Prepared by Grażyna Zarzycka University of Łódź SWOT ANALYSIS OF COUNSELLING METHODS IN POLAND ON THE RIGHT TRACK, 2011

Name of the school: School of Polish for Foreigners at the University of Łódź Country: Poland Description of the counselling method: in Poland

Counselling for foreigners is offered by several organizations and institutions and by their websites Among them there are:  National Board for Certifying Knowledge of Polish as a Foreign Language  several universities and private schools of Polish culture and language for foreigners

 government centres for foreign students and for students of Polish origin and migrants, such as:  Department of International Programmes and Recognition of Diploma (BUWiWM)  Office for Foreigners and Repatriates  non-governmental organizations and national minorities organizations  Polish and international commercial agencies for migrants and returning migrants.

Ways of counselling and means used are also varied Some of the methods may be regarded as universal or global - in case when they are directed at all foreigners living in Poland or at every learner of Polish as a foreign language. Local methods of advising are those which are applied by local language centres or migrant organizations.

Other methods of counselling may be regarded as face-to-face (direct) formal or informal counselling, i.e. language advising provided by the staff (teachers and administrative workers) of language schools and by the would-be teachers of Polish as a foreign language.

Quite often counselling proceeds as face- to- face foreigner-to-foreigner advising. Also, interactive counselling may be provided by experts via the Internet (by e- mails, chats or Internet forums). Currently, this form of searching and providing advice becomes commonly used.

Many organizations, university departments and language schools publish multilingual leaflets/guides for foreigners, repatriates, teachers of Polish as a foreign or second language. Tips / guides for students instructing them on how to live in Poland and how to effectively learn Polish are provided by several language schools of Polish as a foreign language.

At some language centres special interactive web pages only for foreign students have been developed (for example in the Centre of Polish Language for Foreigners, University of Łódź) and counselling system is managed as part of European educational projects (for example Linguae Mundi Foundation in Warsaw is carrying out an education project for refugees and asylum-seekers).

The government offices for migrants and repatriates have not yet developed a regular, effective and customer- friendly counselling system. They only provide foreigners or repatriates with pieces of information (in Polish and English only) necessary for the legalization of their stay in Poland They list educational and residential centres for foreigners (refugees and asylum seekers) and they place governmental directives on their websites. Although they offer the opportunity to contact a government worker by the Internet or phone, no chats/open exchange of ideas are possible.

Conclusions: It is necessary to develop a universal national customer-friendly system of advising to foreigners in Poland. The system should provide the clients with important pieces of information facilitating their language progress as well as their life organization in Poland. This system should be active in the Internet and supported by real-life activities on the national and local level.

Therefore, the group of skilled foreign language speaking consultants should be trained and employed at the governmental agencies. The government offices and language centres should develop their local systems of counselling by participation in European educational projects – many of them are focused on facilitating the migrants’ adaptation.

STRENGTHS 1. Presence of various forms of counselling in Poland on global and local level. 2. On the national level counselling is provided in various forms by the government Office for Foreigners and Repatriates and its local sections located in the Municipal Councils. 3. Universal / global language counselling is provided by the website of Polish as a Foreign language certificate examination. 4. Interactive customer-friendly and free of cost direct counselling methods are applied by various groups of specialists involved in the process of educating foreigners.

5. Among the customer-friendly consultants there are language and subject teachers, would-be teachers and foreigners themselves. 6. Permanent development of counselling by the Internet. Foreigners are provided with pieces of official information and tips on how to live in Poland, also they may take part in chats and Internet discussions. 7. Presence of national minorities advising systems. 8. Development of specialized international counselling agencies for foreigners. STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES 1. No sufficient and easily accessible system of advising to all foreigners. Various forms of counselling are not well integrated. 2. Central system of counselling to foreigners is not customer friendly. 3. Governmental websites for foreigners are in Polish and English only. 4. The staff of local foreign offices is not well prepared for advising (poor knowledge of foreign languages, application forms not translated to other languages). 5. The system of Polish as a Foreign Language Certification is a substitute for a real system of language advising.

6. Intuitive counselling applied by the language schools’ staff (no psychologists and intercultural experts. 7. Websites for foreigners are not always interactive. 8. Using only advising systems developed by their own national minority may result in social separation of foreigners. 9. Commercialization of advising system. 10. Limited participation in EU projects aimed at development of advising to migrants. WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES 1. Using customer-friendly models of advising foreigners developed by multicultural societies. 2. Active participation of the language centres, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in helping migrants, in EU projects aimed at development of foreigners’ advising system. 3. Popularization of models of language advising existing in Poland (by preparing their multilingual Internet versions). 4. Exchanging ideas with similar/partner institutions on the methods of advising. 5. Focus on educating specialists in the field of counselling to migrants. 6. Supporting the non-governmental and informal initiatives on advising to migrants.

THREATS 1. Currently existing advising system may be insufficient soon; after 2004 the number of migrants in Poland constantly increases. 2. If the existing system of counselling does not change, Poland may expect serious problems with poorly adapted migrants. 3. Websites of language schools or government organizations may substitute real-life counselling. 4. Free of cost counselling may be limited due to the development of commercial agencies advising migrants.