The 4th International Scientific Conference took place on March 5, 2024. The organizers were the Institute of Social Sciences of the Catholic Academy in Warsaw and the Institute of Security Sciences of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Siedlce. The conference brought together specialists from various scientific disciplines. One of the speakers was PhD Jarosław Charchuła from Ignatianum University in Cracow (UIK), who presented the speech entitled “The education system as a guarantor of safety – difficulties and challenges”.
Security is nowadays considered a basic value and need of man, as well as his fundamental right. The need for security is one of the most important motives for the existence, activities and functioning of individual persons, communities and societies. It is included in the basic historical, sociological and economic categories. Hence, there is a growing interest in security issues, primarily in the context of education.
An important theme of the presentation was to show that the value of security is gaining particular importance in the modern world due to the processes of globalization, civilizational changes and also functioning in a knowledge-based society. The 21st century requires constant adaptation to a changing reality, solving increasingly complex problems, dealing with various threats. It requires an individual’s knowledge of threats and the culture of safety, as well as the ability the needs and interests not only of one’s own, but also the needs and expectations of other entities in the environment. In connection with these developments, the scope of the term of safety is constantly expanding.
Among the practical demands identified during the speech were:
- measures aimed at improving the state of safety in school and educational system institutions by improving interpersonal relations and the social climate at school;
- increasing the influence of parents on school life;
- increasing the educational skills of educational entities (principals, teachers, parents, and administrative staff);
- increasing the social and emotional competence of students;
- individualizing students’ education, developing their interests, increasing students’ autonomy at school;
- strengthening and expanding specialized psychological and pedagogical assistance taking into account modern threats.
The speech ended with the conclusion that only in a safe school is it possible to effectively impart knowledge and develop skills that are required in the modern world. Ensuring educational safety in schools provides an opportunity to realize the standards of quality education. Moreover, it means offering society a well-educated generation of responsible citizens. The speech ended with numerous questions from the audience and a lively discussion.
Author: PhD Jarosław Charchuła SJ (Ignatianum University in Cracow)
