dr Małgorzata Wałejko

Małgorzata Wałejko, PhD, DLitt (Habil.)

Associate Professor Institute of Pedagogy University of Szczecin, Poland

ul. Ogińskiego 16/17 71-431 Szczecin, Poland

ORCID: 0000-0002-1979-0001 E-mail: malgorzata.walejko@usz.edu.pl

Research

My research centres on solitude studies – an interdisciplinary field that examines the educational, philosophical, psychological, and social dimensions of solitude, silence, and loneliness across the lifespan. I am particularly interested in the relationship between solitude and human relationality, as well as in the role of solitude and silence in human development, wellbeing, and education. I also investigate experiences of loneliness among adolescents, older adults, and parents of children with chronic physical or mental health conditions. Another major area of my research concerns the development of healthy self-attitudes, particularly the relationships between self-esteem, self-rejection, and unconditional self-acceptance.

My work bridges education, psychology, philosophy, and developmental science, contributing to both theoretical understanding and evidence-informed educational practice. A central aim of my research is to develop educational approaches that foster positive solitude, psychological resilience, and authentic personal growth in an increasingly connected digital world.

I am also interested in personalist ethics in education, including attachment parenting, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and contemporary approaches to education and child development.

Researchgate

Google Scholar

Monografia autorska:

• Małgorzata Wałejko, Osobno i razem. Personalistyczne wychowanie do samotności i wspólnoty, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego, Szczecin 2016, 357 ss.

Książka pod redakcją:

• The Bloomsbury Handbook of Solitude, Silence and Loneliness, red. Julian Stern, Małgorzata Wałejko, Christopher A. Sink i Wong Ping Ho, wyd. Bloomsbury 2021.

Research interests

• Solitude, silence, and loneliness
• Philosophy of education and educational ethics
• Self-attitude: self-esteem, self-rejection, and unconditional self-acceptance
• Wellbeing and mental health
• Personalism and educational anthropology

Current projects

• From External Validation to Positive Solitude: Leveraging Unconditional Self-Acceptance to Counteract Youth Loneliness in the Digital Age (with Professor Robert J. Coplan, Carleton University, Canada). Project submitted to the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA).
• Wałejko, M., & Wódecka, A. (forthcoming). A Kind Silence Towards a Child: Relational and Developmental Benefits. In D. Bao, A. Maley, & C. Hadfield (Eds.), The Art of Silence: Creative Perspectives. Bloomsbury Academic.
• Co-investigator in the trilateral international research project Silence in the Classroom (Poland–Australia–USA), conducted in collaboration with Monash University (Australia) and Georgia Southern University (USA).

Selected publications

Books

Solitude at the Edge and Liminal Loneliness (editor, forthcoming). Bloomsbury Academic.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Solitude, Silence and Loneliness (co-editor). Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2021 (2nd edition, 2023).

Osobno i razem. Personalistyczne wychowanie do samotności i wspólnoty (Alone and Together: A Personalist Education for Solitude and Community). University of Szczecin Press, 2016.

Selected journal articles

• The Quiet Loneliness of a Parent Whose Child Suffers from Depression (under the pseudonym Emilia Różańska). Journal of Silence Studies in Education (2026).
• The End of Self-Esteem: Self-Knowledge and Self-Evaluation in the Light of Unconditional Self-Acceptance. Studies in Philosophy and Education (2025).
• Loneliness, Gratitude, and Entitlement among Israeli and Polish College Students: A Serial Mediation Model. Psychology in the Schools (2024, with R. Laslo-Roth, S. George-Levi, M. Margalit, & R. Iwański).
• Abandoned by My Self: Forms of Self-Rejection. Paedagogia Christiana (2024).
• Ineffable Education, the Uncommunicable and the Uncommunicated. British Journal of Religious Education (2023, with J. Stern).
• Solitude and Self-Realisation in Education. Journal of Philosophy of Education (2020, with J. Stern).

Research funding

• Research Fellow, The Bednarowski Trust (United Kingdom). Research grant: The Power of Acceptance in Overcoming Loneliness: Solitude in Education, University of Edinburgh (2024).
• Principal Investigator, Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland). Research project: Dialectics of Solitude and Community of the Human Person: Educational Implications (2010–2016).

International research and training visits

• Georgia Southern University, USA (2026)
• University of Edinburgh & University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom (2024)
• Bishop Grosseteste University / Lincolnshire Open Research and Innovation Centre (LORIC), United Kingdom (2023)
• Rovira i Virgili University, Spain (2023)
• York St John University, United Kingdom (2018–2019)
• St. Thomas Aquinas Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine (2016)

Academic leadership and professional service

International Society for Research on Solitude (ISRS)

Co-founder (2020) and Vice-President (re-elected in 2026) of the International Society for Research on Solitude (ISRS), an international scholarly association bringing together researchers from 15 countries across four continents to advance interdisciplinary research on solitude, loneliness, and silence.

Conference leadership

Co-organizer of the international Alone Together conference series (five editions held in Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States since 2019) and organizer of the ISRS International Seminar Series.

Editorial leadership

Series Editor of Bloomsbury Solitude Studies (Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2022–2032).

Co-editor of:

• Journal of Silence Studies in Education: Solitude Together with Education (2022)
• Paedagogia Christiana: Being Alone Together in Education (2020, Vols. 45 & 46)
• Pedagogika Szkoły Wyższej (2017)

Curriculum development

Designed and implemented the university courses Pedagogical Ethics and The Pedagogy of Solitude, introducing innovative teaching methods based on digital detox, contemplative practices, reflective learning, and experiential education. These courses are also taught in English.

Honors and distinctions

• Habilitation (DLitt) with distinction, University of Szczecin (2026), awarded for the scholarly achievement Towards Dialogical Solitude in Education.
• Rector’s Individual Award (Second Degree) for Outstanding Scientific Achievement, University of Szczecin (2017, 2021).

Knowledge Exchange and Public Engagement

Committed to making academic knowledge accessible beyond academia through books, public lectures, workshops, and digital media.

Activities include:

• Author of two popular science books: Razem czy osobno? (2010, with Zbigniew Nosowski) and Listy w butelce. 3 lata z 33 (2013), recipient of the 2014 Literary Award.
• Educational video blogs and public lectures available on YouTube, attracting audiences of up to 100,000 viewers.
• Workshops and invited lectures delivered in the United States and the United Kingdom, alongside numerous educational workshops for children, young people, parents, teachers, and professionals throughout Poland.
• Author of numerous articles published in socio-cultural magazines and other popular media (“W drodze”, “Tygodnik Powszechny”, “Więź”).