News from Janusz Korczak Associations Worldwide




Below you will find interesting documents and news items from the International Korczak Movement.

International Korczak Events 2012 and 2013
2012 will see among others the Fourth Seminar in Geneva on the Convention of the Rights of the Child as related to Korczak's Views. The exact dates have to be planned, it will one of the weekends in June. For the first time there will be sessions and workshops with children and youngsters, and the topic will be: Article 3 of the Convention: the right of the child to be treated in his/her best interest.

Also in 2012 a Korczak Vacation is planned in Poland. It aims at bringing together people working as professionals with (young) children, i.e. group leaders, teachers, caregivers, etc. The vacation will combine workshops, lecturers, leisure time in a beautiful natural environment. Execution of this vacation depends on the acquistition of subsidies.

In october 2012 a conference will be organized in Warsaw to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Korczak's death.

In 2013 probably in July a summer conference is planned in the beautiful palace in Caux, France, near Montreux.

Updates of news about these and other events will appear on this website.

Korczak in Geneva 2011
It is becoming a tradition: for the third time now members of the UN Comittee of the Rights of the Child and members from multiple Korczak Associations acropss Europe gathered together on a Saturday in June to share their views on the rights of the Child. This time article 12 of the Convention was the central topic. This article states that the child has the right to express his or her own views freely, and has the right to be heard.
Members of the Comittee presented their views on this article and its implementation in their own countries: Tunesia, Uganda, Hungary a.s.o. After these presentations there was a performance of the play The 10 matchboxes by Israeli actor Amichai Pardo. He transformed into the figure of Janusz Korczak and in a dialogical way with the public told the story of the 10 matchboxes: one is lost and found, another turns into a 'ship', children quarrel about it and so on. A very moving experience. After the performance Amichai told us that he performed this play over a 1000 times, in many countries and that is was always different.
The program of the afternoon consisted of talks by Korczakians on the topic. Jonathan Levy talked about global citizenship and a new initiative to develop a program on children as teachers on children's rights. Anna Bystrzycka told a moving story about KOrczak's lifer in the orphanage. And Kelvin Ravenscroft from the UK philosophized in a very spititual, yet also practical manner about he social construction of meaning. Joop Berding from the Board of the Dutch Korczak Association concluded that the concept of space, both in a physical and in psychological sense is prime when we want to uphold article 12 and have the child be able to express himself or herself and be heard.
The last panel was also about practice. Nelianne de Boo head of primary school Matthijsje in the Netherlands told us how she tries to form a community with parents and children. Se showed that bringing Korczak into practice that does not mean that you can't work towards good results; even better, because of the positive and co-operative spirit. Sven Hartman from Sweden told us about a new project with Roma children. His aproach signifies the humane spirit which was so characteristic for Korczak's approach. The UN committee member from Uganda told us about the tension between children 's rights and culture, as can be seen in the case of genital mutilation. On the other hand, also in African countries, the new social media give more opportunities for young people to express themselves.
This seminar was once again hosted by the Polish mission to the UN.
Below an impression of a panel and the play.



Korczak in Japan
In the first week of August 2010 an international conference devoted to Janusz Korczak and the rights of children took place in Tokyo, Japan. A report in English will soon be published here, as well as on the website of the delegate from the Netherlands: Joop Berding. In the section 'English page' on his website you can already find a short report and some pictures.

Korczak in Ghana
Here you can find a flyer in English about the activities in Ghana, to which the Dutch Korzak Association contributes.

Janusz Korczak for workers in daycare and after-schoolcare
On June 1, 2010 the Janusz Korczak Association of The Netherlands published a 8-page, full-colour booklet, especially produced for workers in daycare and after-school care centers. The booklet was translated from the successfull edition that was issued in Mach, 2010. It combines quotes from Janusz Korczak, with illustrations and examples from everyday practice from childcare work.
The authors are Joop Berding, Inge Smit & Inge van Rijn.
You can order copies of the booklet by downloading the orderform for Booklet here, and mail or send it to info@korczak.nl.
Below you see the front of the booklet.



The booklet was officially presented at the conference The rights of the child and Janusz Korczak, Geneva, June 5, 2010.
Below you see a photo-impression of this conference, a joint venture of the Council of Europe, the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations and the International Korczak Association, with representatives from France, UK, Russian Federation, Belgium, germany, Poland, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.



Older news

A short report on a new publication on the importance of social and emotional education can be found here: A new publication and the first chapter of this publication (9 pages) can be found here: Social and Emotional Education

A review of a new book on children's rights can be found here: Exploring Children's Rights

A report on the International Youth Meeting in the Netherlands can be found here: Report International Youth Meeting

A report on the International Meeting in Mannheim October 2007 can be found here: Minutes of the Meeting in Mannheim

A report on the Jubilee of the Korczak Association of Germany can be found here: Mannheim

The speech given by Commissioner Hammarberg in Warsaw can be found here: Hammarberg Warsaw

A report on Museum Education in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg Russia can be found here: Hermitage


Below you will find the international Newsletters

updated March 25, 2008

For Newsletter No. 23 of March 2008, click here: Newsletter March 2008

For Newsletter No. 22 of February 2007, click here: Newsletter February 2007

For Newsletter No. 21 of January 2007, click here: Newsletter January 2007

For Newsletter No. 20 of November 2006, click here: Newsletter November 2006

For Newsletter No. 19 of October 2006, click here: Newsletter October 2006

For Newsletter No. 18 of June 2006, click here: Newsletter June 2006

For Newsletter No. 17 of May 2006, click here: Newsletter May 2006

For Newsletter No. 16 of April 2006, click here: Newsletter April 2006

For Newsletter No. 15 of November 2005, click here: Newsletter Nov 2005

The International Newsletters Nos 14 and earlier can be found here.

Thanks for all this interesting Korczak News.
Please, if you have something for the Korczak Newsletter, send us your story: info@korczak.nl.
Greetings from the Board of the Janusz Korczak International Newsletter.