In the introductory article to the current issue of „Chowanna”, the author introduces readers to the topic of criticism of the Polish education system, which is accused of being poorly adapted to the socio-economic reality in which it operates. It is widely believed that there is a need to move away from a formalized method of teaching and fact-based learning in favor of developing students’ creativity, interests, and effective communication with their surroundings. Knowledge is too vast and develops too rapidly for even the most talented student to be provided with ready-made solutions to all problems. Therefore, a good student is not the one who memorizes the most problem solutions, but the one who can solve problems independently. The teacher, in turn, should encourage students to think for themselves, to explore, and to reflect. A shift in the philosophy of education—from an adaptive to a creative approach—entails the necessity for teachers to acquire at least a basic understanding of creativity, the development of creative thinking, and creative abilities.

The connection between research on intrinsic motivation and creativity seems quite natural. Intuitively, creativity is understood as an activity undertaken for its own sake. In the context of widely discussed creative education — its opportunities and limitations — the question arises about the conditions and determinants of the creative process that teachers often encounter in their work. The diversity and multitude of these conditions certainly represent — on the one hand — a significant barrier to creative education, and on the other—a meaningful opportunity. This article attempts to analyze the factors influencing the creative process in light of selected psychological theories and concepts. The process of creative problem-solving is related not only to specific abilities or the capacity to break away from habitual patterns of action, but also to an individual's motivation and action control. In this article, creativity has a dual meaning: first, it refers to the analysis of the process leading to creative solutions; second, it implies that intentional activity itself is of a creative nature.

One of the main tasks of pedagogy is to stimulate and develop human activity. Increasing student engagement supports their acquisition of knowledge, problem-solving skills, and the ability to apply knowledge in practice, ultimately contributing to personality development. B. Suchodolski demonstrated that activity is a condition for the authenticity of experiences, involvement in the processes of reality, and the intensity of thought. The role of activity in human development is further confirmed by psychological research. From this research perspective, the essential purpose of activity is to regulate the relationship between a person and the surrounding world by modifying it to meet individual needs. M. Tyszkowa emphasized activity as a fundamental characteristic of living beings, one that underlies the experience of human biological needs. She highlights the complexity of the human environment, which is manifested through the presence of social and cultural needs. To meet these needs, a specific kind of activity must be undertaken—one that is necessary to maintain balance with the environment, which in turn also defines the required activity. In pedagogical research, particular attention is given to those manifestations of activity that can be distinguished from the stream of human activity (such as tasks and actions), and subsequently described. Their essence lies in their organized and goal-directed nature. Various tensions that have become defining features of modernity can be observed in research on the development of activity. One such area of tension exists between creative activity and activity characterized as imitation. Creative activity is generally regarded as more valuable. In teaching methodologies, particular emphasis is placed on the role of tasks with a creative character. In contemporary didactic research, the significance of imitation in the educational process is rarely addressed. This raises questions about the relationship between imitation-based activity and creative activity, and whether it is justified to oppose them in the context of education.

The article addresses the issue of creativity. The author defines creativity and the creator—not as an artist, but potentially as any person. The author avoids producing yet another theoretical study and instead presents educational innovations that are not yet known in Polish educational and therapeutic institutions. These are educational projects that can be grouped under the common title: PLAY — ART — THERAPY, developed at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Łódź, within the Faculty of Visual Education, and published by the Central Teacher Training Center, the Polish Committee of the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) in Łódź, the Institute of Creative Processes in Łódź, the Children's Art Center in Poznań, Very Special Arts International, and many other cultural and therapeutic institutions.

A young child is naturally a creator and, in this area, shows a considerable advantage over mature individuals. In the biological sphere, for example, the activity of an adult is limited primarily to survival, whereas a child’s activity is entirely dedicated to building the self. This constitutes a primary need, the fulfillment of which is absolutely essential for the optimal development of a human being during the growth period. Another area linked to activity, and common to every harmoniously developing preschool-aged child, is expression. This should be understood as a revealing of the self—"becoming transparent to others," which is not always possible in every situation but remains a fundamental condition for any act of self-creation in relation to others. Crucial for our purposes is the assumption that each child has a preferred channel for sending and receiving information, which also becomes their primary means of creative expression. An auditory learner will seek opportunities to express themselves verbally or through other sounds; a visual learner will focus on messages based on the configuration of objects in space; a kinesthetic learner, by exploring the near and far kinesphere, will want to express themselves through movement-based behaviors. Adopting the concept of modalities as a starting point for exploring appropriate diagnostic pathways uniquely shapes the process of understanding the child. Another premise adopted in the initial considerations of this study is the reference of the field of observing a child's creative behaviors to the realm of play. Observing the play activity of young children usually provides very positive impressions—there is much joy, spontaneous discovery, and a celebration of illusion, which is the quintessence of divergent thinking.

The tasks faced by schools and teachers today are significantly more difficult and present greater challenges than in the past. They require focused attention on specific aspects of learning and teaching, as well as a deepening understanding of human development and the vast potential of the human mind. Effective, accelerated, and simultaneously creative teaching and learning demand the consideration of many pieces of information and factors that stimulate this process. The concept of accelerated learning encompasses several practical approaches to the learning process, based on new knowledge about how the brain works, motivation and self-confidence, the use of various types of intelligence, and methods for retaining and recalling information. Accelerated learning offers all properly motivated and well-trained students the opportunity to achieve results that may previously have seemed beyond their reach. It helps learners identify their preferred ways of acquiring knowledge and allows them to master the skill of learning—one that stays with them for life. Accelerated learning is a system in which knowledge about the learner, the learning process, and the learning environment are integrated. Many elements of this system are already applied—often unconsciously—in the daily work of teachers, but without a coherent structure. School practice shows that the process of teaching does not always align with the process of learning. Accelerated learning, however, begins with the needs of the student, is varied and motivating, and is treated as a dynamic and engaging activity. Today’s world craves new, original ideas more than ever before, and traditional teaching, along with long-used didactic methods, does not develop students in a way that equips them to face modern challenges. So what can be done to make the teaching and learning process more creative and effective? This article presents examples of methods and techniques that stimulate creative, accelerated learning, with a particular focus on the drama method, which integrates the principles of both accelerated and creative teaching. The importance of drama will be discussed through its application in glottodidactics (language teaching and learning).

The development of scientific disciplines concerned with human growth and functioning takes on many diverse forms in both public awareness and social practice. Some of these relate to advances in life-saving measures and maintaining physical well-being, while others pertain to the quality of psychological and social life. Information about discoveries made in the course of research on the genetic foundations of mental functions and the role of the brain in human functioning is almost constantly present in the daily press. The brain is astonishing—not only in terms of its weight relative to the rest of the body, the vast surface area of its cortex, its ability to compensate for damage, or its immense capacity for storing information. What makes the human brain truly exceptional is the functional differentiation of its hemispheres and their specialization in receiving and processing different types of information. The mind—an incomprehensible, unfathomable generator of reality, culture, history, and all human potential—continues to intrigue and amaze humanity in its ongoing attempt to understand itself and its activities. Who we are, how we behave, how we think and feel—all depend on the brain. Learning, thinking, creativity, and intelligence are processes that take place within it. Contemporary researchers of the nervous system believe that the brain develops both through nutrition and environmental stimulation. This encourages educational psychologists to explore these potentials in humans. Stimulating teaching, when applied at the right moment, can influence brain development and, as a result, enhance mental functions that go beyond behaviors measured by commonly used learning tests.

The article concerns the problem of changing teaching towards students' creativity and their creative activity instead of the traditional model of teaching. The author presents her research results along with their methodology regarding the creative talents of children and youth. The development of creative activity and the nurturing of creative talents are inextricably linked to changes in the system of general education. Traditional “knowledge storage” is losing its significance in favor of creative processing. The existing school education system has proven to be dysfunctional. It has not satisfactorily fulfilled its social functions. It is clear that schools do not fully meet the educational needs of modern societies. They fail to shape the kind of personality that these societies demand. Therefore, the idea of nurturing a disposition toward creativity in children and young people—an inherent potential in every individual—comes to the forefront. However, this potential must be awakened and stimulated in the process of education. Every effort to broaden knowledge about creativity is highly valuable and brings us closer to achieving the distant yet crucial goal of creative education. As Roman Schulz states, the fundamental imperatives of pedagogical theory and practice should be transformed to focus on preparing students for creativity, for active and creative participation in social life, for innovative fulfillment of social roles, and for self-development. Instead of being preparation for reproduction, education should be preparation for creation. Education for replication should be replaced with education for innovation—aligned with the needs of the emerging civilization of the future and suited to the desires, necessities, and aspirations of its participants. This prompts the question: What model of education will adequately prepare people for participation in the civilization of tomorrow? Defining the essential features of the desired, future-oriented educational model is an extremely difficult task. Providing adequate answers to the increasingly frequent questions requires careful identification and articulation of the issues at hand. Most of the proposed solutions so far are largely pseudo-solutions—superficial approaches that fail to recognize, and therefore fail to address, any of the fundamental educational problems.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the concept of the creative school and to report the results of empirical research conducted with practicing teachers and school principals, in order to examine how these individuals perceive the conditions for implementing the creative school concept (understood as an innovative school) within the process of reforming the school system. The article consists of two parts: concept and perception. In the first part, an analysis of the concept of the creative school is provided—albeit not in great depth due to the need to limit the length of the article—and comparable notions from Western literature are discussed. Next, the concept of the school as an innovative organization, as presented by M. B. Miles and J. Nisbet, is introduced. In the second part, the results of empirical research conducted among postgraduate students of the Studies in Organization and Management of Education (carried out by the Educational Management Development Center at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, University of Silesia) are presented. This research aimed to determine the image of the school among practitioners, how teachers and principals perceive the factors that characterize a creative school, and to what extent the conditions for the emergence of a creative organization exist in the schools studied amidst the ongoing reform.

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