Teacher Training College of the Jagiellonian University as an Example of Special-Purpose Training Institution within the Tertiary Education System of the Second Republic of Poland

Abstract

The article aims to define the position of specialised training in the system of tertiary education. The study looks into the basic legal acts of the Second Republic of Poland governing higher educational establishments in terms of the position awarded to such establishments as special-purpose colleges. The problem was discussed using the example of the Teacher Training College of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków inaugurated in 1921. Information sourced from the archives of the Jagiellonian University reveals how important a social role that institution played in pre-war Poland. It was a major training centre for secondary school teachers in the recovered general educational system. While remaining part of the university and denied academic status, the college was not an ordinary teacher training facility. Its significant position is confirmed by its operation within the framework of the Jagiellonian University, the use of university staff as lecturers, the practical and scientific nature of the curriculum, and students access to internships abroad. All things considered, the Teacher Training College of the Jagiellonian University operating in newly reborn Poland earned the status of a pioneer of specialist education and set the trend for other special forms of training. The novelty of the research carried out and the results obtained arise from the fact that this subject has not yet been analyzed by legal historians. Also for this reason, it should be recognized that the presented issue has a cognitive value for science.