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UK Polish Saturday Schools and Civil Society During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Publication date: 05.2022

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, 2023 (XLIX), Vol. 1 (187), pp. 15 - 29

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.22.007.15707

Authors

,
Anne White
University College, London, Great Britain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4431-6707 Orcid
All publications →
Sara Young
UCL Institute of Education, University College London
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5079-1678 Orcid
All publications →

Titles

UK Polish Saturday Schools and Civil Society During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This article continues a theme recently raised in this journal by Małek (2019) and Krzyworzeka-Jelinowska (2019). It analyses the activism of Polish women living abroad, as headteachers, teachers and parents at Saturday schools, and demonstrates that Polish migrants are not as socially passive as sometimes assumed. We define civil society as ‘a society of active citizens, associating together and working for the collective good’. Our study of seven schools suggests that the Covid-19 lockdown stimulated some schools to broaden their activities as civil society organisations. Although some local links were weakened, for example because Polish Clubs were shut, the schools’ online activities expanded: more networking took place between headteachers UK-wide, and the schools reached out to a range of Polish and non-Polish organisations: locally; elsewhere in the UK; in Poland; and in third countries. Within the schools, the pandemic represented an opportunity to teach children about their civic responsibilities and involve parents more directly in children’s education. However, the lockdown also raised difficulties for all Saturday schools, not just Polish ones, when their credentials as ‘educational’ organisations seemed challenged by both UK government policy and some mainstream schools.

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Information

Information: Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, 2023 (XLIX), Vol. 1 (187), pp. 15 - 29

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

UK Polish Saturday Schools and Civil Society During the Covid-19 Pandemic

English:

UK Polish Saturday Schools and Civil Society During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Authors

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4431-6707

Anne White
University College, London, Great Britain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4431-6707 Orcid
All publications →

University College, London, Great Britain

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5079-1678

Sara Young
UCL Institute of Education, University College London
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5079-1678 Orcid
All publications →

UCL Institute of Education, University College London

Published at: 05.2022

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND  licence icon

Percentage share of authors:

Anne White (Author) - 50%
Sara Young (Author) - 50%

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

English