Freedom and Responsibility in the Everyday Life of a Student

Abstract

When addressing topics related to values in man’s everyday life, one cannot rest at solely theoretical considerations. The challenge for all those working with other people, and especially for parents, teachers and educators, is to seek ways to introduce adolescents to the practice of values. The following text constitutes an attempt to reflect on the relationship between freedom and responsibility in the context of education. We understand maturity, among others, as the ability to find ourselves in spaces of freedom and responsibility, but to be able to pursue it, each one of us must be able to experience them from an early age.

Looking at how the modern education system operates, the author attempts to determine whether a young person finds answers to questions of what freedom is and how to understand it at school. Do the students have a sense of self-determination and responsibility for their educational progress and, if so, to what extent? By analysing the literature and describing selected elements of grass-roots activities of teachers and people involved in the discussion of the shape of education, the author tries to find out whether the school can contribute to explaining and implementing attitudes based on freedom and responsibility and, if so, to what extent. The changes taking place in today’s society require, among others, the formation of competences related to lifelong learning, and this calls for self-awareness, the ability to make decisions and take responsibility for them.