Scientific Culture and Education Sector: Literacy, Understanding, or Engagement?

<p style="text-align: justify;">Scientific culture has been a concern for decades in the developed world, giving rise to conceptual changes known as paradigms. The first one is the longstanding literacy paradigm, defined by the skills and knowledge acquired at the education institution. It has been followed by the public understanding of science paradigm, related to the scientific understanding and an allegedly subsequent positive attitude towards science. Lastly, the engagement with science paradigm or science and society paradigm involves people's implications about the science-technology controversies with significant social impact. This article reflects how science teaching has evolved along the years in line with the scientific culture's conceptual shifts. It is concluded that this triad of paradigms is thus of a school nature, given that educational fields have suffered from transformation processes under the same vision of the world (world view), which has also changed the concept of scientific culture. Individuals in a research community learn ways of thinking, feeling and acting and therefore cannot help feeling a liking for what is short-lived and has not taken roots, both inside and outside the school in our postmodern age</p>

The Heritage Given: Cultural Landscape and Heritage of the Vistula Delta Mennonites as Perceived by the Contemporary Residents of the Region

All tangible and intangible elements of cultural heritage that the past has conceded to local communities create unique landscapes shaped by tightly connected anthropogenic and natural factors. This heritage is a keystone of local identity which plays a significant role in politics, economic development, society and world view. In some regions, such as in the Vistula delta in Poland, the cultural heritage has been created by consecutive groups of settlers who represented different values, beliefs and ways of life. On the one hand, such a rich heritage may be perceived as a valuable asset and become a landmark or tourism product of a region. On the other hand, it may be perceived as alien and unwanted by contemporary residents, especially when they are not descendants of the former communities. The main objective of the study presented herein is to analyse how the residents of the Vistula delta region, called Żuławy Wiślane, perceive and use cultural heritage of the Mennonites, representing the most extraordinary group of settlers who used to live in the region. The analysis covers original data gathered during survey research in the period of 2017–2018 under the project Miniatura I “Perception and usage of cultural heritage of the Vistula delta Mennonites” financed by the National Science Centre in Poland.

FOREST IN THE BASHKIRS' VIEW OF THE WORLD

В статье анализируются особенности восприятия лесного пространства башкирами. На основе языковых, фольклорных материалов сделана попытка раскрыть различные аспекты взаимоотношений лес - человек, образ леса в картине мира башкир. Как и в большинстве традиционных культур, в целом мифологический образ леса носит отрицательный характер. В фольклоре он часто описывается как тёмный, мрачный, неизвестный, таящий опасности, противопоставляясь обжитому и освоенному пространству селений. Лесной пандемониум также представлен в основном отрицательными персонажами. В целом образ леса в традиционной картине мира башкир предстаёт довольно неоднозначным. С одной стороны - это категория, связанная с потусторонним миром, неизведанная, «чужая» территория. С другой - лес издавна являлся источником различных благ - в виде строительного материала, пушнины, различных продуктов питания, укрывал от врагов. The article analyzes the features of Bashkirs' perception of the forest space. On the basis of the materials of the epos, folklore, folk ideas, an attempt was made to reveal the various aspects of the relationship between forest and man, the image of the forest in Bashkirs' world view. As in most traditional cultures, the mythological image of the forest as a whole is negative. In folklore, it is often described as dark, gloomy, unknown, fraught with danger, being contrasted with the inhabited and developed space of the villages. The forest pandemonium is also represented mainly by negative characters. On the other hand, in the domestic perception forest is valued for the benefits derived from it: shelter, food, protection from enemies. In addition, Bashkirs, distinguished by a developed aesthetic perception and contemplative thinking, appreciated its beauty, which is also reflected in folklore. In general, the image of forest in the Bashkirs' traditional view of the world appears rather ambiguous. On the one hand, it is the category associated with the other world, unknown, «foreign» territory. On the other hand, the forest has long been a source of various benefits - in the form of construction materials, furs, various food products, and it sheltered them from enemies.

FOREST IN THE BASHKIRS' VIEW OF THE WORLD

В статье анализируются особенности восприятия лесного пространства башкирами. На основе языковых, фольклорных материалов сделана попытка раскрыть различные аспекты взаимоотношений лес - человек, образ леса в картине мира башкир. Как и в большинстве традиционных культур, в целом мифологический образ леса носит отрицательный характер. В фольклоре он часто описывается как тёмный, мрачный, неизвестный, таящий опасности, противопоставляясь обжитому и освоенному пространству селений. Лесной пандемониум также представлен в основном отрицательными персонажами. В целом образ леса в традиционной картине мира башкир предстаёт довольно неоднозначным. С одной стороны - это категория, связанная с потусторонним миром, неизведанная, «чужая» территория. С другой - лес издавна являлся источником различных благ - в виде строительного материала, пушнины, различных продуктов питания, укрывал от врагов. The article analyzes the features of Bashkirs' perception of the forest space. On the basis of the materials of the epos, folklore, folk ideas, an attempt was made to reveal the various aspects of the relationship between forest and man, the image of the forest in Bashkirs' world view. As in most traditional cultures, the mythological image of the forest as a whole is negative. In folklore, it is often described as dark, gloomy, unknown, fraught with danger, being contrasted with the inhabited and developed space of the villages. The forest pandemonium is also represented mainly by negative characters. On the other hand, in the domestic perception forest is valued for the benefits derived from it: shelter, food, protection from enemies. In addition, Bashkirs, distinguished by a developed aesthetic perception and contemplative thinking, appreciated its beauty, which is also reflected in folklore. In general, the image of forest in the Bashkirs' traditional view of the world appears rather ambiguous. On the one hand, it is the category associated with the other world, unknown, «foreign» territory. On the other hand, the forest has long been a source of various benefits - in the form of construction materials, furs, various food products, and it sheltered them from enemies.

Kintsugi mind: clinicians can emerge from the pandemic whole

The Japanese practice an ancient art called Kintsugi. A craftsperson repairs broken pottery with gold or silver rendering it more beautiful than in its original state. Can clinicians engage in “Kintsugi Mind” and thereby emerge from this pandemic integrated and whole? Yuan et al. (2021) conducted a meta-analysis including 88 studies of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following earlier pandemics and COVID-19. Health care professionals had the highest prevalence (26.9%) compared to infected cases and the public. Another type of trauma is called secondary or vicarious; it occurs when a person bears witness to suffering and death but remains powerless to change it; countless clinicians have experienced this over the past year. It manifests as emotional depletion, anxiety, insomnia, and impaired interpersonal relationships. How can clinicians heal from their exposure to the pandemic? Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is defined as positive psychological changes following trauma. PTG manifests in five areas: appreciation of life, relating to others, personal strength, recognizing new possibilities, and spiritual change. A transformation in the person’s world view and their place in it ensues. For health care professionals who are experiencing emotional distress, insomnia, or manifest PTSD symptoms they may heal by engaging in the six “Rs.” These are: relating, resourcing, repatterning, reprocessing, reflecting, and rituals. Both PTG and these six practices may contribute to Kintsugi Mind. While this appears to place the onus on individuals, it is crucial that leaders in the health care system implement programs enabling HCPs to be restored, rather than broken by this crisis.

Ascertaining Important Features of the JAPROSIM Simulation Library

This paper describes important features of JAPROSIM, a free and open source simulation library implemented in Java programming language. It provides a framework for building discrete event simulation models. The process interaction world view adopted by JAPROSIM is discussed. We present the architecture and major components of the simulation library. In order to ascertain important features of JAPROSIM, examples are given. Further motivations are discussed and suggestions for improving our work are given.

Widmo Chopina krąży po Warszawie

Pejzaż myśli. Warszawa Chopina i początek polskiej nowoczesności [A landscape of thoughts: Chopin’s Warsaw and the beginning of Polish modernity] by Michał Kuziak is a book combining the values of a scholarly work and a work whose main task is to popularise knowledge both about Frédéric Chopin himself and about the world that surrounded him and that shaped him. The dissertation is not only the context for the composer’s life; it is also part of a broader stream of research on the beginnings of Polish modernity. The book is therefore about Warsaw understood not only as the place where young Frédéric grew up, but also as the area where the foundations of Polish modernity were laid. Chopin functioned in a kind of intellectual melting pot within which there was a conflict between tradition and modernity, between progress and conservatism. The author precisely delineates the chronological framework within which he moves. These are the years 1810–1830, that is, the first 20 years of the composer’s life. However, the book does not only focus on the person of Chopin, so it is not “Chopin-centric.” The work consists of three parts, each of them marked with a significant title: 1. “City and people”; 2. “Institutions and people”; 3. “Thoughts and people.” This arrangement is a good example of the author’s main idea: to show Chopin among people, and also people within the city, municipal institutions and the thoughts that developed there. For the author of the book, Warsaw was a crucible and a cosmos of thoughts: on the one hand, there is a constant offensive of scientifi c and technical thought related to the Enlightenment tradition, and on the other, the birth of the world of spirit and religion. Polish modernity is an eclectic mixture in which there are still remnants of the noble world, but the foundations of the bourgeois world are also being laid. Kuziak, drawing an image of Warsaw at that time, emphasises the importance of key cultural institutions, such as literary salons and cafés. For Chopin, cafés, where he met with representatives of the contemporary world of literature and poetry, were of particular importance. Warsaw’s intellectual climate, inspired by the French Enlightenment, was giving way more and more to the influences of German culture associated with Romanticism. Kuziak writes that the modernity of the Romantic type was shaped by German culture. He regards the considerations of Kazimierz Brodziński and Maurycy Mochnacki as the two largest projects of modern Polish identity. Importantly, both of these authors were closely associated with the Polish musical culture which the young Chopin absorbed. The author of the book makes a reservation that it is difficult to conclusively confi rm what influence the institutional and intellectual shape of Warsaw at that time had on Chopin. He states with certainty that Chopin’s trips outside the city, and thus getting to know Masovian folklore, had a decisive impact on his imagination. The book does not, however, determine how the then Warsaw shaped the composer’s later life. The author brilliantly reconstructed the background on which Chopin’s shadow moved, but he chose not to answer the most important question: did the city, people, institutions and intellectual climate ultimately form the composer’s modern world view? This question remains open.