Vol. 2 No. 17 (2021)

Social changes create certain expectations towards education and the parties participating in it, namely teachers and students. They also determine considerably the ideas about how education should be shaped and what a modern teacher should be like – which key competences should indicate their goodquality and efficient professional activity.

Therefore, the improvement of teaching competences should occupy a special place in the professional life of educators, ultimately forming the foundation of pro-quality work with EVERY student, as well as construct a critical approach to the acquired knowledge, skills, and experience. A teacher, preparing students to live in the modern world, use the achievements and opportunities brought by the developing knowledge society, needs new competences – the competences of tomorrow (Lemańska-Lewandowska, 2009). Education in the XXI century demands a new type of teachers: a creative optimist focused on taking various initiatives, an excellent educator with reliable and in-depth knowledge and skills, enabling to become a guide who opens the gates to the world of values, ideas, and scientific discoveries, and motivate students to find out new things, experience, perform and engage (Walenda, 2009; Miłkowska- Olejniczak, 1998). Contemporary education needs a teacher who will raise a new generation of students – open-minded and searching innovators (Żber- Dzikowska, Wysocka-Kunisz and Szydłowska, 2016) – ready to carry out new tasks resulting from changes taking place in the world around.

The articles that make up this volume of the journal refer to the most important issues that will surely help in the analysis and reflection of actions taken for pro-quality changes and implementations aimed at supporting teachers and students in the new educational space.

Joanna Skibska

References

Lemańska-Lewandowska, E. (2009). Kompetencje nauczyciela klas początkowych. In: B. Kasacova & M. Cabanova (eds.), Učitel’ v preprimárnej a prymárnej edukácii. Teória, výskum, vývoj (pp. 102–116). Banska Bystrica: Univerzita Mateja Bela.
Miłkowska-Olejniczak, G. (1998). Edukacja nauczycieli a reforma oświaty. Kultura i Edukacja, 4, 94–103.
Walenda, A. (2009). Nowe kompetencje potrzebne współczesnemu nauczycielowi – wybrane zagadnienia. In: L. Hurło, D. Klus-Stańska & M. Łojko (eds.), Paradygmaty współczesnej dydaktyki (pp. 533–541). Kraków: Impuls.
Żeber-Dzikowska, I., Wysocka-Kunisz, M. & Szydłowska, A. (2016). Kompetencje nauczyciela w kontekście kształcenia. Społeczeństwo. Edukacja. Język, 9, 93–101.