The Institute of National Remembrance is performing its ongoing educational work through the respective departments within the Branch Public Education Offices and Delegations thereof. Most of these offer a package of activities that is aimed at students at all types of schools, an offer for professional advancement programmes for teachers, as well as a popularising activity, in the most general sense of this terms, concerning knowledge of the newest Polish history.

The IPN educational offer includes, among others, the following:

a) Workshops for teachers

These consist in extending the scope of knowledge concerning various aspects of the newest history. They are based on active methods of instruction, using source material that was developed by the Institute of National Remembrance (e.g. the educational packages, the DVD The PRL in Films). The workshops take one day each, and usually last for 4-6 hours. They may be run in thematic series.

b) Workshops for students

These have proven to be an interesting way for students to get to know various issues of the country’s history of the years 1939-1989, usually deviating, as far as their formulae, from a traditional lesson. Students work at the meeting that is supervised by an educator from the Public Education Office, using written sources, fragments of films, photographs and exhibitions. The workshops are targeted at students of all levels of schooling and usually take approximately two hours each. The Branch Public Education Office in Poznan also has classes for the deaf and hard of hearing.

c) Lectures for students and teachers

This is a traditional and effective form of immediate instruction concerning various issues. Historians – specialists in a given field – present, in a synthetic way, a referent topic. The meetings are usually open and last for ca. two hours.

d) Lessons

Classes are run by our educators, and include a wide range of issues covering the years 1939-1989. The educators, using modern teaching methods, give lessons for young people, based on source material, exhibitions, pictures and fragments of films, both documentary and fictional ones. Lessons can be ordered at any time during the school year, at all Branch Public Education Offices, choosing from among the subjects suggested by the educators, or having this assigned on an individual basis.

e) Seminars

These are usually aimed at both students and teachers. They combine the form of a lecture/parlour and practical exercise based on sources, as published by the Institute of National Remembrance. The participants do not only receive information in a passive way, they also actively partake in the meeting. The PEO IPN educators establish the subject matter of seminars, taking into account chronology or thematic scope.

f) Contests

These constitute one of the most attractive ways in which young people can access knowledge of history. Via a drawing, poster, photograph, composition, or electronic publishing form, they become familiarised with the newest history of their town/city or region. Contestants are able to present their areas of interest and achievement to peers and professional historians. Here are exemplary topics of regional contests: the historical contest for primary schools ”Poland and Poles during World War II” (the BPEO Poznań), the art contest for primary and grammar school students ”Paint Your Grandparents’ Story” (third edition) (the BPEO Rzeszów), the photographical-graphical contest for secondary school and college students ”History Written in Chiaroscuro” (the BPEO Rzeszów).

g) Cross-country activities

This is a most attractive way in which to learn about the history of one’s town/city or region. Participants follow a specified route, carrying out tasks that enable them to get to know better the history related to the topic of the event. It is a frequent occasion that historical re-enactment is used, which facilitates learning about uniforms or weapons, for instance. The Branch Public Education Offices organise both one-day cross-country events, and several-day ones, hiking and biking included. Exemplary topics of outdoor activities organised in the school year 2008/2009: The third edition of the Major Józef Kuraś (“Ogień”) Soldiers’ Track Rally. 26-28 September 2008 (the BPEO Krakow), The Tourist-Historical Rally ”Looking for Venues of Memorable Events – Silesia and the Żywiec Region 1939-1947”, organised for secondary school students of the Silesian Voivodeship at the turn of May/June (the BPEO Katowice), A rally – historical contest to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Osuchy (the BPEO Lublin). ”Following the Traces of the Soldiers of Captain Kazimierz Kamieński, Nom de Guerre “Huzar” – Łapy – Wysokie Mazowieckie (the BPEO Białystok). Some Branch Offices also have historical tourist clubs that work on a yearly basis with a regular group of youth. During club meetings, the young people get to know the history of the region, visiting the memorable venues and meeting witnesses to historical events.

h) Film reviews

These include various topics, concerning both regional and nationwide history, e.g. ”And What Do You Know about the PRL? (the BPEO Gdańsk), ”Censorship in the PRL” (the BPEO Rzeszów), “The Eastern Borderland Lost” (the BPEO Krakow), “The Movies in the PRL, the PRL in the Movies” (the BPEO Warszawa), “The PRL Film Frames” (the BPEO Wrocław), “The Newest History in Movies” (the BPEO Łódź).
Both documentary and fictional films are presented, concerning Poland’s newest history. The show is usually accompanied by a lecture by a historian who specialises in a given subject matter. It is also possible to have a meeting organized in the form of a parlour.

i) Educational projects

These are realised by the IPN educators and enable young people to learn about the newest history in their own way. Using sources, venues of national remembrance, and accounts by eyewitnesses to history, students get a chance to familiarise themselves with the history of their region. The project form of the initiative enables students to acquire skills that they will use in their adult lives. Here are some examples of educational projects: ”Address: Polanki 124b” – developing modules for a course in the history of the People’s Republic of Poland (e-learning) and “Intercultural Education –Ukraine” (the BPEO Gdańsk), “Winter Holidays with the IPN”, “Summer Holidays with the IPN” (the BPEO Rzeszów), and ”The Ostaszków Project” (the BPEO Białystok).

j) Educational conferences

This form of activity of BPEOs is primarily aimed at people who are interested in the newest history. The previous years saw, among others, the international conference ”Children and Young People in Totalitarian Systems – The Polish and German Experience” (the BPEO Lublin). In the school year 2007/2008 an international educational conference took place, among others, for teachers from Poland and Germany – by means of the continuation of a four-year series. ”A Picture of the Neighbour in Polish and German History Textbooks – 1918-1990” (Słubice, 23-27 September 2008) and a popular scientific conference for teachers entitled “Ethnic Cleansing. Deportations” (the BPEO Warsaw).