In Korczak's footsteps in Warsaw

Students in the childhood education program took part in the field trip “In the Footsteps of Janusz Korczak in Warsaw” from May 17 to 21, 2016.

This was a joint event organized by Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Ludwigsburg University of Education, and the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University in Stuttgart, with the goal of further advancing the faculty’s national and international collaboration.

Together, they visited sites associated with Janusz Korczak (1878–1942) that are closely linked to the life and work of the Polish-Jewish physician and educator: the Dom Sierot orphanage, which now houses the Korczakianum research center; the “Maria Grzegorzewska” Academy of Special Education, where he himself once lectured; the Umschlagplatz Memorial, from where he was deported to Treblinka in 1942 along with the children and other caregivers; the Treblinka Memorial itself; the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews; and, during a brief city tour, some traces of the Warsaw Ghetto in present-day Warsaw.

The 4.5 days were filled with many impressions and offered plenty of opportunities for discussion—both among the students themselves, who came from various degree programs and thus have different approaches to Korczak’s pedagogy (childhood educators from Görlitz, teacher training students from Ludwigsburg, and social work students from Stuttgart). At the Academy for Special Education, two workshops were also held together with Polish students and a group of students from Jerusalem.

The spontaneous connections formed continued during further evening gatherings in Warsaw’s Old Town. The participants are compiling a brochure about the field trip, which will provide information on Korczak’s educational philosophy and reflections on its significance today for future field trips.

The excursion was organized by Dr. Rosemarie Godel-Gaßner (University of Education), Daniel Febel (Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University), and Cornelia Müller (Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences).