Creativity as the leading element of teacher competence in alternative education

Artykuł recenzowany / peer-reviewed articleThe author of the article raises the issue of alternative education, which in recent years has become a thoroughly planned offer, implemented more efficiently and evaluated in greater depth. One of the basic signs of alternative education is a tendency to create a school that aims to prepare a student who solves problems in an innovative and non-stereotypical way and undertakes successful initiatives both at and outside school. The driving force behind this type of student’s activity can be, above all, extensive teacher competences, among which the leading and crucial role, according to the author of this text, is played by creativity. The author attempts to present innovative tasks assigned to the students, which have appeared repeatedly in the history of didactics, emphasizing their creative perspective and pointing as examples schools of Pestalozzi, Dewey, Montessori and Korczak, She also encourages the reader to refl ect on a number of non-standardized and creative educational activities popularised in various media and currently implemented in educational practice. This analysis leads Anna Kožuh to a more perceptive recognition of the essence of creative attitude and to explore creativity as a vital element of teacher’s competence, and particularly its suitability in alternative education. The author defines creativity primarily as the ability to compare issues that differ from each other and to look for what they have in common, the ease to perceive what is invisible to others and approach the problem from different angles. The leading feature of creative activity, for the author, is the ability to look for a number of different ways to solve one problem. The text concludes with a presentation of a variety of activities supporting the development of teacher’s creativity, and in particular a broader characterisation of the use of supervision and its potential in improving and expanding teacher’s creative competence