Authentic writing in the (foreign language) classroom – contradictory or doable?

Writing practice does not have to be useless and boring. It can even serve wider educational goals, sensitizing students to social and political problems. This paper shows how Amnesty International Urgent Action Letters can be used to make classroom writing practice focused and meaningful. At the same time, writing tasks designed around Urgent Actions can provide students with valuable examination practice. Such tasks can show students that writing tasks, as well as writing itself, can be useful in modern world

The Loneliness and Isolation of the Parentified Child in the Family

Parentification is a phenomenon that occurs in family life, consisting of a reversal of the roles of the child and their parent or parents (Böszörményi-Nagy & Spark, 1973). It is understood as a functional and/or emotional change of roles in which the child subordinates their own needs in order to adapt to and take care of the instrumental or psychological needs of the parent. The presented research is embedded in the interpretive paradigm. The research material allows the author to distinguish specific stages of parentified childhood (proper childhood, transition phase, adult childhood), within which appear categories such as responsibility, involuntary heroism, self-containment and loneliness. With regard to the last two categories, the author wishes to construct the image of a lonely child experiencing the reversal of family roles. There is a peculiar paradox at work: the loneliness of the child within the family environment. There is a lonely struggle for the survival and proper functioning of the family, while keeping up the appearance of a normally functioning family, maintaining family homeostasis, and meeting their own needs and those of their loved ones.Samotność i izolacja dziecka parentyfikowanego w rodzinieParentyfikacja to  zjawisko  występujące w życiu rodzinnym, które polega na odwróceniu ról między dzieckiem a rodzicem/rodzicami (Böszörményi-Nagy i Spark, 1973). W realizowanych przez autorkę badaniach, osadzonych w paradygmacie interpretatywnym, parentyfikacja staje się głównym przedmiotem zainteresowania. Na podstawie zgromadzonego materiału badawczego autorka wyróżnia etapy dzieciństwa parentyfikowanego, a w ich ramach takie kategorie jak: odpowiedzialność, niedobrowolny heroizm, samoradzenie sobie i osamotnienie. W odniesieniu do dwóch ostatnich kategorii autorka konstruuje obraz osamotnionego dziecka doświadczającego odwrócenia ról w rodzinie.  Na uwagę zasługuje fakt, że dochodzi tu do swoistego paradoksu – osamotnienia dziecka w rodzinie, środowisku mu najbliższym. Toczy ono samotną walkę o przetrwanie i właściwe funkcjonowanie rodziny, zachowanie pozorów normalności, utrzymywanie rodzinnej homeostazy, zaspokojenie potrzeb swoich i bliskich

One percent of personal income tax as a source of revenue in public benefit organisations

Motivation: Expert literature addresses the issue of funds transferred in the form of 1% of personal income tax for public benefit organisations (PBOs). Taking into consideration the fact that previous papers concentrated on the macro approach, a research gap has been observed regarding the analysis of the significance of the 1% mechanism as a source of revenue from the perspective of individual organisations.Aim: The purpose of this paper is to assess the significance of 1% of personal income tax for thirty PBOs that receive the highest contributions from this source. This research aims to study whether the 1% mechanism is the main source of revenue for those PBOs and if the share of funds from 1% in total revenues was stable in subsequent years.Results: The funds from 1% do not constitute the major source of total revenues for the PBOs receiving the highest contributions under the 1% mechanism. The PBOs analysed in this paper differ in their structure of revenues and the share of funds from 1% of personal income tax in total revenues equals from 5% to 100% in the examined period. In eleven out of thirty PBOs the share of 1% income tax did not exceed 50% of total revenues in any of the years analysed. Only for three PBOs the difference between the maximum and the minimum share of funds from the 1% mechanism in total revenues was less than 5 percentage points in a given period

The Maturity Level of Quality Management and Medical Service Improvement by Wielkopolska District Hospitals

Theoretical background: Quality management and medical service improvement in district hospitals enables to achieve a number of internal and external benefits. It is a long-term process of conscious transformation of the existing state into a desired and accepted one by the concerned stakeholders. The diagnosis of the medical service organizations’ performance is an important aspect in the context of building a hospital of the future which is focused on quality, development and improvement.Purpose of the article: The article reveals the positions of hospital managers (directors) on the current level of the quality management maturity service improvement of the medical facilities they manage.Research methods: A diagnostic survey was conducted using a paper questionnaire. The form was handed in person and filled in the presence of the author. This provided an inducement for analysis and conclusions. The study was performed in 2022.Main findings: The level of implementation of the quality management system (QMS) principles in the surveyed hospital organizations, despite the variability, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the environment, was evaluated at 3.39. This means that the practice of the QMS is widely established, but not in most areas. Therefore, the scope of the principles cannot be considered as complete. The result is different for the assessed maturity of quality excellence in the selected accreditation standards. The surveyed district hospitals evaluated their maturity level at 3.69. Thus, the respondents considered that the maturity level to be close to 70%. They identify the practice as typical (only some exceptions are deviations from it). The surveyed hospitals also have evidence of continuous improvement after at least one year. Another important aspect concerned maturity research in relation to innovation. The surveyed entities determined this parameter at the level of 3.50, which corresponds to approximately 66%. The highest level of maturity achieved the hospitals in the operational skills in conditions of disruption. They assessed the adaptation abilities and taken actions towards sustainable development at the level of 3.82 (72%). These results prove that the district hospitals in the Wielkopolska voivodeship take steps toward excellence, but their level of excellence in 2022 is not full (as it does not apply to 100% of occurrences, and the practice is also not implemented in entire hospitals, without exceptions)

Stosunek pracy – w poszukiwaniu nowego ujęcia pojęcia pracy

Praca stała, pewna, niosąca ze sobą poczucie bezpieczeństwa powoli odchodzi w zapomnienie. Staje się podstawą trudności, nie tylko tych tradycyjnych, o podłożu materialnym, związanych z czasowym lub trwałym bezrobociem. Co ważne, okazuje się być źródłem problemów związanych z tożsamością, prestiżem społecznym i tym, co Giddens (2007) nazywał bezpieczeństwem ontologicznym. Niespotykana dotąd dynamika zachodzących zjawisk decyduje o konieczności nieustannego poszukiwania nowych szans i możliwości pracy, nowych miejsc i form jej wykonywania. Immanentną cechą pracy staje się niepewność i zmienność. Zmianie ulegają procesy pracy, jej formy i sama jej treść.Publikacja dofinansowana przez Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne i Wydział Ekonomiczno-Socjologiczny UŁ Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Evaluation of Growth Yield of Spirulina maxima in Photobioreactors

The paper deals with the evaluation of the parameters for the cultivation of Spirulina maxima in two reactors (large-laboratory scale (LL) and semi-technical scale (ST)), whose illuminated areas in respect of the illuminated volume are different, and with the operating costs. We evaluated the growth yield coefficients for Spirulina maxima cultures. In the LL, the following factors were identified: YO2/X – 65.5; YX/CO2 – 0.0806; YX/P2O5 – 0.0082, while in the ST: YO2/X – 583; YX/CO2 – 0.017; YX/P2O5 – 0.0023. Although the reactor in the ST was equipped with many devices that should have improved the efficiency of cultivation, the obtained result was lower compared to the culture conducted in the LL. It was proved that it was possible to perform the cultivation of Spirulina maxima under temperate climate conditions in simply constructed, low cost reactors

ADULT MORBIDITY DIFFERENTIALS IN LAGOS, 1968-1978

In this paper, an attempt is made to analyse the morbidity of an urban population exposed to modernization processes at an early stage of develop­ment

REPORTING CSR DATA – THE BENEFITS AND BARRIERS TO INVOLVEMENT IN THE IDEA OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the issue of benefits and barriers related to reporting CSR data as standalone reports. This work attempts to examine whether the benefits resulting from the fact that companies are perceived as socially responsible are more impactful for entities that issue standalone CSR reports, as well as whether a standalone report can be a better tool for communicating with internal and external stakeholders. In addition, the study seeks to find out whether there is any difference in the perception of the barriers related to obtaining and publishing non-financial data between companies that are developing standalone reports and those that present this type of data in a different way. Methodology: The study employed the subject literature critical review method and a questionnaire survey. The survey was conducted among companies from the RESPECT index portfolio of the Warsaw Stock Exchange as well as among entities listed in various rankings of socially responsible companies. Findings: The respondents belonging to both groups (issuing and not issuing standalone CSR reports) generally pointed to a similar hierarchy of importance of specific benefits resulting from following CSR policies by the business. However, within the group of entities issuing standalone CSR reports, most of the benefits received a high evaluation. Most of the barriers studied received high indications in the group of companies without standalone reports. The results obtained may indicate that companies that are seen as socially responsible but do not publish a standalone report gain fewer benefits resulting from communication with stakeholders. Research limitation: The work may be affected by the inherent weaknesses associated with survey research which examines rather opinions and views than 'hard data'. Originality: The issue of reporting data in a form of standalone reports and the resulting benefits as well as the barriers faced by companies over the course of preparing CSR reporting is very significant, however, it is still insufficiently researched with regard to the emerging markets. The results obtained can be used for comparative studies of the Polish market and other financial markets since the benefits and barriers to reporting non-financial data as standalone reports are also being identified in other countries