Translating our school’s name, Bednarska Szkoła Realna, to English poses a real challenge since there is no obvious equivalent in the English-speaking world.
First Realne schools were established in the middle of the eighteenth century and emphasized “the practical side of education – one which the Students would later find useful in their lives”, while at the same time “remaining interesting”. The dictionary definition references “a past form of secondary school with a prevalence of mathematics and natural sciences.” Today, we can read the term realna as a call to have the content and forms of teaching refer to the real needs of the country’s youth and encourage the Students to develop skills useful in their professional lives.
The first part of the name references the school’s pedigree and its ideals – the founders originate from the “Bednarska” community and consciously draw on its 30 years of achievements.
It is worth pointing out that currently there are three schools which use the term realna in their names in Poland. The founders of Bednarska Szkoła Realna offer an original and coherent education system approved by the Polish Ministry of Education. We wish to share our idea with anyone who would be interested. Our dream is to foster the creation of realne schools that make use of our system all across Poland.
