Topic: The Commission of National Education

Target group

6th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

XVI. Rzeczpospolita in the Stanisławów era. Pupil:

1. gives examples of state repair under the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, including the achievements of the National Education Commission.

General aim of education

Students will get acquainted with the circumstances of the uprising, tasks and achievements of the National Education Commission

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to characterize the circumstances of the establishment of the National Education Commission (KEN);

• to characterize the education system subject to KEN;

• to recognize the most important reformers of Polish education in the second half of the 18th century;

• to indicate the most important achievements of KEN.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. The teacher asks students to prepare illustrations regarding the culture of Stanisławowskie times. They will be useful during the lesson.

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the students the purpose of the lesson, theme and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher brings students closer to the circumstances of the liquidation of the Jesuit order.

3. Students in pairs do Task 1. Discuss with the teacher the problem of the „black legend” of the Jesuits and its consequences. The teacher mentions other such pamphlets in history (e.g. Protocols of the Elders of Zion).

Realization

1. The teacher explains the students that the purpose of this part of the lesson will be to map the mental phenomenon that was the National Education Commission. The introduction to its preparation will be to listen to a short talk of the teacher. Students make notes, they also look for additional information on the Internet. They wonder with the teacher whether during the period of KEN's activity the secularization of education took place. They carry out the Task 2. They talk about the role of the teacher in eighteenth‑century and today. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback.

2. Then students in pairs do Exercise 1, matching theses to the appropriate arguments . In the next step, on one sheet of paper, they draw a mental map. They use home‑made illustrations, photos, drawings, symbols, press clippings - respectively, placing them on the map and looking for the appropriate context for them. The teacher takes care of providing feedback to students.

Summary

1. The teacher assesses the work of student couples, paying attention to such elements as the substantive value of the work and its originality. Artistic qualities are not evaluated.

2. The teacher gives students an evaluation questionnaire in which they evaluate their own work.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Make at home a note from the lesson, for example using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The Commission of National Education

One of the most important achievements of the Partition Sejm was obtaining the consent to create the Commission of National Education. In character, it was an almost an independent “ministry”. The principle stating that post‑Jesuit goods should be passed into private hands, and that a part of the income they generated be donated to education, was adopted. The Commission managed to introduce a simple and well‑thought out structure of the schools subject to it – from the universities (of Cracow and Vilnius), through faculty, sub‑faculty and parish schools. In 1775, the Commission of National Education created the Society of Elementary Books. Its task was to compose teaching programs for state schools, and manuals for different levels and subjects of education. The two universities, or so‑called higher schools, in Cracow and Vilnius were reorganized.