Chapter 8: The Case of Poland: Policies of Internationalisation in Polish Education at the Turn of the 20th and 21st Centuries

When speaking about international cooperation and developing international attitudes in Poland at the start of the 21st century, we need to remember the political and economic changes that took place in the country during the final decade of the 20th century. Changes in education included structural and curricular changes from the previous eight-year primary school and four- to five-year secondary school, to six years of primary school, three years of middle school, and three to four years of secondary school; the structural reform of the Polish system of education was conducted in 1999. In curricula, this involved changes in the teaching of foreign languages (from 100% of students from age 12 learning Russian, to approximately 5% learning Russian and widespread teaching of English today). Poland’s accession to NATO and the European Union, the return of a capitalist economy, moving away from ideology at school—all this has changed the image of Polish schools.