveals areas of omissions, irregularities, and even pathologies in the process of conferring teaching qualifications on graduates of schools of higher education. The author derives the sources of the status quo from imperfections or contradictions in the documents regulating the same areas of education, as well as from the struggle of schools of higher education to survive in the market, leading to a dramatic reduction in the quality of education. The text ends in demands for necessary modifications of the standards of teacher education and changes in legislation.
According to the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and Polish Central Statistical Office the number of students systematically decreases since 2015. This demographic change was a reason to examine students motivation for undertaking their studies in order to improve educational program and to encourage students to peruse higher education. By approaching the subject of “Motivations for Undertaking Special Education Studies in The Opinion of Students at Pedagogical University of Cracow”, the answers were sought to the three following questions: What were the main reasons for choosing studies at Pedagogical University of Cracow? What motivators played a key role for students while selecting field of studies? What student’s personality traits did mainly influence their choice? Research material was collected basing on a self-designed questionnaire. The group of first-year 54 students year were tested, in which 39% didn’t know which specialization they would choose after a one year. The article’s conclusions present key factors motivating students for undertaking Special Education Studies and explain how personality traits influenced their choice.
This article discusses the professional careers of foreign scholars in Krakow, one of the leading academic centres in Poland and a regional ‘silicon valley’ (toutes proportions gardées). Central and Eastern Europe is understudied as an immigration region for highly skilled migrants (HSMs). To bridge this gap, we concentrate on three interrelated topics: (a) the perception of Polish science and its infrastruc-ture; (b) careers of international staff employed in Polish academia; and (c) their perception of their achievements in Poland. Foreign scholars come to Poland for various reasons. Two of the most important are the cultural proximity between Poland and their country of origin, and research interests focused directly in Poland. Our findings show that Poland attracts first and foremost scholars with average scientific achievements. We discuss major problems they encounter (e.g., shortage of funds, uncomfortable office space, restricted access to books and papers) and their expectations of life in a semi-periphery country. The paper is mainly based on in-depth interviews with 23 foreign scholars working full time at four universities in Krakow and, as a secondary source, on the analysis of websites of these universities.