Secondary school principals and liminality in Polish Upper Silesia (1919-1939)

Establishing and implementing rules that would teach young people to become active citizens became a crucial technique for turning those spots on the map of Europe whose sovereignty had shifted after World War I into lived social spaces. This article analyses how principals borderland secondary schools negotiated transformation in Polish Upper Silesia with help Arnold Van Gennep’s notion shift statuses possessed spatiality temporality its own. The asks whether school were called offer elite training make more cohesive rest Poland terms origins pupils content history curriculum. In addition, it examines extent which accepted, refuted, or helped shape responsibility. are detected through quantitative analysis recruitment figures profiles pupils’ parents. is combined an exploration provided meaningful explanation recent past (World Silesian Uprisings). demonstrates while historical actors some room their own decisions when liminal space was created, changed, abolished, ultimately priest operating shadows who possibilities master ceremonies leading education rites passage.