The Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland have specific functions and powers in the Polish legal system. The legislative function, that is enacting Acts of Parliament and resolutions, allows the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and the Senate of the Republic of Poland to determine the basic directions of the State’s activity. The creative function consists in directly appointing and dismissing constitutional bodies and persons who are members of these bodies. The third function boils down to controlling the actions of the executive branch of government. Bearing in mind these commonly known facts, the authors of the article decided to draw attention to the important, in their opinion, although not formally defined, educational and upbringing function. It finds expression in many actions of deputies and senators, including the commemoration of figures, organisations, institutions, ideas, events, places and cities that are important in the history of the Polish nation and State, in annual resolutions establishing the patron of a given year. The aim of the article is to analyse the resolutions of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and of the Senate of the Republic of Poland adopted over the years 2000–2022 and to present the process for adopting such resolutions using a few selected examples.
In the opinion of the author of the monumental In Praise of History, the French historian Marc Bloch, history is a science about people in time, individuals who create history, having different biographies, experiences and value systems. Didacticians and methodologists, fully agreeing with this opinion, emphasize how important it is to refer to specific figures in school historical education. Bearing in mind the quoted opinions, the authors of the article decided to look at the figure of Wojciech Trąmpczyński, the first marshal in the history of the Sejm and Senate of the Second Polish Republic, through the prism of materials that are relatively rarely analysed by historians. First, the image of the article’s protagonist in contemporary school historical education in Poland was analysed. It was particularly important to indicate the place that Wojciech Trąmpczyński occupies in school history textbooks. The conclusion resulting from this analysis shows that his figure is noted in textbooks and most often included in the broader context of Polish politics in the first years of the Second Republic of Poland. It is, however, an insignificant presence. Over the past 20 years, students taking the matriculation exam have not had the opportunity to “meet” Wojciech Trąmpczyński as there was no reference to his figure in any of the matriculation tasks. In the second part of the article, its authors looked at the very limited presence of the Marshal of the Legislative Sejm in the public space. By this term we understand such forms of commemoration as monuments, commemorative plaques, patronage of schools and institutions, street names, publications or murals. The analysis carried out for the purpose of the article showed that Wojciech Trąmpczyński is present in public space to a very limited extent. Therefore, in its last part, the authors of the article proposed several actions that could, at least to a certain degree, increase the presence of Wojciech Trąmpczyński in the school historical education and public space.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.