ABSTRACT
Modern society is changing. Globalization, the increasing importance of information and communication technologies, and the growing role of the Internet in shaping social relationships require new attitudes and readiness to face unprecedented challenges. This presents some very particular challenges to the education system, which is gradually moving away from being primarily a carrier of knowledge and is becoming an instrument of preparation for active participation in the society of knowledge and complex, multilevel inter-organizational dependencies. The following text delineates the new challenges arising from schools playing a unique social role in the local environment and teacher competence resulting therefrom against the background of the requirements to be met by Polish schools.
