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Called the competence of the 21st century, creativity is one of the key competencies for sustainable development. There is no fixed path to achieve sustainability and it is subject to human creativity. However, integrated development of both is surely an under-researched topic. Creative thinking and creative problem solving should be a necessary and significant component of modern sustainable education. Students must learn to associate creativity with sustainability. Helping them understand sustainability by exposing them to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and designing new creations that honor the planetary boundaries is crucial. The paper focuses on developing creativity by Polish teachers who work with adolescents. The assumption was that creativity can be developed using certain didactic methods and forms. The objective of the study was to explore and to describe which didactic methods and forms teachers use to shape the competence of creativity in students. The teachers took part in a survey and were asked what methods and forms they use to develop creativity in their students. The sample consisted of 337 teachers from the Małopolska region. The results of the analyses show that teachers use only a few of the methods recommended to facilitate creativity, which may lead to a low level of this competence among the students. They also use the most common didactic forms, which may not support the development of creativity competences. Moreover, the research results show that there are several factors, such as the teacher’s seniority and the location of the school, which determine the choice of individual teaching methods.

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Abstract:Modern media, to a large extent, create the social, economic and environmental reality. They may become a support for the teachers who implement the assumptions of education for sustainable development in their teaching-learning process. The authors of the present text focused on the problem of using media in teaching by Polish teachers at the 3rd and 4th grade educational level. The main research enquiry was concerning media Polish teachers use to support sustainable development among students. As the results show, Polish teachers are not prepared enough to use the media to promote sustainable development.

Properly planned and effectively implemented education provides an opportunity to change human behavior, which in turn may lead to an improved quality of life worldwide, including by means of realizing a cleaner environment. This article presents the results of research on the integration of environmental protection issues into curricula by Polish teachers. It was assumed that the environmental protection issues included the challenges related to the sustainable management of natural resources. The sample consisted of 337 teachers of general subjects who were employed in schools in the Małopolska region (southern Poland) and working with students in lower-secondary (13–16 years old) and upper-secondary (16–20 years old) schools. The results of the research show that many teachers know how to integrate environmental protection issues into their curricula. However, there are still many teachers who ignore key issues in the education of sustainable development in their teaching process.

The sustainable development model is considered to be the only one implementing the postulate of intra-and intergenerational justice, and allowing modern societies to develop safely. Because education makes it possible to achieve complex social goals, the sustainable development model must be implemented in a modern school. For this purpose, UNESCO experts promote education for sustainable development (ESD) as a response to the challenges of the modern world. The article presents the results of empirical research on teacher knowledge on education for sustainable development. Participants in the research, which was carried out in 2016, were 337 Polish teachers of the lower and upper secondary school. The research analysis showed that Polish teachers are not properly prepared for the implementation of assumptions of education for sustainable development into education programmes-their knowledge in this area is insufficient.

Critical thinking is defined as the competency for the future, which is crucial for every its member responsible participation in the global information society. Today, possessing this competence often determines how one perceives the reality and responds appropriately to the stimuli of the surrounding world. This competency should be shaped (created) by teachers, especially within the process of formal education. Teachers should choose specific methods and forms of work, the aim of which is to develop the components of the competency to think critically. The paper is a presentation of the results of research that aimed to examine the methods and forms of teachers' effort and work that create the critical thinking competency in students at the third (junior high school) and the fourth (high school) stages of education. Throughout the study, the authors sought an answer to the question: what methods and forms of education are used by teachers at the third and fourth stages of education to shape the critical thinking competency? The research was carried out using the quantitative approach. The research method was a survey and convenience sampling was used to select subjects. 337 Polish teachers participated in the study. The analysis of the results of the research suggests that Polish teachers are not sufficiently prepared to develop the critical thinking competency in their students. They lack methodological competencies at an appropriate level and are not even aware of the need for developing critical thinking in many cases.

Мруз Анна (Anna Mróz) – PhD, научный сотрудник Педагогического университета Кракова. E-mail: anna.mroz@up.krakow.plОцеткевич Ивона (Iwona Ocetkiewicz) – PhD, научный сотрудник Педагогического университета Кракова. E-mail: iwona.ocetkiewicz@up.krakow.plТомчик Лукаш (Łukasz Tomczyk) – PhD, PhDr, научный сотрудник Педагогического университета Кракова. E-mail: lukasz.tomczyk@up.krakow.plАдрес: Ingardena 4, 30–060 Cracow, Poland.Валотек-Щчаньска Катажына (Katarzyna Walotek-Ściańska) – PhD, научный сотрудник академии «Игнатианум». Адрес: Mikołaja Kopernika 26, 31–501 Cracow, Poland. E-mail:katarzynaws@interia.plРотт Дариуш (Dariusz Rott) – PhD, научный сотрудник Силезского университета. Адрес: Plac Sejmu Śląskiego 1, 40–032 Katowice, Poland. E-mail: darirott@poczta.fmВ соответствии с рекомендациями Европейской комиссии и в рамках инициативы ЮНЕСКО «Десятилетие образования в интересах устойчивого развития» все преподаватели на каждом этапе образования должны включать в свои учебные программы материалы, которые будут поддерживать усилия по обеспечению устойчивого развития. Знания являются основой для приобретения и развития компетенций. С их помощью учащиеся могут формировать собственные компетенции в социальном, экономическом и экологическом аспектах устойчивого развития. В статье представлены результаты исследования внедрения ключевых концепций устойчивого развития в школьные программы. Исследование проводилось с марта по ноябрь 2016 г., в нем приняли участие 337 учителей средних школ и гимназий. Как показал анализ исследования, школьные учителя в Польше не имеют необходимой подготовки для реализации инициативы по включению ключевых концепций устойчивого развития в учебный процесс.