Published : 2026-10-16

The Leading Ideological Currents in the Teachers’ Trade Union Movement in Interwar Poland

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this article is to examine the dominant ideological currents within the teachers' associational movement in Poland during the interwar period and to identify their consequences for the professional situation of teachers and the functioning of the education system. The first part discusses the origins of the teachers' associational movement during the period of the partitions, followed by its organizational evolution after 1918. Two main ideological currents clearly emerged within the union movement. The first, associated with the Polish Teachers' Union, represented a left-wing orientation and advocated the secularization of education as well as reforms inspired by socialist thought. The second, referred to as the Catholic-national current, brought together Christian-national organizations and emphasized education in a national spirit, combining national identity with Catholicism and patriotic tradition. Of particular significance in this ideological dispute was the Jędrzejewicz reform of 1932, which constituted one of the key moments of conflict within the teaching community. The closure of teacher training colleges, together with the accompanying personnel policy, led to a transformation of the teacher education system, limiting the influence of Catholic-national groups. The teachers' union movement in interwar Poland was therefore not merely a professional organization but also a sphere in which differing visions of the state, nation, and the school coexisted.

Keywords:

ideological orientations, Association of Christian-National Teachers of Public Elementary Schools, Polish Teachers’ Union, consequences of the 1932 Jędrzejewicz Educational Reform



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Kostkiewicz, J., & Franczyk-Sikorska, E. (2026). The Leading Ideological Currents in the Teachers’ Trade Union Movement in Interwar Poland. Biografistyka Pedagogiczna [Biographical Studies in Education], 11(1), 137–168. https://doi.org/10.36578/bp.2026.11.04

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"Biografistyka Pedagogiczna" received funding for the years 2022-2024 from the funds of the Minister of Education and Science under the programme „Rozwój Czasopism Naukowych”.

Project duration: 2023-2024.

The amount of co-financing is 65 992,00 PLN

Contract number: RCN/SP/0434/2021/1