The Role of a Higher Education Institution in Enhancing Students’ Auto-educational Activity

Abstract

Th e main objective of this article is to present the role of a higher education institution in enhancing auto-educational activities from the perspective of students of pedagogy at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. Th e main research tool that was applied in the research included the method of document analysis. By means of both classic and modern methods of document analysis, the author analysed and interpreted documents created intentionally – essays, i.e. respondents’ written opinions on issues of importance from the scientifi c point of view. Th e research results revealed that students’ auto-educational activity regarding the development of the intellectual (cognitive) sphere connected with acquiring social competences, self-discovery, biological sphere (e.g. caring for one’s health, physical condition, appearance) and spiritual sphere is only to a small degree determined by a higher education institution.