JoLIE 9:3/2016
IN SEARCH OF THE TEACHER’S PERSONALITY QUALITIES:
A COMPARISON OF POLISH AND ROMANIAN EDUCATORS
Marcin Krawczak
Stanisław Staszic University of Applied Sciences in Piła, Poland
Abstract
The author of this article undertakes the issue of teachers’ personality qualities as compared in two educational milieus, the Polish and Romanian ones. The discussion begins with the presentation of the findings of the previous research conducted among the Polish respondents. The former study embraced three generations of Polish students who were asked to assess and hierarchise their teachers’ personality qualities and additionally provide certain suggestions that could help improve teachers’ personal skills and build better relationships with students. Notwithstanding the generational gap, the examination revealed strikingly similar attitudes. Therefore, its discoveries are provided to build a foundation for the current study.
The author’s inspiration for the ongoing investigations has arisen from a conversation with one of the Romanian professors. Hence, the author follows the objective of comparing the Polish and Romanian educators in terms of personality characteristics to confirm whether these qualities bear similarities or differences.
The theoretical part of the article comprises the complexities of personality as an abstract notion. Subsequently, selected approaches to the vocation and role of a teacher are introduced. They embrace the observations made by Jan Władysław Dawid (1912/1946), a Polish pioneer of education psychology. Additionally, the most crucial both positive and negative personality qualities of teachers are briefly discussed from the previous study.
The empirical part undertakes the same methodological approach as the former one taking into account the fact that the current examination is directed towards a comparison between two different educational environments and their most significant actors – teachers who have been assessed by their students, the most significant recipients of the educational process.
Key words: Teachers’ personality qualities; Polish vs. Romanian educators.
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How to cite this article: Krawczak, M. (2016). In search of the teacher’s personality qualities: a comparison of Polish and Romanian educators. Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 9(3), 87-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2016.9.3.6
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