Teaching Handicrafts as Described in the Methodical Journals of the Polish Teachers’ Union (1927-1939)

Abstract

Handicrafts understood as an educational activity combining hands-on practice with aesthetics, appeared in Polish public schools after World War I on the wave of social and educational changes initiated at the turn of the 20th century. In the interwar years, the problems of teaching handicrafts in public schools were described, among others, in publications of one of the largest teachers’ organizations in Poland, the Polish Teachers’s Union (ZNP). To trace the scope of topics related to handicrafts covered in the ZNP periodicals, the author conducted a library search of titles published between 1927 and 1939. These were: «Roboty ręczne» [«Handicrafts»] (1927-1928), «Roboty Ręczne i Rysunki» [«Handicrafts and Drawings»] (1929-1933), «Rysunki i Zajęcia Praktyczne» [«Drawings and Practical Classes»] (1933-1934), and «Rysunek i Zajęcia Praktyczne» [«Drawing and Practical Classes»] (1934-1939).