In the work the competences of the contemporary teacher in the framework of the constructivist as well as cognitive theories have been presented. The attention has been focused on the personal features and competences of teachers in the range of the use of the information and communication technologies in their pedagogical work and the shaping among the learners the medial and digital competences, motivation to the learning, development of pupil’s interests and ethical behaviors of a teacher.

This article outlines the necessity of developing the social capital. The first part deals with a dilemma surrounding the expectation that teachers will engage in developing cooperation skills — one of the aspects of social capital — despite the individualistic trend dominating our culture. The second part focuses on the basic skills contributing to the efficiency of cooperation when developed. These are the ability to understand others and communicate with them, empathy and self-control. Teacher’s activities enhancing their development were also characterised.

The starting point of this paper is derived from considerations of two opposing functions of education: socialization and liberation (Richard Rorty). Their irreducible antagonism, not only poses an essence of contemporary tensions and challenges of education, but also presents, how problematic the definition of education is and should be, because in this case a simplification would mean — among other things — shrinking from teachers’ responsibility for comprehensive educational influence and their own professional development. Unfortunately, in theoretical discourse of education teachers are often shown just as knowledge transmitters and pushed aside of crucial disputes. The article considers two aesthetics of being in culture as a remedy for such situation.

Change is a category which is permanently interwoven with the teacher’s career. Therefore, it seems significant how teachers define this notion and what their attitude to changes is. What is presented in this text are the analyses of the studies carried out among active teachers — such teachers who are outstanding in their professional and local environment due to actions they undertake and their involvement. In such a selected group, a positive attitude to change and innovation should prevail. Who else, though, if not such teachers, ought to change school reality and take part in social transformations?

The article discusses the process of music education evolution in the world from the situation of interesting ideas and concepts between infiltration the individual countries up to the megatrends that characterize musical education in the twenty-first century. The author compares contemporary proposals of music education implemented in selected countries from five continents (North America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe) highlighting the existing current megatrends. The resulting image serves for the reflection on the application of global trends in the Polish system of compulsory public education and the role of a contemporary music teacher in the cultural situation that occurred.

The article focuses on the universal character of education through art. The role of the teacher has been indicated within the shaping process of values’ hierarchy and forming of responsibilities among wards. The standards of the cultural education was mentioned as an interesting educational proposition both through the art and with the art.

The text is a result of the reflections made on cultural education, visual education of a child at an early-school age and the teachers’ professional abilities. The reflections on cultural education in the contemporary dimension, the process of visual education at early-school education level, shaping and developing qualitative abilities in the field of art perception and the role of a teacher in the process are presented in the compilation. Artistic and evaluative abilities of teachers of early-school education in the conceptual dimension and the results of the preliminary diagnose of the level of these abilities are presented as well. It is claimed that the abilities and the results in its broad meaning involve the conversancy of the artistic universum division rules and the capability of their practical usage.

In the article the terms of adolescence process were presented as well as the stages of mature identity forming, treated as superior task of this developmental period. The emphasis was put to the description of environmental factors, that may disturb the appropriate socialization of adolescents in present times. In this context the tasks and essential competence of the teacher/educator were described in order to indicate how one should organize prevention and intervention activities to eliminate socialization process disorders, being a result of disadvantageous environmental factors.

The author of the article tries to show that the problems connected with the cultural change can be found the solution in the idea of truth about right. The idea of truth about right is described in the philosophical works of Karol Wojtyła. His considerations can be inspiration for educators and education.

The aim of this article is to present reflections on the role of teachers — educators in teenagers’/adolescents’ lives. It’s a well-known fact that their identity is mainly formed on the basis of popular modern culture, without the appropriate involvement of adults. The author draws attention to the lack of dialogue between the youth and adults. She claims that the reason for this deficit is the low awareness of the character of the modern culture. That’s why, addressing this article to teachers — educators, she describes specific trends in modern culture which influence the young generation.

This article can be viewed as an appeal for reformulating the present format of family and school education, which is “safe” and “resistant” to taboo. If we make the assumption that sexual taboo present in the most important learning environments are able to create false image of reality, they should not be, in my opinion, left unsupervised, but their character and the ways in which they are interpreted in the space in which the individuals participate should be examined. Familiarizing ourselves with taboo, analyzing them and, on that basis, developing practicable guidelines for educational influence would bring about a number of positive consequences the wider context, in which young people live.

The article presents two possible directions of bibliotherapeutic work. One of them is the so -called biblio -educational approach, which stresses developing new cognitive experience, acquiring new knowledge, widening the manner of treating a given problem. The characteristic features of this type of work are: orientation to task, a straightforward moral and educational judgement of literary protagonist’s behavior and directive communication and external control. The mechanisms activated in the process of this type of work are modeling and imitation. At the same time, the comments of the guide take form of the accompanying educational narratives. The other direction of work is referred to as strictly bibliotherapeutic. Its specificity is characterized by the following elements: an openness to understanding of meanings, interpretation of behavior and its meaning without applying a judgement, direct and non directive communication, auto -control. The work, in the process of which the accompanying interpreting narratives are being are constructed, is based on the assumption that new emotional and relational experience is developed, the way of understanding oneself is enriched, one changes the way of thinking about oneself, the auto -reflection is added. The mechanisms significant for this type of work are projection, displacement.

The article presents an analysis of establishment of cooperation network between teachers’ family and professional life. The analysis is performed with the use of the category of time which serves as an aid to understand the life experiences of contemporary teachers. A number of characteristics of contemporary culture are demonstrated in the text, including focus on the present, haste, lack of time, fragmentation of time and activity awareness, blurring borders between work and free time and its implications for establishment of a network of cooperation between teacher’s family and professional life. The thesis I propose and defend in the article is that it is possible and crucial for the teachers to establish a network of cooperation between their family and professional life, although it may give rise to various tensions and conflicts.

The new concept of lifelong learning based on the acquisition and development of key competencies proves to be an important trend in the Czech educational reform and a milestone in postgraduate study programs as well as in the process of shaping the European Qualifications Framework. The article presents the model currently dominant in the Czech Republic and throughout the European Union, which is based on education and competency development. This model has formed the foundation of large-scale educational reforms and continues to exert a significant influence on all participants in the educational process. The article presents data collected during research conducted in 2011. This research not only confirms the need for lifelong learning and skills development by employees but, above all, highlights the necessity on the part of organizations to anticipate various economic phenomena and to maintain greater flexibility in the face of changing economic conditions. In this context, the education model based on the development of key competencies is optimal, as it enables individuals to achieve success in a globalized society influenced by both social and economic changes as well as the dynamic development of technology.

The article presents the issues of the functioning of a teacher in a multicultural society. Attention was drawn to teaching cultural competence, cultural content and their role in pre -school education, the use of multicultural issues in teacher’s education.

The paper presents the concept of cultural education which ought to be the element of elementary level of teachers’ training. However, it concentrates on the use of theatre as a medium of self knowing and learning about the world as well as the improvement of the self creation skills. The results of pilot research done among the students of integrated early childhood education, who participated in the classes on modern culture, will be presented.

The article is an attempt to present the meaning of a teacher preventing child abuse In a family. The active role of a teacher in this field is due to law, on the one hand. In this matter the paper present research showing the attitude of teachers to this responsibility. But on the other hand, real range of possibilities is much more wider. The article shows some of them.

Text presents the results of researches on the role of teacher in modern culture in their own opinions and evaluation. Analyzes are based on teacher’s uninhibited statements about “Teacher in modern culture”. Applied humanistic methodology procedures allowed to reconstruct, read and interpretation teacher’s functions and assignments in context of modern culture requirements.

The author presents chosen results of research concerning institutional and individual support for gifted students’ development in Polish schools. In this article the focus was put on the competences of teachers working and teaching gifted and talented students.

The presented study aims at tracing the changes in the awareness of teachers from widely accessible primary schools concerning their preparation for work with the disabled learner as well as the changes in the field of their training for work with this group of learners. The data was collected in longitudinal studies conducted in there stages: the first in the 1999/2000 school year, the second in 2004/2005, and the third in 2009/2010. The research results were viewed in the context of cultural, social, economic and legal transformations of the first decade of the 21st century. The text consists of three parts. The first focuses on the reform (in progress) of the educational system for learners with special educational need. The essence of the second part is the presentation of the collected data and an attempt at interpreting them. The whole is completed by a final conclusion.

Multicultural education is becoming for a modern society an indispensible element of its functioning. It is a civilization requirement. In this paper I attempt to define the condition and the range of knowledge as well as the competence of pedagogues who ought to implement the concepts of multicultural education. As a consequence of the research results I put forward the question concerning the educators’ stage of preparation for the tasks assigned by the developing society. I consider the following issues: whether a professionally educated teacher actually prepares their students/pupils for open to diversity learning which would enable them to “tame” the difficult to predict future and to create the changes? Do they induce self -realisation and creative activity being simultaneously the example of promoter of changes.

The objective of reflections to show the experiences of women, which taking the role of the University teacher. Women are affected by the phenomenon of feminization of the profession but on the other hand, they experiences significant disparities associated with the duties of their functions and prestigious academic titles. Women’s experiences were shown primarily in the context of socio -cultural, which seem affect the human existences. Reflections are presented on the basis of qualitative research conducted with the women who are academic teacher.

The arts education is a subject of an extensive discussion in various scientific communities. However, in spite of many undertakings denoting the essential role of fine arts in the development of a child in many Polish schools, the arts remain treated marginally, and creative thinking is replaced with undemanding exercises. Why? In order to answer the question, I analysed school textbooks and teachers’ activities at the stage of integrated education.

The article addresses the issue of developing awareness and the need to stimulate knowledge and skills in the field of intercultural communication among foreign language teachers. Language and culture are inseparably linked and constitute the foundation for the development of communicative competence. The article describes a short, 40-hour project aimed at foreign language teachers, designed to enhance intercultural awareness, skills, and attitudes through drama and theatre activities.

The text is an atlempt of synthetic depiction of the function and tasks of art schools in the creation of the cultural environment of the city. It presents two of Bytom’s art schools — State Music School and State Ballet School, and their functioning.

In the article the results of the survey research in which the academic teachers, preschool teachers and education students took part were presented. The authors’ aim was to diagnose teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards key attributes of postmodern culture. The effort was made to grasp the way in which teachers valorize the distinguished phenomena and the way they value them. On the basis of the obtained results the conclusion concerning teachers’ attitudes was carefully drawn. Teachers’ attitudes most frequently prove teachers’ active participation in the sphere of culture and also indirectly determine the understanding of the quality and the direction of current changes.