Department of Child and Childhood Studies in Diverse Environments

The Chair of Department: Professor Maria Kolankiewicz

The Department of Child and Childhood Studies in Diverse Environments focuses on research into various aspects of children’s lives and rights, as well as childhood experiences in diverse environments and contexts.

The aim of the Department’s research and teaching activities is to deepen knowledge of the conditions shaping children’s development, as well as their legal, educational, and social situations in different environments. The Department’s interests include the education and socialisation of children and young people in:

• families with different socio-economic status,
• formal educational institutions, including preschools and schools,
• non-formal and informal education settings,
• urban and rural environments, as well as centres and peripheries,
• peer groups and youth organisations,
• the natural environment in the context of climate change,
• multicultural environments characterised by diverse traditions and values,
• contexts of mobility and migration,
• contexts of war, armed conflict, and refugee experiences,
• the virtual environment of new technologies.

As researchers engaged in childhood and child studies, and with due regard to Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, its Optional Protocols, and the assumptions of contemporary international childhood studies, we incorporate the perspectives of children and young people. Through research, teaching, and educational practice, we promote children’s rights within the university and in cooperation with the wider social environment, taking into account environmental contexts and conditions.

The Department’s staff conduct interdisciplinary research in five main areas:

1. Childhood and children’s rights
2. Early childhood education and English language teaching
3. Schools and preschools as spaces supporting children’s developmental potential
4. Historical and cultural contexts of upbringing and education
5. Global and local challenges related to childhood and youth, including education and socialisation

Members of the Department collaborate with numerous academic centres worldwide, as well as with institutions and social organisations in Poland and abroad. Our mission is to disseminate knowledge and promote current research on childhoods, children’s rights, and children’s lived experiences in diverse envionments. As scholars, we take the perspectives of children and young people seriously, promoting a culture of participation, engagement, and inclusion. Accordingly, we recognise children’s rights and agency through research and practice. The Department is committed to empowering children and young people so that their voices can be included in research and represented in discussions and presentations on issues and topics that matter to them.