Requirements and measures of the quality of educational services in Poland

Abstract

Nowadays, education is analysed in terms of quality. Educational service has a specific character, and issues related to its quality are a subject of scientific considerations of researchers interested in this problem for many years. The quality of educational services is undoubtedly a factor influencing the civilization level of the society. Therefore, it seems essential to provide a desired quality of educational services, which is closely related to the quality of teachers' human capital and the school headmaster, i.e. people who create this quality and are responsible for it. This mainly applies to their competences, skills and relations between them. Literature studies in this area lean towards recognizing that one of the factors determining the quality of educational services, and at the same time one of the most important, is the professional training of teachers, viewed in terms of their qualifications and competences as well as their commitment to work. Both the literature on the subject and the legal provisions regulating the discussed issue indicate some imperfections of formal requirements for teachers, which may impact the quality of the educational services they provide. Thus, it was decided that the burden of consideration of this article will focus mainly on the quality requirements of teachers’ work, various levels of professional promotion and the important role of the headmaster in this respect. Moreover, attention was focused on issues related to the evaluation of their work. The considerations were based on a literature review on the subject and legislative provisions determining the issues discussed in the article.