Key components of modern 21st century teaching are active learning, inclusiveness, critical thinking, digital literacy, creativity, collaboration and lifelong learning. The paper deals with the key aspects of teacher competencies and their importance for creating quality educational experiences and realizing the aforementioned components of modern teaching. Teacher competencies include knowledge, skills, attitudes and abilities for effective work. Teacher competencies include pedagogical-psychological, socio-emotional, didactic-methodical and professional-subject related dimensions. Teacher competencies cover a wide range of areas, including pedagogical skills, subject knowledge, ability to adapt teaching methods, classroom management skills, communication skills, and continuous professional development. The text analyzes the relevance of these elements in contributing to the quality of teaching and learning, reviewing literature, research and examples of good practice in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of teacher competencies and their impact on the quality of educational experiences in the classroom. Special emphasis is placed on a detailed review of research on the development of teacher competencies in Croatia in the last 15 years, with the aim of investigating the presence of this topic in the Croatian educational context and identifying possible steps to improve the education system. The analysis explores trends, shortcomings and possible innovations in the field of teacher competencies. This systematic review will provide a comprehensive insight into the current state of education in Croatia and propose specific guidelines for improving the quality of teaching and the professional development of teachers. The final goal of this analysis is to contribute to the construction of an educational system that can respond to modern challenges and provide students with quality educational experiences.