From the adaptive to the development capital of Poles. Some determinants of the change

Abstract

This article concerns the conditions for the transition from the adaptive capital of Poles to their development capital, during their life cycle. The present text is an analysis of existing sources, i.e. publications in the social sciences, research reports, and strategies regarding different spheres of life in Poland. Special attention has been paid to the barriers to the civilizational development of Poland, children’s capital, the situation and attitudes of contemporary youth, adults potential for change, as well as the relationship between the level of literacy in childhood and the quality of life in adulthood. The basis for changes paving the way for an accumulation of development capital built on the autonomy of individuals is a national education development strategy, socially agreed upon and consistently implemented for several tens of years, a strategy which has been absent from Poland since the political transition in 1989.