Empowering Change: A Case Study of Youth Activism and Educational Reform in Poland's Political Landscape

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Investigating the empowerment of youth activists: transforming education for social change

Proposal

Youth activism (YA) refers to young people recognizing and engaging in challenging inequalities, transforming societal views, and leading grassroots efforts to create real change (Chang and Gamez, 2022). YA also encompasses youth involvement within the structures of institutions and decision-making processes that influence their lives (Checkoway, 2011). Until the end of 2023, Poland was governed by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had been implementing a neoconservative vision of educational policy. This policy was oriented towards traditional Polish ideals, Catholicism, and identity politics, and it strongly marginalized discussions about global and progressive education within the formal education system (Kuleta-Hulboj, 2020; Klatt, 2024).
A recent NGO study among Polish youth activists engaged in various youth organizations revealed that 89% of them believe the education system is their biggest concern, while only 30% feel they can influence change in that area (Domarski et al., 2024). Since 2024, the new centrist government has initiated a process of reforming the Polish education system, claiming it wants the voices of young people to be heard in matters that directly affect them (Nowacka, 2024).
Studies on YA typically focus on online activism, political participation, social movements, climate change activism, and youth in protest (Wright & McLeod, 2023; Earl et al., 2017). In this presentation, we aim to utilize the Polish case study to focus on the role of YA in education. We ask: How do Polish youth activists understand the concerns of the broader Polish youth population? How can young people participate in decision-making processes within the education system? How do young activists assess their effectiveness in their attempts to create change?
As part of the STUDACT project, we interviewed prominent Polish youth activists aged 18-25 whose activism is directly focused on Polish school-age youth and the education system. Each activist was interviewed three times between September 2023 and 2024. The Polish case study, along with the timing of our research, allowed us to draw comparisons of how YA operates under both less and more favorable government conditions. All data were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2021).
Our results showed that activists address multiple issues they believe the Polish education system fails to tackle, including mental health, student rights in schools, LGBTQ+ rights, the excessive curriculum, youth empowerment, and civic participation, to name a few. To influence change on these issues, activists utilize a variety of methods, including protests, workshops, media appearances, social media campaigns, research, establishing non-governmental organizations, obtaining grants, organizing youth projects, petitioning, and addressing government officials. The choice and scope of these actions varied depending on the political situation. Although activists feel more confident in pushing for change under the new government, they remain skeptical about the effectiveness of their activism in directly influencing decision-makers

Authors

• Katarzyna Jasikowska, Jagiellonian University

• Martyna Maria Elerian, Technion