Abstract:

Non-standardness is a socio-personal construct that is inherent in two main spheres of the human personality - the intellectual and the behavioral. It is believed that a non-standardness is a prerequisite for the manifestation of creativity in any human activity. Therefore, in relation to the teaching profession, non-standardness is considered as a valuable resource, an important ability, that guarantees the effectiveness of the modern teacher's work.
As a construct with two main dimensions, non-standardness can be studied in two aspects. The personal aspect of the non-standardness is reflected in the attitudes and beliefs of the teachers, in the perspectives of their professional experience. Teachers' beliefs - in other site, are a factor in changing attitudes, resp. of the transformation of teacher's behavior. The social aspect of non-standardness is manifested in the behavior of the teacher in real situations of the educational environment.
Although beliefs change teacher attitudes, changing professional behavior is often a slow and difficult process, as there is a clash between the professional stereotype and available competencies - on the one hand, and the desire for change, the need for creative expression - on the other.
The aim of this study is to establish the relevance between the attitudes and beliefs of teachers regarding the manifestations of non-standardness and the real manifestation of non-standardness in their routine professional activity. The research was conducted among 520 teachers from different stages and degrees of school education in Bulgaria.
The research methodology includes a standardized questionnaire with a Likert scale for assessing the teacher’s non-standardness and structured observation of real practices in which the manifestations of non-standardness are assessed - analogously to the questionnaire. By means of a correlation analysis, essential dependencies were deduced, and by means of a factor analysis, important aspects of the teacher's non-standardness were highlighted.

Keywords:

Teacher's nonstandardness, teachers' attitudes and beliefs, creativity.