Forms of Health and Physical Education in the Theory and Practice of Civic Education of the Women’s Civic Labour Union (Selected Examples)
Vol.17,No.1(2025)
The Women’s Civic Work Union, as one of the most influential pro-government women's organizations in interwar Poland, conducted a wide-ranging educational and instructional campaign, primarily in the field of civic and social education. Its goal was to create a "new type of Polish female citizen." In its work, the Association employed both traditional and modern means, forms, and methods of educational influence. Among the effective forms of educational activity were various types of summer camps: military-recreational, vacation, education-recreational, hiking, and those organized in permanent facilities such as hostels and boarding houses. These camps were intended to serve as a unique socio-educational space with significant pedagogical value, effectively shaping the social, civic, and national attitudes deemed desirable by the Association. As part of the camp activities, a healthy and hygienic lifestyle was also promoted, providing women with opportunities for rest and recovery of both physical and mental health.
Camps were organized in several attractive locations throughout Poland. Dozens of different types of camp centers were operated, involving a total of several thousand women.
The Women’s Civic Work Union, women's education, physical, health and civic education, leisure camps, recreational camps, vacation camps, Second Polish Republic
Archives
Archiwum Akt Nowych w Warszawie (Archives of Modern Records):
Akta Z. i J. Moraczewskich. Komitet Demokratyczny Wyborczy i Związek Pracy Obywatelskiej [w l. 1928-33] (Pamiętnik po roku 1933)
Lietuvos Centrinis Valstybes Archyvas (Lithuanian Central State Archives):
Wileńskie Zrzeszenie Wojewódzkie ZPOK
Akta Referatu Opieki 1935
Akta Referatu Wychowania Polityczno-Obywatelskiego 1935
Akta Referatu Wychowania Polityczno-Obywatelskiego od 1.IV.37 do 1.I.38 r.
Sekretariat 1936-37
Source materials
Praca świetlicowa. Instrukcja dla świetlic Z.P.O.K., Warszawa 1934
Press
„Praca Obywatelska”: 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939
„Prosta Droga”: 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938
„Samorządowiec Wileński”: 1937
Article / Studies
Piwowarczyk, M. (2014). Civil education in the theory and practice of Women’s Civil Work Association in the Second Polish Republic. In Czech-Polish Historical and Pedagogical Journal Vol.6, no.1, Brno 2014.
Piwowarczyk, M. (2016). Kobiety aktywne. Działalność społeczno - oświatowa liderek Wileńskiego Zrzeszenia Wojewódzkiego Związku Pracy Obywatelskiej Kobiet (1929-1939). In A.Dawid, J.Lusek (Eds.) Kobiety na Kresach na przełomie XIX i XX wieku,Warszawa-Bytom-Opole: Wydawnictwo DiG.
Piwowarczyk, M. (2017). The educational role of the journals of social and educational associations in the Second Republic of Poland as exemplified by "Citizen Work" of the Women's Citizen Work Associatio. In Czech-Polish Historical and Pedagogical Journal Vol.9, no.1, Brno 2017.
Piwowarczyk, M. (2018). Rola Związku Pracy Obywatelskiej Kobiet w kształceniu (i dokształcaniu) zawodowym kobiet na Wileńszczyźnie w latach 1929-1939. In J.Lusek (Eds.) Oświata i nauka na Kresach Wschodnich w XIX i XX wieku, Poznań: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Bytom: Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu.
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