Values Education - a Reality or Myth in Polish Schools

The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), which is coming to an end, will offer all kinds of summaries and reflections on this issue. The aim of this paper, strictly related with the goals of the DESD, is to answer the following questions: (1) Is the Polish school ready to provide values education?; (2) How are schools trying to involve values education into the school practice?; (3) To what extent do the adopted solutions regarding programmes, curricula and textbooks match the requirements of values education, which is one of the pillars of education for sustainable development? The author presents an analysis of the content of selected curricula for the early stage of education and the textbooks used at this stage, paying special attention to values education based on pupils' and teachers' activities and experiences. The results of the analysis provide an unequivocal answer to the extent to which we are prepared to provide or to implement values education at this stage of instruction.