Prof. dr hab. Miros\u0142aw Grewi\u0144ski<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhat goals have you recently achieved academically and in terms of the development of the university?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn May 2024, I was awarded the title of professor ordinary by the President of the Republic of Poland, which is the culmination of my 25-year academic path in the field of social policy. I once assumed that I would obtain the title of professor by the time I was 50, and I almost succeeded. As far as the university is concerned, we consider the establishment of the entire educational group in recent years to be a great success. It consists of faculties or branch offices in 8 cities, 4 comprehensive schools, 3 primary schools, a kindergarten, 3 psychological and pedagogical counselling centres, the Korczak Foundation and 2 companies \u2013 inter alia the Institute for the Development of Social Professions and Services. Together with the faculties, we form a 20-entity group. We are about to open our own University of the Third Age and more kindergartens. Summing up, we\u2019re providing cross-age education, from junior to senior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a\u00a0leader, you manage a\u00a0staff of how many?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nFive years ago, when I took over as rector, the University employed 60 or so people, and today there are approximately 250 full-time and around 300 contract employees across the Group. In management, I focus on people and their competence, good relations and a good working atmosphere. When making strategic decisions, I\u2019m never solely guided by Excel, but rather by intuition, and this brings good results. Our development concept is to create a complex educational group in the spirit of education and upbringing by Janusz Korczak, his philosophy in approaching the development of children and the young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Nagroda_Korczaka_07-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s Korczak\u2019s most important thought?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nKorczak used to have many wise thoughts, but above all he emphasised respect, the dignity of every human being, including a child. Second important was personalism \u2013 meaning an individual approach to each person. Everyone is worthy, everyone has resources and potential needing to be discovered and developed. Korczak was very much concerned with the issue of children\u2019s rights, because nowadays there\u2019s still unawareness of the fact that children have rights, not only when it comes to speaking out or participating in decision making, but also when it comes to being treated as subjects. In many Polish environments, children still remain unheard, because adults know better. This is the case in many public schools. Korczak focused on the awareness of the child, which is related to their dignity and respect. This is something that\u2019s still lacking, which is why our Korczakian institutions \u2013 from kindergartens to primary schools, high schools and universities \u2013 teach decent approach towards all participants of the educational process. We teach development in freedom and with respect for the dignity of each individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are your main orientations?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nKorczak University has specialised in educating teachers and tutors for more than 30 years. Our strongest point has always been pedagogy; we have all the possible specialisations that exist in pre-school, ECE, general, social and special pedagogy. Other important fields of study that have been developed for more than 15 years are social policy and social work, where we successfully train for social professions. New faculties which we\u2019re now investing in are management, where we prepare human resources for management in public institutions, and psychology, which is our new and very important faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Konferencja_Diagnoza-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThe University is seated in Warsaw, but you also have departments outside the city. What do\u00a0these regional structures have in common?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYes, apart from Warsaw, we have other departments or branches in Katowice, Lublin, Szczecin, Pozna\u0144, Olsztyn, Siedlce and Cz\u0142uch\u00f3w. In Warsaw, Katowice and Olsztyn we run Korczak Dream Schools \u2013 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens. The glue that binds these regional structures together is Korczak\u2019s legacy, shared goals and a coherent vision for the development of the entire Group. Moreover, the responsible leadership and participatory model of everyone\u2019s involvement in the development of the University and other entities within the Group yields positive results, because wise and good people \u2013 whom I\u2019m honoured to work with as a Rector \u2013 gather around us. I\u2019m proud to have such wonderful, committed and loyal colleagues who identify with Korczak\u2019s ideas. We are practically one big Korczak family with friendly relationships rather than a result-oriented corporation dominated by dry procedures.
Once a year we are joint by the Korczak Competition and Gala where, at the Polin Museum in Warsaw, the jury awards the Korczak Prize to leaders and local institutions and organisations working on behalf of children and the young. A really beautiful event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do\u00a0you recharge your batteries?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nBecause work is my passion, work recharges my batteries. Undoubtedly, my family, my daughters Tosia and Anielka, also energise me. I\u2019m a positive person by nature, self-motivated to do things. I like doing sports. I regularly go cycling, skiing, to the gym and to the swimming pool. I\u2019m active in various associations. I have different fields of activity making me get away from work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are your further development plans?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe plan to develop new courses and postgraduate programmes. We currently run more than 20 interesting, up-to-date majors, including postgraduate courses such as neurodiversity, psychotraumatology, digital hygiene, neurology, deinstitutionalisation of social services, etc. For years now, we have been running \u2018Pedagogical preparation\u2019 for various professions, as we have noticed a\u00a0deficit among teachers. We want to develop all those combined faculties, such as psychopedagogy, business psychology, social policy management \u2013 because today different sciences tend to crossroad. We have an idea to educate people how to work with seniors. Generally speaking, we believe seniors require new professions embracing care, accompaniment, activation and support functions. Our last-year success was obtaining ministerial approval for creating a\u00a0new major \u2013 psychology. We\u2019ve enrolled students in part-time programmes in Warsaw and Katowice, and this year we\u2019re also recruiting for full-time programmes. Ms Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, an excellent psychologist of the younger generation with a\u00a0vision for the development of modern psychology, has become the coordinator and the person responsible for creation of this new course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dr-Agata-Jastrze\u0328bowska-1024x1022.jpg\")
Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nClinical psychology is a\u00a0new major at Korczak University\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nPsychology is a\u00a0relatively new major at Korczak University, as the first recruitment took place last year. The university offers two specialties \u2013 Child and Adolescent Support Psychology and Clinical Psychology and Adult Psychotherapy \u2013 two options to choose between in the 4th year of study and approved by the Minister of Education and Science at the end of September 2023, which is very late, and yet it managed to recruit students for psychology both in Warsaw and Katowice. I\u00a0consider this to be a\u00a0great success.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why psychology at the Korczak University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Korczak University is a place with over 30 years of tradition. Up till now, we have educated pedagogues and social workers. Psychology is a kind of natural element to complete our offer.
Psychology at the Korczak University is built on three pillars. First and foremost, we want to respond to real social challenges, such as addictions to social media, people\u2019s poor mental state or pervasive violence. Secondly, we want to do this with a strong practical grounding. We offer more than 700 hours of internships and thirdly, we look at the world in a multidisciplinary way, combining psychology with pedagogy, new technologies, social welfare and other sciences or perspectives. We invite experts from different fields to join discussions so that we\u2019re able look at different challenges in a complementary way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many students are currently studying here at the University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe currently have two groups of 20 students, one in Katowice and the other in Warsaw. These are part-time students, but as of this academic year, the recruitment is open for both full-time and part-time studies. We are prepared to accept up to 300 people. We\u2019ll try to provide the best possible conditions and staff for any number of candidates. The Minister\u2019s decision concerns Warsaw and Katowice for the time being, but we intend to extend this offer to our other departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are the co-ordinator of the psychology major. What was and recently is your responsibility?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn fact, I\u2019m involved in everything, from providing the best possible staff to building the highest quality standards in education. It\u2019s very important for me to build good relations with students, teachers and the socio-economic environment. I\u2019m the link between all these communities. As far as the organisation of studies is concerned, I\u2019m involved in all work related to the educational process and organisation of the academic year. I act in a complementary way, and the opportunity to build or develop a psychology degree at the university with a fantastic tradition is a huge challenge for me, but simultaneously incredible fun. Psychology is a natural complement to pedagogy, social policy or social work here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/TRZY-FILARY-PSYCHOLOGII-NA-UCZELNI-KORCZAKA-1024x758.jpg\")
Three Pillars of Psychology at Korczak University<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s your professional experience?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m a doctor of psychology. For most of my professional life I\u2019ve worked at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, so this is my Alma Mater. It\u2019s there where I defended my master\u2019s thesis and doctoral dissertation in psychology. The topic of my master\u2019s thesis concerned work motivation and self-esteem of people with limited abilities. At the time, I collaborated with Prof. Anna Brzezi\u0144ska and Prof. Tadeusz Ga\u0142kowski. The matter of opportunities and resources of people with reduced mobility was extremely close to my heart. I devoted my doctoral thesis to the issue of how to match a person\u2019s competence to a proper job. There are no perfect people and no ideal jobs, but there are people perfectly suitable for certain jobs \u2013 this was my thesis. I searched for this competence match and wondered whether it was important or even more important to have soft competences, which determine a person and thanks to which they\u2019re able to flexibly adapt to changes on the labour market. I managed to have my doctoral thesis entitled: \u2018Matching human competences and jobs\u2019 published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. My book was published on March 12, 2020 \u2013 the day of the pandemic outbreak and the day after my 35th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about your human resources.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nSome of the lecturers we were able to invite to cooperation with the University were already teaching our first-year classes. We consulted the students and they actually chose people they wanted to work with. The other lecturers were chosen for their knowledge and experience, but also their ability to pass this knowledge on to the students. The full psychology staff will soon be available on our website. As far as I\u2019m concerned, I would like to maintain good relationships between lecturers and students. For this reason, we\u2019re organising a series of webinars, namely Let\u2019s talk about psychology, we invite our lecturers to in order to talk about what they do academically. The webinars are free and open publicly. You are welcome to attend. You will find all the details on our social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did the students evaluate the lecturers?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe carried out an evaluation. The students anonymously filled in questionnaires and were able to write what they thought of the lecturers. We took the results of the evaluation into deep consideration and those who were rated highly were invited to work and offered employment contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the University organise student internships?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAs a matter of fact, I was the Dean\u2019s representative for psychology internships at SWPS University for 5 years and organised the whole process for half a thousand people per year. These internships had many different requirements, they were subject to evaluation and verification of learning outcomes. To be honest, I\u2019m very happy to have the opportunity to coordinate the academic degree programme with a practical profile. Our students will have 720 hours of internships to complete, which is a lot. I feel that I know how to organise it and prepare an interesting base of offers so that they guarantee the highest quality. The whole process is still being planned. The first internship should take place no sooner than in 2026, when students will be in their fourth and fifth year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which faculty does the psychology fall under?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Faculty of Social Sciences, the dean of which is prof. dr hab. Barbara Ska\u0142bania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you cooperate with the other faculties?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOf course. We are most interested in ensuring our psychology faculty to be knowledgeable. Our approach towards various social problems is multidisciplinarily, without ignoring the perspectives of other sciences. We want to implement them and learn to look at them from different perspectives. This enables us to fully understand different issues. If we focus on digital hygiene or the effects of domestic violence, we\u2019ll not only need psychological, but also pedagogical and legal knowledge. We need to know our options and what the social welfare issues are. Psychology is a social science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What challenges do\u00a0you face?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThere are lots of challenges, because we are aware of huge competition in the education market. We know that students are now suspicious and attentive after the drama uncovered in one of the Warsaw universities. This attentiveness and inquisitiveness when choosing psychology pleases me personally, because I\u00a0think psychology is a\u00a0very responsible science and you have to be careful about ethical issues. I\u2019m also pleased that the discussion on the quality of educating future psychologists in Poland has significantly developed. The profession of psychologist has so far been unregulated, and people can uncontrollably use the name and practice the profession. We will strive to ensure the quality of psychology at Korczak University to be the highest. We are committed to involving students in various types of activities. Therefore, we organise master debates, the last one of which was with the participation of Professor Micha\u0142 Bilewicz and concerned his book titled \u2018Traumaland. Poles in the Shadow of the Past\u2019, about whether we inherit the trauma of previous generations and how to deal with it. We organise webinars, including the online meeting called \u2018Let\u2019s talk about psychology\u2019, every other Thursday. Our current and future students have the opportunity to listen to lecturers and exchange views. We want our students to develop a\u00a0relationship with the university and, on the other hand, this is how we want to present our staff. We have lots of ambitions. Personally, I\u00a0would like Korczak University to be a\u00a0place where \u2018psychology\u2019s going on\u2019. I\u00a0would like to organise here, at Korczak University, a\u00a0psychology degree programme, which I\u00a0myself would like to complete, bearing in mind the needs of society and the requirements of the labour market. If you want to study psychology and are wondering where \u2013 I\u00a0invite you to Korczak University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dorota Kolano
Beata Seku\u0142a<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An interview with prof. dr hab. Miros\u0142aw Grewi\u0144ski \u2013 Rector of Korczak University, nominated for the title of Leader by\u00a0Vocation in the most prestigious category of Leader of the 21st Century, and Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, psychologist and coordinator of psychology \u2013 the new faculty at Korczak University, leader of the \u201cSpeak to me politely\u201d campaign. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1122,1117],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5692,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions\/5692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
In May 2024, I was awarded the title of professor ordinary by the President of the Republic of Poland, which is the culmination of my 25-year academic path in the field of social policy. I once assumed that I would obtain the title of professor by the time I was 50, and I almost succeeded. As far as the university is concerned, we consider the establishment of the entire educational group in recent years to be a great success. It consists of faculties or branch offices in 8 cities, 4 comprehensive schools, 3 primary schools, a kindergarten, 3 psychological and pedagogical counselling centres, the Korczak Foundation and 2 companies \u2013 inter alia the Institute for the Development of Social Professions and Services. Together with the faculties, we form a 20-entity group. We are about to open our own University of the Third Age and more kindergartens. Summing up, we\u2019re providing cross-age education, from junior to senior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a\u00a0leader, you manage a\u00a0staff of how many?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nFive years ago, when I took over as rector, the University employed 60 or so people, and today there are approximately 250 full-time and around 300 contract employees across the Group. In management, I focus on people and their competence, good relations and a good working atmosphere. When making strategic decisions, I\u2019m never solely guided by Excel, but rather by intuition, and this brings good results. Our development concept is to create a complex educational group in the spirit of education and upbringing by Janusz Korczak, his philosophy in approaching the development of children and the young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s Korczak\u2019s most important thought?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nKorczak used to have many wise thoughts, but above all he emphasised respect, the dignity of every human being, including a child. Second important was personalism \u2013 meaning an individual approach to each person. Everyone is worthy, everyone has resources and potential needing to be discovered and developed. Korczak was very much concerned with the issue of children\u2019s rights, because nowadays there\u2019s still unawareness of the fact that children have rights, not only when it comes to speaking out or participating in decision making, but also when it comes to being treated as subjects. In many Polish environments, children still remain unheard, because adults know better. This is the case in many public schools. Korczak focused on the awareness of the child, which is related to their dignity and respect. This is something that\u2019s still lacking, which is why our Korczakian institutions \u2013 from kindergartens to primary schools, high schools and universities \u2013 teach decent approach towards all participants of the educational process. We teach development in freedom and with respect for the dignity of each individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are your main orientations?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nKorczak University has specialised in educating teachers and tutors for more than 30 years. Our strongest point has always been pedagogy; we have all the possible specialisations that exist in pre-school, ECE, general, social and special pedagogy. Other important fields of study that have been developed for more than 15 years are social policy and social work, where we successfully train for social professions. New faculties which we\u2019re now investing in are management, where we prepare human resources for management in public institutions, and psychology, which is our new and very important faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThe University is seated in Warsaw, but you also have departments outside the city. What do\u00a0these regional structures have in common?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYes, apart from Warsaw, we have other departments or branches in Katowice, Lublin, Szczecin, Pozna\u0144, Olsztyn, Siedlce and Cz\u0142uch\u00f3w. In Warsaw, Katowice and Olsztyn we run Korczak Dream Schools \u2013 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens. The glue that binds these regional structures together is Korczak\u2019s legacy, shared goals and a coherent vision for the development of the entire Group. Moreover, the responsible leadership and participatory model of everyone\u2019s involvement in the development of the University and other entities within the Group yields positive results, because wise and good people \u2013 whom I\u2019m honoured to work with as a Rector \u2013 gather around us. I\u2019m proud to have such wonderful, committed and loyal colleagues who identify with Korczak\u2019s ideas. We are practically one big Korczak family with friendly relationships rather than a result-oriented corporation dominated by dry procedures.
Once a year we are joint by the Korczak Competition and Gala where, at the Polin Museum in Warsaw, the jury awards the Korczak Prize to leaders and local institutions and organisations working on behalf of children and the young. A really beautiful event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do\u00a0you recharge your batteries?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nBecause work is my passion, work recharges my batteries. Undoubtedly, my family, my daughters Tosia and Anielka, also energise me. I\u2019m a positive person by nature, self-motivated to do things. I like doing sports. I regularly go cycling, skiing, to the gym and to the swimming pool. I\u2019m active in various associations. I have different fields of activity making me get away from work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are your further development plans?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe plan to develop new courses and postgraduate programmes. We currently run more than 20 interesting, up-to-date majors, including postgraduate courses such as neurodiversity, psychotraumatology, digital hygiene, neurology, deinstitutionalisation of social services, etc. For years now, we have been running \u2018Pedagogical preparation\u2019 for various professions, as we have noticed a\u00a0deficit among teachers. We want to develop all those combined faculties, such as psychopedagogy, business psychology, social policy management \u2013 because today different sciences tend to crossroad. We have an idea to educate people how to work with seniors. Generally speaking, we believe seniors require new professions embracing care, accompaniment, activation and support functions. Our last-year success was obtaining ministerial approval for creating a\u00a0new major \u2013 psychology. We\u2019ve enrolled students in part-time programmes in Warsaw and Katowice, and this year we\u2019re also recruiting for full-time programmes. Ms Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, an excellent psychologist of the younger generation with a\u00a0vision for the development of modern psychology, has become the coordinator and the person responsible for creation of this new course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nAgata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nClinical psychology is a\u00a0new major at Korczak University\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nPsychology is a\u00a0relatively new major at Korczak University, as the first recruitment took place last year. The university offers two specialties \u2013 Child and Adolescent Support Psychology and Clinical Psychology and Adult Psychotherapy \u2013 two options to choose between in the 4th year of study and approved by the Minister of Education and Science at the end of September 2023, which is very late, and yet it managed to recruit students for psychology both in Warsaw and Katowice. I\u00a0consider this to be a\u00a0great success.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why psychology at the Korczak University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Korczak University is a place with over 30 years of tradition. Up till now, we have educated pedagogues and social workers. Psychology is a kind of natural element to complete our offer.
Psychology at the Korczak University is built on three pillars. First and foremost, we want to respond to real social challenges, such as addictions to social media, people\u2019s poor mental state or pervasive violence. Secondly, we want to do this with a strong practical grounding. We offer more than 700 hours of internships and thirdly, we look at the world in a multidisciplinary way, combining psychology with pedagogy, new technologies, social welfare and other sciences or perspectives. We invite experts from different fields to join discussions so that we\u2019re able look at different challenges in a complementary way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many students are currently studying here at the University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe currently have two groups of 20 students, one in Katowice and the other in Warsaw. These are part-time students, but as of this academic year, the recruitment is open for both full-time and part-time studies. We are prepared to accept up to 300 people. We\u2019ll try to provide the best possible conditions and staff for any number of candidates. The Minister\u2019s decision concerns Warsaw and Katowice for the time being, but we intend to extend this offer to our other departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are the co-ordinator of the psychology major. What was and recently is your responsibility?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn fact, I\u2019m involved in everything, from providing the best possible staff to building the highest quality standards in education. It\u2019s very important for me to build good relations with students, teachers and the socio-economic environment. I\u2019m the link between all these communities. As far as the organisation of studies is concerned, I\u2019m involved in all work related to the educational process and organisation of the academic year. I act in a complementary way, and the opportunity to build or develop a psychology degree at the university with a fantastic tradition is a huge challenge for me, but simultaneously incredible fun. Psychology is a natural complement to pedagogy, social policy or social work here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThree Pillars of Psychology at Korczak University<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s your professional experience?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m a doctor of psychology. For most of my professional life I\u2019ve worked at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, so this is my Alma Mater. It\u2019s there where I defended my master\u2019s thesis and doctoral dissertation in psychology. The topic of my master\u2019s thesis concerned work motivation and self-esteem of people with limited abilities. At the time, I collaborated with Prof. Anna Brzezi\u0144ska and Prof. Tadeusz Ga\u0142kowski. The matter of opportunities and resources of people with reduced mobility was extremely close to my heart. I devoted my doctoral thesis to the issue of how to match a person\u2019s competence to a proper job. There are no perfect people and no ideal jobs, but there are people perfectly suitable for certain jobs \u2013 this was my thesis. I searched for this competence match and wondered whether it was important or even more important to have soft competences, which determine a person and thanks to which they\u2019re able to flexibly adapt to changes on the labour market. I managed to have my doctoral thesis entitled: \u2018Matching human competences and jobs\u2019 published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. My book was published on March 12, 2020 \u2013 the day of the pandemic outbreak and the day after my 35th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about your human resources.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nSome of the lecturers we were able to invite to cooperation with the University were already teaching our first-year classes. We consulted the students and they actually chose people they wanted to work with. The other lecturers were chosen for their knowledge and experience, but also their ability to pass this knowledge on to the students. The full psychology staff will soon be available on our website. As far as I\u2019m concerned, I would like to maintain good relationships between lecturers and students. For this reason, we\u2019re organising a series of webinars, namely Let\u2019s talk about psychology, we invite our lecturers to in order to talk about what they do academically. The webinars are free and open publicly. You are welcome to attend. You will find all the details on our social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did the students evaluate the lecturers?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe carried out an evaluation. The students anonymously filled in questionnaires and were able to write what they thought of the lecturers. We took the results of the evaluation into deep consideration and those who were rated highly were invited to work and offered employment contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the University organise student internships?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAs a matter of fact, I was the Dean\u2019s representative for psychology internships at SWPS University for 5 years and organised the whole process for half a thousand people per year. These internships had many different requirements, they were subject to evaluation and verification of learning outcomes. To be honest, I\u2019m very happy to have the opportunity to coordinate the academic degree programme with a practical profile. Our students will have 720 hours of internships to complete, which is a lot. I feel that I know how to organise it and prepare an interesting base of offers so that they guarantee the highest quality. The whole process is still being planned. The first internship should take place no sooner than in 2026, when students will be in their fourth and fifth year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which faculty does the psychology fall under?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Faculty of Social Sciences, the dean of which is prof. dr hab. Barbara Ska\u0142bania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you cooperate with the other faculties?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOf course. We are most interested in ensuring our psychology faculty to be knowledgeable. Our approach towards various social problems is multidisciplinarily, without ignoring the perspectives of other sciences. We want to implement them and learn to look at them from different perspectives. This enables us to fully understand different issues. If we focus on digital hygiene or the effects of domestic violence, we\u2019ll not only need psychological, but also pedagogical and legal knowledge. We need to know our options and what the social welfare issues are. Psychology is a social science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What challenges do\u00a0you face?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThere are lots of challenges, because we are aware of huge competition in the education market. We know that students are now suspicious and attentive after the drama uncovered in one of the Warsaw universities. This attentiveness and inquisitiveness when choosing psychology pleases me personally, because I\u00a0think psychology is a\u00a0very responsible science and you have to be careful about ethical issues. I\u2019m also pleased that the discussion on the quality of educating future psychologists in Poland has significantly developed. The profession of psychologist has so far been unregulated, and people can uncontrollably use the name and practice the profession. We will strive to ensure the quality of psychology at Korczak University to be the highest. We are committed to involving students in various types of activities. Therefore, we organise master debates, the last one of which was with the participation of Professor Micha\u0142 Bilewicz and concerned his book titled \u2018Traumaland. Poles in the Shadow of the Past\u2019, about whether we inherit the trauma of previous generations and how to deal with it. We organise webinars, including the online meeting called \u2018Let\u2019s talk about psychology\u2019, every other Thursday. Our current and future students have the opportunity to listen to lecturers and exchange views. We want our students to develop a\u00a0relationship with the university and, on the other hand, this is how we want to present our staff. We have lots of ambitions. Personally, I\u00a0would like Korczak University to be a\u00a0place where \u2018psychology\u2019s going on\u2019. I\u00a0would like to organise here, at Korczak University, a\u00a0psychology degree programme, which I\u00a0myself would like to complete, bearing in mind the needs of society and the requirements of the labour market. If you want to study psychology and are wondering where \u2013 I\u00a0invite you to Korczak University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dorota Kolano
Beata Seku\u0142a<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An interview with prof. dr hab. Miros\u0142aw Grewi\u0144ski \u2013 Rector of Korczak University, nominated for the title of Leader by\u00a0Vocation in the most prestigious category of Leader of the 21st Century, and Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, psychologist and coordinator of psychology \u2013 the new faculty at Korczak University, leader of the \u201cSpeak to me politely\u201d campaign. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1122,1117],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5692,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions\/5692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s Korczak\u2019s most important thought?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nKorczak used to have many wise thoughts, but above all he emphasised respect, the dignity of every human being, including a child. Second important was personalism \u2013 meaning an individual approach to each person. Everyone is worthy, everyone has resources and potential needing to be discovered and developed. Korczak was very much concerned with the issue of children\u2019s rights, because nowadays there\u2019s still unawareness of the fact that children have rights, not only when it comes to speaking out or participating in decision making, but also when it comes to being treated as subjects. In many Polish environments, children still remain unheard, because adults know better. This is the case in many public schools. Korczak focused on the awareness of the child, which is related to their dignity and respect. This is something that\u2019s still lacking, which is why our Korczakian institutions \u2013 from kindergartens to primary schools, high schools and universities \u2013 teach decent approach towards all participants of the educational process. We teach development in freedom and with respect for the dignity of each individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are your main orientations?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nKorczak University has specialised in educating teachers and tutors for more than 30 years. Our strongest point has always been pedagogy; we have all the possible specialisations that exist in pre-school, ECE, general, social and special pedagogy. Other important fields of study that have been developed for more than 15 years are social policy and social work, where we successfully train for social professions. New faculties which we\u2019re now investing in are management, where we prepare human resources for management in public institutions, and psychology, which is our new and very important faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThe University is seated in Warsaw, but you also have departments outside the city. What do\u00a0these regional structures have in common?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYes, apart from Warsaw, we have other departments or branches in Katowice, Lublin, Szczecin, Pozna\u0144, Olsztyn, Siedlce and Cz\u0142uch\u00f3w. In Warsaw, Katowice and Olsztyn we run Korczak Dream Schools \u2013 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens. The glue that binds these regional structures together is Korczak\u2019s legacy, shared goals and a coherent vision for the development of the entire Group. Moreover, the responsible leadership and participatory model of everyone\u2019s involvement in the development of the University and other entities within the Group yields positive results, because wise and good people \u2013 whom I\u2019m honoured to work with as a Rector \u2013 gather around us. I\u2019m proud to have such wonderful, committed and loyal colleagues who identify with Korczak\u2019s ideas. We are practically one big Korczak family with friendly relationships rather than a result-oriented corporation dominated by dry procedures.
Once a year we are joint by the Korczak Competition and Gala where, at the Polin Museum in Warsaw, the jury awards the Korczak Prize to leaders and local institutions and organisations working on behalf of children and the young. A really beautiful event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do\u00a0you recharge your batteries?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nBecause work is my passion, work recharges my batteries. Undoubtedly, my family, my daughters Tosia and Anielka, also energise me. I\u2019m a positive person by nature, self-motivated to do things. I like doing sports. I regularly go cycling, skiing, to the gym and to the swimming pool. I\u2019m active in various associations. I have different fields of activity making me get away from work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are your further development plans?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe plan to develop new courses and postgraduate programmes. We currently run more than 20 interesting, up-to-date majors, including postgraduate courses such as neurodiversity, psychotraumatology, digital hygiene, neurology, deinstitutionalisation of social services, etc. For years now, we have been running \u2018Pedagogical preparation\u2019 for various professions, as we have noticed a\u00a0deficit among teachers. We want to develop all those combined faculties, such as psychopedagogy, business psychology, social policy management \u2013 because today different sciences tend to crossroad. We have an idea to educate people how to work with seniors. Generally speaking, we believe seniors require new professions embracing care, accompaniment, activation and support functions. Our last-year success was obtaining ministerial approval for creating a\u00a0new major \u2013 psychology. We\u2019ve enrolled students in part-time programmes in Warsaw and Katowice, and this year we\u2019re also recruiting for full-time programmes. Ms Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, an excellent psychologist of the younger generation with a\u00a0vision for the development of modern psychology, has become the coordinator and the person responsible for creation of this new course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nAgata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nClinical psychology is a\u00a0new major at Korczak University\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nPsychology is a\u00a0relatively new major at Korczak University, as the first recruitment took place last year. The university offers two specialties \u2013 Child and Adolescent Support Psychology and Clinical Psychology and Adult Psychotherapy \u2013 two options to choose between in the 4th year of study and approved by the Minister of Education and Science at the end of September 2023, which is very late, and yet it managed to recruit students for psychology both in Warsaw and Katowice. I\u00a0consider this to be a\u00a0great success.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why psychology at the Korczak University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Korczak University is a place with over 30 years of tradition. Up till now, we have educated pedagogues and social workers. Psychology is a kind of natural element to complete our offer.
Psychology at the Korczak University is built on three pillars. First and foremost, we want to respond to real social challenges, such as addictions to social media, people\u2019s poor mental state or pervasive violence. Secondly, we want to do this with a strong practical grounding. We offer more than 700 hours of internships and thirdly, we look at the world in a multidisciplinary way, combining psychology with pedagogy, new technologies, social welfare and other sciences or perspectives. We invite experts from different fields to join discussions so that we\u2019re able look at different challenges in a complementary way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many students are currently studying here at the University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe currently have two groups of 20 students, one in Katowice and the other in Warsaw. These are part-time students, but as of this academic year, the recruitment is open for both full-time and part-time studies. We are prepared to accept up to 300 people. We\u2019ll try to provide the best possible conditions and staff for any number of candidates. The Minister\u2019s decision concerns Warsaw and Katowice for the time being, but we intend to extend this offer to our other departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are the co-ordinator of the psychology major. What was and recently is your responsibility?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn fact, I\u2019m involved in everything, from providing the best possible staff to building the highest quality standards in education. It\u2019s very important for me to build good relations with students, teachers and the socio-economic environment. I\u2019m the link between all these communities. As far as the organisation of studies is concerned, I\u2019m involved in all work related to the educational process and organisation of the academic year. I act in a complementary way, and the opportunity to build or develop a psychology degree at the university with a fantastic tradition is a huge challenge for me, but simultaneously incredible fun. Psychology is a natural complement to pedagogy, social policy or social work here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThree Pillars of Psychology at Korczak University<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s your professional experience?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m a doctor of psychology. For most of my professional life I\u2019ve worked at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, so this is my Alma Mater. It\u2019s there where I defended my master\u2019s thesis and doctoral dissertation in psychology. The topic of my master\u2019s thesis concerned work motivation and self-esteem of people with limited abilities. At the time, I collaborated with Prof. Anna Brzezi\u0144ska and Prof. Tadeusz Ga\u0142kowski. The matter of opportunities and resources of people with reduced mobility was extremely close to my heart. I devoted my doctoral thesis to the issue of how to match a person\u2019s competence to a proper job. There are no perfect people and no ideal jobs, but there are people perfectly suitable for certain jobs \u2013 this was my thesis. I searched for this competence match and wondered whether it was important or even more important to have soft competences, which determine a person and thanks to which they\u2019re able to flexibly adapt to changes on the labour market. I managed to have my doctoral thesis entitled: \u2018Matching human competences and jobs\u2019 published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. My book was published on March 12, 2020 \u2013 the day of the pandemic outbreak and the day after my 35th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about your human resources.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nSome of the lecturers we were able to invite to cooperation with the University were already teaching our first-year classes. We consulted the students and they actually chose people they wanted to work with. The other lecturers were chosen for their knowledge and experience, but also their ability to pass this knowledge on to the students. The full psychology staff will soon be available on our website. As far as I\u2019m concerned, I would like to maintain good relationships between lecturers and students. For this reason, we\u2019re organising a series of webinars, namely Let\u2019s talk about psychology, we invite our lecturers to in order to talk about what they do academically. The webinars are free and open publicly. You are welcome to attend. You will find all the details on our social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did the students evaluate the lecturers?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWe carried out an evaluation. The students anonymously filled in questionnaires and were able to write what they thought of the lecturers. We took the results of the evaluation into deep consideration and those who were rated highly were invited to work and offered employment contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the University organise student internships?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAs a matter of fact, I was the Dean\u2019s representative for psychology internships at SWPS University for 5 years and organised the whole process for half a thousand people per year. These internships had many different requirements, they were subject to evaluation and verification of learning outcomes. To be honest, I\u2019m very happy to have the opportunity to coordinate the academic degree programme with a practical profile. Our students will have 720 hours of internships to complete, which is a lot. I feel that I know how to organise it and prepare an interesting base of offers so that they guarantee the highest quality. The whole process is still being planned. The first internship should take place no sooner than in 2026, when students will be in their fourth and fifth year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which faculty does the psychology fall under?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Faculty of Social Sciences, the dean of which is prof. dr hab. Barbara Ska\u0142bania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you cooperate with the other faculties?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOf course. We are most interested in ensuring our psychology faculty to be knowledgeable. Our approach towards various social problems is multidisciplinarily, without ignoring the perspectives of other sciences. We want to implement them and learn to look at them from different perspectives. This enables us to fully understand different issues. If we focus on digital hygiene or the effects of domestic violence, we\u2019ll not only need psychological, but also pedagogical and legal knowledge. We need to know our options and what the social welfare issues are. Psychology is a social science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What challenges do\u00a0you face?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThere are lots of challenges, because we are aware of huge competition in the education market. We know that students are now suspicious and attentive after the drama uncovered in one of the Warsaw universities. This attentiveness and inquisitiveness when choosing psychology pleases me personally, because I\u00a0think psychology is a\u00a0very responsible science and you have to be careful about ethical issues. I\u2019m also pleased that the discussion on the quality of educating future psychologists in Poland has significantly developed. The profession of psychologist has so far been unregulated, and people can uncontrollably use the name and practice the profession. We will strive to ensure the quality of psychology at Korczak University to be the highest. We are committed to involving students in various types of activities. Therefore, we organise master debates, the last one of which was with the participation of Professor Micha\u0142 Bilewicz and concerned his book titled \u2018Traumaland. Poles in the Shadow of the Past\u2019, about whether we inherit the trauma of previous generations and how to deal with it. We organise webinars, including the online meeting called \u2018Let\u2019s talk about psychology\u2019, every other Thursday. Our current and future students have the opportunity to listen to lecturers and exchange views. We want our students to develop a\u00a0relationship with the university and, on the other hand, this is how we want to present our staff. We have lots of ambitions. Personally, I\u00a0would like Korczak University to be a\u00a0place where \u2018psychology\u2019s going on\u2019. I\u00a0would like to organise here, at Korczak University, a\u00a0psychology degree programme, which I\u00a0myself would like to complete, bearing in mind the needs of society and the requirements of the labour market. If you want to study psychology and are wondering where \u2013 I\u00a0invite you to Korczak University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dorota Kolano
Beata Seku\u0142a<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An interview with prof. dr hab. Miros\u0142aw Grewi\u0144ski \u2013 Rector of Korczak University, nominated for the title of Leader by\u00a0Vocation in the most prestigious category of Leader of the 21st Century, and Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, psychologist and coordinator of psychology \u2013 the new faculty at Korczak University, leader of the \u201cSpeak to me politely\u201d campaign. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1122,1117],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5692,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions\/5692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Korczak University has specialised in educating teachers and tutors for more than 30 years. Our strongest point has always been pedagogy; we have all the possible specialisations that exist in pre-school, ECE, general, social and special pedagogy. Other important fields of study that have been developed for more than 15 years are social policy and social work, where we successfully train for social professions. New faculties which we\u2019re now investing in are management, where we prepare human resources for management in public institutions, and psychology, which is our new and very important faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, apart from Warsaw, we have other departments or branches in Katowice, Lublin, Szczecin, Pozna\u0144, Olsztyn, Siedlce and Cz\u0142uch\u00f3w. In Warsaw, Katowice and Olsztyn we run Korczak Dream Schools \u2013 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens. The glue that binds these regional structures together is Korczak\u2019s legacy, shared goals and a coherent vision for the development of the entire Group. Moreover, the responsible leadership and participatory model of everyone\u2019s involvement in the development of the University and other entities within the Group yields positive results, because wise and good people \u2013 whom I\u2019m honoured to work with as a Rector \u2013 gather around us. I\u2019m proud to have such wonderful, committed and loyal colleagues who identify with Korczak\u2019s ideas. We are practically one big Korczak family with friendly relationships rather than a result-oriented corporation dominated by dry procedures. Because work is my passion, work recharges my batteries. Undoubtedly, my family, my daughters Tosia and Anielka, also energise me. I\u2019m a positive person by nature, self-motivated to do things. I like doing sports. I regularly go cycling, skiing, to the gym and to the swimming pool. I\u2019m active in various associations. I have different fields of activity making me get away from work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We plan to develop new courses and postgraduate programmes. We currently run more than 20 interesting, up-to-date majors, including postgraduate courses such as neurodiversity, psychotraumatology, digital hygiene, neurology, deinstitutionalisation of social services, etc. For years now, we have been running \u2018Pedagogical preparation\u2019 for various professions, as we have noticed a\u00a0deficit among teachers. We want to develop all those combined faculties, such as psychopedagogy, business psychology, social policy management \u2013 because today different sciences tend to crossroad. We have an idea to educate people how to work with seniors. Generally speaking, we believe seniors require new professions embracing care, accompaniment, activation and support functions. Our last-year success was obtaining ministerial approval for creating a\u00a0new major \u2013 psychology. We\u2019ve enrolled students in part-time programmes in Warsaw and Katowice, and this year we\u2019re also recruiting for full-time programmes. Ms Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, an excellent psychologist of the younger generation with a\u00a0vision for the development of modern psychology, has become the coordinator and the person responsible for creation of this new course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Psychology is a\u00a0relatively new major at Korczak University, as the first recruitment took place last year. The university offers two specialties \u2013 Child and Adolescent Support Psychology and Clinical Psychology and Adult Psychotherapy \u2013 two options to choose between in the 4th year of study and approved by the Minister of Education and Science at the end of September 2023, which is very late, and yet it managed to recruit students for psychology both in Warsaw and Katowice. I\u00a0consider this to be a\u00a0great success. The Korczak University is a place with over 30 years of tradition. Up till now, we have educated pedagogues and social workers. Psychology is a kind of natural element to complete our offer. We currently have two groups of 20 students, one in Katowice and the other in Warsaw. These are part-time students, but as of this academic year, the recruitment is open for both full-time and part-time studies. We are prepared to accept up to 300 people. We\u2019ll try to provide the best possible conditions and staff for any number of candidates. The Minister\u2019s decision concerns Warsaw and Katowice for the time being, but we intend to extend this offer to our other departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, I\u2019m involved in everything, from providing the best possible staff to building the highest quality standards in education. It\u2019s very important for me to build good relations with students, teachers and the socio-economic environment. I\u2019m the link between all these communities. As far as the organisation of studies is concerned, I\u2019m involved in all work related to the educational process and organisation of the academic year. I act in a complementary way, and the opportunity to build or develop a psychology degree at the university with a fantastic tradition is a huge challenge for me, but simultaneously incredible fun. Psychology is a natural complement to pedagogy, social policy or social work here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m a doctor of psychology. For most of my professional life I\u2019ve worked at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, so this is my Alma Mater. It\u2019s there where I defended my master\u2019s thesis and doctoral dissertation in psychology. The topic of my master\u2019s thesis concerned work motivation and self-esteem of people with limited abilities. At the time, I collaborated with Prof. Anna Brzezi\u0144ska and Prof. Tadeusz Ga\u0142kowski. The matter of opportunities and resources of people with reduced mobility was extremely close to my heart. I devoted my doctoral thesis to the issue of how to match a person\u2019s competence to a proper job. There are no perfect people and no ideal jobs, but there are people perfectly suitable for certain jobs \u2013 this was my thesis. I searched for this competence match and wondered whether it was important or even more important to have soft competences, which determine a person and thanks to which they\u2019re able to flexibly adapt to changes on the labour market. I managed to have my doctoral thesis entitled: \u2018Matching human competences and jobs\u2019 published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. My book was published on March 12, 2020 \u2013 the day of the pandemic outbreak and the day after my 35th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the lecturers we were able to invite to cooperation with the University were already teaching our first-year classes. We consulted the students and they actually chose people they wanted to work with. The other lecturers were chosen for their knowledge and experience, but also their ability to pass this knowledge on to the students. The full psychology staff will soon be available on our website. As far as I\u2019m concerned, I would like to maintain good relationships between lecturers and students. For this reason, we\u2019re organising a series of webinars, namely Let\u2019s talk about psychology, we invite our lecturers to in order to talk about what they do academically. The webinars are free and open publicly. You are welcome to attend. You will find all the details on our social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We carried out an evaluation. The students anonymously filled in questionnaires and were able to write what they thought of the lecturers. We took the results of the evaluation into deep consideration and those who were rated highly were invited to work and offered employment contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a matter of fact, I was the Dean\u2019s representative for psychology internships at SWPS University for 5 years and organised the whole process for half a thousand people per year. These internships had many different requirements, they were subject to evaluation and verification of learning outcomes. To be honest, I\u2019m very happy to have the opportunity to coordinate the academic degree programme with a practical profile. Our students will have 720 hours of internships to complete, which is a lot. I feel that I know how to organise it and prepare an interesting base of offers so that they guarantee the highest quality. The whole process is still being planned. The first internship should take place no sooner than in 2026, when students will be in their fourth and fifth year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Faculty of Social Sciences, the dean of which is prof. dr hab. Barbara Ska\u0142bania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course. We are most interested in ensuring our psychology faculty to be knowledgeable. Our approach towards various social problems is multidisciplinarily, without ignoring the perspectives of other sciences. We want to implement them and learn to look at them from different perspectives. This enables us to fully understand different issues. If we focus on digital hygiene or the effects of domestic violence, we\u2019ll not only need psychological, but also pedagogical and legal knowledge. We need to know our options and what the social welfare issues are. Psychology is a social science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are lots of challenges, because we are aware of huge competition in the education market. We know that students are now suspicious and attentive after the drama uncovered in one of the Warsaw universities. This attentiveness and inquisitiveness when choosing psychology pleases me personally, because I\u00a0think psychology is a\u00a0very responsible science and you have to be careful about ethical issues. I\u2019m also pleased that the discussion on the quality of educating future psychologists in Poland has significantly developed. The profession of psychologist has so far been unregulated, and people can uncontrollably use the name and practice the profession. We will strive to ensure the quality of psychology at Korczak University to be the highest. We are committed to involving students in various types of activities. Therefore, we organise master debates, the last one of which was with the participation of Professor Micha\u0142 Bilewicz and concerned his book titled \u2018Traumaland. Poles in the Shadow of the Past\u2019, about whether we inherit the trauma of previous generations and how to deal with it. We organise webinars, including the online meeting called \u2018Let\u2019s talk about psychology\u2019, every other Thursday. Our current and future students have the opportunity to listen to lecturers and exchange views. We want our students to develop a\u00a0relationship with the university and, on the other hand, this is how we want to present our staff. We have lots of ambitions. Personally, I\u00a0would like Korczak University to be a\u00a0place where \u2018psychology\u2019s going on\u2019. I\u00a0would like to organise here, at Korczak University, a\u00a0psychology degree programme, which I\u00a0myself would like to complete, bearing in mind the needs of society and the requirements of the labour market. If you want to study psychology and are wondering where \u2013 I\u00a0invite you to Korczak University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dorota Kolano An interview with prof. dr hab. Miros\u0142aw Grewi\u0144ski \u2013 Rector of Korczak University, nominated for the title of Leader by\u00a0Vocation in the most prestigious category of Leader of the 21st Century, and Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD, psychologist and coordinator of psychology \u2013 the new faculty at Korczak University, leader of the \u201cSpeak to me politely\u201d campaign. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1122,1117],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5692,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions\/5692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe University is seated in Warsaw, but you also have departments outside the city. What do\u00a0these regional structures have in common?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Once a year we are joint by the Korczak Competition and Gala where, at the Polin Museum in Warsaw, the jury awards the Korczak Prize to leaders and local institutions and organisations working on behalf of children and the young. A really beautiful event.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow do\u00a0you recharge your batteries?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What are your further development plans?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Agata Jastrz\u0119bowska PhD<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nClinical psychology is a\u00a0new major at Korczak University\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy psychology at the Korczak University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Psychology at the Korczak University is built on three pillars. First and foremost, we want to respond to real social challenges, such as addictions to social media, people\u2019s poor mental state or pervasive violence. Secondly, we want to do this with a strong practical grounding. We offer more than 700 hours of internships and thirdly, we look at the world in a multidisciplinary way, combining psychology with pedagogy, new technologies, social welfare and other sciences or perspectives. We invite experts from different fields to join discussions so that we\u2019re able look at different challenges in a complementary way.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow many students are currently studying here at the University?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
You are the co-ordinator of the psychology major. What was and recently is your responsibility?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s your professional experience?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about your human resources.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How did the students evaluate the lecturers?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Does the University organise student internships?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Which faculty does the psychology fall under?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Do you cooperate with the other faculties?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What challenges do\u00a0you face?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Beata Seku\u0142a<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"