Twenty-eighth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Janusz Korczak is well known in different contexts: By his pedagogical methods based on self-critique and dialog, as a medical doctor, being an author of novels and plays, short stories for children, and to perform as a journalist and a radio broadcaster. Nevertheless, less is known about his political tendencies and his innovative thoughts of how to integrate Socialism with Individualism within his educational methods. While identifying himself as an atheist Pole, a non-Jewish Jew, he also showed interest in revolutionary Zionist movements which empowered the need to become close to nature, agricultural work and communal life. This study attempts to introduce unknown ties that Korczak created with the collective settlements in Mandatory Palestine, and shed light on his inside-processes, while staying there on his two visits in 1934 and 1936. Did he intend to implement his visions by moving to the ancient land? The main discussion leans on new research, some interviews with a few of Korczak’s orphans who survived, and with those who accompanied him on the crucial visits.