The text presents the results of the author’s own research, conducted together with the students of the University of Gdansk, as part of a course Strategies for qualitative research. The study reconstructs teachers’ methods of understanding difficult topics and describes their experience of conversations with children inspired by difficult questions. In the first part, I describe the phenomenography as an accepted strategy of qualitative research. The second part presents research results, or categories of description, and thus teachers’ concepts of meanings ascribed to difficult topics as well as a description of their experiences.

The aim of the presented research was to answer the question whether people working as teachers differ from other professionals in terms of the sense of and need for power and directiveness. The study group consisted of 198 teachers, while the control group included 156 people from other occupations. The research procedure included: the SPS Sense of Power Scale (Anderson, John, & Keltner, 2012), the Index of Personal Reactions (Bennett, 1988), the SD Direc- tiveness Scale (Ray, 1976) and an extended metric. Teachers had significantly higher results in terms of directiveness, sense of power in the family, sense of power towards colleagues, sense of power towards the supervisor, need for power and resistance to submission. Teachers had significantly lower results in the area of need for influence.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between personality types and sense of humor and their association with teachers’ performance improvement. This descriptive study followed a correlational design. Based on Morgan’s table, a  corpus of 201 elementary school teachers in Nehbandan was selected as a sample, using the stratified random sampling method. The data collection tools were the Williams and Anderson Task Performance Scale (1991), the Eysenck Personality Inventory (1975), and the Moghimi and Ramazani Sense of Humor Questionnaire (2001). The results indicated that extraversion was significantly and positively related to the teachers’ performance and sense of humor and neuroticism was significantly and negatively correlated with the teachers’ performance and sense of humor. Moreover, a significant and positive relationship was found between a sense of humor and the teachers’ performance improvement. Furthermore, the results of regression analysis demonstrated that extraversion, neuroticism, and a sense of humor could predict the teachers’ performance.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the attitudes of teachers and school administration towards inclusion. A distinctive feature of this study is the gradual increase in the number of its members as a result of the annual increase in the number of inclusive schools that was also reflected in the qualitative composition of the sample. The study was conducted with the use of a questionnaire distributed among teachers and school administration. The article presents the results of a 3-year study, which made it possible to track changes in their attitudes towards inclusive education. Results show that in general all the participants have a positive attitude towards inclusion. However, there is a difference between the groups of teachers and administrators, as well as the groups of teachers in rural and urban schools.

The article provides an empirical analysis of a relationship between ethical orientations and educational self-efficacy. Ethical orientations are defined in the theoretical system of K. Gilligan, whereas self-efficacy is viewed through the social-cognitive theory. The results of the analysis of variance demonstrate the existence of statistically significant differences in self-efficacy between teachers who prefer the ethics of justice and those who prefer the ethics of care, in favour of the former. However, the Eta coefficient shows that the relationship strength is not very large. In conclusion of the result interpretation we explain what our research explicates and what lies beyond its capacity.

The development of social competence is reflected in the individual’s potential for constructive cooperation and behavior in social situations, in the possibility of establishing interpersonal relationships and understanding different viewpoints and in the capability of to tolerance and compassion. The purpose of this research paper is to compare teachers’ opinions on attained social competence of pupils with special needs and other pupils. A questionnaire for teachers was adapted. Pupils with special needs were slightly better at accepting diversity and difference and demonstrated a higher level of politeness than other pupils.

This paper focuses on the connection between the principal’s behaviors and job satisfaction among teachers. The study was conducted on a sample of 74 five middle school teachers. It was found that: (1) middle school teachers perceived their principals as supportive rather than restrictive, (2) teachers are satisfied with their job in middle schools, (3) the principal’s supportive and directive behavior was positively correlated with job satisfaction, (4) the principal’s restrictive behavior was found not significantly correlated with job satisfaction and finally (5) the principal’s directive behavior was a significant predictor of job satisfaction among middle schools teachers.

Research shows that teachers’ perceptions of peer bullying (PB) are an important predictor of their intervention. Therefore, the aims of the study were to find out i) how serious pre-service teachers and teachers find different types of PB, ii) how empathic to the victims and willing to intervene they are, iii) what predicts interventions in both groups and iv) what forms of intervention pre-service teachers and teachers would use regarding victims and perpetrators. Results suggest that teachers perceive all types of PB as more severe than pre-service teachers and are more willing to intervene earlier, but pre-service teachers show more empathy for the victims. The strongest predictor of intervention in both groups is beliefs about the severity of bullying, but their forms of intervention differ significantly. Implications of the study findings are also discussed.

Characteristic of the Gorzów teachers in the light of personal quetionnaires from 1950

Different sources are used in biographical studies of various social groups. Similarly, for teachers you can also use a variety of materials. As far as teachers are concerned, these will be personal files, reports of pedagogical councils, as well as various questionnaires filled out for the needs of the authorities conducting or supervising. In the last case, there are, for example, questionnaries drawn up by the School Inspectorate in Gorzów, which teachers working in this city and the region were obliged to complete in 1950. Based on their analysis, you can create a certain picture of this professional group on many levels. These include, for example, age, origin and education. These questionnaires also include information on the employment of teachers, either before 1939 or during the Second World War, as well as after its completion. Additional information is forms of social involvement, and belonging to various social, professional or political parties. Questionnaries also include data on prizes and rewards. All this gives the opportunity to elaborate a certain picture of this social group. Of course, this material is the introduction to wider research on this professional group, not only in Gorzów, but also wider - regional or nationwide.

The study aimed to measure and explore the ability of physical education teachers to apply the new developed curricula according to the knowledge economy in Irbid Governorate schools. The sample of the study consisted of (120) male and female teachers from Irbid district, following validation, the teachers were provided with a questionnaire which included two fields; knowledge economy and information technology. The results showed that the ability of physical education teachers in applying the new curricula in the field of the knowledge economy and information technology was high, although the field of information technology ranked first, followed by the field of knowledge economy. Also, there were significant differences according to variable of experience when measuring the ability of physical education teachers in the domain of information technology in favor of the group with 10 years and more experience. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the variable of experience in the domain of knowledge economy. The study suggests reviewing the mechanism of applying the new developed curriculum according to the knowledge economy, and holding training sessions before and after starting to build a new curriculum. Conducting information technology courses in accordance with new curricula are suggested, and also that the Ministry of Education in Jordan must provide the necessary facilities, such as halls and technology devices.

The contribution presents partial results of research aimed to find out students’ evaluation opinions of their own knowledge and experience for development of children’s language and literary literacy in kindergartens and children’s school clubs and to point out differences in self-evaluation, depending on the length and the form of the study. The research sample consisted of 98% of students of the full-time and part-time study programme of Pre-School and Elementary Pedagogy, 228 in total. An 11-item questionnaire of our own design was used in the research. In the items P5 - P11, students expressed their subjective evaluation opinion of their knowledge and experience on a five-point scale. Research results showed that students’ self-evaluation of knowledge and experience in language and literary literacy depends on both the length and the form of their study1.

The article presents a study whose aim was to learn the attitudes of teachers of upper elementary grades from mainstream schools to education including students with disabilities. It was also an attempt to learn their opinions on the chances and limitations of implementing inclusive assumptions in educational practice as well as their needs and expected support in the performance of professional tasks related to teaching students with disabilities. The study involved 145 teachers of grades 4-8 of elementary schools. The following research tools were used: The Scale of Teachers’ Attitudes to Inclusive Education, developed on the basis of the Survey of Attitudes Toward the Inclusion of Students with Special Needs by M.A. Winzer (Polish adaptation by W. Pilecka & J. Kossewska), and a survey questionnaire for teachers. The obtained results show that many teachers approach skeptically the new solutions in education for students with disabilities. Their ambiguous or negative attitude to inclusive education corresponds to the sense of lack of proper preparation to teaching students with disabilities and a critical assessment of the state of readiness of mainstream schools (both in formal and social/mental terms) to the implementation of educational inclusion assumptions.

W związku z zainteresowaniem słowackich rodziców przebywających za granicą powstały i nadal powstają w ich społecznościach centra edukacyjne. Ich celem jest m.in. motywacja dzieci, oprócz nauki i zachowania języka słowackiego, do udziału w zajęciach tych centr i przygotowywania uczniów w wieku szkolnym do egzaminów komisyjnych - warunku koniecznego do ich dalszej edukacji - na poziomie wyższym w Słowacji, lub do ukończenia ich edukacji obowiązkowej. Centra edukacyjne dla społeczności słowackich są nie do zastąpienia. Oprócz działań edukacyjnych związanych z nauczaniem i zachowaniem języka ojczystego organizują wydarzenia kulturalne, spotkania rodziców, na których wymieniają oni swoje doświadczenia, oraz różne wykłady, których celem jest dostarczenie informacji o życiu w kraju aktualnego zamieszkania.

Coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) poses a significant challenge for the society. One of such social groups are academic teachers. The aim of this study is to become acquainted with the perceived difficulties of Polish academic teachers connected with the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess the importance of resilience in perceiving these difficulties. One hundred and one (n = 101) Polish academic teachers completed the Scale of Perceived Difficulties Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic SOTCov19 (NA) and the Resilience Assessment Scale SPP-25. The descriptive statistics, correlation analysis (Pearson’s correlations coefficient), and progressive stepwise regression analysis were used. The study shows that Polish academic teachers experience the greatest difficulties in three areas: recreational and cultural aspect, health and care aspects, and remote working - online lessons. A significant correlation between included variables was obtained. It is also well worth mentioning that the two subscales of resilience - tolerance for failure and treating life as a challenge, and personal competence to deal with and tolerance of negative emotions - entail a predictive function in explaining the perceived difficulties, however the percentage of variance is low, unlike expected.

The study presents the results of PIAAC measurements and focuses on teachers as mediators of education and their achievements in literacy and skills in reading and writing at home and at work. Multiple regression analysis is used in the research to examine the influence of independent variables - earnings, age, gender and reading index - on the level of teachers’ literacy. Values of the coefficient of determination vary from 0.05 (Poland) to 0.23 (Belgium). The results are compared at the country level and show the position of Slovak teachers in these measurements. Also, they highlight the most successful countries and point to the countries with positions similar to Slovakia. Based on the research findings, it can be stated that the higher level of literacy is associated with a higher level of writing and reading activities at work more than at home. An important finding is also the result that in all countries, the literacy level declines with age.

This paper explores a number of psychological factors related to work engagement in teachers. Using a sample of 449 lower and upper secondary school teachers, it focuses on the Big Five personality traits, respondents’ age, and several factors based on the teachers’ subjective evaluation of their work - including the meaningfulness of their work, job satisfaction, and workload. The results indicate that teachers’ work engagement is connected primarily with their job satisfaction and perception of the meaningfulness of their work (which functioned as predictors), as well as respondents’ Big Five personality traits (of which extraversion and conscientiousness were predictors). Perceived workload emerged as a negative predictor.

Teachers and parents are partners; each has an important role in achieving a common goal, which is rearing and educating children. Research has shown that successful teacher-parent cooperation positively contributes to holistic child development, academic success and behaviour, as well as reducing disciplinary problems. For teachers and parents to acquire a better mutual understanding and support is striving towards this common goal, it is important that each knows the other’s views and perspectives. The presented study focused on how teachers and parents perceive cooperation when managing disciplinary problems in the classroom and what they believe are the most successful classroom prevention and intervention strategies. The pooled survey used in this research included 107 class teachers and 291 parents from eleven primary schools in the North-East Region of Slovenia. The research has shown some important differences in the attitudes of teachers and parents, which should be taken into account when improving classroom management.

The paper discusses research referring to a primary school teachers’ professional performance diagnosis in the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria. The comparison of the research findings indicates similarities and differences which emerged due to the research between different groups of teachers from the three countries with an attempt to justify the results.

Childhood experiences and their significance in adulthood – a supplement to the studies among teachers from kindergartens and schools with Polish as the teaching language in Zaolzie in the Czech Republic

The article comprises a presentation of quantitative and qualitative studies, conducted among teachers working in kindergartens and schools with Polish as the teaching language in the territory of Zaolzie in the Czech Republic. Teachers’ experiences are analysed from the perspective of both the constructivist vision of a child, present in pedagogy, and Maria Tyszkowa’s concept of structuration and restructuration of experience (considered to be a part of the constructivist current). The undertaken reflections and the research results enable the recognition of the significance of childhood experiences for the professional development of beginners in teaching careers. Those reflections and outcomes can also enhance the development of teachers’ awareness and responsibility for providing children and youth with experiences that will be of crucial importance in their later life young.

The aim of the presented paper was to find out whether Czech and Slovak teachers are affected by myths about the gifted. We selected myths concerning the nature of giftedness, its identification, social and emotional characteristics of the gifted, and their education. The myths were examined in regard to determinants regarding educators. Data from 434 teachers (350 women) were collected by a foreign questionnaire. The results showed that these educators tend to hold myths about overachievement of the gifted without special care, simultaneity of giftand creativity, and the correlation of giftedness with social and emotional problems. The group with a higher risk to be susceptible to certain myths are teachers over 40 years of age, with experience longer than 10 years, teaching in villages and having no contact with giftedness. Thus, we recommend focusing especially on further training of these high-risk groups of teachers in order to rebut their misconceptions about the gifted. The research was supported by the research grant of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic registered under number P407/11/1272.