Prof. Janina Kostkiewicz's monograph"From the sensitivity of the heart... The social-personalistic pedagogy of Stanisław Podoleński SJ (1887-1945)" constitutes a comprehensive and multifaceted study of the issues undertaken by the title character on the pages of his works published in print, which - in a competent and reliable manner - she has subjected to detailed analysis and objective evaluation. Both the subject of the work and its composition reveal an in-depth knowledge of Fr Podolenski's scientific legacy and the ability to present it in a concise, clear, logical and well-structured plan and to present it in a flowing narrative. 

The protagonist of the book belongs to the group of outstanding Jesuits of the interwar period, representatives of the Catholic pedagogical current. He received a solid humanist education and was formed in the school of spirituality of the founder of the Society of Jesus, St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556). He was familiar with Jesuit pedagogy, the principles of which are enshrined, among others, in the famous Ratio studiorum of 1598. Podolenski presents an integral view of man, flowing from the Christian vision of man, seen as a person created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). In his personalist vision, the dignity of the human person, his subjectivity, freedom and openness to the transcendental were important. The structure of the book is formed by three main sections: S. Podoleński's life and legacy; the understanding of pedagogy as a science and the process of upbringing and its structure; and the most comprehensive section: social pedagogy with the issues of family, the social role of women and the critique of totalitarianisms. 

After World War II, the social-personalist pedagogy of S. Podoleński SJ was marginalised or ignored and passed over in silence. 

The publication is addressed to both scholars and a wide range of readers, people interested in pedagogy.