Pedeutological Lesson from the Biography of the Other, or Restoring Memory Wacława Świętek

Abstract

The aim of the article is to perpetuate the memory of Docent Wacława Świętek, a woman who co-founded the Institute of Pedagogy at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, being the embodiment of the term “teacher by vocation”. Proving the thesis that the experiences of the described pedagogue can be a source of biographical learning, be an inspiration for (self-)reflection
of a pedeutological nature, it is noted that she was not only an academic, but also a practitioner, a teacher of integrated teaching, a methodologist of teaching Polish, and a social and educational activist. The text presents the educational path, shows the breakthrough moments in Świętek’s private, professional and scientific life, and refers to people who influenced the development
of her research and personal path. At the same time, reference is made to the concept of supra-individual memory. By placing the presented case in a broader theoretical context, four areas of collective memory proposed by Jan Assmann are presented: mimetic memory, memory of things, communicative memory, cultural memory. The conducted investigations allow us to conclude that Świętek’s biography proves the existence of universal competences that should distinguish every teacher regardless of the circumstances. At the same time, in the final part of the text, a solution is proposed that would allow for preserving the memory of representatives of the academic community who have not been honored with traditional places of memory so far, so that its record could be a contribution to learning.