The Development of Teachers’ Competencies Within Polish Pre-Service Teacher Education. The Analysis of the Legal Act From the Perspective of International Baccalaureate

Abstract

The article presents the results of the analysis of the legal foundations of pre-service teacher education in Poland. The inspiration for this study was our previous research on teachers implementing international programmes in Poland. Our findings show that these teachers do not feel prepared to work in international schools that require specific competences. Therefore, we decided to analyse the main legal act regulating pre-service teacher education and to verify if and to what extent the Polish legislator took into account competencies especially needed in international schools. The results of our analysis show that the Polish law puts special emphasis on the development of teachers’ cognitive competencies (teaching subject knowledge, teaching methods, goals of the Polish education system) and interpersonal competencies (communication, reflection on the professional practice). On the other hand, leadership competencies are less emphasised. It is also difficult to find competencies related to global awareness, understood as the ability to understand the contemporary world, combined with the recognition of global and local connections. Intrapersonal competencies were not considered at all. We do not treat this legal status of the pre-service teacher education as a weakness, but rather as its specificity, resulting from the fact that international schools constitute a small percentage of all schools in Poland. Presenting here the polish example, we are curious how it is in other countries, and we are convinced that further comparative research on pre-service teacher education in Europe will be interesting and necessary for a better understanding of this process and its effects.