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Decent work in Poland: a preliminary study. Suggestions for educational and counselling practice

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Abstract

Work and its meanings have often been and still are objects of scholarly research. In the context of global crises, increasing attention has been paid to decent work and, consequently, to decent life. However, decent work has not been adequately addressed in Polish scholarship on vocational guidance and career counselling yet. To redress this gap in scholarly discourse, we explore decent work and attempt to grasp how this notion is defined and understood in the social, political, economic and cultural context of Poland. Our investigation relies on the tools developed by D. Blustein and R. Duffy in their psychology of working theory. At the same time, we seek to establish the implications of our research for education and Life Design counselling in Poland.

Résumé

Le travail décent en Pologne: Une étude préliminaire. Suggestions pour la pratique de l'éducation et du conseil Le travail et ses significations ont souvent été et sont toujours l'objet de recherches académiques. Dans le contexte des crises mondiales, une attention croissante a été accordée au travail décent et, par conséquent, à la vie décente. Cependant, le travail décent n'a pas encore été abordé de manière adéquate dans la recherche polonaise sur l'orientation professionnelle et le conseil en carrière. Pour combler cette lacune dans le discours académique, nous explorons le travail décent et tentons de saisir comment cette notion est définie et comprise dans le contexte social, politique, économique et culturel de la Pologne. Notre enquête s'appuie sur les outils développés par D. Blustein et R. Duffy dans leur Psychology of Working Theory. En même temps, nous cherchons à établir les implications de notre recherche pour l'éducation et le conseil en Life Design en Pologne.

Zusammenfassung

Menschenwürdige Arbeit in Polen: Eine Vorstudie. Anregungen für die Bildungs- und Beratungspraxis Arbeit und ihre Bedeutung waren und sind häufig Gegenstand wissenschaftlicher Forschung. Im Kontext globaler Krisen wird menschenwürdiger Arbeit (eng. decent work) und damit auch einem menschenwürdigen Leben immer mehr Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Allerdings wurde menschenwürdige Arbeit in der polnischen Wissenschaft über Berufsberatung und -orientierung bisher nicht angemessen behandelt. Um diese Lücke im wissenschaftlichen Diskurs zu schließen, erforschen wir menschenwürdige Arbeit und versuchen zu verstehen, wie dieser Begriff im sozialen, politischen, wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Kontext Polens definiert und verstanden wird. Unsere Untersuchung stützt sich auf die von D. Blustein und R. Duffy in ihrer Psychologie der Arbeitstheorie entwickelten Instrumente. Gleichzeitig versuchen wir, die Implikationen unserer Forschung für die Bildung und die Life-Design-Beratung in Polen zu ermitteln.

Resumen

Trabajo digno en Polonia: un estudio preliminar Sugerencias para la paráctica educativa y orientadora El trabajo y sus significados a menudo han sido y son objectos de investigación escolar. En el contexto de crisis globales, se ha prestado una atención creciente al trabajo digno y consecuentemente a la vida digna. De todos modos, el trabajo decente no ha sido adecuadamente abordado todavía en la escolaridad polaca en lo referente a orientación vocacional y de orientación para la carrera. Para reconducir este déficit en el discurso escolar, se explora el trabajo digno y se pretende captar como se define esta nocion y como se entiende en los contextos cultural, social, político y económica de Polonia. La investigación confía en las herramientas desarrolladas por D. Blustein y R. Duffy en la teoría psicológica del trabajo. Al mismo tiempo, se pretenden establecer las implicaciones de la investigación en la educación y la orientación para el diseño de vida en Polonia.

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Notes

  1. The idea of volunteering is, of course, undeniably noble; however, as shown by T. Szkudlarek, it tends to be used by employers as a way of securing unpaid labour force (Szkudlarek, 2005, p. 29).

  2. In the late 1990s, a retirement system reform in Poland introduced what were called open retirement funds (OFE) and made it mandatory for employers to pay a proportion of insurance contributions to these funds (with the rest of the contributions paid to the Social Insurance Institution). Unlike the money paid to the state insurance system, the money collected in the OFEs is inheritable by a person designated by the OFE member in the evet of his/her death. However, about 20 years later, the resources accumulated by the OFEs were transferred to the state system by the governmental decree. Membership in the OFEs became voluntary for people who wanted to have an additional protection for the future.

  3. At this point we could ask whether such education is actually decent education. Does it ensure physical and emotional security? Do fight and competition promote building ties among people? Does rote learning required by tests and exams indeed foster creativity?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UNESCO Chair On Lifelong Guidance and Counseling, Institute of Pedagogy, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland

    Violetta Drabik-Podgórna & Marek Podgórny

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  1. Violetta Drabik-Podgórna
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  2. Marek Podgórny
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Correspondence to Violetta Drabik-Podgórna.

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Drabik-Podgórna, V., Podgórny, M. Decent work in Poland: a preliminary study. Suggestions for educational and counselling practice. Int J Educ Vocat Guidance 22, 759–784 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-022-09548-w

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