Institute for Social Studies

1
Institute for Social Studies ZagrebCenter for
Education Research and Development

• CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTTeachers
  Perspective
• Prof.dr. Vlasta Vizek Vidovic,
• Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb

Primošten, April 2007
2
Objectives of the Project Development of
Continouous Teacher Training Model (2003-2005)

• Examining the perception of various participants
  in the education process of the appropriateness
  of acquired knowledge and skills for competent
  performance of teachers profession (assessment
  of pre-service education and professional
  development)
• Comparison of elements of Croatian teacher
  education system with the systems of some EU
  countries and some transition countries

3
Methodology

• Levels of analysis - conceptual,
• - comparative,
  
• - empirical
• Sources of data
• comparative analysis of documents on teacher
  training in Europe and Croatia
• questionnaires for
• Primary and secondary school teachers
• Students of teacher training faculties/colleges
• University professors in the area of education
• international best practice examples

4
Teachers Research Participants

• 121 primary schools
• 1334 class teachers
• 2134 subject teachers
• 32 secondary schools
• 436 gymnasium teachers
• 608 vocational school teachers

5
Average Satisfaction with Acquired Knowledge and
Skills during Pre-service Education

• Assessments represent the average in 20 areas of
  teacher work on the scale from 1 not at all to
  4 fully

6
Areas Rated below Average Primary School
Teachers
KNLOWEDGE AND SKILLS RANK Class t. RANK Subject t.
Application of ICT in teaching 1 1
Work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders 2 2
Work with students with learning difficulties 3 3
Work with gifted students 4 7
Knowledge of education legislation 5 6
Communication and cooperation with parents 6 5
Training on human rights and civil society 7 8
Application of practical skills in teaching 8 -
Duties of a homeroom teacher - 4

• Rank 1 denotes the worst assessment of
  contribution of pre-service education

7
Areas Rated below Average Secondary School
Teachers
KNLOWEDGE AND SKILLS RANK Gymnasiums RANk Vocational Schools
Work with students with learning difficulties 1 2
Work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders 2 3
Application of ICT in teaching 3 1
Duties of a homeroom teacher 4 4
Knowledge of education legislation 5 6
Communication and cooperation with parents 6 8.5
Work with gifted students 7 8.5
Training on human rights and civil society 8 5
Developing environmental awareness 9 7
Application of practical skills in teaching 10 10

• Rank 1 denotes the worst assessment of
  pre-service education contribution

8
Permanent Professional Development

• The most frequent forms of professional
  development ( of teachers who participated) and
  assessment of the quality of those forms of
  professional development (ranks)

Form of professional development PRIMARY SCHOOLS PRIMARY SCHOOLS SECONDARY SCHOOLS SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Form of professional development rank rank
Seminars 62 2 61 2.5
Lectures 61 3 52 2.5
Workshops 55 1 48 1
9
Average Satisfaction with Contribution of
Professional Development to Specific Areas of
Work
10
Areas of Professional Development Rated under the
Average Primary School Teachers
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS RANK class teachers RANK subject teachers
Application of ICT in teaching 1 1
Knowledge of education legislation 2 3
Work with gifted students 3 -
Evaluation of education process and self-evaluation 4 -
Work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders 5 5
Application of practical skills in teaching 6 -
Work with students with learning difficulties 7 6
Communication and cooperation with parents - 4
Duties of a homeroom teacher - 2
Training on human rights and civil society - 7

• Rank 1 denotes the worst assessment of
  contribution of professional development

11
Areas of Professional Development Rated under the
Average Secondary School Teachers
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS RANK Gymnasiums RANK Vocational Schools
Work with students with learning difficulties 1 1
Work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders 2 2
Duties of a homeroom teacher 3 3
Communication and cooperation with parents 4 5
Knowledge of education legislation 5 4
Training on human rights and civil society 6 8
Developing environmental awareness 7 6
Work with gifted students 8 7
Application of ICT in teaching 9 9

• Rank 1 denotes the worst assessment of
  contribution of professional development

12
The Need for Post-graduate Education

• Should teachers be enabled to acquire
  post-graduate education at the university level
  in the area of educational sciences and
  methodics?
• Primary school teachers
  Secondary school teachers

13
Linking Professional Development with Promotion

• Do you think that professional development
  should be directly linked with promotion by
  introduction of credits for participation in
  professional development?
• Primary school teachers Secondary school
  teachers

14
Areas that the Teachers Would Like to Learn More
about as Part of Professional Development(ranks
on the basis of frequency of reference for a
specific group)
AREAS OF TEACHER WORK PRIMARY SCHOOLS SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Work with students with various difficulties in learning and behavior 1 3
Work with computer and application of ICT in teaching 2 2
Work with gifted students 3 5
Application of new teaching methods and skills in teaching 4 1
Communication skills (cooperation with students and parents) 5 6
Manners of monitoring and evaluation of educational achievements 6 7
The latest findings and achievements in subject area 7 4
15
Final Comments

• Pre-service Education
• Average assessments of the contribution of
  pre-service education to development of specific
  competencies are comparatively low for both
  primary and secondary school teachers (averages
  of most units are below the theoretical average
  value)
• The need for higher share of educational sciences
  and methodologies at university studies
• Lifelong / Continuous Professional Development
• Planning should be based on monitoring the needs
  of primary and secondary school teachers, but
  also on the opinion of other stakeholders in the
  education system (parents, teachers,
  administrative and professional services,
  university, international expertise)
• The need for elaborated and regulated system of
  linking professional development with promotion