Polish Preschool Children’s Understanding of the Meaning of 'Peace'

Abstract

This study presents the understanding of the concept of „peace” by Polish children attending kindergartens. The complexity of the issue lies in the fact that in Polish, the word „pokój” has two meanings: one meaning a room in the apartment, and the other meaning the absence of conflicts (peace). A study was conducted on a group of 107 children attending 7 kindergartens (including 2 Catholic ones). Next, the preschoolers’ understanding of the complexity of the term „peace” was examined. This was followed by a series of activities on the issue of world peace. This paper compiles responses and attempts to define the concept of peace by children from different types of preschools. It shows how the environment influences the development of abstract thinking competence and understanding of values in preschool children.