Teacher Education in Europe

Studies on Higher Education
Institutional Approaches to Teacher

Education within Higher Education
in Europe: Current Models and
New Developments
Edited by
Bob Moon, Lazar Vlasceanu,
and
Leland Conley Barrows
Bucharest
2003
Studies on Higher Education
Editor of the Series:
Leland Conley Barrows
Assistants to the Editor:
Maria-Ana Dumitrescu
Viorica Popa
Valentina Pîslaru
ISBN 92-9069-173-X
© UNESCO 2003
Contents
Preface......................................................................................................... 13
I. Current Models and New Developments in
Teacher Education in Austria ...................................................... 17
MICHAEL SCHRATZ and PAUL JOSEF RESINGER
1. Introduction ................................................................................... 17
2. The Austrian System of Teacher Education................................. 17
3. Institutional Forms of Initial Teacher Education ...................... 19
3.1. Nursery School Teacher Education ................................. 19
3.2. Teachers Educated at Teacher Training Colleges ............ 19
3.3. Teachers Educated at Universities .................................. 20
3.4. Vocational School Teachers............................................. 21
3.5. Teacher Education in Other Subject Areas...................... 22
3.6. The Information and Communication Technologies ........ 22
4. The Status and the Attractiveness of the Teaching
Profession ..................................................................................... 23
5. Recruitment Patterns .................................................................... 26
6. Impact of the European Co-Operation Programmes.................... 28
7. Institutional Forms of In-service and Continuing Education...... 29
7.1. In-Service Training for Teachers...................................... 29
7.2. Continuing Education for Teachers................................ 30
7.3. Future Directions ............................................................ 30
8. Recent Developments and Further Perspectives.......................... 31
8.1. Teacher Training Colleges ............................................... 31
8.2. Universities ..................................................................... 32
8.3. Perspectives..................................................................... 33
II. Teacher Education in Canada: Renewing Scholarly,
Pedagogical, and Organizational Practices ................................ 35
THÉRÈSE LAFERRIÈRE, NANCY SHEEHAN, and TOM RUSSELL
1. Overview......................................................................................... 35
2. Education Systems and Teacher Education in Canada .............. 35
3. Teacher Education in British Columbia....................................... 36
3.1. Politically Driven Changes............................................... 36
3.2. Socially Driven Changes.................................................. 37
3.3. Professionally Driven Changes ........................................ 37
3.4. Persistent Tensions in Teacher Education and
in Faculties of Education ................................................ 39
4. Teacher Education in Ontario....................................................... 39
4.2. Innovation or Change? .................................................... 40
4.3. Policy but not Research................................................... 41
4.4. Words without Substance ............................................... 41
4.5. Persistent Tensions ......................................................... 42
5. Teacher Education in Quebec....................................................... 43
5.2. A Fragile Social Consensus Regarding the
Professional Education of Teachers................................. 43
5.3. Persisting Tensions in Teacher Education and
Faculties of Education .................................................... 45
6. Common Themes and Tensions ................................................... 45
6.1. Teacher Education in Higher Education Is Firmly
Established ..................................................................... 45
6.2. Scholarly Activity and the Practice of Teaching ............... 45
6.3. Innovative University-Based Practices............................. 46
6.4. Innovative School-Based Practices .................................. 46
6.5. Innovative Network-Based Teacher Education ................ 47
III. Current Models and New Developments in Croatian
Teacher Education.......................................................................... 51
VLASTA VIZEK-VIDOVIC and VESNA VLAHOVIC-ŠTETIC
1. Introduction ................................................................................... 51
1.1. History of Teacher Education in Croatia.......................... 51
1.2. The Present Educational Context of Teacher
Education: Educational Reforms in the 1990s ................ 52
2. Teacher Education Institutions in Croatia .................................. 52
3. Employment Conditions and the Status of Teachers ................. 52
3.1. Career Structure and Status ........................................... 53
3.2. Income ............................................................................ 53
3.3. Work Load ....................................................................... 53
4. Institutional Approaches – Overview of the Teacher
Education System......................................................................... 54
4.1. Description of the System of Pre-Service Teacher
Education ....................................................................... 54
4.2. Primary School – Lower Primary...................................... 55
4.3. Upper Primary and Secondary School (in Academic
Disciplines) ..................................................................... 57
4.4. Vocational Schools – Secondary Schools
Specializing in Polytechnic, Medical, and
Economics Education ..................................................... 58
4.5. Vocational Secondary Schools for Industrial
Subjects and Crafts......................................................... 58
4.6. Special Education Teachers ............................................ 59
4.7. Quality Assessment and Quality Assurance of
Initial Teacher Education................................................ 60
4.8. Induction of Beginning Teachers ..................................... 60
4.9. In-Service Teacher Education.......................................... 61
5. ADVANCED CERTIFICATION ....................................................... 61
5.1. Postgraduate Studies ...................................................... 61
5.2. The Teacher Advancement System.................................. 61
6. The Role of Teacher Education in Educational Research
and Educational Innovation......................................................... 62
7. The New Information and Communication Technologies
and Teacher Education ................................................................ 62
8. Concluding Remarks ..................................................................... 62
8.1. Key Problems Confronting the Improvement of
Teacher Education in Croatian Higher Education
Institutions ..................................................................... 62
8.2. The Need for and the Possible Directions to Be
Taken by the Improvement of Institutionalized
Teacher Education .......................................................... 63
8.3. Some Specific Sector Needs............................................. 63
8.4. Possible Future Policies................................................... 64
IV. Teacher Education in England: Current Models and
New Developments ......................................................................... 67
BOB MOON
1. Introduction ................................................................................... 67
2. Pre-Service Teacher Education and Training prior to 2000 ........ 67
2.1. Origins ............................................................................ 67
2.2. Twentieth Century Evolution........................................... 69
2.3. Pre-Service Teacher Education and Training in
England (2000–2001) ...................................................... 73
3. The Continuing Professional Development of Teachers............... 77
3.1. The Context..................................................................... 77
3.2. Contemporary Continuing Professional Development
Initiatives ........................................................................ 79
4. Summary Policy Conclusions ....................................................... 82
V. Teacher Education in Finland: Current Models and
New Developments ......................................................................... 85
PERTTI KANSANEN
1. Introduction ................................................................................... 85
1.1. Brief Historical Background ............................................. 85
1.2. Basic Features of the Finnish Education System ............ 86
1.3. Student Selection for Teacher Education ........................ 87
2. OVERVIEW OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN FINLAND ................ 88
2.1. General Characteristics.................................................... 88
2.2. Main Principles ................................................................ 89
2.3. The Idea of Research-Based Teacher Education .............. 89
2.4. The Role of Pedagogical Practice in Research-Based
Teacher Education .......................................................... 91
3. THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF CLASSROOM
TEACHERS ................................................................................... 92
3.1. Educational Studies ...................................................... 93
3.2. Basic Studies in Education ........................................... 93
3.3. Intermediate Studies in Education ................................ 94
3.4. Advanced Studies in Education..................................... 95
3.5. Practice Studies ............................................................ 96
3.6. Subject Didactics Studies.............................................. 97
3.7. Minor Subject Studies................................................... 97
3.8. Language and Communication Studies......................... 98
3.9. Optional Studies ........................................................... 98
3.10. Concluding Remarks Regarding the Education
and Training of Classroom Teachers ............................. 98
4. The Education and Training of Subject Teachers ........................ 98
4.1. Introductory Studies to Teaching .................................... 99
4.2. Courses in the Philosophical and Historical Bases of
Teaching and Learning.................................................. 100
4.3. Theoretical and Practical Bases of Subject Didactics .... 100
4.4. Research Methodology and Research on Subject
Didactics ....................................................................... 101
4.5. Concluding Remarks Regarding the Education and
Training of Subject Teachers......................................... 102
5. The Education and Training of Kindergarten Teachers............. 102
6. Some Remarks about Teacher Training for Vocational and
Adult Education.......................................................................... 102
7. In-Service Teacher Education ..................................................... 103
8. Conclusions ................................................................................. 104
8.1. Current Trends in Finnish Teacher Education .............. 104
8.2. International Assessment of Finnish Teacher
Education ..................................................................... 106
8.3. Information Technology and Media Education .............. 107
VI. Teacher Education in France: Evolution or Revolution? ...... 109
MICHÈLE DEANE
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 109
1.1. Historical Perspective .................................................... 109
1.2. Contemporary Administrative Features......................... 111
2. Pre-1990: Different Training Models for Different Jobs............. 112
2.1. Colleges for Educating and Training Primary
School Teachers ............................................................ 112
2.2. Regional Pedagogical Centers – Secondary
School Teacher Training Institutes................................ 113
2.3. Institutes for Training Vocational School Teachers ....... 113
2.4. Some Common Features Shared by All These
Training Institutions ..................................................... 114
3. Since 1990: One Training for All................................................. 115
3.1. A Mission Common to All .............................................. 116
3.2. The Concept of Professional Training ............................ 116
3.3. The Personnel of the IUFMs .......................................... 119
4. Initial Teacher Training ............................................................... 119
4.1. The IUFMs Select Their Own Recruitment Models......... 119
4.2. The First Year................................................................ 121
4.3. The Second Year............................................................ 124
4.4. The Training of Technical and Vocational School
Teachers........................................................................ 124
4.5. A Common Assessment Framework for All.................... 126
4.6. A Priority for Initial Teacher Training: Developing
Capabilities and Competencies in the Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) ...................... 127
5. In-Service Training Provision ...................................................... 127
5.1. An Example of In-service Training: The Training of
Teachers for Pupils with Special Educational Needs ........ 128
6. Some Autonomy: Diversity of Practice........................................ 129
7. Conclusion................................................................................... 131
VII. Teacher Education in Germany: Current State and
New Perspectives ........................................................................ 135
EWALD TERHART
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 135
2. Short History of Teacher Education in Germany....................... 137
2.1. Training of Primary School Teachers ............................. 137
2.2. Training of Gymnasium Teachers.................................. 138
3. The Current Status of the Teaching Profession.......................... 139
4. The System of Teacher Education in Germany .......................... 141
4.1. Structure ....................................................................... 142
4.2. Problems........................................................................ 145
4.3. Benefits and Difficulties of Academic Teacher
Education ..................................................................... 148
4.4. Current Policies for Reforming Teacher Education ........ 150
5. The Mainstream: Keeping the Current Institutional
Framework and Improving All Its Elements .............................. 151
5.1. The University Phase ..................................................... 151
5.2. The Preparatory Phase .................................................. 151
5.3. Professional Development: In-Service Teacher
Training ........................................................................ 151
5.4. Adopting the Anglo-American Model of Bachelor’s
and Master’s Degrees in Teacher Education ................. 152
5.5. Transferring University Elementary School Teacher
Education to Fachhochschulen...................................... 152
5.6. Reducing the Time/Costs of the Second, Preparatory
Phase of Teacher Education .......................................... 153
5.7. Concentrating Teacher Education on the Second,
Preparatory Phase in Schools........................................ 153
5.8. Abolishing Teacher Education ....................................... 153
6. Concluding Remarks ................................................................... 154
VIII. Changing Approaches to Teacher Training in Hungary ....... 157
PÉTER DEBRECZENI
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 157
1.1. Historical Background................................................... 157
1.2. Centralization – Decentralization................................... 157
2. The Present Situation of Teacher Education within the
National Education System........................................................ 159
2.1. Admission ..................................................................... 160
2.2. In-Service Training ........................................................ 161
2.3. Working Conditions and Social Esteem......................... 162
2.4. Teacher Training and the Prevailing Educational
Doctrines (1850–2000) .................................................. 164
3. Characteristics of the Public Education System........................ 165
3.1. Main Stages of Integration and Decentralization
in Hungarian Education after the Second World
War ............................................................................... 166
5. In-Service Teacher Training ........................................................ 168
5.1. Quality Control in the New In-Service Teacher
Training System ............................................................ 170
5.2. Concrete Strategy .......................................................... 172
5.3. Innovation and Effectiveness......................................... 173
5.4. The Professional Knowledge of Teachers ....................... 174
5.5. The Methodological Culture of Teachers........................ 175
6. The Present State of the Teaching-Learning Relationship......... 176
7. The Employment of Teachers...................................................... 177
7.1. Teaching Staff Composition and Structure .................... 179
7.2. Professional Organizations and Trade Unions ............... 181
7.3. Employment Conditions and Remuneration.................. 182
8. Pedagogical Services.................................................................... 183
8.1. National Institutes for Educational Research and
Development ................................................................. 184
8.2. County Pedagogical Institutes ....................................... 184
9. Conclusions ................................................................................. 186
9.1. Evaluation of the Present Situation............................... 186
9.2. Problems and Challenges .............................................. 187
9.3. Possible Future Policies and Lines of Action.................. 190
IX. Teacher Education in Ireland ..................................................... 195
CIARAN SUGRUE
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 195
2. Nineteenth Century Origins ........................................................ 195
3. National Education...................................................................... 196
3.1. Primary Schooling ......................................................... 197
3.2. Secondary Schooling ..................................................... 197
3.3. The Irish Language........................................................ 199
4. Primary School Teacher Education: Location, Programmes,
and Entry Requirements ............................................................ 200
4.1. Concurrent Programme: Bachelor of Education ............ 201
4.2. Consecutive Programme: Graduate Diploma ................. 202
4.3. Entry Requirements: Concurrent and Consecutive
Programmes .................................................................. 202
5. Secondary School Teaching ........................................................ 203
6. Teacher Education: Policies and Programmes ........................... 207
6.1. Policy: Primary School Teacher Education .................... 207
6.2. Policy: Secondary School Teacher Education ................ 209
7. Continuing Professional Development: Policy and Practice ...... 210
8. Primary Pre-Service Teacher Education: Content and
Pedagogy ..................................................................................... 212
9. Secondary Pre-Service: Content and Pedagogy.......................... 214
10. Conclusions ............................................................................... 216
10.1. Structural Location of Teacher Education................... 216
10.2. Pre-Service Programmes: Content and Balance........... 216
10.3. Induction..................................................................... 217
10.4. Continuing Professional Development ......................... 218
10.5. Research ..................................................................... 218
10.6. The Information and Communication Technologies .... 218
X. Teacher Education in Italy: New Trends .................................. 223
MARCO ENRICO TODESCHINI
1. Historical Background................................................................. 223
1.1. The Deep Roots ............................................................. 223
1.2. Immutability – Non-Reformability.................................. 224
1.3. The Impact of Philosophy/Ideology................................ 224
1.4. Contemporary (Republican) Italy ................................... 226
2. Education and Training – The “Preparation” of Teachers.......... 226
3. Outline of the Current Education System.................................. 227
3.1. Higher Education .......................................................... 227
3.2. Paths to Becoming a Teacher (Until the 1990s) ............. 228
3.3. The Acquisition of Competencies................................... 229
3.4. In-Service Training ........................................................ 230
4. Structural Changes in the Access to Teaching in the 1990s .... 230
5. Structure of the New Programmes.............................................. 232
5.1. Pre-School and Primary School ..................................... 232
5.2. The Example of the University of Milan-Bicocca............ 234
5.3. The Specialization School for Secondary Education ...... 235
5.4. Some Examples of Secondary School Teacher
Preparation ................................................................... 236
6. The Full Reform of the Entire Structure of Formal
Education (1996-2001)............................................................... 237
6.1. Implications for Teacher Education and Training
as of 2001 ..................................................................... 237
6.2. Implications of the Changed Parliamentary Majority
Following the General Elections of May 2001................ 240
XI. Teacher Education in the Netherlands:
Changing Gears............................................................................. 245
MARCO SNOEK and DOUWE WIELENGA
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 245
2. The Context of Teacher Education in the Netherlands.............. 246
2.1. Educational Trends Influencing Teacher
Education ..................................................................... 246
2.2. Autonomy and Decision-Making in Teacher
Education ..................................................................... 247
3. Conditions for the Teaching Profession...................................... 248
3.1. Responsibility for the Quality of Education ................... 248
3.2. Teacher Qualifications................................................... 249
4. Towards Competency-Based and School-Based Teacher
Education: Curriculum Developments in Teacher Education
in the Netherlands (1996-1998) ................................................. 250
5. Towards Coherent Innovation Programmes............................... 251
5.1. Care and Courage ......................................................... 251
5.2. Educational Partnership ............................................... 252
5.3. Change Agents .............................................................. 252
5.4. Towards a Competency-Based and Dynamic
Curriculum ................................................................... 253
5.5. Towards Work- and School-Based Curricula................. 254
6. The Role and the Quality of Teacher Educators –
Teach and Learn as You Preach................................................. 256
7. Conclusions and Trends ............................................................. 256
XII. Teacher Education in Poland ..................................................... 263
IRENEUSZ BIALECKI
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 263
2. Outline of the Educational Reform in Poland ............................ 264
3.1. Teacher Training in Higher Education Institutions ....... 271
3.2. The System of Teacher Training Colleges Existing
Outside the Higher Education Institution System
and Organized by the Provincial Educational
Administration .............................................................. 274
4. In-Service Training and Teacher Development .......................... 277
5. Conclusions ................................................................................. 280
XIII. Teacher Education Reform in Romania:
A Stage of Transition .................................................................... 285
DAN POTOLEA and LUCIAN CIOLAN
1. Emergence of New Policies for the Reform of Teacher
Education.................................................................................... 285
1.1. The Educational Consequences of the Major
Socio-Economic and Political Changes in
Romanian Society since 1989 ....................................... 285
1.2. Milestones in Educational Reform ................................. 286
1.3. Teacher Education as a Component of the
Reform Process ............................................................. 287
2. The Statute of the Teaching Staff: Career Development............ 290
2.1. The Legal Basis ............................................................. 290
2.2. Professional Roles Associated with the
Teaching Career............................................................ 291
2.3. Social and Professional Aspects of the
Teaching Profession ...................................................... 293
3. The Institutional System of Teacher Training in Romania........ 294
3.1. Pre-Service Teacher Training......................................... 294
3.2. In-Service Teacher Training........................................... 296
3.3. Teacher Training Programmes....................................... 297
3.4. Curricula for Pre-Service and In-Service
Teacher Training ........................................................... 298
3.5. Trends in Teacher Training Development:
Looking Ahead .............................................................. 300
4. Some Concluding Remarks......................................................... 301
XIV. Institutional Approaches within Higher Education to
Reform Teacher Education in Yugoslavia ................................ 305
GORDANA ZINDOVIC-VUKADINOVIC
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 305
2. Overview of the Current Situation .............................................. 306
2.1. The Education System and Teacher Training
Institutions ................................................................... 306
2.2. National Policy and Teacher Training Legislation .......... 306
2.3. The Social Status of Teachers, School Needs,
Employment, and Working Conditions.......................... 309
2.4. The Professional Organizations, Associations,
and Unions of Teachers ................................................ 310
3. Historical Background of Teacher Education ............................ 310
3.1. Concepts and Institutional Development....................... 310
3.2. Teacher Education in Crisis (1990-2000) ...................... 311
4. Pre-Service Teacher Education ................................................... 312
4.1. Institutional Organization ............................................. 312
4.2. Recruitment, Funding, Decision-Making, and
Curriculum Development.............................................. 313
4.3. The Patterns of Educational Programmes...................... 314
5. In-Service Teacher Training ........................................................ 317
6. Evaluation and Acknowledgement of Teaching Skills ............... 318
7. The Needs of Teachers and Schools Relative to Pre- and
In-Service Teacher Training ....................................................... 318
XV. A Retrospective View of the National Case Studies
on Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education ............... 321
BOB MOON
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 321
2. The Historical Context................................................................. 322
3. Institutional and Regulatory Structures .................................... 324
4. The Development of Curricula .................................................... 327
5. Continuing Professional Development........................................ 331
6. The Status of the Teaching Profession ....................................... 333
7. Conclusion................................................................................... 335
The Contributors .................................................................................... 339
UNESCO-CEPES Publications ............................................................. 343
Preface
The publication of this set of national studies on teacher education in the

Europe Region of UNESCO (which includes North America and Israel) is one
of several activities that took place within a project, organized by UNESCO-
CEPES, titled “Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education within Higher
Education in the Europe Region: Current Models and New Developments”
that ran from January to December 2001. The main objective of the project,
as the title implies, was to identify and to analyze current models and new
developments in teacher education in the Europe Region, while reflecting on
prevailing tendencies with regard to the institutional and organizational
“place” of teacher education (for all levels of teachers, pre-school to secondary
education) most of which is, in fact, situated in higher/tertiary education.
This volume, with its fourteen national studies and the concluding
comparative analysis, is the principal outcome of the project that comprised
a rigourous selection process to identify experts to write the studies and the
holding of two meetings. The objective of the first meeting was to present and
to discuss the guidelines that UNESCO-CEPES had proposed for the
elaboration of the national case studies so as to elaborate a definitive outline
based on the suggestions of the participants. The second meeting, a seminar,
was the occasion for the authors to present and to discuss the drafts of their
studies and to comment on a presentation of the comparative analysis of the
studies before preparing their final versions.
The first meeting, that was held in Vienna from 1 to 4 March 2001, was
organized by UNESCO-CEPES with the support of the Austrian Federal
Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, the Austrian Commission for
UNESCO, and “KulturKontakt” Austria. The second one, that took place in
Berlin, from 6-8 December 2001, at the Free University of Berlin, was co-
sponsored by this institution as well as by the Federal Foreign Office of
Germany, the German Commission for UNESCO, Education
International/GEW, and the Department for Science, Research, and Culture
of the Senate of Berlin.
A parallel activity of the same project, albeit with different participants,
was the organization by UNESCO-CEPES, in collaboration with the
University of Puerto Rico, of an international seminar titled “Teaching and
Organization of Studies in the Virtual and Classical University: Conflict
and/or Mutual Reinforcement”. It was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from
22 to 24 October 2001. Many of the papers presented in this seminar were
published in Higher Education in Europe (Volume 26, No. 4). Although this
activity was more oriented towards higher education than to primary and
secondary education, it clearly demonstrated the revolutionizing tendencies
of the information and communication technologies for education, in general,
and the need for all levels of education, teacher education very much
included, to integrate the ICTs into all the facets of their activity. Yet, as the
fourteen case studies made clear, they are not now as integrated into teacher
14 PREFACE
education as they could and should be, even if some countries are more
advanced, in this respect, than others.
The general outline of the studies called for the authors to discuss the
historic origins of teacher education in their countries, its institutional
structures and the role of government in regulating both the structures and
the outcomes of training, the development of curricula, the role of in-service
and continuing professional training, and the status of teachers. Although
most teacher training, today, takes place in higher education institutions –
virtually all of the education and training for secondary school teachers –
what is the balance between education in the subjects to be taught and
training in didactics? What should it be? Should subject training and
pedagogical training be simultaneous or consecutive? How much teacher
training should be devolved back to the schools with student teachers
serving as apprentice teachers? What is the role of government certification?
These are some of the questions asked and partially answered in the studies
under the rubrics of institutional and regulatory structures and of the
development of curricula.
The need for in-service and continuing training for teachers is universally
recognized; however, the studies tend to stress the role of pre-service training
and education. As for continuing professional development, a question that
arises in several of the studies is whether or not such course provision
should be the purview of higher education institutions or be opened to non-
academic providers, commercial consultation firms, for instance. Certain
countries, like Hungary and England, are making important use of the latter
possibility. Universities, can propose continuing education programmes for
teachers, but their role in the endeavour is by no means guaranteed. The role
of government and of accreditation agencies is to assure the quality of such
offerings, be they offered by universities or by consultation firms.
This volume, the principal outcome of the project on teacher education,
reveals many of the common factors influencing teacher education in the
region. It identifies both innovating developments and new trends in the
design of institutional models of teacher education. It provides additional
information with regard to future policies and possible common lines of
action in teacher education and training, aimed at improving the performance
and the status of teachers, and of assisting them in coping with a series of
new developments in education, in general, and higher education in
particular, that include the continued evolution of the “Bologna Process” that
is expected to give rise to a European Higher Education Area by 2010, the
assimilation of the information and communication technologies into all the
areas of endeavour, and the linear emphasis on periodic in-service training
for all teachers.
I would like, foremost, to thank the authors of the studies for their efforts
in writing and in collaborating with the editors of the volume – Bob Moon,
Professor at the Open University of the United Kingdom, and with my two
colleagues Lazar Vlasceanu, Programme Specialist, and Leland Barrrows,
Senior Editor, all three deserving a special thanks for their excellent work.
PREFACE 15
This particular project and publication should also be viewed as a
contribution by UNESCO-CEPES to the broader efforts of UNESCO with
regard to one of the most urgent world-wide challenges, that of the “supply of
teachers”, which should be viewed in its quantitative as well as its qualitative
context. In meeting this challenge, higher education has a role to assume of
particular importance.
Jan Sadlak
Director of UNESCO-CEPES
I. Current Models and New Developments in
Teacher Education in Austria
MICHAEL SCHRATZ and PAUL JOSEF RESINGER
1. INTRODUCTION
The Austrian education system is characterized by vertical differentiation at
the lower and upper secondary school levels. Its main feature is the parallel
structure of different types of schools offering a variety of educational
strands. This diversification not only affects the compatibility of schools with
their respective cultures, but also, more importantly, teacher training.
Teachers for different types of schools undergo education and training in
separate institutions. Moreover, there is a variation in programme type and
duration, qualification, and status as fully-fledged teachers. The numerous
teacher education institutions are organized at different levels of the
education system (upper secondary, non-university tertiary-level, and
university level) and are subject to varying legislation.
2. THE AUSTRIAN SYSTEM OF TEACHER EDUCATION

The following table illustrates the different types of schools at compulsory
and post-compulsory level and the kind of teacher education qualifying one
to teach in these schools. This information provides a foundation for
understanding the characteristics of teacher education in Austria.
Table 1: Characteristics of teacher education in Austria

Type of Pre-primary school Primary school Lower secondary Upper secondary
education education education school education school education
Type of school(s) Nursery school Primary school General secondary Compulsory vocational
(Kindergarten) 3- (Volksschule) school school (Berufsbildende
to-6-year olds Grades 1-4 (Hauptschule) Pflichtschule) Grades
Grades 5-8 10-12/13
Medium-level and
Special school Pre-vocational higher-level vocational
(Sonderschule) school schools
Grades 1-9 (Polytechnische (Berufsbildende mittlere
Schule) und höhere Schulen)
Grade 9 Grades 9-11/13
Academic secondary
school (Allgemein-
Academic bildende höhere
secondary school Schule)
(Allgemeinbildende Grades 9-12
höhere Schule)
Grades 5-8
18 M. SCHRATZ and P. J. RESINGER
Type of Pre-primary school Primary school Lower secondary Upper secondary
education education education school education school education
Location of initial Training school for Teacher training Teacher training Training college for
teacher nursery school college college vocational school
education teachers (Bildungs- (Pädagogische (Pädagogische teachers
anstalt für Akademie) Akademie) (Berufspädagogische
Kindergarten- Akademie)
pädagogik)
University University teacher
teacher education education institution
institution (e.g., [optional] (e.g., Institut
Institut für für LehrerInnenbildung
LehrerInnen- und Schulforschung)
bildung und
Schulforschung)
Level for initial Upper secondary Non-university Non-university Non-university
education tertiary-level tertiary-level tertiary-level
provision University level University level
Duration of 5 years 6 semesters 6 semesters 4 semesters
initial training 9 semesters plus 9 semesters
one-year for general subjects:
traineeship one-year traineeship
(Unterrichts- (Unterrichtspraktikum)
praktikum) for vocational subjects:
2 years’ working
experience
Certificate A-level Certificate Teaching diploma Teaching diploma Teaching diploma

(Matura) [non-university [non-university [non-university degree]
degree] degree]
University degree University degree
(Master’s Degree) (Master’s Degree)
Location of in- Training school In-service In-service In-service training
service training for nursery school training training institution for
teachers institution institution vocational teachers
(Bildungsanstalt (Pädagogisches (Pädagogisches (Berufspädagogi-
für Kindergarten- Institut) Institut) sches Institut)
pädagogik) In-service training
In-service institution
training (Pädagogisches
institution Institut)
(Pädagogisches University
Institut) [not in all
provinces]
Location for In-service In-service In-service training
continuous training training institution
education institution institution (Pädagogisches
(Pädagogisches (Pädagogisches Institut)
Institut) Institut) Teacher training
Teacher training Teacher training college (Pädagogische
college college Akademie)
(Pädagogische (Pädagogische University
Akademie) Akademie)
University University
Source: The authors
3. INSTITUTIONAL FORMS OF INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION
3.1. Nursery School Teacher Education
Pre-primary education (3- to 6-year olds) is offered at nursery schools.
However, this kind of education is not compulsory by law and, therefore, it
is not part of the school system. Students are trained at training schools
for nursery school teachers. The programme (national syllabus) consists of
general education at upper secondary level, professional training (e.g.,
pedagogy, educational psychology, and didactics), and practical training at
the nursery training school (Übungskindergarten) of the institution. Upon
completion of studies, students take written and oral examinations in five
subjects in order to obtain the school-leaving certificate (Matura), which
also allows admission to higher education. Once the examination is taken
and passed, the graduate is entitled to work as a fully-fledged nursery
school teacher.
3.2. Teachers Educated at Teacher Training Colleges

LOCATION OF INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION
Students intending to teach in a compulsory school must go either to one
of the nine federal teacher training colleges (Pädagogische Akademie des
Bundes) or to one of the five colleges run by the Roman Catholic Church
(Pädagogische Akademie der Diözese).
ORGANIZATION OF STUDIES
Depending upon the type of compulsory school in which students intend to
teach, separate programmes are offered, all of them following a national
syllabus (Lehrplan der Pädagogischen Akademie). The initial training
programmes are based on the concurrent model, meaning that students
follow general education courses and undertake professional training in a
single phase, from the outset, for the entire training course. Teacher training
colleges have some degree of autonomy to allocate a total of 164 teaching
units within four areas:
– Humanities 25-45;
– Subjects and didactics 65-80;
– Additional courses 10-30 (e.g., ICT, Special Education);
– School practice 25-30.
Students intending to teach in primary school or in special schools are
trained in all study domains. However, special needs training is
concentrated on inclusive education and special needs. Prospective general
secondary school teachers and those teaching in pre-vocational schools are
trained in two subjects, one of which has to be either German,
Mathematics, or English. All in all, students receive a total amount of
professional training, during a three-year programme, equal to 60 percent
of the total. From the outset, students observe teaching in school classes
on a regular basis. As of the second semester, they begin to teach classes
each week (Tagespraktikum), either in the training school of the institution
(Übungsvolks/-hauptschule) or in co-operating schools.
MAIN FEATURES OF QUALIFICATION

Students graduate with a non-university degree and are immediately
entitled to begin work as fully qualified teachers. The examination taken at
the end of initial teacher training (Lehramtsprüfung) does not entitle
successful candidates to teach at higher secondary educational levels. If
graduates of teacher training colleges wish to teach in upper secondary
education, they must pursue an upgrading course at university level.
3.3. Teachers Educated at Universities

LOCATION OF INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING
Pre-service education takes place at universities and is based on the
concurrent model. Students follow general education courses and undergo
their first professional training right from the start in a single phase.
However, initial teacher education also has a consecutive element, since
graduates of a university teacher education programme must undergo a
one-year traineeship (Unterrichtspraktikum), organized by the provincial
school authorities in co-operation with the regional in-service training
institutions (Pädagogische Institute).
Initial training at universities takes four-and-a-half years, as per the General
University Studies Act (Allgemeines Hochschul-Studiengesetz). The academic
secondary school teacher education programme (Lehramtsstudium) includes
general education in two academic subjects, professional education, and the
first practical phase (Schulpraktikum). For a long time, universities were free
to determine themselves the content of the programmes they offered in
teacher education. Only recently, however, has national legislation specified
the minimum requirements regarding compulsory groups of subjects or
minimum standards that must be met. Regarding professional training, a
strong contrast characterizes teacher training colleges and universities.
During the four-and-a-half year university training programme, only 16
percent of curricula are dedicated to special didactics, pedagogy, and school
practice.
Since the full implementation of the General University Studies Act
(Allgemeines Hochschul-Studiengesetz) in 1984, educational specialists
have committed themselves to increasing this small percentage of school
orientation in teacher education study programmes. At the University of
Innsbruck, for example, the educational part of the programme is based on
the following principles:
– training partnerships between school authorities and the university;
– school practica as core curricula;
– enquiry-based learning and training;
– competency-based learning and training
The first principle refers to the importance of sharing the responsibility
for the quality of the training programme. School authorities and the
university must co-operate in the development, restructuring,
implementation, and evaluation of the teacher education programme. At
the University of Innsbruck, the introductory phase of such a partnership
was successfully established: “The lectures and seminars are conducted by
‘tandems’ of experienced teachers and university staff.”
During the course of the secondary teacher education programme,
students complete three school practica. Each practical training period is
accompanied by theoretical and critical-reflective lectures of a preparatory
nature. Already in the second semester of the teacher-training programme,
students spend two weeks in schools. They must carry out various
teaching and action-research tasks while being supervised by experienced
teachers. After the practica, students present and critically reflect on their
work and experience.
MAIN FEATURES OF QUALIFICATION

The first degree earned, i.e., the Magister, is not equivalent to a full
teaching qualification. Each university graduate must complete a one-year
traineeship in a school (Unterrichtspraktikum). Having successfully
completed the final stage, trainee teachers receive a certificate
(Lehramtsprüfungszeugnis) confirming the final qualification to teach in
academic lower and upper secondary schools.
3.4. Vocational School Teachers

The initial teacher training for vocational school teachers is highly
structured and basically comprises three programmes, which are taught at
two training institutions.
LOCATION OF INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING

Students intending to teach at compulsory vocational schools
(Berufsbildende Pflichtschulen) and those teaching practical subjects at
mid-level and upper-level vocational schools (Berufsbildende Mittlere und
Höhere Schulen) are educated at training colleges for vocational school
teachers (Berufspädagogische Akademien). Prospective teachers for
theoretical and general subjects in mid-level and upper-level vocational
schools are trained and educated in universities.
Before being admitted to a college for vocational school teachers,
applicants need to hold either an individual qualification as a master
craftsmen or the upper secondary school leaving certificate (Matura).
Moreover, at least two years of work experience are needed as well as
successful participation in special introductory courses at an in-service
training institution for vocational teachers (Berufspädagogisches Institut).
The two-year training programmes vary in content, but are based on the
concurrent model and follow a national syllabus. Generally, they comprise
subject studies, didactics, and teaching practice. Students finish with a
non-university degree and are immediately qualified to teach in vocational
schools.
Unlike teachers for academic secondary schools, students intending to
teach in medium-level and higher-level trade schools (Handelsschule/
Handelsakademie) are (mostly) trained at any university Department of
Business Education (Institut für Wirtschaftspädagogik). Again, the
programme is based on the concurrent model and a national syllabus.
During the nine semesters of initial teacher education, students are
prepared in disciplines, subject didactics, and pedagogy, and they engage
in practice teaching. The first degree earned, the Magister, is not
equivalent to the full teaching qualification. Graduates need two years of
work experience before they can be employed as fully-fledged teachers, but
they do not have to participate in a school-based traineeship.
No professional teacher training is available for teachers of vocational
subject areas in higher-level (technical) schools. Employment as a teacher
requires a university degree in the subject to be taught. Moreover,
applicants are required to have worked two years in professions outside of
any school, prior to enrollment in a short introductory course held at an
in-service training institution.
3.5. Teacher Education in Other Subject Areas

Three other educational areas for different types of teachers exist:
– Religious Education at compulsory level: initial education at colleges
for teachers of religious education (Religionspädagogische Akademie);
– Agricultural Education: initial education at agricultural and forestry
teacher training colleges (Land- und Forstwirtschaftliche Berufs-
pädagogische Akademie)
– Health Education: special university programmes (Hochschullehrgänge)
3.6. The Information and Communication Technologies

Although decision-makers have been aware for some time of the
importance of training in the information and communication technologies
(ICT), no real reform in this domain has taken place for more than a
decade. At universities, for example, no compulsory training is offered that
equips all prospective teachers with the necessary skills to use ICT as a
personal tool or to apply it directly to teaching. Only recently have special
university courses been offered, qualifying teachers to teach modern
information technology at schools. However, these courses do not lead to
the award of a degree.
With the full implementation of the University Studies Act (Universitäts-
Studiengesetz), an ICT teacher education programme (Lehramtsstudium
Informatik) will be introduced for the first time. At teacher training colleges,
ICT training courses (Angewandte Informationstechnologien) were already
implemented at compulsory level for all students in 1989 to improve the
competencies of teacher trainees. The modules included in this course are
word-processing, data processing, use of educational software programmes,
and the Internet.
It has been a challenge for both initial and in-service teacher-training
institutions to explore and enhance the possibilities that ICT offers to schools,
teachers, and students. The teacher training institutions recognized the
importance of ICT earlier than universities did. They are putting much effort
into building the confidence of teachers in the useful possibilities that the new
medium can offer. In the future, the Internet will call for new ways of learning.
Key words such as “e-learning” and “knowledge management” indicate the
direction of future societal development. In-service training has been the
trendsetter so far, but pre-service institutions are becoming increasingly
aware of the necessity to integrate ICT skills across the curriculum.
4. THE STATUS AND THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE TEACHING

PROFESSION
During the 1960s and early 1970s, there was a shortage of teachers at all the
levels of educational provision. All the levels of staff were in short supply.
This situation had arisen because of the “baby boom” of the 1950s and early
1960s characterized by very high birth rates. In those years, the Federal
government tried to make the teaching profession more attractive by
improving working conditions and salaries. Attempts were also made to
improve the infrastructure of teaching and to reduce the numbers of
students per class as well as the student/teacher ratios. Expansion of the
educational facilities resulted in a vast increase in recruitment so that the
demand for teachers could be met.
Although the numbers of pupils have been decreasing since the 1980s, as
portrayed in Figure 1, the allocation of teaching posts has been increasing
both at general compulsory school level and at academic secondary school
level (See Figures 2 and 3 for the respective teacher-pupil ratios). This
increase in the numbers of teachers is the result of a strong demand for the
support of pupils having special needs. In the long-term, however, the labour
market for teachers became saturated and the unemployment rate for
teachers began to rise.
Recent scientific investigations into the status and employment conditions
of teachers have revealed that the attractiveness of teaching is suffering
because of the relatively poor public image of the teaching profession, one
reputed to lack opportunities for promotion and career development and not
to be much supported by the authorities. It is the poor reputation of the
teaching profession among the public, however, that is considered to be the
most negative factor so far as staff dissatisfaction is concerned. The relative
attractiveness of teaching can be gauged by contrasting personal job-
satisfaction indices for teachers with the indices for other professional
groups. These reveal that the most significant source of complaint among
teachers is relative to salaries. In particular, the work of highly motivated and
committed teachers does not seem to be adequately rewarded. The outcomes
of the nation-wide survey, LehrerIn 2000 [Teacher 2000], of teachers, indicate
that 60 percent of Austrian employees feel themselves to be adequately paid.
Only one in three teachers does so. Remarkably, this percentage is even
higher among public sector teachers.
Figure 1. Demographic trends among persons of school-age (1980-2015)
actual development 1999 estimated development
age 8-9 age 10-13 age 14-18
At the other end of the scale, one finds the question of “human factors”. It
is here that teachers rate themselves at the top level of satisfaction. Nine out
of ten Austrian teachers are satisfied or very satisfied with their daily
contacts with children and young people. The contact with teacher colleagues
also turns out to be an important positive aspect of the profession, followed
by the possibility of freely arranging one’s working time. When one
investigates the level of satisfaction and of dissatisfaction among teachers in
different types of schools, one discovers that primary school teachers and
special school teachers (Volks- und SonderschullehrerInnen) as a group are
the most satisfied. They think more positively than teachers, in other
categories, about the atmosphere among staff, the democratic nature of the
structures, and the leadership in their schools. Moreover, this group of
teachers feels that it has more chances for personal development than do
their colleagues in the compulsory secondary schools. Academic secondary
school teachers as a group are the least satisfied with their profession. It is
worth mentioning, however, that, at all other educational levels, teachers
estimate their reputation in society as being considerably higher than that of
academic secondary school teachers. In this context, it must be admitted
that, from the point of view of the public, the teaching profession has a more
positive reputation than the teaching body seems to think. Moreover, the
opinion of parents about the teachers who are educating their children is, by
and large, good and above the general professional average.
Figure 2. Indicators of the teacher/pupil ratio in general compulsory schools
Teachers Pupils
Figure 3. Indicators of the teacher/pupil ratio in academic secondary schools
Teachers Pupils
There is no direct link between the numbers of enrollments in teacher
training institutions and the number of vacant posts. In times of surplus, one
would think that only high profile students, who were particularly motivated,
would opt for the teaching profession. However, experience has shown that
students do not lose interest in teacher education programmes in times of
scarce job perspectives. Furthermore, there are no indications that status or
employment conditions affect enrollment in teacher education institutions.
5. RECRUITMENT PATTERNS
In Austria, teachers for the general secondary schools are recruited and
employed by the provincial governments (Bundesländer, and are then called
LandeslehrerInnen), whereas teachers working in academic secondary
schools are under the responsibility of the Federal government (hence called
BundeslehrerInnen). In the latter case, the Federal government delegates
recruitment to the provincial school boards. The two types of teachers are
employed at different levels of the public administration (the national and the
provincial levels, i.e., Bund and Länder). They have separate career patterns,
salary scales, and conditions of service.
Nowadays, newly qualified teachers do not immediately find teaching
posts. This situation can be attributed to the decline in the size of the
student population since the 1980s, coinciding with increasing numbers of
enrollments at teacher training colleges and universities. Unemployment
rates vary according to different teaching subjects, but also according to the
nine provinces. For example, in the province of Vorarlberg, there are hardly
any surplus teachers, whereas, in the province of Styria, there is literally no
chance of being employed except if one is proficient in subjects having an
unusual student enrollment. However, the current situation suggests that a
considerable number of teachers will retire within the next ten years. There
will be a number of natural retirements but also some owing to the early
retirement scheme of the Federal government (see Figures 4 and 5 for the age
groups of teachers in compulsory education and academic secondary
education).
Figure 4. Numbers of teachers employed in general compulsory education by age

group
In this context, it is very likely that the labour market will ease and that
there will be shortages, particularly in certain subject areas. For example,
unlike the situation with teachers intending to work within the Humanities,
there will be severe staffing shortages in the Sciences. At the compulsory
secondary school level, there is teacher demand in the Sciences, Music, Arts,
Technology, and Religious Education. Although the Federal government is
aware of the likely event of shortages, there is no specific legislation in place
that requires strategic planning. Consequently, no strategies are being
developed on the basis of a statutory framework which would prevent
forthcoming shortages in particular subject areas.
Figure 5. Numbers of teachers in academic secondary education by age group
6. IMPACT OF THE EUROPEAN CO-OPERATION PROGRAMMES

Since Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995, European
Union educational policies – although mainly operating in an indirect way –
have had a strong impact on Austrian educational policies. There are clear
indications that greater emphasis is being placed on questions relating to
European awareness and (hopefully) integration (Buchberger, 2000). Initial
teacher education programmes are now giving increased attention to the
growing importance of internationalization and are offering:
– multicultural education (Interkulturelle Pädagogik);
– comparative education (Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaften);
– exchange programmes;
– participation in European projects.
At national level, particular support is given to the internationalization of
teacher training programmes. The ERASMUS Programme, for example, has
become institutionalized and has turned into an important feature in teacher
training (Gassner and Schratz, 2000). International curriculum development
programmes are still very limited; however, Austria has been involved in such
efforts.∗
Regarding programmes in foreign language learning, student and staff
mobility to countries in which the national languages are school subjects in
Austrian schools (e.g., English and French) has considerably increased. At
primary school level, where English will be a compulsory subject at beginner
level as of the 2003-2004 school year, a great number of schools have
already started teaching this modern language in their first year curricula. In
addition, it is possible to learn French starting at the age of 8. Teacher
training colleges have integrated English into their mainstream programmes,
whereas French is still an option.
7. INSTITUTIONAL FORMS OF IN-SERVICE AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

7.1. In-Service Training for Teachers
LOCATION OF IN-SERVICE TRAINING
Corresponding to the parallel structure of the different types of teacher
education institutions, in-service training (INSET) is provided in four different
departments at in-service training institutions (Pädagogische Institute) in the
regions (Länder). Universities also offer in-service training, but it tends to be
on the basis of personal or institutional interest.
ORGANIZATION OF IN-SERVICE TRAINING

In-service training is organized regionally. Every province operates an in-
service training institution. Some – such as Vienna or Vorarlberg – have
separate institutions rather than one catering to all school types. The
training programmes are offered as half-day, one-day, or longer seminars
aimed at supporting the professional development of teachers. Such
professional training, which usually does not lead to a certificate, focuses on
new methodologies and approaches in a certain subject or field of study,
∗
Among other activities, the Teacher Training College at Innsbruck and the Department of Teacher
Education and School Research at the University of Innsbruck are participating in the EMISTE programme
(European Master’s degree).
aspects of co-operative learning and networking, school management, ICT,
school evaluation and development, etc. In addition, there are nation-wide
weeklong seminars (Kompaktseminare) or educational events for participants
from different provinces. Staff members usually enroll in in-service training
during the academic school year, as well as in the first or last week of
summer holidays. Only some seminars take place during holidays. Schools
are also offered the possibility of using five working days for school internal
professionalization activities. However, these days are often also used for
other purposes (e.g., the extension of holidays).
Although societal pressure is pushing teachers to commit themselves to
the idea of life-long learning, participation in in-service training is not
compulsory in Austria. In-service training is only compulsory for new
programmes requiring special training (e.g., the introduction of English into
primary schools for children aged 6 and up, or the introduction of ICT at
lower secondary level).
7.2. Continuing Education for Teachers

Unlike in-service training, continuing education programmes are part of
post-graduate courses and lead to certificates or diplomas. This aspect
attracts additional teachers into continuing education programmes.
LOCATION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION

In-service training institutions and teacher training colleges and universities
(e.g., Departments of Interdisciplinary Research and Distance Education) can
provide continuing education. By law, institutions providing continuing
education must negotiate their programmes, making use of resources
available and possible effects of synergy. This requirement results in a move
away from competition towards co-operation and the accumulation of
resources (Gassner and Schratz, 2000). While teacher training colleges have
a tradition of developing interesting training schemes that goes back a
number of years, the universities have only recently started offering
programmes for formal degree options.
ORGANIZATION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION

The programmes offered are open to teachers who are still in training and to
those already in service. Their aim is to prepare teachers for new challenges
(e.g., multicultural education, inclusive education, ICT, adult education, civic
education, etc.). Particular emphasis is being placed upon the frequent in-
service training teachers who are actively involved in initial teacher training
as co-operating teachers.
7.3. Future Directions

Both in-service training and further education do not yet play the important
role in Austria that they ought to play with regard to a more systemic view of
organizational and personnel development. While schools have to
increasingly act as autonomous institutions, in times of decentralization, in-
service training and continuous education are geared to the development of
individuals rather than of systems. However, schools still regulate the market
for training by the in-service activities that they offer rather than the
determining factor being the schools receiving budgets for “buying”
professional development according to their wishes and needs. Despite
considerable improvements in this area, a flexible and permeable system has
not yet been developed. The available resources are not being used efficiently.
8. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FURTHER PERSPECTIVES

At the moment of writing (2001), the education system in Austria was
undergoing political review. The importance granted to education in the
1960s had declined considerably as of the mid-1970s. Accordingly, the entire
education sector had experienced a period of reversion. Now, however,
education is back on the agenda of the decision-makers. Again, arguments
are being put forward that the way a society is educated is crucial for its
economic growth and its competitiveness on global markets. In this context,
schools and teachers are expected to play an important role. Similarly to the
situation in the other German speaking countries (Beck et al., 2001),
Austrian teacher education programmes are the objects of critical
discussions. Despite the ongoing reform, the parallel operation of two types of
initial teacher training seems to remain unquestioned. In the future,
however, the teacher training colleges, the universities, and the in-service
training institutions will co-operate more closely. At this point, it is not
possible to give an exact picture of how teacher training will be organized by
2007, the end of the period set by the government for the restructuring
phase.
8.1. Teacher Training Colleges

Changes in the legal framework that regulates initial teacher training at
teacher training colleges have been legalized through the Academy Studies
Act (Akademien-Studiengesetz) that has been in force since 1 September
1999. This Act proposes that the teacher training colleges become
“Hochschulen für pädagogische Berufe” thus acquiring university status and
degree-conferring powers. As institutions of higher education, they would
enjoy a greater degree of autonomy and would focus more strongly on
(practical) research.
During a transition period, the colleges would have to develop new
curricula and develop a competitive profile. Within the new legal framework
(AStO 2000: Akademien-Studienordnung), the curriculum committee
(Studienkommission) of each institution would be able to design the
programme it offered autonomously. The committee would decide on the
number of training units assigned to the four areas of studies.
The minimum and maximum amount of units per area have been clearly
outlined. The amount of units required for a whole training programme has
remained stable. This stimulation mainly reflects the immense pressure

being brought to bear by the powerful teachers’ union that wishes to preserve
the permanent positions of its members. In this context, pedagogical
considerations have played a minor role. However, the curricula themselves
are being designed by the individual departments, but these have to be
approved by the curricular committee of each institution. In addition, the
curricular committee must create an environment for quality assurance and
evaluation of courses and examinations.
Currently, all teacher training colleges are making great efforts to redesign
their curricula and to incorporate the new legal principles. In doing so, five
components are of particular importance (Gassner and Schratz, 2000, p.
129):
– Research, which used to be optional at teacher training colleges rather
than a central activity of staff, will become an integral part of the profile
of a teacher in the future. Moreover, teaching at a teacher training
college will be linked to research and development in all fields related to
teaching and learning.
– Curricula will need to be practice-oriented, including the integration of
the practical experiences of students and teachers.
– The European dimension will need to be emphasized in teaching as
well as through national and international mobility.
– Curricula will have to include creative and artistic components, thus
signaling a step towards more holistic approaches.
– An emphasis will have to be placed on modern communication and
information technologies, so as to clearly include the Internet as a
learning and teaching resource, as well as new settings like video
conferencing.
As mentioned above, the teacher training colleges will reflect a stronger
research orientation. Thus, the institutions will be better able to react and
contribute to changing needs and demands promptly and more efficiently.
Furthermore, there will be a need to implement quality assurance
programmes. These should help teacher training colleges to overcome their
static character and to evolve into learning organizations. Quality
management is a necessity for every organization. However, it will take some
time and great effort to change the teacher training colleges into learning
organizations.
8.2. Universities
In 1997, the University Studies Act (Universitäts-Studiengesetz) was passed.
Since then, all universities have had to redesign their curricula in all study
areas. This reform has also opened new perspectives for the secondary school
teacher education programmes (Lehramtsstudium). Although the
requirements regarding courses and examinations have been redefined,
studies in subject areas will remain dominant. However, the main features of
future initial teacher training at university level are:
– The curriculum for initial teacher education will be separate from that
leading to an academic degree in the diploma programme in a
particular discipline.
– A qualification profile for the teaching profession will set the standards
for curriculum development, listing clear objectives for the societal
expectations of a future teacher and informing stakeholders
(employers) of what they can expect.
– Representatives of given professions will become parts of curricular
committees so as to take the needs of stakeholders into consideration.
– Academic training will have to be built around the demands of school
curricula by linking the hitherto isolated training elements, the
didactic, the pedagogical, and the school practical training into more
integrated systems.
– The first study year will be planned according to a self-assessment
concept so as to provide students with sufficient authentic school
experience for them to reflect on their decisions to become teachers.
– The academic requirements for the final examinations leading to the
Master’s degree will be based on the practical requirements of the
future profession of graduates.
8.3. Perspectives
At present, teacher training programmes are being redesigned and
restructured both in teacher training colleges and in universities. One
strategic goal is to impart a higher permeability and compatibility to the
respective programmes. For initial teacher training, this intention will result
in closer co-operation between the two initial teacher training institutions.
Links could be established with regard to school practice and training
programmes. As a first step in this direction, graduates from teacher training
colleges will be able to accredit their degrees as the first part of a university
Master’s Degree programme.
The recent reform regarding the restructuring of teacher education also
includes the merger of initial and in-service training institutions. This
stipulation has proven to be difficult because both systems are very
fragmented in terms of mutual compatibility. Since they have had separate
existences, their respective programmes have been offered to different kinds
of consumers. Accordingly, two kinds of customer-oriented subsystems
developed which have not interacted with one another for a long time. The
same is true for the parallel pre-service teacher education structure within
the school system. Here, the first projects for co-operation at personal and
institutional level have sprung up (Engstler and Schratz, 2001; Tischler,
2001) signaling the need for a more systemic view of teacher education in the
future.
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European Network on Teacher Education Policies: Teacher Education Policies
in the European Union. Lisbon: Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the
European Union – Ministry of Education, 2000, pp. 127-136.
TISCHLER , K. “Evaluation von Schulentwicklungsprozessen in einer
Volksschule unter Einbeziehung von Studierenden”, in, H. BRUNNER, E.
MAYR, M. SCHRATZ, and I. WIESER. Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung braucht
Qualität. Und wie!?. Innsbruck: Studienverlag, 2001 (in press).
II. Teacher Education in Canada: Renewing
Scholarly, Pedagogical, and Organizational
Practices
THÉRÈSE LAFERRIÈRE, NANCY SHEEHAN, and TOM RUSSELL
1. OVERVIEW
This study presents the situation found in three Canadian provinces, British
Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. The current models, circumstances,
policies, practices, and perspectives of those involved are described. They
vary from province to province, thus reflecting the diversity of Canada.
Common themes and tensions are identified. They pertain to generic
institutional realities of teacher education as well as to related
circumstances, policies, practices, and the perspectives of actors. Promising
new models such as cohorts, communities of learning, and communities of
practice reconfigure the roles of teachers and learners in more symmetric
ways.
2. EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND TEACHER EDUCATION IN CANADA

In Canada, education and teacher education are provincial matters. The
three provinces participating in this study represent 75 percent of the total
population of Canada (British Columbia: 4.1 million; Ontario: 11.7 million;
Quebec: 7.4 million). Canada is a multicultural country with two official
languages (English and French) and many other languages and cultures too
numerous to list. There are First Nations schools as well in each of these
provinces.
The preparation of incoming teachers has been the responsibility of
universities for several decades. In 1956, universities in British Columbia
integrated teacher education into their activities. In Ontario universities, the
process began in 1966 and continued until 1979. In Quebec, integration
occurred in 1970. Almost all teacher education programmes in Canada follow
the one- to two-year post-baccalaureate model, except for the Quebec
programmes (integrated four-year programmes). Universities also participate
in the continuing education of practicing teachers. A new option is e-learning
(Advisory Committee for On-line Learning, 2001).
Table 1 offers statistics concerning the size of the teacher workforce within
provinces, the number of teacher education graduates, and the number of
students enrolled at Laval University, the University of British Columbia, and
Queen’s University.
36 T. LAFERRIÈRE, N. SHEEHAN, and T. RUSSELL
Table 1. Teacher education in Canada
Number of teacher
Size of the Teacher education
full-time education Length of graduates per year
Governance teaching staff graduates per mainstream at each of the
(public / year per programmes universities
private)* province participating in the
study
Canada 300,261 15,550 N/A N/A
Province of A twelve-month University of
British 33,899 1,600 post-baccalaureate British Columbia:
Columbia degree 950
An eight-month
Province of Queen’s
117,098 6,000 post-baccalaureate
Ontario University: 650
degree
A four-year
Province of integrated University of Laval:
68,651 3,800
Quebec baccalaureate 500
degree
NOTES
* On teacher education supply and demand, see Gervais and Thony, 2001, at: <http://www.cmec.ca/stats/
pcera/symposium2001/indexe.asp>
** On persistence in teaching occupations, see Guffy and Davies, 1996.
Source: Total full-time educators in elementary-secondary schools in Canada, Quebec, Ontario, and British
Columbia, 1998-1999, including teaching and non-teaching academic staff. Statistics Canada, 2001.
3. TEACHER EDUCATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Teacher education in British Columbia has undergone major changes in the
last decade. Whether these changes have made a real difference to the
graduates and an impact on the public schools is debatable.
3.1. Politically Driven Changes

The establishment of the British Columbia College of Teachers, an
organization that has control over teacher certification in Ontario, is a major
change in governance. It has caused some concern over how programmes
should be offered (budget, faculty, hiring, committee structure, class size,
etc.), as well as over the content.
A second major change is in the kinds of institutions offering teacher
education programmes. Since 1956 and the closure of the Normal Schools in
the Province, programmes and degrees leading to teacher certification have
been the exclusive jurisdiction of the universities. In the early 1990s, the
ability to offer teacher education programmes was extended by the
government to university colleges and to institutions offering certificates,
diplomas, and Bachelor’s Degrees, but not graduate degrees. In addition,
local rural consortia, working with faculties of education, were established for
the sole purpose of offering a way for place-bound residents, in the interior of
the province, to become teachers. These programmes tend to be small,
elementary school-oriented, and with a strong emphasis on practice.
TEACHER EDUCATION IN CANADA 37
A third change affects the interprovincial mobility of teachers across
Canada. This change, promoted by Federal and provincial governments, has
probably had a greater effect in British Columbia because of the large
number of teachers who come from elsewhere. The College of Teachers
argued that British Columbia programmes were stronger, longer, and with
extended practica of a minimum of twelve weeks. This agreement enables
teachers from elsewhere in Canada to obtain an interim certificate
immediately with any additional coursework/practica, if necessary, to be
completed while teaching. A looming teacher shortage and societal support to
encourage general transferability within Canada at a time of the North
American Free Trade Agreement supported this outcome.
3.2. Socially Driven Changes

Applicants to teacher education programmes have become older, more
experienced, and more diverse. They come to British Columbia faculties of
education with Bachelor’s, graduate, and professional degrees. They are
sometimes changing careers, have traveled widely, and possibly have
families. Included among the applicants and successful graduates are those
with varying ranges of disabilities – visual and hearing impaired, wheelchair-
bound, and dyslexic. Also included are prospective teachers of many
languages and cultures – individuals who are beginning, albeit slowly, to
change the colour of the British Columbia teaching force, making it more
akin to the student population.
These changes in teacher applicants in British Columbia are a function of
changes in the broader society and have caused curriculum changes in
programmes. Courses that emphasize special education, First Nations,
multiculturalism, anti-racism, gay and lesbian rights, conflict resolution,
women’s issues, and second language training have become part of the
curriculum. As with any addition to the curriculum, there is the question of
how to include it, where to house it, and what, if anything, it can replace.
Like teacher education elsewhere, there is always another group of lobbyists
pushing for its subject to be a part of the curriculum.
3.3. Professionally Driven Changes

PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION
Research on teacher education shows support for teacher educators and
teachers working together. Relationships between faculties of education and
the profession in British Columbia appear to be closer, with some
appreciation for the relative contributions of each. This closeness is evident
in some of the newer programmes that are being developed. These
programmes place an emphasis on the following: earlier and longer practica;
whole school involvement in practica as opposed to one student/one
teacher; faculty advisors working closely with teachers and providing
professional development; related courses offered on site at the schools
where practica are held; secondment to the faculty for practicing teachers
who work with the practica and related courses; cohort groupings rather
than random assignments; choices of electives; shorter modules for specific
needs; and pass/fail grading instead of percentages or letter grades.
In many ways, these may appear to be very separate ideas. However, they
rely on one another and need to be a part of the package offered to students.
For example, cohort models need the agreement of a school or a group of
schools. They require space to offer the related courses and they require
buy-in for the specific theme around which the cohort is built. Humanities
and social justice; problem based activities; communities of inquiry;
mathematics, science, and technology; the fine arts and the urban learner
are examples of recent cohort themes. The experience in British Columbia is
that faculties receive requests from schools to accept these cohorts.
CHALLENGES PRO AND CON

Partner schools – professional development schools in the United States of
America (The Holmes Group, 1990) – have many advantages. Successful
partnerships are ones in which everyone contributes to creating a
“community of learners” with everyone teaching, everyone learning. They
help integrate teacher education with the reality of the field, so that serious
breaches between university offerings and the real world of classroom
practice are downplayed. In some instances, they increase the resources
both in personnel and dollars available to a school, contribute to the
professional development of individual teachers and university faculty, and
add to our collective knowledge about teaching and learning.
On the other hand, there are some difficulties. Some partnerships start
with added resources in terms of funding, equipment, and personnel. When
special funding no longer exists, can the programme be maintained? Will
others be willing to establish partnerships if no “start-up” funding is
available? Often, these groups start as pilot projects. Can the transition to
the regular programme occur? What compromises need to be made to
include more classrooms, more schools?
Another issue involves momentum. New ideas and change create
momentum which is needed to get underway. Sustaining momentum over
time takes hard work, co-operation, new players, and the ability to handle
failure as well as success.
These new ideas often come from junior faculty, who tend to dominate
these programme changes. They represent hard work, much of it off-site.
What effect does this type of work have on the academic careers of these
faculty members, on tenure, and on promotion? If junior faculty are more
likely to be involved, does this situation place teacher education or other
kinds of school/university partnerships on the margins of faculty work? Can
this work be really important if the senior professors are not involved?
Finally, there is the cultural dimension. The world of the university and
the world of the school are very different, with one focusing on research and
inquiry, the other on practice. Can this gap be bridged?
IN-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION
In-service teacher education has not benefited from the same amount of
interest, politically, socially, or professionally, as the pre-service
programmes. Diplomas and graduate degrees are the time-honoured
methods for teachers to undergo professional development and to increase
their salaries. More recently, some institutions have been offering cohort
models with varying scheduling and at school or on local property rather
than on campus. These programmes are often co-operative in that the
subject matter of the programme and the courses offered are negotiated by
teachers and faculty working together. The move to off-site, cohort models
has been prompted by the incursion into the province of many United
States-based institutions offering weekend, part-time degrees. The quality
of some of these has been questioned. The difficulty, of course, is that the
universities of British Columbia are unable to come even close to meeting
the demand for graduate work.
Very recently, the Ministry of Education began to sponsor in-service
teacher training that is specific to the changes in the curriculum and in
areas where practicing teachers are underqualified or interested in a change
of teaching subjects. The first two areas identified were mathematics and
social studies. The Ministry works with the universities to provide the
courses and guarantees tuition rebates for the participants.
3.4. Persistent Tensions in Teacher Education and in Faculties of Education

Just as political tensions arise over funding, governance, and small
programme offerings, so are there tensions within faculties of education. Are
some curricular areas more important than others, e.g., mathematics vs.
music or art? Do traditional foundations have a role to play in the teacher
education programme of today? Who should handle special education – the
educational psychologist or the curriculum specialist? What is the role of
technology, and who should fund it? How do you encourage senior faculty
who are involved in strong research programmes and have many graduate
students to become involved in the large classes of a teacher education
programme? Do seconded teachers have the necessary theoretical
background to handle the theory/practice model? What does reflective
practice mean and how do we judge its success? These are a few examples of
the tensions. There are many more, but these indicate how difficult change
can be and why faculties of education are often accused of not being
proactive with regard to change.
4. TEACHER EDUCATION IN ONTARIO

Educational changes are universally offered as ways to improve the quality of
children’s education, yet those who require the changes are rarely in view
when the long-term evidence becomes available. Ontario is a clear illustration
of how change can actually distract teaching professionals from the
fundamental goal of improving the quality of education.
Any consideration of recent developments in teacher education in Ontario
must begin with the impact on education of the provincial elections in June
1995, when the Progressive Conservative (right-wing) party swept the New
Democratic Party (left-wing) out of office. Within two years, this new
government had made radical changes to three of the most basic elements of
government activities: hospitals, schools, and local government. The toll on
the teaching profession was particularly dramatic. Schools across the
province were closed for two weeks in October 1997 as teachers protested
government changes.
During the 1995-2001 period, additional structural changes of a
fundamental kind were also being made to schooling in Ontario. The entire
curriculum was rewritten, and, in many instances, the curricular content
was moved one or two years lower. Simultaneously, secondary education was
shortened by one year to eliminate the “Grade 13” or Ontario Academic
Credit year that focused on university preparation. A “double cohort” will
leave Ontario secondary schools in June 2003, resulting in a major one-year
increase in demand for university entrance.
Yet another set of changes have significant implications for both pre-
service and in-service teacher education, for the Ontario College of Teachers
was created in 1996 to govern the teaching profession. All such programmes
in Ontario experienced an initial accreditation in the 1996-1999 period, and
reaccreditation awaits the passage of enabling legislation. A regime of teacher
testing is being developed in response to a “promise” made during the 1999
campaign, in which the Progressive Conservative Party was returned to
power.
4.2. Innovation or Change?

To summarize the nature and impact of these major pressures on education
and teacher education in Ontario, one could argue that there has been
massive change but little innovation. When changes are made on the scale
experienced in Ontario since 1995, so much attention goes to satisfying new
requirements that little energy or motivation remains to support internally
driven innovation. Province-wide testing has been introduced in Language
Arts and Mathematics at ages 8, 11, and 14 (Grades 3, 6, and 9), and a
literacy test is administered to 15-year-olds (Grade 10). Passing the literacy
test will be a requirement for a secondary school diploma. Some may wish to
characterize the introduction of “high-stakes testing” to Ontario as an
innovation, although in the current climate it seems safer to view it as yet
another structural change to education. There is little indication that these
increasingly familiar modifications have been introduced on the basis of
research or policy changes in other jurisdictions. The “New Right” approach
is now apparent through the schools, the teacher education programmes,
and the professional development schemes in Ontario.1
In other Canadian provinces, attention is being given to extending pre-
service teacher education programmes to two years [see Table 1]. Ontario
remains fixed on programmes that are eight or nine months in duration and
is likely to remain in that configuration while government funding is limited
to that length of time. The effects of so many structural changes to primary
and secondary education in such a short time include the predictable loss of
professional morale among teachers. Despite an obvious and growing
shortage of teachers, applications to pre-service programmes in Ontario were
down 25 percent for the 2001-2002 academic year. Fortunately, applications
still exceed availability, and extra government funding seems likely to
increase enrollments by about 10 percent over 1999-2000 levels.
4.3. Policy but not Research

Research on teacher education shows growing support for school-university
partnerships (as in Professional Development Schools), for cohort-based
programmes, for longer practicum periods, and for mentoring in the early
years of teaching. There is talk in Ontario of requiring more than forty days of
practice teaching. That minimum has not yet been increased officially;
nevertheless, certain universities have extended their practicum periods.
The mentoring of new teachers in the early years of their careers was
recognized more than a decade ago as an important practice, yet little of
substance has appeared in practice. The present government speaks of
introducing a mentoring policy for new teachers, but details have not yet
appeared. Yet government has found time to tender a contract for the
development of a test to be taken by all new teachers when they complete
their pre-service programmes, and the first test was administered on a trial
basis in April 2002. A scheme whereby experienced teachers can
demonstrate their on-going professionalism every five years has been put in
place, despite much criticism and resistance by teachers’ federations.
4.4. Words without Substance

As schools and faculties of education alike struggle to simply satisfy the
latest requirements, phrases such as “reflective practice” remain little more
than phrases. At the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto and at Queen’s University, action research projects
have been introduced, with some success, into longer practicum placements.
There are strong pockets of support for teacher research and action research
in some school boards, and an on-line journal, The Ontario Action
1 Detailed information may be obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Education Website,
<http://www.edu.gov.on.ca>, and from Professionally Speaking, the journal of the Ontario College of Teachers
<http://www.oct.on.ca/ps>.
Researcher,2 began publication in September 1998. The Ontario College of
Teachers has also provided a supportive context for action research within its
Standards of Practice document (Ontario College of Teachers, 1999).
Nevertheless, teachers and teacher educators alike have been treated as
“special interest groups” that have grown fat and lazy on the public purse.
Teacher educators are not trusted to do research for the government, and
teachers are not trusted to offer advice on how school and classroom life
might be improved.
4.5. Persistent Tensions

In Ontario, as elsewhere, teaching and teacher education are poorly
understood activities that share a low image in society in general. Around
1970, teacher education was shifted from teachers colleges to faculties of
education situated within universities. Generally, in Ontario, those faculties
of education have come to expect both teaching and research from their staff,
yet research is not valued intrinsically either by new teachers or by
experienced teachers until they participate in a graduate programme in
education. Persistent tensions are apparent between “theory” and practice,
between schools and universities, and between apprenticeship and research-
based models of professional learning. The basic structure of pre-service
teacher education in Ontario remains similar to that in place decades ago –
alternating periods of theory and practice with shorter rather than longer
practicum placements. Innovations are being attempted, but it is not clear
that they are being welcomed or understood against the invisible theory of
tradition. It seems unlikely that genuine innovations will be achieved within a
constrained time period of eight or nine months.
Some elements of programmes can be linked to reflective practice. “Action
research” perspectives and projects are probably the most obvious. They are
present in programmes in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of
the University of Toronto, at Queen’s University, and probably in other
Ontario programmes as well. “Critical reflection” is another familiar term
within programme elements. It is never particularly clear what “uncritical
reflection” might be, in contrast, but academics tend to favour reflection that
is “critical” of the status quo in schools. Four years of experience with an
action research requirement for all candidates at Queen’s University suggest
that this approach can have a significant impact on how a future teacher
views his or her ability to take charge of personal development as a teacher.
Yet, the implications are not automatic, perhaps because pre-service
programmes continue to be lodged within the familiar structures and
constraints common to all university programmes and in which the
epistemology of “technical rationality” remains strong and dominant.
2 <http://www.unipissing.ca/oar>
At its heart, reflective practice is about an epistemology of “learning from
experience”. As in other jurisdictions in Canada and elsewhere, programmes
in Ontario that have not adopted “learning from experience” as an
overarching theme that appears in most or all programme elements, fail to
shift the familiar epistemology to one that sets theory and practice on
comparable terms as sources of valued professional knowledge.
The dramatic changes imposed on schools and on teacher education since
1995 have created such massive external pressure for change that there is
little or no space for internally motivated changes, whether in school
classrooms, in schools generally, or in university-based programmes. Thus
the gaps between experience, theory, and research seem as wide as ever and
unlikely to be reduced until internal innovations are permitted and
supported.
5. TEACHER EDUCATION IN QUEBEC

Quebec is a province the population of which is 81.5 percent francophone.
Teacher education is a reservoir of hope. Often described as part of the
problem, but also, as part of the solution, teacher education is where social
leaders look when it is time to reinforce the links between education, society,
and the economy.

The programmes are now in the process of being revised in order to align
them with revised provincial K-11 curricula meant to respond more
accurately to the societal needs of today. This school system “reform” is
establishing two-year cycles in the primary school and calls for teachers’
collegial work, intensive use of the ICTs, etc.
5.2. A Fragile Social Consensus Regarding the Professional Education of

Teachers
PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION
One may consider the 1992 orientation document on general secondary
teacher training of the Ministry of Education as the first of a series of
documents intended to reinforce the professional education of teachers. It
was followed up by several others, all endorsed by the Minister of Education.
Orientation documents in particular were published about renewing and
improving the teaching profession; training for pre-school education and
primary education; training sessions at schools; and training for the teaching
arts, for physical education, and for second languages. In light of these
documents, all university teacher education programmes leading to teacher
certification were reviewed and examined by the Programme Accreditation
Committee. These were then submitted for approval by the Minister of
Education.
The most outstanding modifications made to the teacher education
programmes since 1992 are the following:
– The duration of Bachelor's degree studies is extended by one year, from
three years to four years, after graduation from high school.
– Practical teaching time is considerably increased by a minimum of 700
hours distributed over the four-year programme.
– Particular emphasis is laid on the pedagogical knowledge of the subject
matter to be taught.
– More room is made for the use of technology for educational purposes.
– In preparation for secondary education, there is a greater need for
education in two or more disciplines (e.g., mother tongue and history,
mathematics and sciences, etc.).
These new university secondary teacher education programmes were
implemented as of September 1994. Pre-school and elementary education
programmes followed in September 1995. Essentially, credits were
redistributed among disciplinary subjects, pedagogical topics, and practica.
For each university, the revision process was more or less participative.
Given the large numbers of student teachers, lecturers, and university
professors involved in such programmes, only a few felt they had some
influence on the renewal process. Moreover, social arrangements conducive
to systemic activity, e.g., information, coordination, collaboration, and
integration (Banathy, 1990) in higher education institutions are hard to
achieve. Life in the university classroom or in the classroom of the co-
operative teacher often remains unchanged. For instance, Laval University
developed a network of associated schools (professional development schools)
in order to strengthen practice teaching, but hires retired teachers and other
educators from the field to do almost all liaison and supervisory work.
IN-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

After long consultation, in 1999, the Ministry of Education published its
position with reference to the policy of in-service teacher training. The
essential points are:
– “Degree upgrading” should occur by means of university courses
undertaken to obtain a higher diploma.
– Self-development activities remain necessary, but are no longer
sufficient for the teachers to be informed on the state-of-the-art. Their
in-service education should be subjected to more global planning, and,
in particular, embedded within professional practice itself.
Consequently, this education should be anchored in school reality and
involve teachers in defining their own needs and choosing appropriate
ways to cater to them. Moreover, these ways have to be varied and
include, for instance, self-development, peer learning, participation in
the production of teaching material and in action research projects, as
well as the use of the new information and communication
technologies.
– Teacher professional development is both an individual and a collective
responsibility. It involves, among others, the entire school, the
governing board, the professional associations, and the teachers’
unions.
– The university is considered more as a partner than as a mandatory
crossover. It is encouraged to take part in teaching and research
activities in collaboration with educational establishments, school
boards, and the Ministry of Education as well as, possibly, in offering
professional development activities, as other organizations do.
5.3. Persisting Tensions in Teacher Education and Faculties of Education

Will the most recent reform of pre-service teacher education programmes
(2000) make a breakthrough in regard to several tensions: the university-
based or school-based agenda, subject-matter or teacher-education
scholarship, teacher- or learner-centered approaches, old and new
technology for teaching and learning? The new orientations that have just
been approved (Martinet et al., 2001) revolve around the professional
competencies that teachers are required to master. A series of “graduation
profiles”, i.e., possible pathways within the teacher education programmes
conducive to a diversity of Bachelor’s degrees are also identified.
What is cited to justify the changes is the will to adapt the teacher
education programmes to the leading ideas of the review process arising from
the programmes of primary and secondary studies – that is, generalizing the
so-called “competency” approach and related performance-based
assessment, and combining it with socio-constructivist orientations, project-
based learning, etc.
6. COMMON THEMES AND TENSIONS

6.1. Teacher Education in Higher Education Is Firmly Established
The place of teacher education in faculties of education in Canadian
universities is firmly rooted. There are, however, factors that impinge upon
the further development of teacher education as a field of study and practice.
First, the status of teaching is low, as compared to research at university
level. Second, teacher education is a lucrative business for some universities,
as they often take in much more than they spend in their faculties of
education. Within faculties of education, there are also tensions regarding
the distribution of funding as teacher education may be the largest, but not
the only group of education professionals being trained.
6.2. Scholarly Activity and the Practice of Teaching

One motive for locating teacher education in universities was their capacity to
create new models of practice. Van Manen (1977), Grimmett and Erickson
(1988), Tardif et al. (1991), and other Canadian researchers have been
instrumental, for instance, in conceptualizing the content and the process of
knowledge as applied to teachers. Partnerships and collaborative research
involving university professors and school practitioners are thought of today
as being necessary components for creating new, effective models of practice.
They are put into practice by a minority of teacher educators, including un-
tenured teacher education faculty (Desgagné, 1997; Cole, 2000). How to
ensure that the latter will creatively succeed in the publish-or-perish world of
higher education? Success or failure here will give an important message to
the rising generation of scholars who are currently interested in professional
knowledge and are doing a doctoral dissertation (Boutet, 2000; Mitchell,
2001; Malo, in progress) on teachers’ understanding of their practice.
6.3. Innovative University-Based Practices

Current models and new developments must deal with the increasing
diversity and great numbers of K-11/12 students and teachers as well as a
broad and diverse student-teacher population and teacher education
professorate within universities. Beliefs about teaching vary, and the habit of
being lectured to and of lecturing is deeply rooted in the experience of all. In
many teacher education programmes in Canada, it is now “natural” to
include “becoming a reflective practitioner” in one’s statement of goals or
objectives in a course outline.
Perhaps the greatest challenge in developing a perspective of reflective
practice is establishing what the term could possibly mean against the
background of expectations that prospective teachers bring to their pre-
service programmes.
Another is the attitude developed towards educational theory. The
perceptions of beginners of the role of formal theory in their daily teaching
range from “if only I had time to think about it” to “the theory learned in
training is impossible to put into practice” (Russell and McPherson, 2001).
The cohort model is to be considered the model of choice. Contrary to the
current division of labour in universities, it remains an alternative model,
and faculties of education, like the University of British Columbia (Minnes-
Brandes and Erickson, 1998), Queen’s University (Chin and Russell, 1995)
and a few others are going against the tide to apply it and face issues of
coherence, sustainability, and scalability. Similar challenges exist for in-
service programmes such as the ones at the Universities of British Columbia
and Laval, that are client-centered (individual teachers), and cohort-centered
(specific groups of teachers learning a specific subject-matter, and individual
schools).
6.4. Innovative School-Based Practices

Field experiences for pre-service teachers have been extended in many
programmes throughout the country. The Accreditation Committee (2000)
made the following comment,
The main benefit of the current reform is with early field experiences
and student teaching. Partnerships between faculties of education and
schools are delivering expected benefits. ...However, the situation
remains fragile” (Programme Accreditation Committee, 2000, p. 10).
Practice teaching has also been the primary focus in the United States.
Therein, identified barriers (or structural obstacles) to the implementation of
the professional development model that combines pre- and in-service
teacher education as well as collaborative research are (Holmes Group, 1990,
1995): time-intensive commitments, the difficulties of collaborative teaching
and research involving university-based and school-based teacher educators,
university reward structures, budget allocations, etc.
6.5. Innovative Network-Based Teacher Education

Teachers are knowledge workers who are uncovering the possibilities of on-
line tools for teaching and professional development. An increasing but
relatively small number of teachers and teacher educators have reframed
their understanding of the stand-alone computer and have begun to meet the
challenges of the information society using the network for professional
purposes; e.g., the challenges engendered by access to information – problem
setting in Schön’s words (1983). Some develop their own Websites, others
take on-line courses. And networked communities of practice are emerging
(e.g., pre-service teachers at the University of British Columbia, beginning
teachers in mathematics education who graduated from Queen’s University,
and teachers in some Montreal school districts; knowledge-building
communities empowered by on-line collaborative tools. For instance, the
traces left by on-line interaction for collaborative purposes become artifacts
that are of value to the members of a specific knowledge-building community
(Scardamalia and Bereiter, 1996) and others (Doubler et al., 2000; Breuleux
et al., 2002).
On the whole, more teachers and university researchers are now open to
working in partnerships than was the case in the past. Processes related to
updating (applying a modern view of intelligence, cognition, and learning) and
diversifying the knowledge base in teacher education for better teaching in K-
11/12 classrooms could be significantly enhanced by volunteer teachers in
network-enabled learning communities and communities of practice going
on-line. Will teachers rise to the occasion? Will those doing so be recognized?
Or will the dynamics of change and stability continue to neutralize one
another?
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III. Current Models and New Developments in
Croatian Teacher Education
VLASTA VIZEK-VIDOVIC and VESNA VLAHOVIC-ŠTETIC
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. History of Teacher Education in Croatia

Institutionalized teacher training in Croatia can be traced back to the second
half of the Eighteenth Century. The first records as of the 1770s mention two
teachers from Croatia who were sent to Vienna to attend advanced
pedagogical courses at the so-called Normal School. In 1776, the first public
school was established in Zagreb and admitted several students to be
specially trained for the teaching profession.
The Teacher Training School, the first fully specialized institution for
teacher education, was established in Zagreb, in 1849, with a two-year
course programme (Dumbovic, 1992). The subject teachers who taught at
high school (gymnasium) level were educated at the Faculty of Philosophy of
the University of Zagreb that was established in 1874.
In 1904, the teacher education programme was extended. Teacher
training schools became four-year institutions. By the end of the First World
War, Croatia had seven four-year secondary teacher training schools in all
(Franjkovic, 1958).
In 1929, a new educational act was passed that extended the duration of
teacher education programmes from four to five years. In 1936, teacher
education was raised to a higher level: a two-year Teachers College was
established in Zagreb (Franjkovic, 1958).
After the Second World War, new teacher training schools were opened.
By the end of 1946, there were seventeen such establishments in Croatia
with a total enrollment of 2,824 students. However, the duration of training
was again reduced to four years. In 1950, 6,174 students were enrolled in
teacher training schools with 236 teaching staff members doing the teaching.
Subject teachers for the higher grades of elementary school (fifth to eighth
grades) were trained and educated at Teachers Colleges in Zagreb and Split,
while secondary school subject teachers were educated in universities.
The need for better-educated subject teachers widened the group of
subjects included in pedagogical training. In 1956, a new programme was
proposed. It included courses in developmental and educational psychology,
general pedagogy with didactics, the sociology of education, and special
methodologies for two subjects (Franjkovic, 1958.)
52 V. VIZEK-VIDOVIC and V. VLAHOVIC-ŠTETIC
1.2. The Present Educational Context of Teacher Education: Educational
Reforms in the 1990s
The establishment, in 1991, of the Republic of Croatia as an independent
state gave rise to the need for a wide range of legislative changes all across
the social system. During the last decade, the main legal documents
regulating the educational system were adopted. The most recent
development, in 2001, concerning the general educational system is the new
orientation toward decentralization, leading to increased regional autonomy
in the organization and financing of primary and secondary schooling.
The major change in pre-service education for teachers occurred in 1992
when the teachers colleges that prepare classroom teachers were
incorporated within the system of higher education. This change brought
about the extension of the duration of studies for future classroom teachers
from two to four years.
The new government elected in 2000 recognized the need for more
profound changes within the whole educational system, especially with
regard to curriculum reform (Pastuovic, 2001).
2. TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN CROATIA

Croatian institutions for pre-service teacher education fall into two broad
categories: teachers colleges and university faculties. Teachers colleges
educate pre-primary and lower primary school teachers (i.e., classroom
teachers). University faculties educate subject teachers for upper primary
and secondary school levels, as well as teachers in special education. There
are no private pre-service teacher education institutions in Croatia.
There are nine teachers colleges in Croatia of which seven function within
universities. Their teaching staffs consist of 190 teachers, assistants, and
lecturers. In 2001, the total number of enrollments in teacher colleges was
4,036.
At the university level, there are thirteen teacher education faculties.
These faculties educate and train teachers, but also experts in different
academic disciplines. The teaching bodies of these faculties number 1,451
professors, assistants, and lecturers. The number of teacher education
students enrolled in these faculties totals 13,636.
3. EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS AND THE STATUS OF TEACHERS

The total number of teachers employed in pre-primary, primary, and
secondary schools is 51,628. Women represent 74 percent, and men, 26
percent of the total number of teachers. While the presence of men among
pre-school teachers is only 0.3 percent in a total of 6,372. The number of
men increases gradually with the grade-level of the classes. At primary
school level, of 26,820 teachers, 23.4 percent are men. At the secondary
school level, of 18,436 teachers, 37.5 percent are men (Table 1).
CROATIAN TEACHER EDUCATION 53
Table 1. Teachers in service by sex and type of school
Types of schools Women Percent Men Percent Total

Pre-school institutions 6,353 99.7 19 0.3 6,372
Elementary schools 20,556 76.6 6,353 23.4 26,820
1st – 4th grades Women 89.2 1,119 10.8 10,395
4th – 8th grades 1,277 71.3 515 28.7 1,792
5th – 8th grades 9,432 67.6 4,520 32.4 13,952
Special schools 571 83.8 110 16.2 681
Secondary schools 11,522 62.5 6,914 37.5 18,436
General academic 2,917 69.4 1,288 30.6 4,205
Vocational – four years 4,585 63.1 2,687 36.9 7,272
Vocational – three years 3,188 56.4 2,467 43.6 5,655
Art schools 666 63.6 381 36.4 1,047
Special schools 166 64.6 91 35.4 257
TOTAL 38,431 74.4 13,197 25.6 51,628
Source: Unpublished reports of the State Institute for Statistics (2000).
3.1. Career Structure and Status

Teaching careers have three levels: teacher, teacher-mentor, and teacher-
counselor. The following elements are taken into consideration for
advancement: an evaluation of the quality of the teaching and enhancement
of learning displayed by candidates, involvement in extracurricular
professional activities, and continuing professional development. In Croatia,
teachers have civil servant status.
3.2. Income
A teacher’s salary depends upon his or her status. Thus, the monthly salary
of beginning teachers varies from 612 to 670∈; teacher mentors receive 705
to 780∈, and teacher counselors from 734 to 838∈. By comparison with the
medical profession, the salaries of senior nurses, employed in state hospitals,
vary from 566 to 838∈; medical general practitioners receive about 930∈,
and specialists, about 1156∈.
3.3. Work Load

The overall number of working hours per week is forty. For school teachers,
the average weekly working load is the following:
– classroom teaching – 22 hours;
– planning and lesson preparation – 11 hours;
– classroom management – 4 hours;
– other responsibilities – 3 hours.
4. INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES – OVERVIEW OF THE TEACHER
EDUCATION SYSTEM
The two main providers of pre-service teacher education are teachers
colleges and university faculties. Studies at both types of institution follow
the concurrent model of teacher education. At university level, emphasis is
placed on specific academic disciplines (subject studies), and less attention
is devoted to the educational sciences. For someone who earns a diploma
at a teachers college, the possibilities for postgraduate studies are limited.
After completion of supplementary pedagogical courses, students may
apply for admission to postgraduate studies in pedagogy. Education
students holding the Bachelor’s Degree can continue their studies for the
Master’s Degree and the Doctorate degrees but only within their respective
academic disciplines.
Upon entering the teaching profession, all beginning teachers undergo a
one-year induction period under the guidance of teaching mentors. At the
end of this period, they must pass a certification examination before the
Expert Commission of the Ministry of Education and Sports.
In-service education is mainly organized by the Ministry Institute for
School Development, but the regional and local school authorities can also
provide some forms of in-service training. Teachers can also attend
different forms of training offered by licensed experts and NGOs. All these
forms of education are recognized as elements justifying advancement
(Vizek-Vidovic and Vlahovic-Štetic, 2000).
4.1. Description of the System of Pre-Service Teacher Education

PRE-PRIMARY TEACHER EDUCATION
Croatian law defines pre-primary education as that part of the educational
system that consists mainly of kindergarten classes. Pre-primary classes
can only be taught by pre-primary school teachers holding a teachers
college diploma.
INSTITUTIONS
The education and training of pre-primary school teachers is organized in
separate departments of teachers colleges. The same colleges also provide
teacher education for lower primary school teachers (first – fourth grade
teachers). Teachers colleges collaborate with specially appointed
kindergartens in which practice teaching is organized under the
supervision of experienced pre-primary school teachers. The yearly output
of graduating pre-primary school student teachers in Croatia from all nine
teachers colleges is 150 teachers on the average.
STAFF
General subjects and the educational sciences, including methodology
lessons, are taught by teachers who are university graduates. The teaching
staffs are not required to hold advanced degrees, with the exception of full
professors at teachers colleges who must hold a Doctorate.
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS
Admission is possible only following twelve years of schooling, i.e., after
secondary school graduation. Since Ministry quotas limit the numbers of first
year students, candidates must take and pass an entrance examination.
Studies for pre-primary pre-service teacher education last two years. The
curriculum is proposed by the institution and is approved by the National
Council for Higher Education. An academic year has thirty study weeks
(about 1000 units of teaching of forty-five minutes each). The total number of
teaching hours in two years is approximately 2,000. Programmes follow the
concurrent model of teacher education. About 90 percent of classes are
compulsory, and about 10 percent, optional, with some variations among
institutions. The percentage of class time devoted to the main categories is as
follows:
– academic disciplines: 25 percent;
– educational sciences: 30 percent;
– subject methodology (didactics): 30 percent;
– teaching practice: 10 percent;
– others: 5 percent.
EXAMINATIONS/ASSESSMENT
Students can enroll in the higher year of studies if they have met attendance
and specific course requirements and if they have passed all required
examinations (ten to twelve per year). At the end of the programme, they
write a final thesis and leave with the certificate, Diploma for Pre-primary
School Teaching.
4.2. Primary School – Lower Primary

Compulsory primary education lasts eight years (first through eighth grades).
Teaching in the first four grades is based on an integrative approach to the
curriculum. Each classroom teacher teaches six broad domains of
knowledge. On the other hand, the curriculum for the upper grades (fifth to
eighth grades) is more diversified (thirteen subjects), with a subject teacher
teaching each subject.
INSTITUTIONS
The education and training of lower primary school teachers is organized
in teachers colleges. The teachers colleges collaborate with specially
designated primary schools, in which students engage in practice teaching
under the supervision of experienced primary school teachers. The yearly
output of primary school teacher graduates in Croatia, from all nine
teachers colleges, is 200 teachers.
STAFF
As in the case of pre-primary school teacher education, teachers who have
graduated from a university teach academic subjects and the educational
sciences. Teaching staff members are not required to hold advanced degrees,
except for full professors in teachers colleges, who must hold a Doctorate.
Admission is possible only following twelve years of schooling, i.e., after
graduation from a secondary school. Since Ministry quotas limit the number
of first year students, candidates must take and pass an entrance
examination.
Studies for primary school teacher education last four years. The curriculum
is proposed by the institution and is approved by the National Council for
Higher Education. An academic year consists of thirty study weeks (900
teaching units) that represent a total of about 4,000 class hours. The
programmes follow the concurrent model of teacher education. Students are
educated and trained in six main teaching disciplines: language and
literature, mathematics, the social and natural sciences, music, arts, and
physical education. Of the total number of hours, 90 percent are obligatory
and about 10 percent, optional, with some variations among institutions. The
amount of study time devoted to main categories is as follows:
– academic discipline: 51 percent;
– educational sciences: 12 percent;
– subject methodology (didactics): 23 percent;
– teaching practice: 8 percent;
– other: 6 percent.
Students can enroll in the upper year of studies if they fulfill attendance and
specific course requirements and have passed all required examinations (ten
to twelve per year).
The final (diploma) examination consists of a written thesis and an oral
examination. Graduates leave the college with the certificate, Diploma of a
Primary School Classroom Teacher.
4.3. Upper Primary and Secondary School (in Academic Disciplines)
INSTITUTIONS
Teaching at the upper primary and secondary school level is diversified into
special subject courses. Subject teachers at both levels are educated in
different university faculties. Faculties collaborate with specially appointed
primary and secondary schools in which student teachers do their practice
teaching under the supervision of experienced teachers. The yearly faculty
output of graduating novice teachers is 1,800.
STAFF
The main categories of staff who work with teacher education students are
lecturers, senior lecturers, docents (assistant professors), associate
professors, and full professors. Every fifth year, these staff members are re-
elected on the basis of criteria defined by Law and the Rectors’ Council.
Admission is possible only following twelve years of schooling i.e., after
completion of secondary education. Since Ministry quotas limit the number
of first year students, candidates must take and pass an entrance
examination. For art academies and physical education faculties, special
abilities/talents are tested.
Studies in upper primary and secondary pre-service teacher education last
four years. The programme is usually a combined study of two major
academic subjects. An academic year has thirty study weeks (900 tuition
units) – in total, about 3,600 teaching hours. If students do a double major,
the teaching hours are equally split. For each major study, the curriculum
includes a specific methodological course (subject didactics), while the same
educational sciences courses are required for all profiles.
Teacher training studies are based on a concurrent model of teacher
education. The amount of study time devoted to the main categories greatly
varies between faculties. The range of the percentage of study time devoted to
the main categories is as follows:
– academic discipline – 70-80 percent;
– educational sciences – 3-7 percent;
– subject methodology (didactics), with classes of teaching practice – 7-
12 percent;
– other: 10-12 percent.
Students can enroll in the higher year of studies if they fulfill attendance and
specific course requirements and have passed all required examinations (10
to 12 per year).
4.4. Vocational Schools – Secondary Schools Specializing in Polytechnic,

Medical, and Economics Education
INSTITUTIONS
Teachers of theoretical vocational courses are educated and trained at the
undergraduate level at the respective faculties and, on graduation, they are
awarded a BSc Diploma. If they wish to apply for appointment to teaching
positions in secondary schools, they must obtain additional education in the
educational sciences in teachers colleges.
STAFF
The requirements to be met by teaching staff members in their principal
fields of study correspond to the requirements for faculty level teachers.
Additional education in the educational sciences and methodological courses
is provided at teachers colleges in which staff members are obliged to meet
college level professional demands.
Admission to studies in the main professional disciplines of candidates is
possible after they have completed twelve years of schooling. Admission to
additional educational studies is possible only once the BSc Degree has been
earned.
Studies in the main professional disciplines of candidates last four years (8
semesters). Additional educational studies (total duration, 135 hours) consist
of three theoretical subjects: pedagogy, educational psychology, and general
didactics (100 hours) and a methodology course (35 hours).
Students at undergraduate level can enroll in the highest level of studies if
they fulfill attendance and specific course requirements and have passed all
required examinations (ten to twelve per year). The general assessment
procedure is the same as for other types of university studies.
4.5. Vocational Secondary Schools for Industrial Subjects and Crafts

INSTITUTIONS
Vocational school teachers for industrial subjects and crafts must hold at
least a secondary school certificate from the respective type of secondary
school, if no higher form of education in the field exists. If candidates apply
for teachers’ positions at secondary school level, they must obtain additional
education and training in the educational sciences at a teachers college.
STAFF
Teachers have to hold either a BA or a BSc degree for general academic and
professional courses, or a secondary school certificate for industrial and craft
subjects. The teachers colleges provide additional instruction in the
educational sciences as well as methodological courses.
Admission to secondary school is regulated by the Ministry, which defines
the admission scores for different types of secondary schools. Admission to
additional educational studies is possible only if based on the secondary
school diploma.
Secondary polytechnic and similar vocational school studies last four years,
while vocational schools for industrial subjects and crafts last three years.
Additional educational studies (total duration 135 hours) consist of three
theoretical subjects: pedagogy, educational psychology, and general didactics
(100 hours) and a methodology course (35 hours).
Students at the undergraduate level can enroll in the higher year of studies if
attendance and specific course requirements are fulfilled and all required
examinations (ten to twelve per year) have been passed. The general
assessment procedure is the same as for the other university studies.
4.6. Special Education Teachers

Special education teachers are educated and trained at the Faculty of
Educational and Rehabilitation Sciences and, after four years of study, they
receive a Bachelor’s Degree. Their main orientation is clinical and
rehabilitation work, not teaching in the strict sense of the word.
STAFF
The main categories of teaching staff working with special education students
are the same as those working with upper primary school and secondary
school teacher education students, i.e., university teaching staff members.
Admission is only possible if based on possession of a secondary school
diploma. Since Ministry quotas limit the number of first year students,
candidates have to take and to pass an entrance examination.
Studies for different profiles of special educator/rehabilitator take four years.
Students must choose a professional profile (major) at the beginning of their
studies. All students can attend two courses in educational sciences (270
hours), while students in the Rehabilitation Department must take 225 extra
hours of methodological practica.
EXAMINATION/ASSESSMENT
As with the other comparable type of studies, students can enroll in the
higher year of studies if they have fulfilled attendance and specific course
requirements as well as passed all required examinations (ten to twelve per
year).
4.7. Quality Assessment and Quality Assurance of Initial Teacher Education

Globally speaking, the quality assessment and quality assurance system of
pre-service teacher education has not been established clearly and in a
systemic way (Vizek-Vidovic and Vlahovic-Štetic, 2000).
The requirements and the necessary standards of quality are more clearly
stated within the procedure for the accreditation of the institutions and/or
programmes that are regulated by the laws on higher education and
scientific work. This framework includes standards for the evaluation of
curricula. The National Council for Higher Education, composed of
prominent scholars and experts, is responsible for conducting curriculum
evaluation. The Ministry of Science and Technology reaches decisions as to
supporting certain curricula based on the expert opinion of the Council and
on the recommendation of the University Senate.
Recently, self-evaluation procedures have been introduced into certain
universities. They are based primarily on the qualitative analyses of
performance and needs. In addition to attempts at self-evaluation, efforts
have been made at university level to introduce external evaluation
procedures drawn from independent external sources.
4.8. Induction of Beginning Teachers

The induction of beginning teachers is regulated by special acts issued by the
Ministry of Education and Sport. The regulations, so laid down, define
induction as a compulsory part of the certification process for teachers at all
school levels. The phases of the induction process are the following:
i. Planning: When a beginning teacher obtains a position, the educational
institution in question appoints a mentor and a commission that set
the one-year induction programme.
ii. Realization: The mentor is responsible for the supervision of the
realization of the programme and for counseling and supporting his
trainee (40 hours).
iii. Evaluation: At the end of the induction period, the commission submits
to the Ministry a report on the progress of the beginning teacher. If the
beginning teacher is evaluated positively, the commission proposes him
or her for the certification examination.
iv. The certification examination is taken in a specially chosen institution,
at the same level, before a Ministry Commission. The members of the
Certification Commission are: a Ministry counselor, a university faculty
or college teacher of the methodology of the subject, the principal of the
appointed institution, an appointed experienced teacher, and an
appointed teacher of the Croatian language.
4.9. In-Service Teacher Education

The governmental institution responsible for the structuring and the
organization of in-service teacher education is the Institute for School
Development (Vizek Vidovic and Vlahovic Štetic, 2000).
At the start of each school year, a special catalogue of thematic courses is
offered to the educational public. The content and form of programmes
included in the catalogue are usually defined through collaboration between
counselors of the Institute for School Development and university field
experts. Approximately 80 percent of the courses are discipline-oriented; 12
percent are related to the educational sciences; and 8 percent are dedicated
to civic education. Enrollment by all the categories of personnel (teachers,
principals, and other professionals) in the 1999 courses, was the following:
– Pre-primary level: 4,500;
– Primary level: 23,000;
– Secondary level: 9,500.
5. ADVANCED CERTIFICATION
5.1. Postgraduate Studies
Pre-primary school teachers who graduate after two years of studies in
teachers colleges cannot enroll in postgraduate studies.
Lower primary school teachers, who graduate after completion of four-year
course programmes in teachers colleges, may enroll in postgraduate studies
only in the Department of Pedagogy of the Faculty of Philosophy at the
University of Zagreb.
Upper primary and secondary school teachers can enroll in postgraduate
studies (MA and PhD Degrees) in their academic disciplines, but they have
no opportunity to earn postgraduate degrees in the educational sciences.
5.2. The Teacher Advancement System

Teacher advancement is regulated by a special act of the Ministry of
Education and Sports that defines levels and conditions of advancement.
Teachers have the possibility to advance through three stages:
– certified teacher (after taking the State Certification Examination);
– teacher-mentor;
– teacher-counselor.
Advancement is based on an evaluation of teacher performance in three
areas: work with students in the course of classroom teaching,
extracurricular activities, and in-service education.
A teacher-mentor has at least six years of working experience, and a
teacher-counselor, at least eleven years. (If the teacher is particularly
successful, a proposal for advancement can be made earlier). The Minister
makes decisions relative to advancement.
6. THE ROLE OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

AND EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION
Educational research has two aspects: research within teacher education
and research about teacher education. Research within teacher education
at college and faculty level is a component of the teaching process and is
embedded within educational sciences courses and methodological courses
at the undergraduate level (Vizek-Vidovic and Vlahovic-Štetic, 2000).
Students in education programmes are encouraged to undertake
standardized observation and interviewing during practice in school
classrooms and later to present their data in their college classes. Study
programmes, which end with the writing of a Bachelor’s thesis, encourage
students to use their own empirical research as a basis for theses.
7. THE NEW INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

AND TEACHER EDUCATION
In general, the new information and communication technologies are still
very poorly represented both in schools and in teacher education. In many
instances, especially at secondary school level, students are much more
competent in these areas than their teachers are. An overview of study
programmes for teacher education in Croatia reveals that courses on the
use of the new information and communication technologies in teaching
simply do not exist. On the one hand, this situation is partly due to the
generally poor information and communications technology equipment
available in Croatian institutions of higher education. A more important
reason lies with the insufficient competencies of teacher educators in this
area.
What the new decentralization of the educational system will bring
about in this domain remains to be seen.
8. CONCLUDING REMARKS
8.1. Key Problems Confronting the Improvement of Teacher Education in
Croatian Higher Education Institutions
One of the most pressing problems is lack of funding caused by the severe
government-imposed economic restrictions in the sector of education and
science that are being reflected in teacher education. The generally low
socio-economic status of the teaching profession (including higher
education) is also recognized as a hindering factor. This situation is
particularly reflected in the negative self-selection of future teacher
students for teachers colleges (i.e., the more talented students orient
themselves toward other studies).
One of the factors contributing to the slow changes within the teacher
education system can be attributed to the fact that initial teacher education
is organized under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and Technology,
while in-service education is organized by the Ministry of Education and
Sports. The need for closer and better co-operation and coordination between
the two Ministries is recognized.
Regarding curricula for the professional educational component at all
levels of pre-service teacher education, course formats and contents, in many
instances, reflect traditional approaches to teaching. The curriculum is
mainly teacher-centered, promoting the paradigmatic role of the teacher as
knowledge-giver. The student is viewed as a passive knowledge-taker and not
as an active learner. The main purpose of teaching is implicitly viewed as a
transfer of knowledge (mainly facts), and not as a tool for the enhancement of
student learning processes.
Issues concerning continuing education can be observed at two levels:
postgraduate studies and in-service. In general, student teachers have very
limited opportunities for postgraduate studies in the educational sciences.
This situation has arisen partially because of the widely held belief that the
requirements for teaching can be met by the imparting of specific teaching
skills and not as a need to acquire profound knowledge of the educational
sciences, so as to enable problem-solving and decision-making in the school
context.
8.2. The Need for and the Possible Directions to Be Taken by the Improvement
of Institutionalized Teacher Education
A major change needed in education, especially higher education, is a change
in the attitude of policy-makers who should begin treating the whole
education system as an investment for the future, one for which special
needs should be satisfied. Some of the needs that should be met are higher
salaries for teachers, the recognition of teachers as equal partners in
educational policy-making, and teacher empowerment through teacher
education for the role of autonomous, creative, and reflexive professionals.
8.3. Some Specific Sector Needs

PRE-PRIMARY TEACHER EDUCATION
One of the main specific needs is an increased number of opportunities for
vertical educational mobility as part of life-long education. Within this
context, the idea of extending the two-year programme to four years, at the
pre-service teacher education level, has been considered.
LOWER-PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER EDUCATION
The prevailing view is that lower primary teacher education should be raised
to academic faculty level, a step that would improve the academic
professional capacities of teachers as well as facilitate vertical educational
mobility.
UPPER PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION

Generally speaking, the crucial need at this level of pre-service teacher
education is an increase in the amount of study time devoted to the
professional educational component. This need is closely associated with that
for curriculum changes, focusing on the concept of the student-as-an-active-
learner.
8.4. Possible Future Policies

Possible future policies should be positioned within a certain theoretical
framework enabling the formulation of working hypotheses, and later on,
their testing and evaluation. The presumption is that, at the moment, the
open system approach could be regarded as the most convenient theoretical
paradigm for the raising of key issues.
First of all, is teacher training or teacher education needed; i.e., should the
teachers be mainly prepared on-the-job, in the schools, or at the
college/university level (Roth, 1999)? The second issue is that of the
dynamics of pre-service and in-service education and the role of higher
education in that context. The third issue is that of the specific dynamics
within each of these two subsystems (Vizek-Vidovic, 2001).
Consequently, the main changes in teacher education should be well-
founded in educational theory and based on research in the educational
sciences. Also, the important aspect of scenario development should be the
empirical evidence about main tendencies and standards of teacher
education in European Union member countries and other highly developed
countries.
Taking all these matters into consideration, we can conclude that
planning the development of teacher education should not only respect the
identified needs and limiting factors within the wider social system, but
should also provide challenges for the acceptance of new values, roles, and
responsibilities. This task should be undertaken by encouraging all the
participants in teacher education, be they pre-school or school teachers, as
well as other potential users (Chaffee, 1998) to play more active roles in
planning, decision-making, and the creation of new approaches to teacher
education.
The changes in the organization of studies should also broaden the scope
of themes and content areas that have been, until now, almost totally
neglected: civic education, computer-use education, and education for
diversity in the classrooms. Curriculum changes should also be accompanied
by new approaches in the methods used by teacher educators.
Concerning this wide range of demands and professional challenges, the
authors hold a view that is similar to that of Schlecty (1997) to the effect that
although the teaching profession makes heavy demands, they are primarily
directed at creating such a teacher education system, that, rather than
turning teachers into extraordinary persons, will make them into the sorts of
persons who will be able to empower children to bring about extraordinary
achievements.
REFERENCES
CHAFFEE, E. E. “Listening to the People We Serve”, in, W. G. TIERNEY, ed. The
Responsive University. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press,
1998.
DUMBOVIC, I. Prema slobodnoj školi [Towards a Free School]. Zagreb: Institut
za pedagogijska istraživanja, 1992.
FRANJKOVIC, D. Povijest školstva i pedagogije u Hrvatskoj [History of the
School System and Pedagogy in Croatia]. Zagreb: Pedagoško-književni
zbor, 1958.
PASTUOVIC, N., “Strategija razvoja republike Hrvatske u 21. stoljecu u
podrucju obrazovanja” [Strategy of the Development of the Republic of
Croatia in the Twenty-First Century Education], Zagreb, 2001
(unpublished).
ROTH, R. A. “University as a Context for Teacher Development”, in, R. A.
ROTH, ed. The Role of the University in the Preparation of Teachers. London:
Falmer Press, 1999.
SCHLECTY, P. C. Inventing Better Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1997.
VIZEK-VIDOVIC, V. “Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Training: Continuity
and Adaptation”, Presentation at the planning meeting for the CEPES
project, “Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education (within Higher
Education) in the Europe Region: Current Models and New
Developments”, Vienna, 2001 (unpublished).
VIZEK-VIDOVIC, V., and VLAHOVIC-ŠTETIC, V., “Teacher Education in Croatia”,
Zagreb, 2000 (unpublished).
IV. Teacher Education in England: Current Models
and New Developments1
BOB MOON
1. INTRODUCTION
In the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
now have autonomous education departments. There is no overall
authority. In teacher education, there are many similarities among the
systems but also significant historical and institutional differences. This
study focuses on England where Government has recently come to adopt a
highly interventionist approach to the reform of teacher education. It is
divided into two sections, the first one looking at pre-service teacher
education and training, and the second one, at the continuing professional
development of teachers.
2. PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING PRIOR TO 2000
2.1. Origins
The formal pre-service training of teachers in England can be said to have
begun in 1798. In that year, the first teacher training college was opened
in the London district of Southwark. This area, South of the Thames, was,
and remains, a relatively poor part of the city. One educational
commentator has viewed this foundation as symbolic of the uncertain
status of teacher education down through the years.
That Southwark rather than Oxford was the home of teacher training
explains many of the problems facing teacher educators today: the
lack of credibility of teacher education as a discipline; a dearth of
academic ability among its students; and the ambiguities of a
curriculum embracing personal education and professional training.
All of these have denied it money, resources, and, until recently,
talent, and can be said to have their roots in its humble birth in
Southwark.
Unlike theology, medicine, or law, [teacher education] has no
historic claim to a university tradition of academic excellence or
respectability. It has more in common instead with medieval craft
1 The author acknowledges the assistance of Liz Bird, Research Assistant in the Center for Research and
Development in Teacher Education at the Open University, who has provided very useful data for the
preparation of this study.
68 B. MOON
guilds, whose apprenticeship system preceded modern technical
education (Hencke, 1978, p. 13).
The status of teacher education in England is inextricably linked to the
position of teachers in society. Over two hundred years on, from the funding
of Borough Road College in Southwark, the status of teachers remains
uncertain. Under a headline, “Census Snub for Teachers”, The Times
Educational Supplement (23 March 2001) reported:
Teachers have slipped in the social pecking order, with the official
census removing their A-grade professional status.
Officials that run the national census were going to rank teachers
alongside “higher professionals” such as doctors or lawyers. But the
impending 2001 census will instead brand teaching a “lower
professional occupation” with little influence over work, pay, or
conditions.
The census, which takes a statistical snapshot of the nation every
10 years, is due on April 29. It will use a new series of eight job
classifications based on recommendations made in 1998. These grade
the nation’s workers from “higher professionals” to routine workers like
drivers and cleaners....
Teachers’ leaders said the move was a sad reflection of the recent
decline in pay, status, and conditions in education.
The position of teacher education in the institutional structure of the
education system is equally ambivalent. Through the 1990s and up to the
present, Conservative and Labour governments have made strenuous efforts
to move pre-service teacher education away from the universities and into
schools. As recently as 1995, the attempt by Homerton College, Cambridge,
to introduce a new education degree (a former primary teacher training
college) provoked strong opposition from academics in other subjects.
Cambridge is no exception to a general rule. Teacher education
departments rarely, even with a strong research record, achieve high status
within English universities.
Institutional teacher education came slightly later to England than to
other European countries. John Baptiste de la Salle established the first
école normale in Reims a hundred years before the Southwark College
opened. In Germany, the first training seminaries (Lehrerseminar) were
established in Gotha, in 1698 (Neather, 1993). Subsequent institutional
developments in England, however, paralleled that of many neighbouring
countries. Throughout the Nineteenth Century, as statewide systems of
elementary education became established, teacher training institutions
dedicated to the preparation of elementary school teachers were set up. In
England, secondary school teachers received no formal training. It was
considered self-evident that good subject knowledge would be sufficient for
the demands of the secondary curriculum.
TEACHER EDUCATION IN ENGLAND 69
2.2. Twentieth Century Evolution
The evolution of teacher education in England over the Twentieth Century
can be divided into three phases:
– the flowering of the elementary progressive tradition – 1900-1970;
– hope and expansion – 1970-1985;
– disillusion and contraction – 1985-2000.
THE FLOWERING OF THE ELEMENTARY PROGRESSIVE TRADITION (1900–1970)

In the first half of the Twentieth Century, a strong tradition of elementary
teacher training was established. Some teacher training colleges had links to
universities but, for the most part, the sector developed independently of
higher education. The curriculum included some subject studies, and there
was a strong emphasis on teaching methods. Over the period, there was a
growing interest in European models of child-centered, progressive teaching.
Froebel, Pestallozi, and Montessori would have been read and discussed in
many of the courses. In the post-Second World War period, these
developments began to flourish, culminating in very significant changes in
primary school education through to the 1960s. Rapid demographic growth
allowed the building of many new schools, and these were often constructed
in an open plan form so as to allow individual and group work, rather than
whole class teaching. Visitors came from all over the world to look at the
primary schools in areas such as Oxfordshire or Leicestershire, where the
philosophy had taken a particular hold.
The movement also received national legitimacy with the publication of a
national report, the Plowden Report (Central Advisory Council for Education,
1967). The Labour government of the day had set up a commission to look at
all aspects of primary schooling. The report, which received widespread
attention, came down firmly on the side of the progressive movement.
By this time, two important changes had occurred in the teacher training
colleges. First, following a national report on higher education, the Robbins
Report (National Committee, 1963), they had been retitled Colleges of
Education. In England, an important distinction is made between the words,
“train”, and, “educate”. This distinction can be confusing for those from
linguistic communities in which the difference is not made (formation in
France, for example).
The Oxford English dictionary defines the word, train, as “to teach a
specified skill, especially by practice”; whereas to educate is “[to] give
intellectual, moral, and social instruction”.
Around that distinction, strong ideological conflicts have been fought. In
the 1960s, the move was to raise the status of the colleges by linking them to
education rather than to training. (As will be shown below, that step was
reversed in the 1990s.) The second change was to plan for all teachers to
have earned degrees. The Colleges of Education often became linked to local
70 B. MOON
universities, which accredited Bachelor of Education Degrees (BEd) for all
those undergoing primary school training.
This period was, therefore, one of optimism. Teacher education for
secondary school teachers also began to be established from the 1950s
onwards. The need to train thousands of extra teachers had become a
priority as of the end of the Second World War.
Emergency training colleges had been established across the country,
primarily to train personnel from the armed forces rapidly so that they could
be recruited into primary or secondary schools. Many of these became
established colleges and, across the college sector as a whole, three- and
four- year courses to train secondary subject teachers began to develop.
Universities also began to introduce a one-year Postgraduate Certificate of
Education (PGCE).
HOPE AND EXPANSION (1970–1985)

The second, and much shorter, phase of development could be termed a
period of hope and expansion. It was characterized by a number of changes.
In the 1970s, England, like many countries, experienced what has been
termed the “universitization” of teacher education (Neave, 1992). In a period
of university expansion and in a mood of optimism about raising the status
and the intellectual credibility of primary and secondary school teachers, it
seemed appropriate to move teacher education into higher education.
There were bureaucratic advantages as well. The Colleges of Education
were often relatively small and difficult to make cost efficient. The central
Ministry seized the opportunity to close and merge many of these, as the
process of incorporation into the university sector took place. This move was
not always popular with teacher educators.
A sign, however, of Government concern about the quality of teacher
education programmes was the setting up, in the early 1980s, of a
Committee for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (known by everyone by
the acronym, CATE). This movement was initially led by a respected teacher
educator, William Taylor, who had previously been Director of the Institute of
Education of the University of London. The aim was to establish agreed upon
criteria for all aspects of course design and implementation. To some extent,
it was modeled on the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher
Education in the United States, even if, unlike in the United States, all
teacher education courses in England had to be accredited by CATE.
The establishment of CATE was the first governmental attempt to pull
back some of the control of teacher education that had so recently been given
over to the universities. Margaret Thatcher’s new Conservative
administration also asked the national inspectorate, Her Majesty’s Inspectors
(HMI), to “inspect” all teacher education courses.
In England, university autonomy is fiercely guarded. Academic freedom
from governmental interference is one of the cornerstones of the university
creed. At one level, the imposition of CATE and the pressure for inspection
seemed a real threat. Such pressure, applied to law or medicine, might well
have been resisted. Teacher education, however, something of a newcomer to
the academic world and without the status and tradition of the other
professions, was accorded little protection. Although some misgivings were
voiced, accreditation by CATE and inspection by HMI was firmly in place by
the mid-1980s.
DISILLUSION AND CONTRACTION (1985–2000)

The third phase, from 1985 to 2000, is described as one of disillusion and
contraction. Over a fifteen-year period, major changes to teacher education
were introduced. Few, if any, European countries have experienced such
rapid, interventionist reform to a system of teacher education.
Disillusion is an appropriate term. Government clearly felt disillusioned
about the quality and purpose of teacher education, and teacher educators
soon became disillusioned with the response of Government. The policies
also involved a contraction in staff of many teacher education departments.
The reforms to teacher education were a part of a wide scale reform agenda,
begun by the passing of the Education Reform Act in 1988.
However, out of a period of quite intense conflict, some elements of the
system have emerged that all those involved with teacher education would
probably agree should be retained. English teacher educators have written
extensively about the reforms, and many have been hostile. The reforms were
seen as a professional, even personal, threat, and not all accounts take a
dispassionate and objective stance. Given the interest in the English
experience, it is important to give some context to events during this period.
In the later part of the 1980s, a number of conservative think tanks, or
independent policy review organizations, began to critically assess teacher
education. The most influential was the Center for Policy Studies, the
Director of which was Sheila Lawlor. In 1990, she published a blistering
attack under the title, Teachers Mistaught: Training in Theories or Education
in Subjects (Lawlor, 1990). The title reveals the core of her disapproval.
Teacher education was viewed as propagating left wing, child-centered
approaches to teaching, which could be directly linked to low standards in
schools. What was needed, argued Lawlor, was a more rigorous subject-
based approach with, at the primary phase, a strong emphasis on literacy
and numeracy. Traditional phonic approaches to the teaching of reading, for
example, needed to be reinstated into the teacher education curriculum.
A new Minister responsible for education had been appointed, Kenneth
Clarke. An ambitious politician, he acted quickly to introduce radical
reforms. Civil servants who argued against his plans were moved to other
departments. In summary, he:
i. abolished CATE and introduced a national Teacher Training Agency
with a Board that represented traditional right wing interests in
education. The use of training in the title was an explicit attempt to
indicate what the central purpose of teacher education should be.
72 B. MOON
ii. decreed a minimum time that students enrolled in course programmes
should spend in schools. For the one-year thirty-six week PGCE
course, he said that twenty-four should be school based.
iii. told the universities that a proportion of the money received per
trainee should be given to the schools in recognition of their greater
role and responsibilities.
iv. introduced a statutory statement of teacher competencies that all
courses must develop and insisted that courses would only be funded
if HMI provided satisfactory evidence, via inspections, of their work.
v. said that schools and groups of schools should be able to train
teachers independently of any university.
It was a populist approach. Many teachers had been critical of the over-
theoretical approach to teacher education, and this set of policy measures
struck a chord with them and with some parents. Teacher educators were
almost wholly opposed to the reforms (see Stones, 1994; Edwards, 1994),
but they were unable to orchestrate opposition from all the interest groups
involved. Clarke’s proposals had split the “educational establishment”, as
some detractors termed those working in education. What is more, he had
exploited the more school-based approach to teacher education that, in the
1980s, was introduced by some University departments as a more
progressive model for the preparation of teachers. The University of Oxford
and the University of Sussex, for example, had experimented for a number
of years with this approach; however, neither of them had suggested a
transfer of resources to schools on the scale of what was envisaged by the
new reforms.
Through the 1990s, the Clarke approach became embedded into the
system. Other initiatives were also introduced. From 1994 onwards, the
Open University began training up to a thousand students a year, on a part-
time basis, through open and distance learning methods. This activity was
part of the programme to diversify the ways in which people could train to
be teachers. The Open University programme was particularly aimed at
mature entrants, a group also favoured by Government.
Three aspects of the reform, developed and refined by teacher educators
despite initial hostility, appear now to have become an accepted part of the
system. First, the notion of “partnership” between teacher educators and
schools; second, the idea of the teacher in the school acting as a “mentor” to
the trainee, and third, the acceptance of some form of “competency” or
“standards” approach to assessing teachers at the qualifying stage. These
will be discussed in greater detail below.
In summary, therefore, the history of pre-service teacher education in
England reflects trends and developments in other parts of Europe. The
move to provide parity of training for primary and secondary school
teachers, the increased importance of the university in teacher education,
and the growing interest of Government in teacher quality are all reflected in
experience elsewhere. But England is unique in the highly centralist and
interventionist approach adopted by Government in the 1990s. The hostility
of teacher educators to that process can sometimes obscure specific gains
and advantages that have become generally accepted throughout the
system. It is also important to point out that, although the changes were
introduced by a right wing Conservative government, the centrist Labour
government of Tony Blair has retained them. Many features of the reforms,
described in the next part of this study, appear destined to survive well into
the next Century.
2.3. Pre-Service Teacher Education and Training in England (2000–2001)

The pattern of pre-service teacher education today has to be understood in
the context of the historical developments described above, particularly
those introduced in the 1990s. Some general points follow:
– Most teachers are educated and trained in university level institutions
of higher education.
– The academic and training requirements of primary and secondary
school teachers are comparable.
– There has been a significant shift from concurrent four-year integrated
academic and pedagogical courses towards a consecutive model, a
three-year specialist degree followed by a one-year postgraduate
teacher qualification certificate.
– Primary school teaching has become more popular than secondary
school teaching, and there is an officially recognized crisis in the
recruitment of secondary school teachers into subjects such as
Mathematics, Science, Modern Foreign Languages, Technology, and
even English and Geography.
– Attempts to diversify the routes into teaching have multiplied;
however, the numbers taking these options remain small.
In describing the different aspects of teacher education and training,
three areas will be considered: structures, curriculum, and the incentives to
enter teaching.
STRUCTURES
The main route into teaching is through a one-year postgraduate course
provided by universities. Successful completion of the course leads to
qualified teacher status. The university awards the certificate, but the formal
granting of qualified teacher status rests with the Department for Education
and Skills, the national ministerial body.
An alternative is through a usually four-year, undergraduate Bachelor of
Education course programme, again offered by a university. These courses
have a lineage that goes back to the primary level courses of the teacher
training colleges. Four-year courses also exist in some secondary school
subjects; however, provision varies from university to university.
In 2000, 21,150 teachers entered through one year PGCE courses,
compared with 8,960 who entered through undergraduate courses.
74 B. MOON
There are currently three other ways of obtaining qualified teacher status.
Two are already in operation:
– through a school-based teacher education consortium. Groups of
schools, on a voluntary basis, link together to offer a teacher
preparation course for graduates. They receive, for each trainee, a
sum of money that is slightly greater than the figure given to
universities. It is up to the consortium to decide how the training
should take place, and it can, if it wishes, ask a university to accredit
the course.
– fast-track graduate entry. Graduates who are highly motivated to
become teachers can apply to bypass much of the conventional
training, participate in practical experience in a number of schools,
and pass through rapidly into qualified teacher status.
– flexible, postgraduate courses. This form is a new type of
diversification planning to recruit significant numbers from 2002
onwards. The courses are modular in structure and involve a strong
element of needs analysis at the outset. Those with previous teaching
experience, perhaps gained overseas, can claim prior experience and
follow a more rapid route through to qualification. This route is
university-based. The British Open University is by far the largest
provider.
The balance of time spent in schools is regulated for the postgraduate and
undergraduate courses (see Table 1).
Table 1. The regulated amounts of time trainers must spend in school – beyond
completion of graduate and postgraduate courses
One-year courses – primary 18 weeks
One-year courses – secondary 24 weeks
Three-year courses – primary 24 weeks
Three-year courses – secondary 24 weeks
Four-year courses – primary 32 weeks
Four-year courses – secondary 32 weeks
Source: The author.
The regulated curriculum of primary school trainees has more content

than that for secondary school trainees. The subject knowledge requirement,
for example, is wider. The proportion of teaching experience in schools is,
therefore, less.
England is developing more diversified ways of gaining qualified teacher
status than any other country in Europe. In part, this diversity stems from
the distrust of university providers, which began with the Clarke reforms in
the 1990s. It also reflects the growing crisis in recruitment to secondary
schools (see below). As yet, however, the numbers taking the new routes into
teaching are low. For the foreseeable future, universities are likely to be
training at least four out of five teachers.
A key aspect of the recent changes is to place much greater emphasis on
school experience or practice. It is important to mention that trainees like
this aspect. Research studies have charted the more positive evaluations that
trainees give to their courses, following the introduction of the school-based
approach.
A key aspect of the curriculum, therefore, is the quality of the experience
that can be provided in schools. Most universities now have well developed
schemes that set out what takes place in a school and what form the
curriculum within the university takes. Experienced teachers from schools
participate in the planning and implementation of the programme. Schools,
especially secondary schools, will often have more than one trainee, and the
programme will be co-ordinated by a senior member of staff. A variety of
forms of partnership exist (Griffiths and Owen, 1995). HMI inspections make
judgments about the quality of the partnership as a whole, as well as of its
component parts.
Equally significant is the role of the experienced teacher who acts as a
“mentor” to the trainee. Mentoring is currently practiced across a range of
professional and commercial contexts. In one sense, it has always existed,
albeit in an informal way. In England, it has traditionally been part of a
teacher’s role to support those in training. Under the present regulations,
however, mentoring has become much more formal and professionally
organized. All universities provide some form of training for mentors,
including the role they play in assessing trainees during and at the
completion of the course. A number of universities offer courses in mentoring
that can contribute to a professional qualification at postgraduate level (viz.,
a Master’s degree).
Pre-service teacher education has, therefore, become a much more
instrumental, practical – some would say – process with little time available
for speculative work around educational theorizing. Whilst rarely formally
expressed, successive governments have looked with some disdain on some
of the prevailing orthodoxies that have featured on the international agenda
for teacher education. In the mid 1990s, for example, ideas of reflective
practice or the reflective practitioner were the subject of much criticism.
Despite this attitude, many teacher educators attempt to retain a self-critical
perspective in their work.
Alongside this situation, more recent currents of thought, largely
influenced by developments in the United States, have become influential.
Currently, there is a strong interest in situated, social perspectives on
learning (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). The idea of teachers
working within communities of practice that provide both forms of initiatives
internally and the potential for development is seen as relevant to both pre-
service and continuing professional development. Although the rhetoric
around these themes is not as well established as in the United States, its
importance is growing. The forms that such communities might take are
varied but “subjects” (i.e., mathematicians, scientists, or historians) provide
one organizing category. This approach has some fit with official government
76 B. MOON
enthusiasm to promote “subject” rather than educational theory as a main
focus for pre-service and professional programmes.
Teacher educators in England are strongly oriented towards theoretical
developments in North America. Although participation in European projects
and programmes is high, and many educators attend conferences such as
the annual European Conference on Educational Research, awareness of the
debates and research in, for example, mainstream European languages, such
as French and German, is restricted. There are some indications of
increasing European perceptions (see Moon, 1996; Banks et al., 1999).
INCENTIVES TO ENTER TEACHING

A characteristic of pre-service teacher education in England today is the
crisis faced in recruiting secondary school teachers. This situation is not
unique to England. Many countries are finding that the attraction of the new
technologically oriented, knowledge based, occupations are drawing
significantly from the pool that traditionally supplied the teaching force.
Additional factors in England, in the early years of this Century, are the
relatively buoyant state of the economy and the rather poor media reporting
given to teaching. Secondary schools, in particular, are often viewed as
difficult and demanding places in which to work. This reputation has an
impact in England at the recruitment and employment phase. In addition,
the figures show that only three out of four trainees actually enter teaching.
In 2000, the Labour government responded by paying postgraduate
trainee teachers a “training bursary” of £6000. For postgraduates training to
teach mathematics, science, English, modern languages, design and
technology, and the Information and Communications Technologies, this
figure is topped up by a “golden hello” of a further £4000. Slightly different
arrangements exist for other routes. No payment is made for four-year
undergraduate courses (another indication of the Government wish to
encourage a move to a consecutive model).
The problem of recruitment and retention is acute. Currently, in England,
teachers from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are filling the gap left
by the short fall in recruitment. Some European countries (the Netherlands
and Ireland) are also providing teachers. The problem is making headlines in
the media. The cartoon below shows David Blunkett, the minister responsible
for education from 1997 to 2001, adopting a carrot and stick approach to
teacher recruitment.
The system of teacher recruitment to training and the route on into
employment as a teacher is very loosely organized. Trainees do not have any
link with local educational structures (as they do in France and Germany,
for example). Teachers are not civil servants. All teaching posts are
advertised nationally and competed for against a national pool of applicants.
It is interesting that, despite taking a highly controlled and centralist
approach to the education and training of teachers, there has been little
attempt to enforce central organization of recruitment and employment.
That part of the educational system remains, as it was traditionally, a
devolved and, essentially, free market approach. How long such a
procedure will be sustained may well depend on how deep the crisis in
recruitment becomes.
Source: The Guardian (4 January 2001).
3. THE CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS

3.1. The Context
Formal, institutional provision for continuing professional development (CPD)
or in-service training of teachers has a much more recent lineage than
provision for pre-service education. Historically, continuing professional
development, (CPD, as it is now commonly known) has been accorded a fairly
minimal level of resources. Organization was largely the responsibility of
Local Education Authorities (LEAs), and markedly different practices existed
across the country. Three forms of provision have existed:
– Local Education Authority support by advisory teachers. Most Local
Education Authorities have a group of staff who can run courses and
visit schools. Only recently has this support been systematically
applied.
78 B. MOON
– School-based support. Over the last twenty years, there has been a
growing acceptance that the school as a whole has responsibility for
the development of all teachers.
– Universities. Most universities offer some form of continuing
professional development provision that is usually linked to
postgraduate diplomas or to Master’s level degrees. Teachers
participate in relatively small numbers.
In the 1970s and 1980s, some national attempts were made to raise the
importance of continuing professional development. In the early 1970s, the
James Report, a high level national enquiry, proposed a radical shake-up of
continuing professional development, including teacher entitlements to
sabbaticals and a much more planned approach to provision.
None of the recommendations were implemented. The Labour government
that had set up the enquiry was succeeded by a Conservative administration
that balked at the resource implications. Local Education Authorities were
often taking money for continuing professional development but diverting it
to other purposes.
After 1990, two phases of development became perceptible. First, a more
competitive approach to funding was introduced. Government set aside sums
of money against targeted areas (school management, for example) and told
the Local Education Authorities that if they wanted funds they would have to
“bid” for them and then guarantee that the funds would be spent for the
purposes allocated. Second, Government put strong pressure on the Local
Education Authorities to devolve the general budgets for continuing
professional development to schools and to allow schools to decide how the
money should be spent.
In continuing professional development, therefore, one perceives the
manifestation of another policy initiative, pursued by the Conservative and
the Labour governments, namely that of privatizing services. Most Local
Education Authorities now organize their advisory services as if they were
independent commercial organizations. Revenue comes from the purchasing
by schools of continuing professional development and from inspections (the
inspection of schools is carried out in England by private groups co-ordinated
by the national Office for Standards in Education – OFSTED).
There is now a strong expectation that schools will produce regularly
updated school development plans. When schools are inspected (currently
every four years), the quality of these plans, including continuing
professional development planning, is reviewed. The policy pressure is
intended to make the school an autonomous unit and a purchaser of services
such as continuing professional development. National and regional
programmes do exist in areas such as literacy and ICT training, but again, a
competitive, market situation will frequently characterize provision.
For example, between 2000 and 2003, a national programme, budgeted
at £230 million, was set up for the training of teachers in the use of the
information and communication technologies (ICTs) for teaching and
learning (i.e., beyond basic skills). The model adopted – United Kingdom-
wide – was to set out a training specification, invite organizations to
submit themselves for accreditation against the specification, and then to
give schools a free choice to purchase training from any of those on the
accredited list.
3.2. Contemporary Continuing Professional Development Initiatives

In 2000, the Labour government launched a national consultation around
the theme, Professional Development: Support for Teachers and Learning. In
the resulting document, ten principles were proposed as a foundation for a
national policy on continuing professional development.
i. Effective teachers should take ownership and give high priority to
professional development, and schools and teachers should share
responsibility and commitment for development, supported by
Government.
ii. Professional development should be centered on raising standards
in the classroom, and therefore take account of objectives to
enhance pupil learning, as well as supporting broader professional
skills such as working with external partners.
iii. A wide range of development opportunities should be available, to
suit different needs.
iv. There should be equality of opportunity for professional
development.
v. Teachers should learn on the job and from the best, working
alongside other professionals in the classroom.
vi. Continuing efforts should be made to look for better ways to use the
time and resources available for professional development.
vii. ICT should play a central role in supporting opportunities for self-
learning at times and places to suit individuals.
viii. Professional development should be of high quality, and teachers
and schools should be discerning customers.
ix. Good planning and evaluation are essential to make the most of
professional development.
x. Information should be shared widely about lessons learned and
good practice, making the most of the potential of the ICTs.
In the subsequent consultation process, the Government reported that 90
percent of respondents agreed with these principles. In 2000 and 2001, two
important policy documents set out frameworks for continuing professional
development:
– Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change (DfEE, 2000)
– Learning and Teaching: A Strategy for Professional Development (DfEE,
2001)
For anyone outside the English context, it is important to make three
policy points. First, central control of the direction of teacher education,
80 B. MOON
generally, and continuing professional development, specifically, is now
greater than it has ever been in the past. Although individual schools and
teachers are free to develop their expertise autonomously, they are not
permitted to depart from the national agenda on many issues. In this
respect, Government imposes its control through resource allocation, and,
most specifically, through its school inspection regime. The Ministry, rather
than the Teacher Training Agency, controls continuing professional
development; nevertheless, a national General Teaching Council has been
established, which could, if more autonomy were granted, play a major role
in continuing professional development planning.
Second, the agenda for reforming schools and raising standards is directly
linked to the use of the market, to competitiveness, and to the adoption into
the education service of private, commercial expertise. In the Labour Party
manifesto, upon which Tony Blair won a massive victory, the incorporation of
private sector expertise into the public sector was an explicit commitment.
A recent cartoon from the weekly newspaper, the Observer, portrays the
flavour of the controversy around this commitment. Tony Blair is shown in a
highly deferential pose in front of the “fat cats” of business and commerce
(“fat cats” is the term used pejoratively to describe those who grow wealthy in
the private sector with little effort).
Source: The Observer (24 June 2001).

Third, professional development is being linked nationally and locally to
systems for monitoring and appraising and, despite some strident objections
from teachers’ unions, salary levels.
Teachers are required to undergo an annual performance review, the
outcome of which can lead to additional discretionary pay awards.
Continuing professional development is a key element within the review.
In 2001, £290 million were dedicated to professional development, and a
further £170 million were directed to the teaching of literacy and numeracy,
current government priorities. In addition to the resources devolved to
schools (via a mechanism called The Standards Fund), a range of continuing
professional development initiatives has been introduced, including:
– the setting up of an actual and virtual National Leadership College for
education;
– the establishment of grants for 5,000 teachers a year to participate in a
Teachers International Professional Development Programme;
– the provision of Best Practice Research Scholarships for teachers ;
– the setting up of bursaries of between £500-£700, for teachers to
pursue professional development projects.
The Government has also introduced a Code of Practice that establishes
criteria by which the quality of continuing professional development is to be
guaranteed. All continuing professional development that is making use of
government resources is also to be inspected. Great store is also being set in
regard to the use of the ICTs for professional development. A national Virtual
Teachers College has been established; however, use and take-up by
teachers of this facility as of 2001 was relatively low.
A teacher, therefore, in a maintained school (just over 93 percent of pupils
are taught in maintained, Government-funded schools in England) is
planned to have the following formal continuing professional development
experience through his or her post pre-service career:
– support during the first induction year of training, in line with a
governmental specification of entitlement; 10 percent of the week
should be devoted to continuing professional development, funding
being provided and successful completion being monitored by Head
Teachers and LEAs.
– the possibility, after seven to nine years of teaching, to apply for a
“threshold assessment”. Additional pay is granted if teachers can show
evidence of how they meet eight national threshold standards of
effective teaching.
– the possibility for teachers to apply to become “Advanced Skills
Teachers”, and, when they can demonstrate high levels of classroom
performance, the possibility of additional payment.
– provision of leadership training by the National Leadership College;
compulsory for intending Head Teachers.
82 B. MOON
Most of the continuing professional development support now comes,
internally within the school, through private training organizations or
through Local Education Authorities. Universities play a relatively small role
in this area; however, many teachers, often at their own expense, study for
higher degree qualifications in different aspects of education. Universities,
however, are not precluded from competing in the private sector workings of
the continuing professional development market. The extent to which they do
will be one of the interesting developments of the next few years.
4. SUMMARY POLICY CONCLUSIONS

Changes in teacher education in England demonstrate six major policy
directions that could be used as a basis for comparison with experience
elsewhere. In summary:
i. Universities remain major providers of primary and secondary pre-
service provision. Although strenuous attempts are being made to
diversify provision, the infrastructure of the University sector still
provides the vast majority of qualified teachers. An uneasy relationship
exists between Government and teacher educators in the university
sector. The next few years may see changes if the new routes into
teaching attract very large numbers.
ii. Teacher education is now highly centralized and regulated. Twenty
years ago, the Government had little engagement with pre-service or
continuing professional development events. The reforms of
Conservative and Labour governments have brought decisions sharply
back to London and to ministerial control. This pattern includes
control of all pre-service provision in the universities. How long such
tight control, in what has traditionally been a devolved system, is
sustained, in the coming years, will be interesting to observe.
iii. School-based pre-service and continuing professional development
training is now accepted across the sectors. It is difficult to conceive, in
the foreseeable future, of any move away from the school-based
approach and the linked development of explicit standards and
competencies: easy access to on-line interactive ICTs may deepen this
approach. The significance of mentoring for the pre-service period
might, in that context, extend, as a process, into continuing
professional development.
iv. Teacher recruitment remains a significant national challenge. Whilst
recruitment into primary school teaching is relatively stable, attracting
potential teachers into the secondary sector is an enormous problem.
To what extent this difficulty is a consequence of a strong economy and
contemporary public perceptions of the difficulties of working in
secondary schools, or a reflection of a deeper systemic move away from
teaching as a career, is difficult to discern.
v. Teacher education policies are being tightly tied to national approaches
to improving standards and raising the performance of schools. This
direction follows from the assertion about centralized control. A major
thrust of policy is to establish linkages and mechanisms that ensure
accountability processes among all parts of the system. Whilst easy to
establish at a national policy level, the working out of what is termed
“joined-up thinking” at the local level may be more problematic. The
major reforms described in this study are too recent to permit any
summative judgments.
vi. Competitiveness, market approaches, and the involvement of the private
sector are viewed as contributing to raise the quality of teachers joining
the profession and the professional development targets achieved
throughout a teacher’s career. Pre-service courses are now inspected
and graded, and the results are published in league table format.
Continuing professional development is bought and sold in a market
context from which universities are largely absent. Government sees
the private sector as a way of rejuvenating public services and
education in particular. How successful this way of proceeding will be
(even how success can be judged) and the impact on other established
forms of provision (the universities at pre-service, the LEAs in respect
of continuing professional development) will be a policy question to ask
in the next few years.
REFERENCES
BANKS, F., LEACH, J., and MOON, B. “New Understandings of Teachers’
Pedagogic Knowledge”, in, J. LEACH, and B. MOON, eds. Learners and
Pedagogy. London: Paul Chapman/Sage, 1999.
CENTRAL ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR EDUCATION. Children and Their Primary Schools
(The Plowden Report). London: HMSO, 1967.
DFEE. Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change. London: Department for
Education and Employment, 2000.
DFEE. Learning and Teaching: A Strategy for Professional Development.
London: Department for Education and Employment, 2001.
EDWARDS, T. “The Universities Council for the Education of Teachers:
Defending an Interest or Fighting a Cause”, Journal of Education for
Teaching 20 2 (1994): 143–152.
GRIFFITHS, V., and OWEN, P. Schools in Partnership. London: Paul Chapman,
1995.
HENCKE, D. Colleges in Crisis: The Reorganisation of Teacher Training 1971-
1977. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.
LAVE, J., and WENGER, E. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral
Participation. Cambridge: University Press, 1991.
LAWLOR, Sheila. Teachers Mistaught: Training in Theories or Education in
Subjects. London: Center for Policy Studies, 1990.
MOON, B. “Practical Experience in Teacher Education: Charting a European
Agenda”, European Journal of Teacher Education 19 3 (1996): 217–251.
84 B. MOON
NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY INTO HIGHER EDUCATION. Report (The Robbins
Report). London: HMSO, 1963.
NEATHER, E. J. “Teacher Education and the Role of the University: European
Perspectives”, Education 8 1 (1993): 33–46.
NEAVE, G. The Teaching Nation: Prospects for Teaching in the European
Community. Oxford: Pergamon, 1992.
STONES, E. “Mayday! Mayday?” Editorial, Journal of Education for Teaching 20
2 (1994): 139–141.
WENGER, E. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity.
Cambridge: University Press, 1998.
V. Teacher Education in Finland: Current Models
and New Developments
PERTTI KANSANEN
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Brief Historical Background

Finnish teacher education has two traditional lines of development. The first
and older line concerns the education of teachers for secondary education,
and the second line refers to the education of teachers for elementary
schools. Closely linked to this second line is the education and training of
kindergarten teachers. Today teacher education is a many-faceted field
involving various groups of teachers including those working in day-care
centers, vocational institutions, and adult education.
The landmark in Finnish teacher education was the establishment, in
1852, of the first professorial chair of education at the University of Helsinki.
The Professor of Pedagogy was also expected to lecture on teaching methods
and to advise students on teaching skills. The task of the professor was to
develop teacher education, particularly for secondary school teachers.
Students who were aspiring secondary school teachers (subject teachers)
studied their subjects in subject departments and undertook their practice
teaching in teacher training schools. The Professor of Education was
responsible for supervising this practical part of studies in the training
school. His duties included issues of further teacher training. The role of
teachers in the development of school systems was also considered
important. The position of the Professor of Education was exceptionally close
to teacher education and to schools in general (Iisalo, 1979, pp. 33-38).
Education was an auxiliary subject, and thus its status was different from
that of other subjects. Iisalo emphasizes, however, that it had an immediate
influence on practical matters concerning the role of the Professor, a unique
feature in Europe at that time (Iisalo, 1979, p. 38). Although this
characteristic became less important later on, the strong position of teacher
education has left its mark, and the present situation can perhaps be partly
interpreted in this light.
Earlier, in 1807-1827, a so-called seminarium pedagogicum had been
active at the University. Although short-lived, it was designed for the needs
of teacher education. Naturally, university lectures were held for prospective
teachers, but they were not systematic and depended on the interests of the
lecturers.
86 P. KANSANEN
The first teacher-training college for the education of elementary school
teachers was founded in Jyväskylä in 1863. Its curriculum was designed
according to Swiss and German models, and the influence of Rousseau,
Pestalozzi, and Diesterweg was particularly noticeable. A close contact
between the theory and practice of education was a distinctive feature, and
practical subjects, such as handicrafts, had their place in the curriculum.
Based on the model of the Jyväskylä College, many teacher training
colleges were founded. Following many intermediate stages, a major reform
was brought about by the 1971 Teacher Education Act.
In 1974, teacher education for comprehensive schools and upper senior
high schools was reassigned to the universities. At the same time, faculties
of education were established in every university with departments of
education and departments of teacher education.
The departments of education are older departments, which concentrate
on educational research in general and on the problems of educational
administration and planning. The departments of teacher education are
recent establishments, and their responsibilities cover both teacher
education and research on teaching and teacher education. With the reform
of the entire higher education system in 1979, the degree earned in teacher
education became no different from all other university subject degrees.
Following this reform, all classroom teachers (grades 1 to 6) now complete a
Master’s degree, majoring in education. Subject teachers (grades 7 to 12)
major in their teaching subject. Starting in 1995, kindergarten teachers are
also educated in universities, and graduates are subject to a Bachelor’s
Degree level examination. A unique feature of Finnish teacher education is
that both primary and secondary school teachers must earn a Master’s
Degree and that their academic status is the same.
1.2. Basic Features of the Finnish Education System

The Finnish education system consists of comprehensive schooling (nine
years for the whole age cohort starting at the age of 7), secondary education
(three years of general education in an upper secondary school or two to six
years of vocational education), higher education, and adult education. Elective
pre-school education is offered to 5-to-6-year old children.
Classroom teachers handle the lower level of comprehensive schools,
grades 1 to 6, and are responsible for the whole age group. They teach all
subjects, guiding the whole personal development of their pupils. Subject
teachers teach in the upper levels of comprehensive schools, grades 7 to 9,
or in upper secondary schools, and they usually teach one or two subjects.
More than half of the pupils go on to upper secondary schooling after
completing comprehensive schooling (three years for pupils aged 16 to 18),
which ends with the matriculation examination which is required for
pursuing university studies. Somewhat fewer than 40 percent of pupils
enroll directly into different types and levels of vocational education, some of
which also open paths to university studies. Nevertheless, a large number of
TEACHER EDUCATION IN FINLAND 87
matriculated students pursue vocational education following upper
secondary school (Ministry of Education, 1999.)
1.3. Student Selection for Teacher Education

The work of a teacher has always been popular among young women, even
if less so among young men. The competition is severe, and only some 15
percent of the applicants are accepted. The recruitment situation for
classroom and subject teacher applicants is different in the sense that
those who want to become classroom teachers study education as their
major subject and begin their studies in a teacher education programme.
Prospective subject teachers apply to be admitted to studies in the
respective subject in another faculty and choose teacher education later,
usually after two years.
The selection of classroom teachers takes places in two phases. A number
of semi-finalists equaling some three to four times the number of available
places is selected from among the applicants on the basis of their results on
the matriculation examination and their accumulated school marks.
Additional points can be earned by candidates who are experienced in
working with children. As a rule, the second phase has three different
components, beginning with an examination based on certain textbooks. It
then continues with a task whereby social interaction and communication
skills are observed and then with a personal interview regarding the reasons
why candidates chose to apply to be teachers.
The selection procedure for subject teachers is, in principle, the same as
for classroom teachers. After about two years of study in the university
departments offering their main subjects, students apply for the teacher
education programme in the department of teacher education. They then
participate in given teaching situations and take part in a personal interview.
The students continue their studies in their own departments and at the
same time undertake studies in education, usually for two additional years
(35 credits in education).
The status of the teaching profession in Finland has been quite high, and
teacher education has been a popular study programme in the universities.
During the period when teachers seminaries and colleges were still in
operation, the status of teachers was particularly high. After the transfer of
teacher education to the universities, it retained its popularity among
students. Only in the cases of a few subjects are there constant problems in
enrolling sufficient numbers of students in teacher education programmes.
Mathematics and physics, in particular, are such subjects. Another problem
is the low application rate of men for the teaching profession, almost at all
levels and in all subjects, as compared to the application level of women. The
low teacher salaries seem to be the most common explanation for this
discrepancy.
The high academic level of teacher education also makes it possible for
graduates to apply for other forms of employment in society. Many men
88 P. KANSANEN
teachers do not last very long as school teachers. During a period of market
depression, when there are few alternatives, teachers will resume teaching.
This scenario was characteristic of the early 1990s. When the economic trend
is favourable, schools are in want of teachers. At the beginning of the 2000s,
there seems to be a slight flight from the schools once again. Although a
fairly high number of students are applying for teacher education, the
problem seems to be one of how to keep teachers in the schools in the future.
2. OVERVIEW OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN FINLAND

2.1. General Characteristics
All eight Finnish universities have teacher education programmes mainly for
classroom teachers and for subject teachers, and also, today, for
kindergarten teachers (Tella, 1996). Special education teacher programmes
are concentrated in certain larger universities as are also the programmes
for teachers of educational guidance. Home economics, handicrafts (textile
and technology), and physical education teachers are also offered
programmes in certain universities, whereas music and art teachers have
their own institutes. All comprehensive school teachers must earn a
Master’s degree of 160 credits (four to five years in duration). Kindergarten
teachers are offered a three-year programme of 120 credits in universities.
There is also a Swedish-language university devoted to the needs of the
Swedish-speaking population (about 6 percent) of Finland. It is responsible
for the education of Swedish-speaking school teachers. These schools and
teacher education programmes are organized according to the same
principles governing the Finnish-speaking community. The education of
teachers occupied in vocational and adult education is organized in
universities, vocational teachers colleges, and independent institutes.
The general core of Finnish teacher education is represented by
pedagogical studies worth thirty-five credits, which are required of all
teachers. Kindergarten teachers are the exception to the rule. Thus, the
same pedagogical studies are accepted in all kinds of teaching jobs in the
comprehensive and upper secondary schools, as well as in vocational
institutions and in adult education. If, for example, a subject teacher wishes
to move into a classroom teacher’s position, he or she would have to
complement his or her studies with subjects that were distinct from what he
or she had been teaching at the lower level (grades 1-6), whereas the
teacher’s pedagogical studies would be recognized and would not need to be
repeated. Similarly, if a classroom teacher wished to move to the upper level
(classes 7-9) of a comprehensive school, he or she would have to
complement his or her studies in the very subject that he or she intended to
teach; whereas, his or her pedagogical studies would be recognized for the
new job. With kindergarten teachers, the situation is different, their
requirement being only a Bachelor’s degree (120 credits). A kindergarten
teacher would also have to complement his or her pedagogical studies. In
addition, he or she would have to earn a Master’s degree (160 credits) if he
or she wished to move to a comprehensive school.
2.2. Main Principles

Teacher education is academic and takes place in universities.
The content of knowledge for pedagogy must be sufficiently broad so that
teachers will be able to guide the development of their pupils as extensively
as possible. The main subdiscipline is didactics, both general and subject-
matter related. Educational psychology and educational sociology also play
important roles.
The intention is to link theory and practice in a sufficiently close
relationship that a teacher may be able to resolve everyday teaching
problems on the basis of his or her theoretical knowledge.
Pedagogical studies and content knowledge studies must be brought close
together.
The role of the teacher in the broader societal context is emphasized.
All teachers are qualified for post-graduate studies.
Comprehensive and upper secondary school teachers receive university
education and training at Master’s Degree level comprising 160 credits (four-
and-a-half to five-and-a-half years).
All pedagogical studies for both categories are in every respect organized
by the departments of teacher education within universities and their
faculties of education.
The schools in which a major part of student pedagogical practice is
conducted are linked organically with the departments of education. The
remaining part of student practice is undertaken in regular schools around
the country.
After graduation from a university, students are licensed as teachers and
may apply for teaching positions in schools.
Regarding in-service teacher education, the idea is to support the
individual professional development of the teachers. Principal responsibility
lies with the municipalities which organize courses with state support. A
debate has been going on about possibilities and alternatives for the system
of in-service teacher education.
2.3. The Idea of Research-Based Teacher Education

The basic aim of every teacher education programme is to educate
competent teachers and to develop the necessary professional qualities to
ensure lifelong teaching careers for teachers. Behind this aim is the belief
that initial teacher education is of paramount importance and that any
defects appearing in the programme will have consequences that will be
extremely difficult to correct later on. The need for in-service teacher
education is inevitable, but the basis for professional competence is
imparted during the period of initial teacher education.
90 P. KANSANEN
This idea implies that certain principles must be respected in order to
achieve the aims and goals inherent in the idea. First of all, a teacher
education programme should be elaborated systematically. Thus, it should
have some basic beliefs to guide it and an organizing theme or themes
serving as principles for the selection of the content of the programme
(Galluzo and Pankratz, 1990). In addition to an explicit programme, implicit
thoughts and conditional factors should guide the system and provide space
for the programme within this context (Doyle, 1990, pp. 3-4).
Finnish teacher education aims at achieving a balanced development of
the personality of each teacher, a process in which his or her pedagogical
thinking plays an essential role (Kansanen et al., 2000). This overall purpose
is based on the study of education as a main subject that is composed of
three large content areas: the theory of education, pedagogical content
knowledge, and subject didactics and practice. These components are in
reciprocal interaction, and the main organizing theme, from the beginning of
the programme to the end, is a research-based approach. This approach is
integrated into every separate course within the programme. Systematic
courses on the methods of research are introduced at the very beginning of
studies. The research-based approach culminates in a Master’s thesis, which
every student must write. Classroom teachers write their theses in the field of
education, while subject teachers choose a topic within their respective
majors. In any case, the academic level of teacher education is the same for
all teachers from elementary to upper secondary school.
Zeichner (1983) presented a classification of the possible teacher
education programmes, dividing them into four paradigms: behaviourist,
traditional-craft, personalistic, and enquiry-oriented. The Finnish research-
based approach is fairly similar to the enquiry-oriented paradigm. All the
parts of a teacher education programme must be justified by a systematic
totality and must focus on the thinking processes that a teacher might
characterize as the criteria used in doing research. As Rudduck (1985, p.
288) stated, “Research, [is] a perspective that goes across the curriculum of
teacher education courses....”
Although an all-around understanding of research methods is desirable,
the nature of a teacher’s work is much like the activities of a practitioner-
researcher. Reflection is a way to gain knowledge about one’s own doings and
about the interactions that occur in the teaching-studying-learning process.
Bengtsson (1995) adds dialogue with colleagues and research as other
possibilities. When engaging in reflection, a certain distance is needed in
order to be able to ponder one’s own decisions and their role in practice. In
this process, teachers may utilize their knowledge about research-based
thinking skills that also include the ability to read articles in professional
journals and research reports.
The aim of research-based teacher education is to impart the ability to
make educational decisions based on rational argumentation in addition to
everyday or intuitional argumentation. The skill to think along the lines of
research principles presupposes a general understanding of all-around
research methods, as well as a positive attitude towards research. However,
developing the teacher into a researcher is a much more demanding goal. In
the teacher-as-researcher movement, the teacher conducts research either
independently or in collaboration with a senior researcher. The actual
objective is to write and to publish a report.
Research-based thinking, however, aims at the use of research
competencies in one's own teaching and in making one's own educational
decisions. It is natural that much of the research described in this way
should resemble action research and would be in line with qualitative
research. However, by restricting the process to action research overlooks a
great deal of the work of a teacher. A philosophical approach in conceptual
analyses and requirements needed in evaluation are important requirements
for teaching. The readiness and the skill to read professional journals belong
to the methodical competencies of research-based teaching.
In the development of research-based thinking for everyday teaching, the
principle of the continuous interaction of research studies and practice is
realized as of the very beginning of the programme. The final goal is the
writing of a Master’s thesis at the end of studies, but the writing of several
minor systematic papers is required throughout the period of studies. The
idea of a spiral curriculum is applied, and courses of basic importance are
vertically integrated into the studies. In every phase of studies, courses on
research methods are integrated with other studies.
2.4. The Role of Pedagogical Practice in Research-Based Teacher Education

Hytönen (1995) has outlined some integrative principles by which to
combine the essential elements of a teacher education programme. The
basic idea is to integrate theoretical aspects with practice during studies.
Research-based thinking is viewed as the connecting factor in this process.
The first principle is to begin practice teaching as early as possible.
Although many students may have had teaching experience gained before
they began their teacher education studies, it is important for them to visit
practice schools and to become familiar with the routines and activities of
these institutions.
Secondly, the interaction between practice and studies of educational
theory is emphasized throughout the entire period of studies. The totality of
educational theory, pedagogical content knowledge, and practice form the
ideal goal in this respect. Thus, stated concretely, some practice teaching
takes place during every study year and during every study period as part of
a given teacher education programme.
Every study period has its aims and characteristics. Many practice
periods follow each other, and every period is integrated into the totality of
the teacher education programme. Practice teaching is organized in special
practice schools as well as in regular schools. At the start, the students
observe pupils of different ages, their roles as group members, and their ways
of interacting in the instruction process in different classes and grades.
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Gradually, the content of practice teaching is extended to different subject
matters, teaching methods, and to all aspects of teaching. The ultimate goal
of the teacher education programme is to develop an autonomous teacher
personality. All the practice periods are planned in order to realize this goal.
Practice teaching proceeds from small units to larger combinations. The
special characteristics of different practice teaching periods are taken into
consideration. The requirements of class teachers and subject teachers vary
in several important ways. Class teachers have many different subjects to
deal with, and the total development of each student is of special importance
to them. Subject teachers are stronger in content knowledge competence, but
their students will need special attention as detrmined by the age groups to
which they belong. The larger perspectives of a teacher’s work, in the form of
co-operation with the parents and family of his or her pupils, are of
importance. Also, the co-operation of all teacher educators is essential.
Every teaching practice period is combined with detailed theoretical
studies that relate to its topic. The aim is for student-teachers to obtain
increasing knowledge by which to support their teaching practice. Thus, they
will read relevant texts and discuss the subjects with each other and with
their instructors.
Practice teaching in university practice schools and in the normal
community schools is organized in sequences. The university practice
schools also function as normal comprehensive schools, following the same
curriculum as in other schools. However, special competency requirements
are expected of the teachers who are expected to be experienced supervisors.
The field schools represent the everyday practice of schools in general.
The main principle of the programme is the integration of the various
aspects of the teacher education programme through research-based
thinking and argumentation. However, this principle as such is not
sufficient. How research is defined and what is meant by a research-based
approach are also essential. An extensive and liberal interpretation of
research is applied.
3. THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS

Comprehensive school teachers for the lower stage (grades 1 to 6) receive
nearly all of their education and training in university departments of
teacher education. The main subject for classroom teachers is education,
which, altogether, consists of about seventy-five credits. The rest of the
programme consists of studies in the different subjects to be taught in
primary schools and their respective didactic studies (thirty-five credits),
specialization in one or two of the primary school subjects (thirty to thirty-
five credits), and finally, general studies, studies in languages, and optional
studies.
The degree structure of the classroom teacher education programme may
be outlined as follows:
Table 1. Degree structure of the classroom teacher education programme
Educational studies (main subject) 75 credits

(Teacher’s pedagogical studies 35 credits
Subject didactic studies 35 credits
Minor subject studies 35 credits
Language and communication studies 12 credits
Optional studies 3 credits
TOTAL = Master’s degree 160 credits
3.1. Educational Studies

The main subject, as stated above, for aspiring classroom teachers is
education – the systematic study of education with an emphasis on teaching,
research, and didactics. The relationship of theory and practice is essential at
all levels. The curriculum is thought of as a spiral with the constant
interaction of theoretical and practical aspects, assisted by the knowledge of
research methods and content.
This basic structure of teacher education in the Finnish universities is the
same in all of them even though local adaptations may lead to some diversity.
The credit points presented below are averages, and the examples are taken
mainly from the University of Helsinki. Every department of teacher
education has its strong points and characteristics.
The examinations, however, have the same status. In Finnish academic
course programmes, each field of study or discipline consists of three
hierarchical levels: general studies, fifteen credits (approbatur), subject-
related studies, thirty-five credits (cum laude approbatur), and advanced
studies, fifty-five credits (laudatur). General studies in the field of education
deal with an introduction to the development of educational ideas, with their
philosophical, historical, and societal aspects, and with an introduction to
the methodology of research, both through quantitative and qualitative
approaches. The basis of research-based thinking is imparted through
general studies of education. At this level, courses in the philosophy of
education, educational psychology, the sociology of education, and
foundations of the instructional process (didactics) are central courses.
Courses in information and communication technology are also included.
3.2. Basic Studies in Education

The main courses consist of lectures, small group discussions, and
recommended speciality literature. At the end of each course, an examination
helps to evaluate the results. The overall aims and contents deal with the
historical development of educational and school activities. Theoretical and
conceptual analyses are emphasized, and in small group discussions, some
classic literature in the field is studied in order to gain a deeper
understanding of the subject matter. Students are also expected to learn
about the history of psychological thought and to evaluate the meaning of
different models and schools. The central themes at this level are action
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social control, the formation of a personal outlook, and the meaning of the
teaching-studying-learning process and its controlling factors. Educational
policy-making and social factors form the larger societal and curricular
boundaries linked to institutional schooling.
In the field of pedagogy, students become acquainted with the basic issues
of the planning of teaching. Classroom-oriented small-scale research is
conducted, and certain practical observation exercises are undertaken in
practice schools. Basic didactic concepts, the evaluation of didactic research
and its application, and basic forms of educational practices are reproduced.
In group discussions, the formulation of teaching objectives and their
operation, as well as basic teaching procedures, are central topics. Reflection
is concentrated on the totality of the instructional process including all the
factors influencing this totality.
3.3. Intermediate Studies in Education

At this level, students acquire a deeper understanding of didactics. The
central courses concentrate on the theoretical aspects of teaching,
professional development, evaluation of teaching, and the psychological
assessment of pupils. The module that follows consists of further studies of
research methods with a course of advanced statistics as well as of
qualitative and quantitative research methods. These courses are linked to
courses in pedagogy and, particularly, with practice and with different styles
of student teaching.
Classroom teachers are responsible for early childhood education.
Therefore, the teaching of reading and writing is an important part of their
study programmes. Special education and pupil counseling courses are also
integrated into the programme.
Proseminar work, in which the theoretical and practical aspects of the
programme are brought together, forms an integrated part of the
intermediate studies of education. The students, either individually or in
pairs, prepare a project and outline a research plan. The aim is to develop
and practice research skills in order to acquire personal knowledge of the
teaching-studying-learning process and to use it in their own practice.
Students present their research plans in seminars, discuss them together,
criticize, and evaluate plan relevance. The plan is achieved, and a written
report is presented in the seminar. The students also learn about information
and communications technology in practical teaching and in research work.
Proseminar work is closely linked to student practice and teaching.
Students visit the university training school at the very start of their studies
and gradually become acquainted with the pupils and teaching activities at
the lower level of the comprehensive school. During their intermediate
studies, students take part in what is called an orientation practice
internship. They work alone or in pairs in normal schools or in field schools
for about two weeks. They observe teaching as co-teachers and practice
teaching themselves. They become acquainted with the contents of the local
curriculum and the assessment methods used in the schools in which they
work. As a reflective tool, they assemble a portfolio. Students are asked to
formulate aims to be followed during their practice periods and to record
their experiences in order to analyze the results. An important part of the
portfolio writing is material on the psychological assessment of pupils. Ideas
and insights are also presented. A written summary of this orientation phase
of the practice period is also required. The material thus generated may be
utilized in research projects in the department.
The different parts of intermediate studies are also integrated through a
book examination. Each student reads three to four speciality books and
answers questions asked by a supervisor who assesses the answers. The
reading of certain major specialized books helps students obtain a deeper
theoretical insight into what they have previously learned.
3.4. Advanced Studies in Education

Advanced studies in education consist of three parts: a study project, an
examination on advanced specialist literature, and practice studies. Although
the intermediate and advanced studies are separated so as to appear in
clearly different parts of the study programme, quite a few of the two levels of
studies may be parallel and take place during the same periods.
The study project is meant to deepen and to integrate the practical and
theoretical aspects of the programme. Students should become thoroughly
acquainted with an issue of their own selection which is central to teaching
activities. The project work is undertaken in two seminars. During the first
seminar, the issues of the study are presented, the theoretical background,
identified, and the bibliographic search, completed. Each participant
presents a paper with a research plan outlining his or her problems and data
collection methods. The papers are discussed in the seminars. During the
second seminar, each student is expected to present some of the preliminary
findings of his or her research. The presentations are again discussed, and
the use of computer programmes and the preparation of the paper are
important activities. At this stage, the students have already collected their
data. Each student is able to present a version of his or her final report. The
seminar groups are supervised by professors of education or by PhD-degree
lecturers. As a rule, a group assistant is also present to help with practical
matters, such as the formulation of a questionnaire and of interview
questions, the undertaking of data processing for computer analysis, the
writing of the final paper, etc.
The study project calls for the writing of an independent scientific report
(about 80 to 120 pages long) – a Master’s Degree thesis. A maturity essay on
a topic concerning the thesis research follows the reports. The appropriate
thesis and the essay are graded according to a seven-point scale.
The Master’s thesis is written individually; however, data collection, the
literature search, data analyses, etc., may be carried out in pairs or in
groups. Students also select their themes freely, according to their respective
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interests. Most of the topics deal with school problems, pupil learning,
teacher’s work, school-based curriculum planning, etc. Some students can
join research projects being developed by their departments. Most students
choose a personal theme and proceed independently in close contact with
their supervisors. If possible, the theme of one's own research is chosen from
personal experiences in practice teaching. Having written an acceptable
Master’s Degree thesis, passed an examination, and accumulated 160
credits, a student will have reached the skill level needed for him or her to
enroll in doctoral studies in education.
The courses on advanced research methods are closely linked to project
work. The advanced knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative methods
is studied. Emphasis has been increasingly placed on the qualitative side,
and most of the students apply various qualitative techniques in their project
work. Qualitative content analysis, grounded theory, phenomenographic
techniques, case studies, and action research have become popular with the
constructive turn in the field. Quantitative methods with factor analysis,
regression analysis, and other multivariates are still employed by some
students. Research for a Master’s Degree thesis includes knowledge of
information and communications technology equipment.
For the advanced literature examination, students must study four books
of current interest. These may be selected from a long list, most of the books
listed thereon being well-known internationally. Participation in courses
offered by professors in the department during the semester may be
substituted for two of the books.
3.5. Practice Studies

Practice usually consists of successive internships from the beginning to the
advanced study levels. Although the organization of practice studies is
predominantly the same in different universities, such studies may be
applied and adapted to use according to local conditions. Following
introductory practice at the beginning of studies, there is, first, basic
practice, then field school practice, and, finally, teaching practice. Distant
teaching periods are also an alternative way to complete certain parts of the
practice periods. Its more extensive use may, however, become common in
the near future. The structure of teaching practice studies may vary
considerably from university to university, up to fifteen credits on average.
During basic practice, students become acquainted with the teaching of
different subjects, the basic forms of teaching, and of the evaluation of
teaching and learning. Students plan, teach, and evaluate lessons in different
subjects. The basic practice is completed in the university training school,
and the supervising class teachers are also responsible for portfolio work. A
compiled portfolio may also contain teaching material that a given student
may have produced along with his or her account of practice and his or her
own work evaluation. On the whole, the portfolio concentrates on an analysis
of the teaching of various subjects. Students also observe the teaching of
their classmates and convey their assessments in their portfolios. The
practice period includes much discussion about student teaching and the
student portfolios. All practice studies are integrated with other studies, and
basic practice teaching relates mainly to didactics and to courses in subject
didactics.
The field school practice teaching and the final practice teaching are study
periods that may be combined when the students are widening their views
regarding teaching as a profession and different ways of working as a
teacher. The aim is for the students to seek their own ways of working as
classroom teachers. They work together with their supervising teachers and
with increasing responsibility in the same class, over a relatively long period.
This practice internship is often combined with field trips to particular
educational institutions. Students also become acquainted with the issues of
special education. During these final practice periods, they are expected to
employ research-based thinking skills and to identify possible themes for
their respective theses if they do not continue their Proseminar work. The
whole study project is linked to these practice studies.
3.6. Subject Didactics Studies

Subject didactic studies include multidisciplinary studies in the subjects
taught at the comprehensive school level. These studies make up thirty-five
credits. The intended goal is for the students to acquire sufficient skills in the
given subjects and the related basic didactic skills so as to be able to work as
classroom teachers. Studies of the mother tongue (Finnish) and of
mathematics are compulsory for all students. Skills and art subjects (arts,
crafts including textile crafts and technical work, music, and physical
education) are grouped into compulsory and optional courses. The so-called
introductory subjects (history, natural sciences, biology, geography, religion,
and ethics) are also divided into compulsory and optional sections. The
emphasis in subject didactics studies is placed on learning to teach the
subject. In principle, classroom teachers must be able to teach all the
subjects that are included in the comprehensive school curriculum. This
requirement still holds in small schools, particularly in the countryside. In
larger schools, the teachers may specialize in a few subjects and thus exploit
their strengths. Subject didactic studies are partly organized in departments
of teacher education, and partly in the subject departments in other
faculties.
3.7. Minor Subject Studies

There are two ways to study the minor subjects. Students can either choose
two subjects or modules, each one of fifteen credits, or one thirty-five-credit
module. In addition to the traditional subjects, some compilations or
integrated subject modules are available, e.g., early years education, the arts,
the didactics of physical education, music, crafts, as well as information and
media education, etc.
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3.8. Language and Communication Studies
Language and communication studies are basically divided into courses in
the mother tongue and in foreign languages. Mother tongue courses include
verbal communication, Finnish speech and culture, classroom
communication, and didactics of speech education. Written communication
courses concern the acquisition of the skills needed to produce academic
reports.
The goal of the foreign language studies is to impart to students the
capacity to read foreign literature. Many textbooks are in English as are most
of the scientific articles in the international journals that are needed for doing
research, especially in undertaking the study project. Students may also
choose to read and study German. Most students, today, however, prefer
English. The study of French and Spanish is also possible.
A special topic is the study of the second national language, Swedish. For
Swedish-speaking students, this language is obviously Finnish. The second
national language is a compulsory subject in the comprehensive school
curriculum. In real life, the second national language is actually a foreign
language, for nearly all students, despite the fact that it has a formal status
in Finnish society.
3.9. Optional Studies

The programme includes some optional studies (worth about five credits).
The student may choose courses from other departments of the faculty of
education or from programmes in the other faculties. Although the degree
requires 160 credits, it is quite common for students to accumulate
additional ones according to their own interests. These extra courses may be
included on the teacher’s certificate as additional studies.
3.10. Concluding Remarks Regarding the Education and Training of Classroom

Teachers
The award of a Master’s degree with 160 credits in the classroom teacher
education programme certifies the holder as being qualified to work as a
teacher in the Finnish school system. The common core of a teacher’s
pedagogical studies is included in the educational studies that the certificate
holders have completed. Moreover, the Nordic countries have established a
mutual convention whereby teacher education examinations are valid in all
the Nordic countries, with some minor additional required studies that vary
according to national and local circumstances. All classroom teachers may
also continue their studies in the doctoral studies programmes offered by
their faculties.
4. THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF SUBJECT TEACHERS

Subject teachers are responsible for grades 7-9 (pupils aged 12 to 15) in
comprehensive schools and for grade 10-12 (pupils aged 16 to 18) in upper
secondary school. The programme consists of four to five study years in the
main subject and, usually, the study of one or two other subjects. During the
second year of university studies, students decide whether or not to pursue a
teaching career. Those who choose to become teachers begin their studies in
education, usually, during their third year of university studies. Those
students who decide to become teachers after having completed their
Master’s degrees pursue a second line of studies. Teacher’s pedagogical
studies may also be taken as additional studies in the department of teacher
education.
The level of studies in teacher education is thus similar in both categories,
leading to a Master’s degree, but the main subject varies. For a classroom
teacher, it is mostly education. It might also be educational psychology. For
subject teachers, the main subject studied is the subject to be taught. For
this subject, advanced studies (at least fifty-five credits) are required. In
addition, thirty-five credits are required in another school subject. Many
students also prepare a third subject for examination. The structure of the
examination for a subject will vary depending upon the type of teaching post
for which the given student is competing.
A subject teacher’s pedagogical studies include thirty-five credits in
education that run in parallel to their subject studies (e.g., mathematics and
chemistry, history, etc.). Generally, the department of teacher education
organizes courses in pedagogical studies in collaboration with the
departments offering instruction in the various subjects in other faculties.
There are, however, some exceptions. Teacher education for home economics,
textile and technological crafts, special education, educational guidance, and,
to some extent, for music is also organized in the faculties of education. In
this way, the examination after the accumulation of 160 credits is taken in
the subject faculty. Teacher education for music, arts, and physical
education usually takes place in separate departments or institutes.
The structure of pedagogical studies for subject teachers varies among
different universities, as each one may have its own profile and local ways of
doing things. At the University of Helsinki, the degree structure is as follows:
Table 2. The degree structure for subject teachers at the University of Helsinki
Introductory studies to teaching 2 credits
Philosophical and historical bases of teaching and learning 9 credits
Theoretical and practical basis of subject didactics 15 credits
Research methodology and research on subject didactics 7 credits
Social basis of education 2 credits
TOTAL = A subject teacher’s pedagogical studies 35 credits
4.1. Introductory Studies to Teaching

Introductory studies to teaching are divided into two parts: an introduction to
general didactics and an introduction to subject didactics. Both sets of
courses consist of lessons, group work, discussions, and recommended
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speciality literature. The studies in subject didactics are organized according
to the subjects that the students are studying. For studies in subject
didactics, the departments of teacher education employ professors of
research in subject didactics. However, not each and every school subject is
represented. Related subjects are usually combined. The University of
Helsinki employees a research professor in the didactics of the mother
tongue, mathematics (mathematics, physics, chemistry, and information
technology), foreign languages, biology and geography, social studies, and
religion and ethics. The didactics of home economics and textile crafts are
taught by another research professor in the respective subject didactics. The
second group of subjects is linked to the neighbouring department in the
same faculty. In addition to professors, several lecturers are responsible for
subject didactics. Expertise in subject didactics may also be found in the
respective subject departments.
4.2. Courses in the Philosophical and Historical Bases of Teaching and

Learning
These courses belong to basic studies in education. They are offered to all
students in the education faculties. The main topics covered are the
psychological and social foundations of education, the basics of special
education, the philosophical and historical foundations of education,
interaction skills, and the didactics of adult education. Because of the great
number of students participating in these studies, many courses may be
taken by attending lectures or by reading the compulsory literature. Courses
on interaction skills and adult education are, however, structured for small
groups and include exercises and discussions.
4.3. Theoretical and Practical Bases of Subject Didactics

This module consists of studies in subject didactics, portfolio work, and
practice. Questions of the curriculum planning for a subject the students are
going to teach in a school, international trends in the development of the
didactics of a special subject, and the position of the subject and its relation
to other subjects are central topics in these studies. Through portfolio work,
students learn how to reflect on their own development and progress through
the programme. Setting aims and goals for studies and evaluating
achievement are expected to help student teachers in the future planning of
studies. The lecturers and the teachers in the university training school
supervise the portfolio work that is also graded at the completion of the
course.
Practice studies (about 12 credits) concentrate on student teaching and
include courses on the planning and the evaluation of teaching. Practice is
divided into basic practice and advanced practice. In the basic practice part,
students become equally acquainted with teaching in training schools and in
field schools. They follow life in these schools and gradually participate in
their activities. In addition to participation in lessons, student teaching plays
an important role in all professional duties linked to it. Special attention is
paid to evaluation skills and reflection. Reflection on teaching is emphasized,
the idea being that student teachers be able to link the various study periods
to their professional practice. The role of supervision is central, and the
responsibilities in this domain become gradually more extensive so as to
include all possible aspects of a teacher’s work. During the advanced practice
stage, the student teacher becomes increasingly independent, and the
discussions with supervisors are expected to become deep and detailed. Both
the university training schools and certain field schools participate in
practice teaching studies.
4.4. Research Methodology and Research on Subject Didactics

Most students will have already been introduced to research methods in their
own subject studies. There they will have learned and will also have applied,
to some degree, several of the methods used in doing research in their
subjects. Student teachers in the natural sciences will have knowledge about
quantitative methods. The same will be true of students in other subjects
according to their subject studies. For this reason, students will be able to
choose those methods courses that they need in order to obtain an all-
around understanding of educational research. The empirical qualitative
methods, in particular, are not well known among the subject student
teachers. In addition, such methods as qualitative content analyses with
various variations, and such research procedures as case studies and action
research, triangulation, and philosophical background building are central in
enabling student teachers to become good researchers in respective fields. In
practice, the students must write their proseminar theses in a completely
different way from that in which they write their Master’s theses in their
main subjects.
Research on subject didactics is conducted in proseminar groups. These
groups are organized according to the principal subjects of students. Over a
period of two semesters, students work in groups, present their research
plans, assess the plans of other students, participate in seminar discussions,
have discussions with their research supervisors, and, finally, present a
paper on a chosen problem. Most of the proseminar theses are empirical by
nature and are undertaken with certain qualitative research methods. The
supervisors are mostly professors of research on subject didactics.
The goal of research-based teacher education for future subject teachers
is to impart reflective teaching which will help the new teachers solve
problems with which they may be faced in practice, through autonomous
thinking and logical argumentation. The reading of professional journals and
of research reports of current interest is recommended. The conducting of
professional research is not within the reach of most teachers, but the use of
research-based argumentation in everyday practice is.
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4.5. Concluding Remarks Regarding the Education and Training of Subject
Teachers
As a rule, a subject teacher’s degree corresponds to 180 credits, given that
most subject teachers must specialize in two or sometimes a large number of
subjects. The number depends on the types of teaching positions they
envision taking up in schools. After completing the subject teacher’s
education and training programme, they may further their education by
enrolling in advanced studies in education – by pursuing a doctoral degree in
education (PhD) in particular.
5. THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS

After the kindergarten teacher studies programme was transferred to the
universities in 1995, it consisted of an earned Bachelor’s degree of 120
credits. The study programme is planned in close liaison with classroom
teacher studies, and many basic courses are the same. The result, in
practice, is that the intermediate studies in education with an emphasis on
early education (35 credits) make it possible for kindergarten teachers to
continue their studies for a Master’s degree in education as the main subject.
A module that is parallel to general educational studies is that of multi-field
early education studies (35 credits). During practice, students are also
engaged in proseminar work, particularly the writing of a thesis. The general
structure of studies for kindergarten teachers may be presented as follows:
Table 3. General structure of a kindergarten teacher studies programme
Educational studies, emphasis on early education 35 credits

Multi-field early education studies 35 credits
Psychological, societal, and practice studies 27 credits
Minor subject studies 15 credits
Language and communication studies 8 credits
TOTAL = Bachelor’s Degree 120 credits
After completing their studies, kindergarten teachers may continue

studying for a Master’s degree. Advanced studies in education would then be
required with a specialization in early education. By enrolling in advanced
studies in education, kindergarten teachers may continue in doctoral (PhD)
studies. If they wish to work as classroom teachers, kindergarten teachers
must complement their pedagogical studies for kindergarten teachers with
pedagogical studies for classroom teachers.
6. SOME REMARKS ABOUT TEACHER TRAINING FOR VOCATIONAL AND

ADULT EDUCATION
The education and training of vocational teachers is organized in vocational
teacher education colleges, which are linked to polytechnic institutions.
Study programmes vary by field; however, the common core is the study of
pedagogy. If vocational teachers want to work as classroom teachers or
subject teachers in a comprehensive school, they must complete their subject
studies. Their pedagogical studies are recognized.
The instruction of adult education teachers generally takes place within
various subject teacher education programmes. The teacher’s pedagogical
studies are, nevertheless, at the core of the competencies to be gained. Those
who intend to teach in an adult education institute may take up pedagogical
studies in their faculty years in a subject teacher programme. In the field of
education, there are many special and local possibilities for vocational and
adult education teachers, according to prior education and the work
experience of candidates.
7. IN-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

Many kinds of in-service teacher education are offered by universities and
various institutes in the field. Teachers’ trade unions as well as many subject
teachers’ associations regularly organize such courses. Systematic in-service
teacher education, however, does not exist. Teachers in comprehensive and
upper secondary schools have some yearly mandatory in-service training
days, but no long-term courses available for all teachers exist. Traditionally,
teachers have been eager to participate, on a volunteer basis, in courses
offered by summer universities and the Open University. Regular in-service
teacher education in the Finnish teacher education system is badly needed.
The offerings for in-service teacher education in continuing education
institutes is rich, and there are many participants in the courses; the
problem, however, is that only a small part of the teaching staff can
participate in them. A special examination called the Professional
Development (PD) Examination (40 credits) has also been available for quite
some time. It is designed for teachers wishing to heighten their professional
competencies. It has not succeeded in becoming officially established, and its
status has remained vague.
In-service teacher education has to be planned in the near future. Finding
the funds for it is a dilemma. On the other hand, some universities have been
offering study programmes designed for school principals, and the future of
these programmes seems promising.
Life long learning is an everyday practice in any teacher’s work. The
majority of Finnish teachers have been freely studying and developing their
professional skills, being highly motivated to do so. The selection of courses
has taken place according to market principles, a reality that does have its
negative side. The need for in-service teacher training is a major problem for
the local authorities. A solution, perhaps at national level, is required.
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8. CONCLUSIONS
8.1. Current Trends in Finnish Teacher Education
THE NEED FOR INCREASED TEACHER MOBILITY

There is an obvious interest in increasing the mobility of teachers within the
school system. The idea is that, if studies in education are identical, at least
with respect to the amount of credits, then teachers should be able to move
within the system as a function of their insights into the subject matter
taught. Pedagogical studies are organized according to this principle.
Classroom teachers, subject teachers, most vocational teachers, and adult
education teachers have a common core in their course programme. The
number of credits is the same (thirty-five). The content of every programme
may, however, vary according to the age of the pupils and the subject base.
Such a flexible system guarantees mobility from one teacher’s position to
another.
Although pedagogical studies for teachers are common, they are not
sufficient. Expertise in the subject taught is also required. Moving from one
position to another is, on the other hand, much easier than before since
pedagogical studies are always recognized.
EXTENDED TEACHER COMPETENCIES

Changing positions within a comprehensive school has been easier than it
was in the past. Generally speaking, classroom teachers teach all subjects in
grades 1 to 6; subject teachers teach in grades 7 to 9. If classroom teachers
want to teach higher level classes, they can become competent in a subject
by enrolling in intermediate studies (cum laude approbatur) in the subject
(thirty-five credits). Classroom teachers may keep their teaching positions
but also pursue further studies in the very subjects in which they have
acquired extended competencies. A classroom teacher may, for instance,
have pursued intermediate studies in mathematics. It is then possible for
him or her to hold a classroom teacher’s position while taking additional
courses in higher mathematics. The salary earned will be correspondingly
higher. In practice, this kind of extended competency is easily realizable
because during minor studies, a student teacher may choose only one
subject and thus take the intermediate studies in it.
Changing positions is also possible for subject teachers. Specific subject
studies in the classroom teacher programme include pedagogical studies
(thirty-five credits). These multidisciplinary studies are needed for a position
in the lower stage. The problem is that these studies are not financially
affordable during the normal course of studies. They become affordable in
the institutes of continuing education when special funding is provided.
However, their being made available is uncommon, the expenses involved
being high. The situation is also different in practice. If the subject teachers
want to change positions, they must move entirely to the lower stage and
assume a position as a classroom teacher. It is still possible for them to teach
certain classes at the upper level, if they wish to do so. If subject teachers
only want to teach some subjects in the lower stage without taking a position
as a full-time classroom teacher, it is always possible to do so, especially in
grades 5 to 6, if the opportunity arises.
DOCTORAL STUDIES FOR TEACHERS

Finnish teachers who are holders of a Master’s degree have the right to
further their studies and to take a PhD examination. Those who wish to
continue their studies in education can do so in the faculties of education,
either at the department of teacher education or at the department of
education. Doctoral studies consist of 160 credits; 20 credits for the main
subject and 20 credits for a minor subject. These additional studies must be
at advanced level. The remainder of the credits are earned by writing a
doctoral dissertation.
A personal study programme is designed. The programme will take about
four to five years to complete, depending on the concentration of studies.
Funding is a problem, for doctoral student positions are few and
scholarships may be difficult to obtain. There are, nevertheless, many
applicants every semester. The possible educational fields are general
education, educational psychology, special education, and adult education.
Recently, specialization in themes on early education or in certain subject
didactics have become possible.
For classroom teachers, doctoral studies in education are easy to begin,
for the candidates will already hold a Master’s Degree in education and will
thus be continuing in the field. A problem may arise from a need for funding.
However, it is possible for such teachers to study while teaching.
In the case of subject teachers, the situation is different. If they want to
continue their studies in education, they must complete their education
studies at the advanced level (about 20 credits). After completion, they need
to change their main subject to an education subject and thus be eligible to
write their dissertations in education. Minor studies, in any case, have
already been completed as part of the Master’s Degree programmes. The
earlier main subject becomes the minor in doctoral studies.
The numbers of doctoral students have been reasonable, and every
university has a doctoral studies programme of its own, a graduate school at
faculty level. At national level, graduate schools exist that are funded by the
Finnish Academy. The field of education has a graduate school of its own.
Several thematic divisions are represented.
DECENTRALIZATION OF PLANNING – CENTRALIZATION OF EVALUATION

The trend in curricular development has been towards decentralization. The
last move in this respect in Finland was the introduction of school-developed
curricula. Thus, the National Board of Education only sets the framework of
the curriculum, leaving room for communities and individual schools to
make their own choices. Today, practically every school has developed its
106 P. KANSANEN
own curriculum with its special alternatives and distinctive features. Upper
secondary schools, in particular, have taken advantage of this practice and
have tried to build appealing programme profiles in order to attract good-
quality pupils. So far, the comprehensive schools have not followed this
trend; however, even here some profiling occurs.
At first sight, it might appear that individual schools would receive even
more opportunities to act on their own, as compared to the earlier situation
when curricula were identical at community level. But a negative side has
appeared. Decentralization is occurring simultaneously with the centralization
of evaluation. At the moment, national evaluation systems are being
developed for different subjects and types of schools. The evaluation of
student results is an effective tool for the controlling and steering of
education in schools, one that is probably more effective than curriculum
planning. To steer towards goals is possible, but to steer with goals is
difficult. Thus, it will be difficult to increase the opportunities for teachers to
act within the school-developed curricula, if evaluation is to be nationally
developed.
Furthermore, when school-developed curricula are introduced, they will
most likely limit the degree of freedom of the individual teacher, as compared
with the situation of the national curriculum. The school will become the
operational unit, while earlier, this role was that of the teacher. It is to be
feared that the role of teachers will diminish if the school becomes the unit
responsible for teaching.
Writing the curriculum for their own schools is, nevertheless, a challenge
for the teachers concerned. In principle, however, teachers have always done
this kind of work. Planning one’s own teaching is ostensibly one of the basic
skills of a teacher. School-based curriculum planning also requires external
co-operation on the part of parents and pupils. Along with independent and
autonomous decision-making, other teachers in the school become close
partners, and collaboration becomes an everyday practice. Curriculum
planning, a long process, gradually becomes continuous. This kind of work
may also be considered a kind of in-service teacher education. When
teachers act as partners, the adoption of new working principles and
methods becomes more feasible than before. Peer review/coaching may be
combined with curriculum planning, and the process of curriculum planning
becomes a process of school development.
8.2. International Assessment of Finnish Teacher Education

In the 1990s, the Ministry of Education of Finland conducted two large
teacher education evaluation projects with international experts (Buchberger
et al., 1994; Jussila and Saari, 2000). In addition, various evaluation projects
were conducted in various subfields of teacher education. The results were
not unexpected, and the ensuing recommendations soon led to various
reforms. Some of the problems seem to be long lasting and depend for their
solutions on the solution of more general problems in society as a whole.
In general, more co-operation is suggested. First, more contacts are
required within the faculty of education and among the departments in the
faculty. A greater part of both the classroom teacher education programme
and the subject teacher education programme may be organized jointly. A
practical problem is the large numbers of students that can easily lead to
unsatisfactory arrangements. This kind of co-operation, however, is
becoming increasingly common. Second, closer co-operation is needed
among the faculties of education and the subject departments. This need has
frequently been the object of attention. Lack of co-operation has been caused
by unresolved practical problems, competition for resources, and differences
of opinion regarding the status of one’s own discipline (cf. Jussila and Saari,
2000, p. 23). Recommendations have been made to establish and strengthen
co-operative bodies. In the area of research, co-operation could be increased
in the field of project studies, and subject teachers might also choose subject
didactics themes for their Masters’ theses, while professors on both sides
could act as supervisors in such projects. The selection of students for
teacher education studies has also been the object of experimentation that
has had promising results.
Extensive teacher education is an idea for reform that has made
successful progress. Opportunities to choose among various posts in
comprehensive schools are already at work. The same might be said about
the relations between secondary education and adult education.
Finnish schools are becoming increasingly multicultural. In addition to
the national minorities of Swedish-speaking people and the Sami (Lapp)
population, there are increasing numbers of immigrants. Consequently,
multicultural aspects of education should be emphasized in theory and
practice. Understanding different cultures is an everyday requirement in
Finnish schools.
8.3. Information Technology and Media Education

All students are expected to have acquired basic skills in information
technology when starting their university studies. They are expected to be
competent in word processing and e-mail programmes. In practice, every
student is given an e-mail address and a great deal of information.
Discussions regarding the teacher education programme take place by e-
mail. The teaching of information technology applications in the instructional
process is integrated into practically all courses. The courses on research
methods, in particular, concentrate on the application of various analytical
programmes.
In some universities, students may also choose the didactics of
information technology as their minor subject (fifteen credits). In all courses
and at all levels, information technology and its didactics are closely linked to
research. Distance education plays an important role in these activities, and
both ordinary teaching and teacher education take place with the help of
108 P. KANSANEN
distance education (Meisalo, 1996). Most likely, in the near future, the role
and importance of distance education will increase.
REFERENCES
BENGTSSON, J. “What Is Reflection? On Reflection in the Teaching Profession
and Teacher Education”, Teachers and Teaching 1 1 (1995): 23-32.
BUCHBERGER, F., DE CORTE, E., GROOMBRIDGE, B., and KENNEDY, M.
Educational Studies and Teacher Education in Finnish Universities 1994: A
Commentary by an International Review Team. Helsinki: Ministry of
Education, Division of Educational Policy, 1994.
DOYLE, W. “Themes in Teacher Education Research”, in, W. R. HOUSTON, M.
HABERMAN, and J. SIKULA, eds., Handbook of Research on Teacher
Education. New York: Macmillan, 1990, pp. 3-24.
GALLUZO, G.R., and PANCRATZ, R.S. “Five Attributes of a Teacher Education
Programme Knowledge Base”, Journal of Teacher Education 41 4 (1990): 7-
14.
HYTÖNEN, J. “The Role of School Practice in Teacher Education”, in, P.
KANSANEN, ed. Discussions on Some Educational Issues. Vol. 6
(ED394958). Research Report 145. Helsinki: Department of Teacher
Education, University of Helsinki, 1995, pp. 77-83.
IISALO, T. The Science of Education in Finland: 1828-1918. Helsinki: Societas
Scientiarum Fennica, 1979.
JUSSILA, J., and SAARI, S., eds. Teacher Education as a Future-Moulding
Factor: International Evaluation of Teacher Education in Finnish
Universities. Publications of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation
Council 9. Helsinki: Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council, 2000
<http://www.minedu.fi/minedu/education/finheec/finheec.html>.
KANSANEN, P., TIRRI, K., MERI, M., KROKFORS, L., HUSU, J., and JYRHÄMÄ, R.
Teachers’ Pedagogical Thinking: Theoretical Landscapes, Practical
Challenges. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.
MEISALO, V., ed. The Integration of Remote Classrooms: A Distance Education
Project Using Video Conferencing. Research Report 160. Helsinki:
Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, 1996.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. Education in Finland. Helsinki: Ministry of Education,
1999.
RUDDUCK, J. “Teacher Research and Research-Based Teacher Education”,
Journal of Education for Teaching 11 3 (1985): 281-289.
TELLA, S.,ed. “Teacher Education in Finland: Present and Future Trends and
Challenges”, Studia Pedagogica 11 (1996).
ZEICHNER, K. M. “Alternative Paradigms of Teacher Education”, Journal of
Teacher Education 34 3 (1983): 3-9.
VI. Teacher Education in France: Evolution or
Revolution?1
MICHÈLE DEANE
1. INTRODUCTION
Initial teacher-training in France started to develop at the end of the
Eighteenth Century. It evolved progressively along two main strands, one for
primary school teachers and one for secondary school teachers, until 1989,
when the Loi d’Orientation2 brought major changes to French education.
Aiming to adapt the education system to changes in French society, the new
law provided a framework which encompassed every area of education in
France including teacher training. It called for a complete change in focus
and laid emphasis on global education.
This study considers how the 1989 Loi d’Orientation affected initial
teacher training and whether it brings together the slow evolution of the
separate training systems or whether it should be viewed as a revolution.
1.1. Historical Perspective

The birth of teacher training is linked to the unofficial beginnings of modern
French education. Around 1680, while developing a pedagogical structure to
provide education for poor children, Jean-Baptiste de la Salle identified the
need to train teachers to teach according to the principles he had defined. He
therefore created, in 1698, the first teacher training college in Reims a
hundred years before the Southwark College opened in England (Moon,
2002, in this volume, p. 67).
This college was the basis of the model for education and teacher training
that was to evolve through time. Strengthened during the French Revolution,
its principles were to be added to at different times in the subsequent
centuries, but particularly during the Third Republic (1870-1940).
The late 1870s–early 1880s were some of the most significant years in the
formation of the present education system in France. Following the 1879 law
on écoles normales d'instituteurs et d'institutrices (the ENIs, primary school
teacher training colleges), many ENIs, particularly those for girls, were built in
the latter part of the Nineteenth Century. “In legislation between 1881 and
1 The author conveys sincere thanks for their contributions and/or comments to Françoise Martin van der
Haegen, directeur adjoint de l’IUFM des Pays de la Loire; to Jeanny Prat, professeur d’anglais en collège et
formatrice en didactique des langues vivantes étrangères en primaire au Centre IUFM de Bourg-en-Bresse,
Académie de LYON; and to Jean Douchement, Professeur de lycée.
2 10 July 1989 - Lionel Jospin was then Minister of Education.
110 M. DEANE
1886, sponsored by Jules Ferry, free public primary education was
introduced for children between 6 and 13 years old. . . and generous provision
was made for teacher training....” (Jones, 1994, p. 222, 224).
Figure 1. The IUFM of today at Châlons-sur-Marne, boulevard Victor-Hugo.
This postcard (not dated by the publisher) was sent on 30 September 1905 (Kindly lent by Mme C. Gilson –
Centre IUFM de Châlons)
Source : <http://www.reims.I.U.F.M..fr/Chalons/centre/en/photoenf.htm>.
The laws of the 1880s were strengthened by those of the early 1900s when
the governments..., ultra-sensitized to the threat from the right,
...lurched into a campaign targeting the Church establishment. In line
with their general outlook on republican values, they concentrated
their attack on the question of schooling (Jones, 1994, p. 235).
According to a 1901 law, all teaching orders had to be authorized by the
State. In 1904, religious congregations were prohibited from teaching. The
formal separation of Church and State took place in 1905. This act confirmed
that state schools (les écoles publiques) were lay-schools (des écoles laïques).
The initial teacher training in the early Twentieth Century reflected the need
to uphold the values of the Republic, an effort that involved being extremely
vigilant that the laïcité of schools, that is, their total separation from any
denominational allegiance, be respected. This attitude is reported by Marcel
Pagnol in La Gloire de mon père:
The primary Normal Schools – teachers’ training colleges – in those
days used to be real seminaries, where the study of theology, however,
was replaced by classes in anticlericalism (Pagnol, 1991, p. 18).
TEACHER EDUCATION IN FRANCE 111
From the 1798 Revolution onwards, decisions on education and on
teacher training have been linked and made by the central Government.
1.2. Contemporary Administrative Features

The French education system is centralized, and its administrative
framework has been clearly laid out alongside that for general
administration. Slightly modified by the 1980s laws for decentralization, it
presents the following features:
Table 1. Structure of educational administration in France
Administration Headed by Functions Level

- to decide on education State
policy
- to promulgate laws and
Ministry of Youth, of The Minister of Youth, decrees that govern
National Education, of National Education, teaching and learning
and of Research and of Research in schools, as well as
teacher training;
- to appoint all teachers
and administrators
- to represent the State Region
in the Académie;
- to act as Chancellor of
The Recteur appointed
the Universities;
Rectorat d’Académie by the French Council
of Ministers - to oversee the lycées
(upper secondary
schools (16-18 age
cohorts).
- to direct all National Département
Education services in (county)
the département
(county) with the
support of special
advisers;
Inspection d’Académie Inspecteur d’Académie
- to oversee primary
schools (3 to 11 age
cohort) and collèges
(lower secondary
schools – 11 to 16 age
cohort).
Source: <http://www.education.gouv.fr/syst/acad.htm&PUB_ID=accueil>, © Ministère de l’Education>
These administrative entities play an important part in various aspects of

teacher initial and in-service training. They will be referred to frequently
throughout the text.
112 M. DEANE
Figure 2. Map of the Académies in France
Source: Ministry of Education <http://www.education.gouv.fr/syst/acad.htm&PUB_ID=accueil>
2. PRE-1990: DIFFERENT TRAINING MODELS FOR DIFFERENT JOBS

Until the decree of 28 September 1990 which mapped out the new
regulations for teacher training in France, teacher training depended on the
type of school in which trainees would teach. Primary school teachers,
secondary school teachers, and vocational school teachers were educated
and trained in different institutions which offered different models of
education and training.
2.1. Colleges for Educating and Training Primary School Teachers [Ecoles
Normales d’Instituteurs/Institutrices (ENIs)]
These institutions taught and trained teachers intending to teach in nursery
schools and primary schools. Applicants were recruited by competitive
examination. The training was dispensed in a specific place, the ENI (Ecole
Normale d’Instituteurs or d’Institutrices, separately by sex), at the most local
level in the French educational administration. Each département had its
own ENIs, one for men and one for women. The curriculum was focused on
the acquisition of subject knowledge. Trainees also received pedagogical and
didactic training both in the ENIs and in the schools. After qualifying
(titularisation), teachers were posted in the départment where they had been
trained.
The ENIs were concerned with both pre- and in-service training.
2.2. Regional Pedagogical Centers (Centres Pédagogiques Régionaux (CPR) –

Secondary School Teacher Training Institutes
As regards secondary general education, there are two types of secondary
schools:
– The collèges created in the first half of the Twentieth Century, to
provide “access for all”, now concern themselves with the education of
children aged 11-15/16.
– The lycées, created by Napoleon in the early 1800s, had an élitist
mission: they “aimed essentially at reproducing a male social and
bureaucratic élite” (Jones, 1994, p. 198). They now welcome pupils
aged 15/16 and take them through their Baccalauréat.
Despite the differences in the missions of these two types of
establishment, their teachers used to be trained together in a centre
pédagogique régional (CPR), an institution operating at the académie-level yet
lacking a specific building. The recruitment by competitive examination took
place after the license [Baccalauréat + 3]. The training was led by the local
inspectorates or by personnel chosen by them. The trainees spent one year
training in different schools in the académie and followed sessions on how to
teach their subjects (a technicist approach to teacher training). After their
titularisation, teachers could be required to take a post anywhere in France.
The training provided in CPRs was only pre-service training. To make up
for the lack of in-service training for secondary school teachers, each
académie, in 1980, set up its own Mission académique à la formation des
personnels de l’Education Nationale (MAFPEN), alongside the CPR, often with
the same instructors.
2.3. Institutes for Training Vocational School Teachers (Ecole Normale

Nationale d’Apprentissage – ENNA)
There were only seven such schools across France. Recruitment was therefore
national. Each school trained several categories of vocational teachers (the
industrial sector, the tertiary sector, the building sector, and general education
– French, mathematics, science, etc – for vocational schools). Each ENNA was
linked to a special vocational school (école d’application), in which trainees
observed and taught lessons. Training also took place in other vocational
schools, where trainees observed and taught. After titularisation, trainees could
be required to teach pupils who prepared for the first level of qualification, the
Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle – CAP.
In the 1970s, a new qualification was introduced for students in
Vocational Schools, the Brevet d’Etudes Professionnelles (BEP), which
included a broader general education content than the CAP. In 1980, the
114 M. DEANE
Baccalauréat Professionnel was instituted. In both cases, teachers needed to
be trained or retrained to meet the teaching specifics for these qualifications.
Structures were therefore put in place to recruit, train, and retrain the
required teaching force to respond to the educational needs of the pupils.
Table 2. Vocational qualifications and teacher training

Baccalauréat Professionnel instituted in
BEP created in the 1970s
the 1980s
Retraining by in-service training A competitive examination for:
(formation continue) - teachers with at least 3-years of
Recruitment by competitive examination at the end teaching experience in vocational
of the second year of university or schools
technical studies - for new recruits at the end of their
third year at university
Source: The author.
This change meant that, in all vocational schools, there were two “grades”
of teachers: those recruited and trained to teach the new syllabus were all
“second grade”; teachers who had not received that kind of training were
“first grade”. Little by little, the “first grade” teachers would have access to
the “second grade” category or would retire.
The great innovation in the training of vocational teachers was the
introduction of placements in firms to develop relations between schools and
industry. These assignments would continue for at least three weeks.
2.4. Some Common Features Shared by All These Training Institutions

LE CONCOURS
In order to be trained in one of the above institutions, all candidates had to
pass a concours, a competitive examination. It obviously took different
shapes, operated at different levels, and was more or less specialized
according to the establishment and level chosen. There were several types of
concours:
– the concours d’entrée à l’école normale – competitive examination for
admission to ENIs;
– the CAPES (Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle de l’Enseignement
Secondaire) to train in a CPR;
– the CAPET (Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle de l’Enseignement
Technique) to train in an ENNA.
– the agrégation as the way into teaching in lycées and universities – at
least when it was created. Very quickly, teachers with the agrégation
were teaching in all types of schools. Prepared for in universities and
taken at national level, it was (and still is) a university qualification as
well as the highest possible teaching competitive examination, testing
subject knowledge at near doctorate level.
For the CAPES, CAPET, and agrégation in each subject, the number of
places was (and still is) determined for all of France.
All these competitive examinations were a two-stage process: first, the
candidates took a written examination. All candidates who scored above a set
grade on all the tests were considered to be “admissible” and could proceed
with still more selection tasks, usually a series of oral examinations. Tests
(written and oral) were adapted to the type of recruitment considered. They
were given numerical grades and weighted differently according to their
importance. All grades were added together, and results were given in rank-
order. The number of trainees admitted to the college matched the number of
posts that were deemed to be available at the end of their training.
SCHOOL PLACEMENT
Having passed the concours, all trainee teachers underwent practical training
in schools. One exception, however: until 1989, those who passed the
agrégation went straight into teaching without any formal teacher training,
barring a short school placement which could often be limited to observing
lessons.
ALL TRAINEES ARE PROBATIONARY TEACHERS

Whichever training route they chose, once they had passed the concours,
trainees gained an administrative status. They became civil servants and had
rights and duties commensurate to their status:
– All trainee teachers received a salary.
– At the end of their training, the trainee teachers submitted applications
in areas where they could occupy a post, but they were constrained as
to where they could apply as per the type of training they had received.
Until the early 1990s, the training was clearly separated according to the
sectors trainee teachers were destined to occupy. Despite the differences,
there was a whole range of common features that made the creation of a new
training system a logical development, which led to the disappearance of
ENIs, CPRs, and ENNAs in 1990, and of MAFPENs ten years later, in 2000.
All were integrated into the IUFMs.
3. SINCE 1990: ONE TRAINING FOR ALL

The 1989 Loi d’Orientation brought about major changes, if not upheavals, in
the French education system of the early 1990s. Its aim was to adapt the
education system to the societal changes observed at various levels, be they
French, Western European, or international. The law provided a general
framework which encompassed each and every area of education in France,
with global goals to be reached and values to be shared. It called for a
complete change in focus, from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered
approach, from content acquisition to competence development. It laid the
emphasis on global education rather than on mere instruction in a number
of subjects. This approach can indeed be considered a revolution.
116 M. DEANE
A result of the 1989 Law, i.e., the creation of IUFMs in 1990, was an
important landmark in the French teacher training landscape. The institutes
were to provide a common framework for training, for all teachers, in a single
institution, whatever their phase (primary or secondary), their speciality
(general, technical, vocational, or special education), and their subject.
Because the Loi d'Orientation included ample instructions, IUFMs only
concerned themselves, in a first stage, with pre-service training. In the late
1990s, they began to provide in-service training for all teachers.3
3.1. A Mission Common to All

The mission of the IUFMs is
– to organize the training of candidates for the competitive examinations
for the recruitment of primary school teachers, secondary school
teachers (whether general, technical, or vocational education), and the
conseillers principaux d’education (CPE);4
– to provide the initial professional training of trainee teachers who have
passed the competitive examination and the in-service training of
primary and secondary school teachers;
– to develop research in the field of education; (since the late 1990s) to
provide in-service [training] to all teachers (Source: <http://www.IUFM.
education.fr/f_qu-IUFM.htm>).
Thus, as of the early 1990s, the framework for training procedures is the
same for all. This similarity involves every stage of the process, starting with
the level of qualification required to submit an application for a place at an
IUFM. All State5 teachers would now be recruited at Licence6 level (i.e., the
Baccalauréat7 plus three years in a University). They would receive pre-
service training and then in-service training at the same training institute,
the IUFM (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres). The notion of
professionalization of training was at the heart of the reform. The creation of
the IUFMs constituted a factual statement that all teachers would receive
university professional training.
3.2. The Concept of Professional Training (Formation)

Formation not only concerns itself with acquiring subject, pedagogical, and
didactic knowledge. At the heart of the concept of professional training is the
idea of enabling the development of a professional identity for all teachers,
3 The statute and mission of the IUFMs are available at <http://www.IUFM.education.fr/f_qu-IUFM.htm>

4 Senior managers in charge of student welfare, attendance, discipline, and everything that concerns school
life beyond classes.
5 In France, passing a competitive examination is required to become a lifelong civil servant, e.g., a teacher
in a State school.
6 Considered as the equivalent of a British Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science Degree.
7 The equivalent of the British “A” Levels or the German Abitur.
whatever their level of experience and expertise. Professional training must
provide for professional development needs, and it is linked to effective
professional practice.
Formation aims to:
– engage all teachers (beginning and experienced) to deepen their subject
knowledge;
– enable them to identify resources and constraints in situations they
may encounter;
– enable them to analyze their practice;
– help them gather and exploit the knowledge acquired through
experience.
Figure 3. The thirty IUFMs of France
Source: Ministry of Education, <http://www.education.fr/redirect.php3?SITE=http://www.IUFM.education.fr/

&PUB_ID=accueil>
118 M. DEANE
IUFMs have resulted from the merging of several training institutions. The
thirty IUFMs were set up in two main waves from the amalgamations of
former training institutions in the académies. The first three were opened on
1 September 1990, in Lille, Reims, and Grenoble.
There are several consequences of this merging: some IUFMs are widely
spread apart geographically and tend to have several branches (antennes)
which correspond to the old institutions. For instance, the IUFM of Reims
includes five centers distributed in the four départements that make up the
académie. The decision as to which former institutions were to be kept open
was made by the IUFM director and depended on the circumstances. These
decisions are reviewed periodically.
Figure 4. The IUFM of Reims (adapted)
The
IUFM.Center of
Charleville-
Mézières
Headquaters of
the IUFM and
the IUFM. Center
of Reims
The IUFM Center

of Châlons-sur-
Marne
The IUFM
Center of The IUFM Center
of Chaumont
Troyes
Source : <http://www.reims.IUFM.fr/implanta.htm>
Courses need to be rationalized, except in the case of vocational

education, for which decisions concerning training programmes are made at
national level. However, each IUFM chooses how the various training
programmes are to be deployed in its branches. This deployment is reviewed
when and if required.
3.3. The Personnel of the IUFMs

The amalgamation of several institutions also meant that personnel from
various institutions needed to be integrated. The diversity of employees in
any one IUFM is great. Nearly all of them are civil servants who represent
different categories: IUFM university professors and lecturers, formateurs
associés (teachers appointed to train the trainee teachers in the IUFMs or in
schools), a few School Principals, administrative and technical staff, curators,
and librarians. Other employees who do not belong to the civil service do
mostly secretarial work. When the IUFMs were formed, the personnel from
the different amalgamated institutions had the right to opt (le droit d’option)
for adopting the IUFM mission or for taking up posts in the system, e.g.,
school teaching.
4. INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING

4.1. The IUFMs Select Their Own Recruitment Models
As stated above, all applicants must hold a licence to be able to submit an
application for a place in an IUFM. Each year, the Ministry of National
Education determines the number of places available for each phase and
speciality. A competitive examination is not required for acceptance into an
IUFM. The IUFMs are free to develop their own recruitment policies and
strategies. Some ask candidates to present an application dossier. Others
select them through multiple choice questions in French, Mathematics, and
General Culture. Some of them schedule interviews, and others have a
combination of all of the above. At present, a group working at the Ministry
tries to harmonize these procedures.
Candidates are free to apply to the IUFM(s) of their choice(s). They can be
guided by various considerations; for instance, the number of places offered
by the various IUFMs, a comparison of results for the same competitive
examination, or the place where they wish to live. Applicants might choose to
seek registration with several IUFMs.
Once the selection procedures are over and students have secured a place
in the IUFM, their training follows a similar path.
120 M. DEANE
Figure 5. A two-year training plan framework common to all IUFM studens.
La formation des enseignants
Source: <http://www.IUFM.fr/formations/form_enseig_parcours.htm>
In other words:
A university first degree: Licence Entry to the IUFM

FIRST YEAR:
Competitive examination
Preparation for the competitive examination
Validation
SECOND YEAR:
Titularisation (granting of qualified teacher
Professional training
status)
Over the two-year period, one-third of the time spent should be concerned
with school placements, their preparation, analysis, and follow up. The other
two-thirds should be devoted to the development of subject knowledge,
general training to enable knowledge of the education system, and
understanding of pupil learning behaviour. Usually, both years go on in the
same IUFM, for coherence and cohesion of experience.
One part of the training (at the moment, approximately 10 percent) is
common to all trainees to foster the emergence of a professional culture
common to all of them, whatever their phase, subject, and speciality.
4.2. The First Year

The first year is devoted to preparing for the competitive examination. Figure
5 shows the range of competitive examinations offered. Some of these (the
CAPES and the CAPET) have retained their pre-1990 names; others have
been newly created or renamed:
– the CERPE: Concours externe de recrutement des professeurs des
écoles, for training to teach in nursery and primary schools;
– the CAPLP2: Certificat d’aptitude au professorat de l’enseignement
professionnel du 2ème grade, for teaching in vocational lycées;
– the CAPEPS: Certificat d’aptitude au professorat d’éducation physique,
for teaching physical education in collèges and lycées;
– the Concours CPE: Concours de recrutement des conseillers principaux
d’éducation.
During this first year, students have student status. They do not receive
salaries, but can, like other students, apply for scholarships. They have
duties defined by law: they must take part in the course as defined by the
internal rules of the IUFM, register and sit for the chosen competitive
examination, and follow their second year of training in the same académie.
The programme course attended by the students obviously varies
according to the phase, subject, and speciality.
For example, the first year curriculum of primary school teacher training
includes:
– A common core: French, mathematics, and physical education;
– Two options: Option 1: history/geography or biology or physics/
technology. Option 2: musical education or art or modern languages;
– General training in psychology, the educational sciences, philosophy,
teaching strategies, and tools;
– three “accompanied” school practices which can be block or serial
placements, during which students are not given full responsibility for
a class, and the class teacher in question acts as a mentor.
For secondary school teaching, the curriculum framework is the same as
that for those preparing the CAPES, the CAPEPS, the CAPET, and the
CAPLP2:
– subject knowledge training at post-graduate level;
122 M. DEANE
– practical training, given by IUFM teachers, including lectures and
workshops;
– the preparation and exploration of supervised practice;
– cross-curricular training on the organization of teaching and schools in
France.
In both cases, the school placements should provide a wide diversity of
classrooms and teaching situations to support the student in the preparation
of the competitive examination viva voce and to serve as grounding for the
school experience in year 2. In year 1, the placements are only in the
“accompanied practice” mode, but students are encouraged to take part in
classroom activities and to teach sequences of lessons.
Although the IUFMs offer their students a targeted preparation for the
various competitive examinations, it is not compulsory to prepare for the
concours in an IUFM. In fact, a fair proportion of “free candidates” (candidats
libres) choose to prepare for them outside the IUFMs as shown below.
Figure 6. The backgrounds of trainee-teachers who passed the competitive

examination for primary school education and training in 2000
[318 candidates prepared for the competitive examination at the IUFM. A total of 138 (43.8%) passed; 143
candidates prepared for the competitive examination at the IUFM in the two previous years. 13 (9%) passed;
580 free candidates took the examination. 35 (5.9%) passed; 81% of those who passed had prepared for the
competitive examination at the IUFM. The remaining 19% were free candidates.]
Source: I.U.F.M. de Dijon Website, December 2001.<http://www.ac-dijon.fr/iufm/presentation/pres_chif.htm>

The competitive examination is organized differently for primary and
secondary school trainee teachers. The Ministry of National Education
determines the number of available places for each programme. The
Académie organizes the concours for future primary school teachers, based
on the National Syllabi for nursery and primary schools and on the training
received during the first year. It validates first year studies. As in the pre-
1990 model, the concours has two stages.
The first stage decides on candidate eligibility and includes two written
tests, one in French and one in Mathematics.
In the second stage, the “admission” stage, there are five tests, some of
which offer options.
Similarly, the competitive examination for the secondary sector reflects
the first year courses and comprises:
– written tests of subject knowledge;
– oral tests that include subject knowledge exercises and the discussion
of a professional topic chosen by the candidate.
Results are given in rank order for each académie, and all those included
within the quota given by the Ministry enter the second year at the IUFM to
receive professional training. There are many more applicants than entrants
as these diagrams produced by the IUFM of Dijon demonstrate.
Figure 7. Number of students at the IUFM of Burgundy, who took the competitive
examination, passed, were allowed to take the second part of the competitive
examination, and were admitted to the second year of training
Source: IUFM of Dijon Website, l’IUFM en chiffres, December 2001.

124 M. DEANE
4.3. The Second Year
Students who have passed any one of the competitive examinations,
including the Agrégation, enter the second year at the IUFM. As was the case
prior to 1990, they become stagiaires or trainee teachers. They are civil
servants and, as such, receive a salary and have specified duties: they must
attend the training sessions at the IUFM and in schools. Any unjustified
absence will entail the suspension of their salaries. They are forbidden to
undertake any other remunerated activity. They are bound by an obligation
of professional discretion. Although the actual content of studies varies
according to the level, the subject, and the speciality, and from IUFM to
IUFM, the framework is common to all training programmes and includes:
– teaching modules, involving work on personal, pedagogical, and
didactic subject knowledge. They also deal with life in schools, school
and vocational guidance, laws on child protection, teenager psychology
and sociology, information and communications technology (ICT), the
role and place of the teacher in society, children with learning
difficulties. Those trainees intending to teach in vocational schools are
expected to spend time in the given industry.
– professional thesis (mémoire). Trainee teachers choose a topic on which
they are to work and reflect throughout their second year. Those who
have entered the IUFM by passing the agrégation need not submit a
professional dissertation.
– school experience: Trainee teachers are assigned teaching
responsibilities (stages en responsabilité) in a collège or a lycée. It could
be said that the trainee teacher is appointed rather than placed in the
placement school as the school is chosen not by the training
institution, but by the appointing authority, the rectorat.8 It is likely
that the appointments have more to do with the staffing needs of the
schools than with the training needs of the trainees who are fully
responsible for the teaching of one or of several classes. In the schools,
trainee teachers have a school-mentor, an experienced teacher who
advises as appropriate. Trainee teachers are also placed in a different
school in the académie, for stages de pratique accompagnée during
which they have no teaching responsibilities.
4.4. The Training of Technical and Vocational School Teachers

The Ministry of National Education, through negotiations with the IUFMs,
shares and distributes the sections of various technical and professional
training between them. The IUFMs then work out a training scheme that
takes into account the specificity of technical teaching, while observing the
leading principles governing teacher training.
8 Rectorat: Administrative body that overseas the deployment and quality of the teaching force in a local
education authority.
This organizational pattern was set up when the IUFMs were created.
Many obstacles had to be overcome: the lack of tradition in technical and
vocational training in many académies, uneven interest in this field on the
part of the universities and their staffs, and the small number of trainers
when this system started. The IUFMs therefore had to set themselves
ambitious goals in order to change mentalities.
Today, the evolution is clearly following three paths:
– the increased number of training programmes through a larger choice
of sessions and the involvement of most of the IUFMs;
– the elaboration of new curricula, in partnership with universities, to
improve the scientific competencies of trainees;
– the gathering of all possible means to develop the skills of technological
and vocational school teachers who should be aware of the social,
economic, and industrial stakes of the training they are undergoing.
IUFM studies follow the same pattern, in terms of length, contents,
evaluation, and assessment for technical and vocational school teachers as
that for the rest of the trainee teachers. Nonetheless, the specific features of
technical and vocational teaching also require specific treatment. Apart from
specific features relating to the subjects they will be teaching, technological
and vocational trainee teachers holding the CAPET or the CAPLP2 share
three main concerns:
– the large variety of backgrounds and qualifications of teachers.
Vocational and technological teaching is at the junction between the
world of education and the world of work, school, and industry.
Teachers are recruited from among applicants with “non-typical”
personal and professional profiles and very diverse career patterns:
they may be former university students, company executives, or
engineers. In subjects for which no degree exists, candidates holding a
Baccalauréat + 2 qualification and with five years of professional
experience can take the CAPLP2 concours.
– the organization of the second year of training. This year is more
demanding for technical and vocational trainee teachers than for
general education trainee teachers, as they also have to do a practical
internship in a company and be evaluated on the results.
IUFMs and vocational school teachers have the mission of preparing
vocational schools for the Twenty-First Century and of elaborating a new
policy aimed at remodelling vocational teaching and giving it greater
attractiveness. Besides building up generic skills, such as knowing the
education system and its values or the various ways of earning professional
diplomas, the training of vocational school teachers should also promote the
development of skills linked with working with, and in, given professional
and economic environments. Professional internships represent a way of
developing these professional skills. They are a necessity for vocational
school teachers for they enable them to know what a company really is, to
126 M. DEANE
complete their professional experience, and to master the objectives and the
planning of the studies of their pupils that alternate between school and
work.
4.5. A Common Assessment Framework for All

There is a significant difference between the validation, which is the IUFM’s
final assessment, and the titularisation, which is the bestowing of qualified
teacher status by the Ministry of National Education through the Rectorat,
for secondary school teachers, and by the Inspection Académique, for primary
school teachers.
The validation of the second year of training in the IUFM takes into
account the three aspects of the trainee teacher’s work.
The assessment of the “placement in responsibility” is accomplished
through observations of and discussions on the trainee teacher’s lessons and
associated work. Observations are carried out by university tutors, who write
reports on their visits, and the school-mentor, who, with his or her
headteacher, writes an overall report on the placement.
At the end of the course, the professional thesis is defended during a viva
voce, before a panel that indicates a positive or negative response to the
work.
As far as the evaluation of the training modules is concerned, official texts
only refer to the need for the trainee teachers to attend sessions at the IUFM.
All three assessment components are examined by a panel that
summarizes the evidence for the IUFM director, who makes the final
decision. Usually, the panel can suggest that the training has been
satisfactory or that the trainee teacher needs to continue training. The IUFM
director informs the académie commission of his or her decision.
The cross-curricular académie commission, that is chaired by an
inspector appointed by the recteur, deliberates in a two-stage process. First,
the commission decides which trainee teachers can pass the “professional
qualification examination” and which of them need to provide further
evidence. The “further evidence” consists of an inspection followed by a
discussion. In the second phase of the deliberation, the commission proposes
that trainee teachers pass, repeat, or fail. Trainee teachers are informed of
the results immediately.
Passing the professional qualification examination means that the trainee
teacher can be appointed to a full permanent teaching post on the following
September 1st. This is known as “titularisation” and is granted by the recteur
of each académie, in the case of secondary school teachers, and by the
inspecteur d’académie, in that of primary school teachers.
In the case of trainee teachers having entered the IUFM with the
agrégation, titularisation depends on an inspection carried out by an
inspector and followed by a discussion. At the end of the process, the
inspector recommends that the trainee be granted “titularisation” or be given
an unfavourable response, in which case the trainee teacher – a civil servant
– will either be asked to repeat the year or be dismissed. The Minister for
Education will make the final decision.
4.6. A Priority for Initial Teacher Training: Developing Capabilities and

Competencies in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)9
The possibilities for gaining access to and disseminating knowledge are being
profoundly changed by the rapidly evolving information and communication
technologies (ICTs). The ICTs are rendering the acquisition of knowledge
increasingly interactive and are altering the nature of learning and teaching,
calling for a new management of learning and making the role of the teachers
evolve into that of a guide, a mediator, and a reference in the learning
process of his or her pupils – the essence of the process.
The importance of the new teacher training in the ICTs and its different
applications is therefore crucial. First, trainee teachers lacking basic
manipulative IT competencies will be given appropriate training. It is then
proposed that the training curriculum be developed in five main directions:
i) The relationship between school subjects and the ICTs. Trainee teachers
should be aware of the impact of the ICTs on the evolution of their
subjects and on research, and of how the national syllabi integrate the
ICTs. They should be able to plan the use of the ICTs in their lessons,
gain access to and identify various resources, and reflect on how best
to use them in their teaching.
ii) Classroom management and management of learning. The introduction
of the ICTs means that teachers are no longer the sole font of
knowledge. They need to develop strategies and to reflect on how
learning and the classroom need to be organized for the efficient use of
the ICTs in building new knowledge and fostering the autonomy of
pupils.
iii) The supporting of co-operation among pupils, classes, and teachers by
the ICTs, within and outside the school. Opportunities for distance
learning and computer conferencing cannot be ignored.
iv) Administrative systems. At school level, the ICTs provide powerful tools
for a range of administrative tasks. Trainee teachers will need to
discover the systems and expectations of their respective schools.
v) Reflections on implications. The trainee teacher needs to reflect on the
implications for society of the rapidly evolving technologies.
5. IN-SERVICE TRAINING PROVISION

All teachers are entitled to in-service training, which is voluntary.
As of September 1998, IUFMs are designated as the main provider of in-
service training for teachers in posts, a decision intended to foster the
complementarity and continuity of pre- and in-service training and the
9 Source: <http://www.educnet.education.fr/formation/competences.htm>.
128 M. DEANE
continuity between primary and secondary education. In-service training is
meant to provide a new framework for life-long learning and to reaffirm the
university dimension of teacher training, whether initial or in-service.
Each recteur is responsible for the pedagogical policies in his or her
académie and, along with the given IUFM, he or she carries out a needs
analysis for in-service training in the académie, decides on the objectives to
be prioritized, and on evaluation procedures for a training plan. The training
plan is designed by the IUFM and includes strategies whereby its
components are delivered to teachers. After negotiations and adjustments,
the Recteur endorses the plan that will be implemented by the personnel in
the IUFM, the universities, the schools, and other linked apposite
organizations.
In the Official despatch from the Ministry (Bulletin Officiel de l’Education
Nationale, No. 22, 3 June 1999), the Minister of Education asked that
particular attention be paid to:
– the development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
practices in schools;
– the diversification of trainers, so that courses are designed according to
needs rather than available resources;
– the use of research findings in updating knowledge;
– support for newly qualified teachers;
– the development of in-service training courses leading to qualifications
that would favour career development or changes.
Not every aspect of the Minister’s plan has yet been implemented. Many
changes throughout the French educational system that have been launched
simultaneously are being put into place progressively.
The Minister clearly states the role of IUFMs in research:
Whether for pre-service training, or for in-service training, or for the
trainers’ training, innovative strategies are supported by research
developments. The implementation of the ministerial priorities... will
therefore, and as much as possible, be linked to the results of the
research carried out by the IUFMs together with the universities and
national organizations (Bulletin Officiel de l’Education Nationale, 1999).
5.1. An Example of In-service Training: The Training of Teachers for Pupils with
Special Educational Needs
The recruitment and the training of special educational needs (SEN) teachers
is being developed at the moment. But some principles are already
established and are being implemented by the IUFMs.
Candidates for the Certificate for Special Educational Needs Teaching
(Certificat d’Aptitude au Professorat Specialisé en Adaptation et Integration
Scolaire – CAPSAIS) are experienced primary school teachers. The training
should match the needs and experience of these teachers. Lectures at an
IUFM alternate with classroom practice. A special effort is made to link
formal classroom teaching and learning with practical sessions.
To undertake this two-year training, teachers need the approval of the
inspector (inspecteur d’académie) who employs them and makes
arrangements to cover their classes.
The general principles of formation governing IUFM training are
implemented in in-service training, just as they are elsewhere, to prepare for
a change of professional identity. In the case of teachers training to specialize
in SEN teaching, they will, by the end of the training period, take the
certificate (CAPSAIS) for special needs teaching, with possible optional
subjects reflecting a range of individual problems and needs of pupils
(psychological disorders, learning difficulties, visual, speaking, or hearing
improvements, and pedagogical support).
The recipients of such training may be spread out in locations distant
from the training centre. Thought must therefore be given to means of
bringing them together and also of developing distance training.
Being a teacher today implies problem-solving rather than mere
reproduction of techniques learned. To educate and to train teachers means
training professionals capable of identifying the specificity, difficulty, or
uncommonness of a situation. These professionals must be able to take
decisions in spite of uncertainty or dilemmas, to perform with common sense
and sensitivity, and to make these decisions understood by children and
school partners.
Although the IUFM global administrative organization is established by
the 28 September 1990 Decree, each IUFM plans its pedagogical organization
through the quadri-annual plans which are submitted to the Ministry of
National Education and Research.
6. SOME AUTONOMY: DIVERSITY OF PRACTICE

Every four years, each IUFM develops its own Institutional Project (projet
d’établissement), which includes its Teacher Training Plan (plan de
formation). It is submitted to the Ministry. Once its projet d’établissement is
approved, the IUFM receives funding from the State which, together with the
entrance fees of first-year students, will enable the IUFM to deliver the
planned training.
An account follows of how the IUFM in Lyon developed its third Teacher
Training plan.
Although still a very young organization, the LYON IUFM had already
experienced two successive teacher training plans:10 one for the 1991-
1994 and the other one for the 1994-1999 periods. The IUFM was
evaluated in 1996 by the National Committee for Evaluation (Comité
10 The Plan de Formation is only one part of the global Projet d’Etablissement, which also includes
administrative, financial, documentary, etc., aspects.
130 M. DEANE
National d’Evaluation)11 and did not come out too badly. It already was
aware of its few flaws (the need to develop use of the ICTs and its
international relations, for instance). The IUFM was now coming to a
major turning point as it was about to sign its first contract with the
Ministry of Education for the 1999-2003 period, much as universities
do.
Here is how the Lyon IUFM team tried to manage the turn-of-the-
century. It started two years ahead of submission and tried to involve
everyone, very much in the spirit of participative management.
In 1997-1998, a Steering Committee was set up to interview every
person responsible for any aspect of work within the IUFM (whether
related to teacher training or any other matter) in order to draw up the
blueprint for a new institutional project. That Committee also received
any oral or written contributions, thoughts, or questions from
individuals or groups. The results of the yearly evaluation sheets of
trainees were taken into account. Then a half-day gathering took place
in Lyon, in March 1998, when opinions were shared on the main
outcomes of the hearings (wishes and complaints were heard)....
The Steering Committee was then assigned the new task of mapping
out and writing a training plan project which was presented at the next
meeting of the “Scientific and Pedagogical Council” (a consultative
body), then on to the “Administrative Council”, in July 1998. Both gave
their formal assent.
During the 1998-1999 academic year, new forms of training evolved,
IUFM-based and school-based trainers worked together, establishing
new procedures and training each other in readiness for 1 September,
1999. In the meantime, experts from the Ministry debated with the
Board of Directors, before signing the four-year contract, which is of
utmost importance, as government funding depends on it.
After eighteen months of debates, of writing and re-writing, the Lyon
IUFM produced a new, global teacher-training format to be applied to
primary, secondary general, and secondary vocational teachers-to-be.
Figure 8 only applies to the pre-service professional training at the
IUFM; i.e., it concerns those students who passed the Concours and
have thus become State-paid trainees, under the full responsibility of
the IUFM (Prat, 1998).12
The long quotation shows that IUFMs enjoy some form of autonomy.
They review their own practice and progress every four years, set up their
own evaluation strategies, and draw out their own teacher training plans,
using the strategies most appropriate to the circumstances. This autonomy is
11 The Evaluation Report can be found on the Internet site of the C.N.E., <http://www-cne.mesr.fr>.
12 The format of the previous year, in which students prepare for the concours, has not been altered. It is a
joint University-IUFM responsibility, and at the time of writing, how funding was to be shared was not clear.
under scrutiny: the National Evaluation Committee carries out its own
evaluation of the training, and the training plan has to be approved by the
Minister of National Education.
Will autonomy persist beyond ten years? On 26 June 2000, Jack Lang,
the Minister of National Education, made a speech in which he articulated
the need to “harmonize procedures that vary too much between the different
IUFMs”. To this effect he decided that “primary school competitive
examinations would have tests that would be defined within the framework of
a national syllabus” and that “the second year training of all teachers would
also be governed by a national framework” (Lang, 2000).
Figure 8. The teacher-training format of tomorrow at the IUFM of the Academy of Lyon
TRAINING THE FIELD

CENTER
G.S.I.P.
Groupe de suivi EXPERIENCE
MODULES:
et d’Intégration
Being a teacher in Professionnelle
accompanied teaching
the classroom and teaching practice in full
within the school practice responsibility
Subjects mastery
Ethics Professional
Knowledge of educational Thesis
systems work
center Module * experience
* It is up to each Centre Local to use this free

space according to its work environment and the
needs of its trainees
Tomorrow’s teacher-training format
at the I.U.F.M. de l’Académie de Lyon
7. CONCLUSION
The IUFMs are ten years old, a tender age, as Minister Jack Lang implies in
his speech. A great deal has been achieved, and a range of issues have
emerged, different in terms of style and importance, such as the unease
created by the situation of trainees who have the agrégation, the training of
trainers which is being developed, and the cohesion and coherence between
132 M. DEANE
the various experiences of the trainees at the IUFMs and in the schools.
These are being considered.
Were the changes brought by the creation of the IUFMs a continuation
and rationalization of what was happening before 1990? Or were they a real
chasm bringing radical changes to the training of teachers in France? Was it
really the revolution which, according to Prat (2000), is not yet finished?
It was continuation in so far as some of the aspects of the old system have
clearly been carried over into the new system, such as the concours and its
two stages or the fact that, during their professional training year, trainee
teachers are civil servants.
It was also rationalization. Training all teachers whatever their phase,
speciality, subject, experience, or expertise in the same institution brought
together some of the practices which were dispersed in the old system, but it
was also a new way of understanding and formalizing training.
The revolution has certainly happened through the professionalization of
training which now goes well beyond the acquisition of subject, pedagogical,
and didactic knowledge. Its stated purpose is to enable trainee teachers and
teachers on post to develop a professional identity based on reflection on
their practice and plotted against frameworks of global competencies. These
frameworks of competencies are fast evolving towards a holistic approach to
competencies. The professionalization of training permeates all its levels. It
appears that there are punctual attempts at developing models of trainer
professionalization. This evolution is “linked to the emergence of a social
professional body of trainers. It remains for the IUFMs to put into place
authentic professionalizing training models for professional trainers” (Altet,
2000, p. 91). And this process, it seems, is occurring in some IUFMs that are
organizing coherent training for their trainers and even working on
competency frameworks.
REFERENCES13
“Le BO en ligne”, Bulletin Officiel de l’Education Nationale 22 (3 June 1999),
<http://www.education.gouv.fr/botexte/bo990603/MENS9901117C.htm>.
ALTET, Marguerite. “Formateurs enseignants: quelle professionnalisation?”,
in, Enseigner aujourd’hui: quel métier? Quelle formation? Formation et
professionnalisation des enseignants. Collection Ressources No. 3. Nantes:
13 For a whole range of documents and background information referred to in the text, see
<http://www.IUFM.fr/> and <http://www.snes.edu/>, the site of a teacher trade-union, the Syndicat National
des Enseignements de Second degré (SNES):
- memo IUFM: L’Affectation après succès au concours
- memo IUFM: Validation de la formation à l’IUFM
- memo IUFM: Le stage en responsabilité
- memo IUFM: Le Mémoire professionnel
- memo IUFM: Les Modules de formation
- memo IUFM: Preparation du dossier final
- memo IUFM: Validation de la formation, modalités de titularisation.
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pédagogiques. Nantes: IUFM des Pays de la Loire, 1995.
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LANG, Jack, Ministre de l’Education nationale. Intervention à la CDIUFM le
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Les Instituts Universitaires de Formation des Maîtres (early publication by
the Ministère de l’Education Nationale, not dated).
MOON, R. E. “Teacher Education in England: Current Models and New
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BARROWS, eds. Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education within Higher
Education in Europe: Current Models and New Developments. Bucharest:
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PAGNOL, M. My Father’s Glory [La Gloire de mon père]. London: Picador
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Contribution to the Third Annual Workshop on Curriculum Innovation,
“Changing Roles of Teachers and Trainers – Changing Identities of Schools
and Training Institutions”, European Training Foundation, Budapest, 14-
16 October 1998.
VII. Teacher Education in Germany: Current State
and New Perspectives
EWALD TERHART
1. INTRODUCTION
There is a long tradition of teacher education in Germany within that of the
development of the German school system. The institutionalization of
learning in schools and the professionalization of teaching are processes that
have been closely linked in the sense that they have been dependent on one
another and have supported each other during the historical development of
the educational system in Germany.
One important element in the intertwined processes of the
institutionalization of learning and the professionalization of teaching is the
fact that – for nearly two hundred years – the history of the teaching
profession and the history of teacher education has been a history of a
division or segmentation. In the same way that a distinction was made
between a “lower” type of schooling for the masses and a “higher”, more
academic type of learning for a small élite, the teaching profession and the
education of school teachers was divided into a “lower” track and a “higher”
track.
The state-controlled compulsory school system and organized teacher
education in Germany began in Prussia in 1800 and lasted until 1970, when
the integration of the education and training of the “lower” and the “higher”
teachers at university level was started. Today this integration has been
completed.
Since its inception around 1800, the history of teacher education has
been a history of constant growth and of rising expectations. Compared to
other European countries, the German system of teacher education today is
highly developed, extremely expensive, and arouses considerable
expectations (For a general overview of teacher education in Europe, see
Buchberger et al., 2000; EURYDICE/EUROSTAT, 2000; Bourdoncle, 1994;
Galton and Moon, 1994; Sultana 1994; Mitter, 1991; Neave, 1992; Sander,
1996a, 1996b; EJE 1998). However, it is not clear if it is also highly effective
and efficient.
The different forms or types of teachers are in line with the structure of
the school system with its different forms or types of schools (See Figure 1).
136 E. TERHART
Figure 1. The school system in Germany
Fach-
University
Higher
hochschule Education
19 13 Upper
Berufsschulen
18 12 Secondary
(vocational schools, Gymnasium Schools
different types) Fach-
17 11
oberschule
16 10
2 1
16 10
9.3%*
15 9
22.8%* 26.3%* 29.1%*
(Comprehensive School)
14 8
Lower
Gesamtschule
Secondary
13 7
Schools
12 Hauptschule Realschule Gymnasium 6
11 5
10 4
10 4
9 3
Primary
8 Grundschule 2 School
7 1
6 0
Years in
Age
1 Direct access school:
(grades)
Several paths possible if certain criteria are met

2
* Portions for 1998, 8th grade; 4.8% Sonderschule; rest (7.7%) other schools
TEACHER EDUCATION IN GERMANY 137
During the 1998-1999 school year, 873,368 schoolteachers (individuals)
were working in Germany. As a number of teachers (mostly women) have
part-time teaching jobs (they do not teach the full number of hours per week
but only, say, three quarters of them), the number of (theoretically) full-time
positions is lower (717,273). Some 64 percent of all teachers are women.
More statistical information on teachers in Germany is offered in Table 1.
Table 1. Statistics on teachers and their work in Germany

Grundschule Hauptschule Realschule Gymnasium Gesamtschule
Classes per week taught by
27-28 27-28 26-27 23-26 23-27
full-time teachers
5-10:17.5
Student per teacher ratio 21.4 14.9 18.3 14.2
10-13:12.2
Women as teachers
82 51 60 47 58
(percent)
Source: Bellenberg, 2000; Otto et al., 2000.
Despite a number of different official names for the different types of

teachers in the sixteen Länder – in fact, there are forty-two different names –
there are six basic types of teacher – as indicated in Table 2.
Table 2. The six basic types of teachers in Germany

Type of teachers Description
1 Primary school teachers (grades 1 to 4)
2 Teachers for primary schools and for some or all types of lower secondary
schools (grades 1 to 4 and 5 to 10)
3 Teachers for all or some lower secondary schools (grades 5 to 10)
4 Teachers for upper secondary schools (general subjects) or for the Gymnasium
(grades 11 to 13; 5 to 13)
5 Teachers for upper secondary schools (vocational subjects) or for vocational
schools (grades 11 to 13)
6 Teachers for schools for children with learning disabilities (grades 1 to 10)
Source: Leusmann and Glässner, 1997, p. 138.
2. SHORT HISTORY OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN GERMANY

2.1. Training of Primary School Teachers (Volksschullehrer)
After a period of non-standardized teacher training for elementary school
teachers, going back to 1698, the first regular training institutions, teachers
seminaries (Lehrerseminare), were established around 1800. Enrollment in
these training institutions was possible after completion of eight years of
elementary/lower secondary schooling. The training at the Lehrerseminare
was very practical and concentrated largely on teaching methods. It was
embedded in religious convictions, and the political authorities kept an eye on
the political attitudes of trainees. Ideally speaking, the elementary school
138 E. TERHART
teacher (was viewed) as a craftsman. In 1925, after the First World War, the
first pedagogical academies (Pädagogische Akademien) were founded.
To be admitted to these institutions, future elementary school teachers
needed to hold the Abitur, that is, the final school-leaving certificate obtained
at the end of upper secondary school education, entitling students to enter
higher education (a university). The training at the Pädagogische Akademien
was still very practical, but it included academic elements, educational
philosophy, and the arts as well. The ideal was no longer the elementary
school teacher-as-craftsman, but the elementary school teacher-as-educator,
as an all-round personality with an intuitive pedagogical spirit and good
teaching skills. After the Second World War, the Pädagogische Akademien
were reestablished as pedagogical colleges (Pädagogische Hochschulen).
Beginning in 1970, the various (West) German states (Länder) integrated the
Pädagogische Hochschulen into the universities. Today, all teacher education
in Germany takes place at university level, with one exception, i.e., Baden-
Württemberg, where Pädagogische Hochschulen still exist. So the former
elementary and primary school teachers can look back on a long process of
upgrading. Their odyssey ended at the university. Only the future will show
whether this step was really the end of the journey.
2.2. Training of Gymnasium Teachers (Gymnasiallehrer)

The teachers for the highest, academically oriented track of the school system
(the Gymnasium) have always received their professional training in
universities. They used to study two subjects, had to pass a state-
administered examination (the school administration), and then entered the
teaching profession. At the end of the Nineteenth Century, a practice-oriented
training phase was added (and a second examination). Until the beginning of
the Twentieth Century, the university stage of teacher education did not
include any courses in education – at that time, education (Pädagogik) was
not a university discipline (Drewek, 1998).
The philosophy of the Gymnasium included the idea that a Gymnasium
teacher did not need special teaching skills: It was sufficient for him or her to
be good in his or her subject (Latin, Geography, History, Chemistry, etc.).
Competence in and good knowledge of these subjects did not require any
additional skills. And students who needed teaching to be specially adapted to
their needs in order to learn successfully were considered to be the wrong
kinds of students for a Gymnasium and had to leave this track of the school
system. The professional ideal of the traditional Gymnasium teacher
(Gymnasiallehrer) was – at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century – the
teacher as a humanistic scholar.
During the Nineteenth Century, step by step, modern languages and the
sciences were integrated into the curriculum of the Gymnasium and, thus, the
ideal of a Gymnasiallehrer changed from that of a humanistic scholar to that
of a competent expert in his or her academic subjects. Beginning around 1917
and continuing until 1960, the university training of the Gymnasiallehrer
included only some elements of Philosophy and Education. From 1960 on,
these elements slowly expanded.
The system of teacher education which was established after the Second
World War in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) was abolished
after the political changes of 1989-1990, and the West German school system
along with its system of teacher education was “exported” and established.
Looking back, one can conclude that the education and training of the
“lower” and “higher” teacher categories have been integrated: The education of
the lower categories passed through a process of academization, and the
education of the higher categories passed through a process of pedagogization.
Today they resemble each other very closely – but there is still an important
difference in terms of duration. The university course programme for “lower”
teachers lasts three years (its scheduled duration), that of “higher” teachers is
scheduled to take four years. At first glance, this one-year difference seems
unimportant – but its gives rise to the salary difference and the career
differences between the “lower” and “higher” teachers.
3. THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION

When speaking of the “lower” and the “higher” teacher categories, one should
add that the lower categories encompass the teachers in primary schools
(Grundschule) and in the Hauptschule, even, in some cases, in the Realschule.
The higher categories include the teachers in Gymnasia, the teachers at
schools for children with learning disabilities or handicaps
(Sonderschullehrer), and the teachers in vocational schools (Berufsschullehrer).
The training of kindergarten teachers, i.e., pre-school teaching staff, is not
placed at tertiary level, that is, at higher education level, but at upper
secondary level, and counts as vocational training. In Germany, the pre-
school level is not part of the school system.
The leading educational doctrine of the teaching profession and of teacher
education in Germany can roughly be sketched as follows: Teaching, as a
profession, is part of the state-controlled school system. The State (Land) is
accountable for the quality of work in schools, and so each Land is also
responsible for the quality of teacher education and for teacher licensing
within its jurisdiction. In Germany, nearly all teachers are state employees
and are thus regarded as civil servants, since their work is regarded as
educational/pedagogical work in the compulsory, state-controlled school
system involving rigorous decisions as to the learning biography of students,
the certification of the performance of students, and the opening up or the
blocking of the later career opportunities of students. Perhaps owing to the
long Prussian tradition in Germany, the influence of the state on schools and
schooling, teachers, and teaching has always been very strong and, as a
result, the teachers are integrated into the state-apparatus in the same way
as civil servants are.
This administrative foundation is combined with high expectations
concerning the pedagogical idealism of teachers and their pedagogical and
140 E. TERHART
didactical competencies. In particular, the teachers in the highest school
track, the Gymnasiallehrer, traditionally enjoy high social status, whereas, for
a long time, the lower teachers endured a low social status. This attitude has
changed: With the expansion of the number of Gymnasia, the status of the
Gymnasiallehrer has dropped, and the status of the former lower teachers has
risen. Today, the social status of the Grundschullehrer is higher than that of
the Gymnasiallehrer!
It is widely accepted that teachers in all types of schools need education
and training based on academic studies in their special subjects and in
educational theory, educational psychology, general didactics, subject-specific
didactics, etc. The professional ideal today is neither the teacher as a
craftsman, nor the teacher as an educator with good pedagogical intuition, but
the teacher as a reflective practitioner with skills based on scientific knowledge
and practical experience gained during his or her education and training and
during further in-service training. All teachers are expected to be experts in
the organization of teaching and learning. So the concept of professionalization
is the predominant leitmotif for the work and the education of teachers in
Germany.
Nevertheless, the public image of school teachers today is somewhat
ambivalent. On the one hand, teachers are constantly being blamed and
bashed for allegedly failing to fulfill their duties, even for being lazy. They are
accused of merely being interested in the expansion of their privileges, of
earning high salaries, of having unnecessarily long holidays, etc. But this kind
of teacher bashing is just one side of the public image: the negative element.
On the other hand, society asks a great deal of teachers. They are expected to
solve all the problems of society with its young people (e.g., violence, racism,
low moral standards, drug abuse, etc.). These expectations are growing
rapidly because it is becoming clear that the traditional role of the family in
bringing up children is being eroded. Schools and teachers are expected to
take over the duties of the family and parents in the raising of children. In this
discourse of expanding the role and duties of the teacher, he or she is
modeled as a “great social problem-solver”. This expectation is the positive
element. The image of the teacher is influenced by these extreme views
(constant teacher bashing and at the same time the vision of teachers as great
social problem-solvers) which appear in public debates at present.
Compared with their colleagues in other countries, teachers in Germany
earn a great deal. A middle-aged primary school teacher who is married and
has two children makes DM 6,350.51 gross per month (13 monthly salaries
per year). A middle aged Gymnasiallehrer (second level of career, in the A-14
pay scale who is married and has two children) makes DM 7,453.58 gross per
month (13 monthly salaries per year). As state employees, teachers only have
to pay tax on their incomes, but do not have to contribute – as all other
employees do – to the social security insurance systems (illness,
unemployment, pension). For all state employees, the regulations concerning
retirement are very generous, as compared with those for non-state
employees.
4. THE SYSTEM OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN GERMANY
In the current debate on teacher education in Germany – and maybe also in
other countries – two different, conflicting concepts of modernity and
modernization are competing with one another. It is not yet clear which of
these concepts will dominate. So, it is hard to foretell what teacher education
in Germany will look like in the future. For an overview of teacher education
in Germany as it currently exists, see Figure 2.
Figure 2. Teacher Education in Germany
6 2n d
Examination
2nd Preparation
5 5
Examination Service
Preparation
Service
4 4 1st
Examination
Didactics of Subject
Didactics of Subject
1st
Examination 3 3
Music or Sciences or Sport or ...
2 2
Educational Studies
Reading & Writing
Subject A (e.g. Biology)

Mathematics
Subject B (e.g. History)
Educational Studies
1 1
0 0
“lower” teachers “higher” teachers
Years Years
Preparation Service (2 nd Phase)
University (1 st Phase)
142 E. TERHART
4.1. Structure
In Germany, the process of becoming a teacher has two phases: After the
Abitur examination (at the end of the upper secondary school level), which
gives immediate access to higher education in a university (average age: 19
years), a young person may enter the first phase of initial university
teacher education.
The number of students enrolled in teacher education is not regulated
or limited in relation to the foreseeable demand for new teachers. In some
places, it is limited by the capacities of the universities or the faculties
concerned.
All teachers (from elementary to upper secondary level) in Germany who
receive their education and training within the higher education system
are educated and trained at the university level. They have to take courses
in two (in the case of elementary school teachers, three) subjects and in
didactics (Terhart, 1995; Westbury et al., 2000), educational psychology
and – optional – sociology or philosophy of education. Completing this
programme will take three or four years (scheduled course length). During
the programme, at least two or three short periods of in-school classroom
experience are integrated. This first phase leads to the first stage of a
teaching degree, an examination (1 Staatsexamen) set by state examination
bodies and regulated by the Ministry of Education of the given Land.
In Europe, there are two main models of teacher education
(EURYDICE/EUROSTAT 2000, p. 4): the concurrent model (i.e., studies in
subjects and in education and didactics are carried out from the beginning
or at the same time) and the consecutive model (i.e., first the subject
courses are taken and the pedagogical training begins afterwards). It is
obvious that in its first phase, teacher education in Germany follows the
concurrent model. For an overview of the contents of the first university
phase of teacher education, for the Gymnasiallehrer, in the Land of North-
Rhine-Westphalia, see Table 3.
Following the completion of these requirements, graduates are
permitted to enter the second phase of teacher education. This phase
consists of a practice-oriented two-year preparatory service
(Vorbereitungsdienst) organized and supervised by the State Ministry of
Education. This second phase does not involve the participation of a
university. During this phase, future teachers receive a salary (around DM
1,800 per month before taxes). Courses are held in special “teacher
training seminars” by special teacher trainers, who are experienced
teachers, and in-service training takes place in schools under the
supervision of experienced teachers or mentors (Mentoren). During
preparatory service, the future teachers have to demonstrate their abilities
in planning, classroom teaching, and other duties involved in a teacher’s
job. The performance of prospective teachers and the development of their
competencies are evaluated by their seminar teachers, their Mentoren and,
in some cases, also by the principal of the school concerned. During this
phase, they are – to a certain extent – already members, proper, of the staff
of the school and teach classes without supervision. At the end of the
second phase, the second teacher examination (2. Staatsexamen) is taken.
This examination involves mainly practical elements and the ability to
reflect on one’s own professional practice.
Table 3. The contents of the first phase of teacher education in Germany. Example:
Gymnasiallehrer in North-Rhine-Westphalia, with History and Biology as subjects.
Biology History Educational Studies
A. General Biology I A. General History A. Education and Bildung
– Cell Biology – Ancient History – Concepts and Methods of
– Genetics – Medieval History Research in Education
– Biochemistry – Early Modern History – Theories of Education
– Modern History – Philosophy and Anthropology
B. Botanics and of Education
Michaelcrobiology B. Special Aspects
– Plant Morphology and – Social History B. Development and Learning
Evolution – Political History – Developmental Psychology
– Plant Physiology – History of – Psychology of Learning
– Microbiology Constitutions – Talent and Intelligence
C. Zoology and Human C. Theory of History C. Society and Education
Biology – Methods of History – Norms and Values
– Animal Morphology and – Methodology of History – Social Chance
Evolution – Theories of Socialization
– Animal Physiology D. Didactics of History
– Neurobiology and – Presentation and D. Educational Institutions
Ethology Reception of History – History of the System of
– Human Biology/ – Didactical Analysis of Education
Anthropology Historical Knowledge – The System of Education in
Germany
D. General Biology II – Educational Organizations
– Developmental Biology
– Ecology E. Teaching and Curriculum
– Didactics and Curriculum
E. Didactics of Biology – Planning and Organization of
– General Didactics of Teaching
Biology – Diagnosis and Evaluation of
– Special Didactics of Learning Results
Biology
40 percent 40 percent 20 percent
Supplement to Table 3. The students have the right and obligation to choose certain
elements of the curriculum for specialization. Precise and detailed curricula and study
programmes are developed by the universities. In the field of educational studies, the
curricular structure is very poor. In the curriculum for elementary school teachers, the
proportion of the studies in the main subjects is lower than for higher level teachers, and
the proportion of educational studies is higher. All student teachers have to spend three
periods of practical training (Praktika) during the university phase of their training (in
North-Rhine-Westphalia, three Praktika, each lasting for four weeks). The components of the
first examination are: two written examinations (Klausur, 4 hours) and one oral examination
in each of the two subjects, one thesis (60-80-page long) in one of the subjects chosen by
the student; and one written and one oral examination in Educational Studies.
Source: The author.
144 E. TERHART
In regard to the two main models of teacher education in Europe
(concurrent and consecutive) mentioned above, suffice it to say that, during
the first phase, teacher education in Germany is concurrent. But if the whole
process of initial teacher education (first and second phase) is examined, one
perceives a somehow consecutive structure, that is, the first university phase
is theory- and knowledge-oriented, whereas the second phase is practice-
and skills-oriented.
The first and the second phase together have to be regarded as initial
teacher education. Afterwards, the fully qualified teacher may apply for a
teaching position. The examination results of all applicants are ranked, and
then the administration places the scores according to individual rank, the
given majors, and the needs of the school districts and the schools
themselves. Up until now, however, the individual schools have had no
“voice” in this procedure.
After being appointed to a teaching position, a young teacher begins work.
After three years of practice, he or she will be assessed formally and then – if
no problems arise – will become state employees, which means he or she is
awarded tenure. If a teacher does not want promotion, he or she can
continue teaching until age 65, without being officially assessed again. So, in
most cases – especially in elementary schools – teaching is a profession
without a career.
The professional life cycle of a teacher is regarded as the third phase of
teacher education, i.e., in-service teacher education. But this author must
admit that, up to now, in Germany, the system of continuing professional
development of teachers, as it is known in other countries, has not been very
strongly developed (Terhart, 1999). Researchers and experts in the field of
teacher education constantly stress the necessity of supporting the
professional development of teachers during the first formative teaching
years, but such an induction phase does not yet exist.
This outline gives a notion of the standard procedure of teacher education
in Germany. But one has to consider an important point: Germany is a
federal state, and teacher education lies in the hands of the sixteen Länder.
There is no federal competence regarding the school system and teacher
education. Of course, each of the Länder follows the basic architecture of
teacher education as outlined above, but nevertheless, all of the sixteen
Länder have established some Land-specific peculiarities. In general,
teaching certificates are mutually accepted by all Länder, but sometimes and
in some cases, problems show up if a teacher moves from one Land to
another. (For a more detailed description of the German system of teacher
education, see Sander, 1995; Sander, 1996a; Sander, 1999b).
So one can say that the system of teacher education in Germany is highly
developed and highly expensive. To enter teacher education, candidates must
have earned the highest school-leaving certificate (the Abitur). During the first
phase, all teachers are educated in universities for, in fact, four to five years.
Then they undergo an additional practical preparation phase (two years), are
required to pass two state examinations, and, following a short period of
practice teaching, they obtain tenure. Compared to other countries, German
teachers get high monthly salaries, thirteen times a year, and receive
payment over the school vacation periods. So with regard to the traditional
aims of the different teachers’ organizations, teachers in Germany have
achieved a great deal.
4.2. Problems
The above presents the bright side of the picture; however, there are
problems.
– When fully trained German teachers take up teaching positions, they
are, relatively speaking, very old: in 1998, the average age of teachers
entering service was 31.8 years (Bellenberg, 2000).
– The first university phase is not very closely directed and oriented
towards the needs of the teaching position to be filled later on.
– The contents of the first and second phase are not really aligned with
one another; there is little chance for cumulative learning.
– The system of pre-service teacher education is very ambitious and
expensive in so far as time and money are concerned; yet, the system
of in-service teacher education (“third phase”) is very poorly
developed.
– The duration and the proportion (amount) of educational and
didactical studies vary considerably among the Länder: In Southern
Germany, a student teacher who wants to become a Gymnasiallehrer
has to devote just 5 percent of his total workload to this element of
his completed teacher education. In the western and northern
regions of Germany, a student teacher has to devote about 25
percent of his or her workload to educational studies.
– Some German universities are very large. The University of Cologne
has 45,000 students, 13,000 of whom want to become teachers. How
is it possible to organize an efficient/sensible teacher education for
13,000 students in one institution?
– The system of the different teaching qualification licenses is strongly
linked to the different school types. There is no flexibility allowing a
teacher to change to another type of school and no flexibility for the
administration to place a teacher in another school type.
Because of demographic changes, etc., the teaching profession and
teacher education periodically suffer from unemployment. That means that
more teachers are “produced” than can be integrated into employment.
(Nevertheless, during their second phase of training, all student-teachers
receive a salary). As mentioned above, the state does not impose a limit on
the number of those who want to become teachers in line with foreseeable
demand. So graduates may have problems in finding other jobs adequate to
their level of professional training. Nevertheless, they can find jobs because
their qualifications are broad (two subjects and educational studies).
146 E. TERHART
Periods of teacher oversupply/unemployment alternate with periods of
teacher shortage. This cyclical swing between a shortage and an oversupply
of trained teachers (the same applies to other academics) has been
documented for the Nineteenth and the Twentieth Centuries in Germany.
The 1970s represented a decade of great expansion of the teaching force;
therefore, a large number of young people entered teaching. In the 1980s,
new teachers had trouble finding jobs. In the 1990s, the situation gradually
changed again – and today we suffer from a lack of trained teachers in the
Berufsschule and in certain subjects (such as the sciences and
mathematics) in all schools.
Table 4. Quantitative developments in teacher education and licensing in Germany

(1965 – 1998)
Students entering Students in teacher Second Teachers Unemployed,

First teacher
Year1 teacher education education
2
teacher entering fully-trained
examination
examination service teachers
Absolute Percent3 Absolute Percent4
1965 - - - - 20,408 - - -
1970 45,890* 33.56 194,105* 29.89 25,382 - - -
1975 40,281 25.76 251,066 30.03 40,349 - - 4,068
1980 38,890** 16.42 208,005 20.16 30,452 39,329 33,698 7,390
1985 18,691** 6.79 138,317 10.35 22,883 23,204 10,438 25,012
1990 34,787 14.99 141,316 8.95 10,231 11,348 12,061 16,008
1995 36,940 16.83 217,459 11.71 26,748 15,274 14,641 14,040***
1998 29,708 12.87 205,126 11.39 28,256 22,875 16,347 25,257
1 Until 1990 West Germany; from 1995 onwards, West and East Germany.
2 Students aiming to become teachers in the first semester of this course programme.
3 In percentages of all students beginning university studies.
4 In percentages of all the enrolled students.

*1972
**First and second semesters
***West Germany
Source: The author.
Table 5. The aging of German teachers

(in percentages)
Age 1982* 1988 1993/94 1998/99
30 11 3 4 3
30-35** 24 13 9 7
35-40 19 24 15 11
40-45 17 21 24 17
45-50 9 19 19 24
50-55 7 11 19 18
55-60 6 6 8 16
60-65 2 3 2 4
* For 5 percent, no information
** Read as: from 30 up to 35, etc.
Source: The author.
The fact that today the German teacher force is over-aged is the outcome of
the cyclical swing of oversupply and lack of teachers, as shown in Table 5.
The problems inherent to the educational system are long-standing and
well-known in Germany. Up to now, the problem-solving formula has been:
an even longer professional education, more academic disciplines integrated
into the study courses, the upgrading of the teaching profession in terms of
training and salary, a more rigorous system of assessment and evaluation,
etc. This formula fits the classical modernization paradigm, which is basically
driven by the idea of “more of the same”: more and longer training, more
academic and scientific studies, more state regulations and administration,
more evaluation, more money. This pattern of “more of the same” fits the
classical concept of general modernization in industrialized societies: more
science, more administration, more rationality, more money to spend, more
social equality, more of the welfare state, etc. It is obvious that this
modernization pattern fits a “social democratic” worldview (Weltanschauung)
and has dominated the social-democratic era in European countries.
The modernization concept worked so long as there was basic optimism
concerning the advantages, the prospects, and the results of scientific
rationality, a basic optimism concerning the benefits of more education, more
administration, and more science. And most important of all, it worked as
long as there was money to spend and as long as there was a political will to
put money in education, schools, and teachers. But in the last decades, in all
highly-modernized countries, Germany included, doubts have surfaced about
the value of clinging to this classical concept of modernization, when the
money has dried up. So the often-cited “limits of growth” have become
obvious; today they are felt more and more. And they are felt not only in
relation to natural resources, but also with regard to the welfare state and its
administrative and financial capacities to ensure a constant improvement of
society and culture. There is a strong tendency to structure state policy in
the opposite direction: less time for professional training, less science and
more practical wisdom, less or leaner administration and more deregulation
and market-processes, and finally – is anyone surprised? – less money for
teacher education and teachers’ salaries.
This more neo-liberal view of modernization is often linked to certain
bottom-up movements that are critical of administrative procedures arising
from educational practice.
There is a long tradition of criticizing the state, the schools, and the
teaching profession in educational thought, especially in the different strands
of “progressive education”. However strange it may seem, “warm-hearted”
and “bottom-up”-oriented pedagogical romanticism today seems to mesh
with the “cold” ideas of neo-liberalism and constant competition, both of
which are opposed to classical modernization and its trust in the benefits of
mere growth. In the eyes of pedagogical romanticism and neo-liberalism, the
adherents of the classical modernization paradigm are traditionalists who
are only interested in maintaining structures from which they themselves
benefit.
148 E. TERHART
Thus, in Germany, a situation exists whereby the system of teacher
education is developed at a very high level, and at the same time, doubts are
growing – especially if the results of the large-scale assessments (TIMSS,
PISA, etc.) are taken into account. An intensive search is underway for new
ways in teacher education to overcome current deficits. But before outlining
and discussing these new ways, it is necessary to focus on a certain general
problem in the discussion of teacher education policies: the aims, the role,
and the functions of the university and of academic knowledge in teacher
education.
4.3. Benefits and Difficulties of Academic Teacher Education

Looking back on the past, teachers for the higher levels and tracks of the
German school system (Gymnasia leading to the final Abitur examination)
have always been educated in universities. Prior to 1970, teachers for
elementary schools and for the lower tracks of secondary schools never
received university training. They were trained in teachers colleges, and even
before that, during the Nineteenth Century through 1925, in teachers
seminaries. During the Twentieth Century, the “lower” teachers began to
receive an increasingly academic type of education and training, whereas the
“higher” teachers retained their traditionally high academic standing and
additionally received instruction in pedagogy and didactics. Looking at these
developments, it is obvious that the different types of initial teacher
education have been integrated and attached to university courses.
What is the special role and function of the university in this first phase of
teacher education? What are the benefits, and what are the problems?
BENEFITS OF UNIVERSITY TEACHER EDUCATION

If teachers are to carry out their professional duties in a non-standardized,
non-mechanical, i.e., in a professional manner, a thorough and solid
academic education in their subjects and in didactics is necessary. Teacher
education geared to producing a reflective practitioner – as D. Schön (1983)
put it – is especially necessary if teachers are to be capable and competent to
meet new challenges: continuous professional development of the teachers,
organizational development of their schools, continuous self-evaluation and
assessment, integrating new information technologies and media into
teaching, supporting self-regulated learning of their students, etc.
If we want our teachers to develop these competencies, their professional
education and training must have a basis in scientific knowledge. Much
research has been carried out with respect to the professional knowledge and
development of teachers. It has often been stressed that the professional
knowledge of teachers is personal knowledge, that is, it is not simply the
adoption and application of scientific research knowledge in the field of
instruction, learning, and curriculum. Certainly, a teacher’s professional
knowledge is personal knowledge – but that does not mean that scientific
knowledge is not necessary in teacher education. Academic knowledge in the
subject areas, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of learning and
teaching processes, classroom management, diagnosis of learning problems,
evaluation of learning results, etc., represent the necessary background for
becoming a competent and professional kind of teacher. The university has
the opportunity and the obligation to supply teachers with this kind of
background knowledge.
Of course, it would be possible to organize teacher education in a different
way. In fact it would be possible to completely abolish the system of teacher
education as it currently exists. The minimal model of teacher education is
the following. An experienced teacher takes one or two bright students as
apprentices of a sort, and the young and inexperienced learn by imitation
and by doing exactly those things that their master already does. This model
of teacher education would lead to a stable, inflexible, and tradition-oriented
teaching style. To repeat: This strictly school-based teacher training would be
possible, but the result would not fit the challenges of teaching and of
teachers in the Twenty-First Century.
A sound and thorough academic education by means of course
programmes in universities impart to future teachers the necessary
scientific/academic information, with the competencies to reflect on their own
actions and with the capacity to think critically. A close connection to
educational research, to research on learning and teaching can be
established at universities, and through this link, the entrance of newly
trained teachers can introduce innovations into existing classroom cultures.
DIFFICULTIES OF UNIVERSITY TEACHER EDUCATION

In Germany, the universities have accepted their obligation to educate future
teachers in their teaching subjects (Geography, Literature, Mathematics,
etc.). However, there remain serious problems in terms of pedagogical
content, in education, and in didactics. In these fields, the curriculum of
teacher education is rather thin and lacks a clear structure. Among other
reasons, this situation arises because educational research and research on
teaching in Germany are fairly new university disciplines that still need to
struggle for acceptance.
So the problem is that in many German universities teacher education is
regarded as some kind of additional burden, a duty not genuinely embedded
into the culture of the institution. On the other hand, many faculties,
especially in the humanities, only exist because of teacher education. In
other words: these faculties need to have a large number of enrolled student
teachers. They need them; they accept them; but then they fail to support
them.
This problem can only be solved by comparative evaluation procedures
meaning that in Germany, every state should evaluate the quality of
university teacher education over several years. If a university or a faculty
constantly fails to fulfill its obligations, teacher education should be
withdrawn from it.
150 E. TERHART
To sum up: universities cannot and should not try to prepare, in a direct
and instrumental sense, or provide practical teacher competency, but they
can and must develop the knowledge and ability to discern and to reflect
upon the basic elements of later professional competency. For teacher
education to be in line with the modern concept of professionalization, the
intellectual and reflective backing of teacher competency is crucial: Teaching
is not just a craft or a technique, but a profession combining knowledge,
reflection, commitment, and practical competencies (Terhart, 1998). To
establish this mixed competence, it is necessary for the instruction in
professional practice to offer the opportunity to stand slightly aloof from the
demands of practical requirements. Distance is a presupposition for
reflection; on the other hand, reflection has to be re-integrated into practical
experience to lead to reflective action. The relationship of reflection and
action, of theory and practice, can be imagined in the shape of a spiral
leading to higher forms of reflection and practical competence (Korthagen
and Kessels, 1999).
4.4. Current Policies for Reforming Teacher Education

In recent years, all the long-recognized problems of teacher education have
led to a new and intense debate about reforms and new models. The
expansion of the debate originated in educational considerations concerning
teacher quality, but in the view of this author, it is primarily linked to certain
general themes and issues, changes and initiatives not especially nor
originally related to teachers and teacher education:
– Teachers and teacher education belong to the public sector controlled
by state bodies. In Germany, as everywhere in the highly industrialized
world, the size and efficiency of state services are topics of discussion.
Teacher education is only one example or one element in the general
debate about the future of state services.
– The financial crisis of the welfare state has led to an intense search for
ways to save money, to reduce expenses, and to get rid of those things
the value and importance of which have not been clearly proven.
Teacher education is one of these things, because the effects of teacher
education are difficult to evaluate and only appear many years after the
fact.
– Germany suffers from the fact that academically educated people are
much too old when entering their first employment. When they obtain
their Abitur, they are nearly 20 years old, and when they leave the
university, they are about 25-28. Compared to other countries, this
period of education lasts much too long. Especially in teacher
education, with its two phases, this issue is even more serious.
These general problems and issues lead to ideas of an institutional
degradation or the downsizing of teacher education, often wrapped in a
vocabulary of robust, school-based models, with clear orientation towards
practice. In Germany, a spectrum of several proposals exists, starting from
the idea that the general framework should be maintained, yet its inner
parts, completely innovated, to the opposite idea that formal teacher
education should be abolished altogether.
5. THE MAINSTREAM: KEEPING THE CURRENT INSTITUTIONAL

FRAMEWORK AND IMPROVING ALL ITS ELEMENTS
One important result of the currently intense debate on university teacher
education is that some of the institutions have begun to react. The Standing
Conference of German University Rectors (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz, HRK
1998/2000) published a paper stressing the important roles of teacher
education in universities and of universities in teacher education. It has made
some concrete suggestions for improvement. The Standing Conference of all the
Ministries of Education in the sixteen Länder (Kultusministerkonferenz, KMK)
published its Perspectives of Teacher Education in Germany and the role of
the university. This report stressed the necessity to develop university
teacher education further (Terhart, 2000). Several concrete and pragmatic
suggestions were developed and met the agreement of all sixteen Länder. The
KMK pointed to the following reforms as being urgently necessary:
5.1. The University Phase

– development of a core curriculum for the subject, the subject-didactics,
and the educational studies; ending of the collection-type of curriculum
in teacher education;
– enlargement of the position of subject-didactics (Fachdidaktiken) in
research and in teaching (professors for Fachdidaktik); Fachdidaktiken
have to be developed into interfaces of subject-centered and education-
centered elements of teacher education;
– establishment of Centers for Teacher Education and School Research to
give teacher education an institutional base in universities.
5.2. The Preparatory Phase

– better qualification of the teaching and training staffs in institutions of
preparatory service;
– better correlation of the curriculum of the first and the second phase;
encouragement of staff exchanges;
– greater degree of self-organized learning during this preparatory
service.
5.3. Professional Development: In-Service Teacher Training

– establishment of a special teacher induction phase at the beginning of
full service; further (training) courses to improve staff development, to
enrich teacher qualifications;
152 E. TERHART
– development of a coordinated plan for in-service teacher training by the
schools;
– integration of certain elements of performance-related salary and other
incentives.
In several Länder and in several universities, efforts are being made in
different ways to develop the following: core curricula for teacher education,
Centers for Teacher Education and School Research, a better coordination
between the first and the second phases, new ways to examine student
teachers and to build up an induction phase to integrate them into school life
(for Hamburg, see Keuffer and Oelkers, 2001). So, in fact, there is a clear will
to react in a constructive way to criticisms of university teacher education. It
is to be hoped that these efforts will be more than simply a flash in the pan
but will sustain themselves and lead to better results.
5.4. Adopting the Anglo-American Model of Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in

Teacher Education
The very long period of university study in Germany has given birth to a
debate about reconstructing courses and adapting them to the Bachelor’s-
Master’s system well known in the Anglo-Saxon world – an idea that was, of
course, supported by the Bologna-Declaration of the European Ministers of
Higher Education. The Bologna-Process may lead to a complete revolution in
the German University system. If this course-structure is adopted, the
current teacher education system with its two phases and two state-
examinations will no longer fit. The tendency to adopt the Bachelor’s-
Master’s structure is strong and has already been achieved in several places.
This change will necessitate the development of a new structure of teacher
education.
A solution to the problem has not yet been found. When the Bachelor’s-
Master’s Degrees structure has been adopted by German higher education
and the system of teacher education has been adapted to this structure, the
German system of teacher education, which as of now reflects a concurrent
model, will have changed to a consecutive model (EURYDICE/ EUROSTAT
2000, p. 4). Such a consecutive model of teacher education was recently
recommended by the German Science Council (Wissenschaftsrat, 2001).
5.5. Transferring University Elementary School Teacher Education to

Fachhochschulen (Colleges of Higher Education, Colleges for Specific Fields)
In general, the number of students attending Fachhochschulen as a
proportion of that of the total number of students enrolled in higher
education (Fachhochschulen and universities) is growing. Policy makers are
striving to enlarge this proportion. The Fachhochschulen themselves are
seeking opportunities to “take over” study programmes from the universities.
They now call themselves “Universities of Applied Science”. And as the
classical universities are having major problems in organizing teacher
education and training, especially of elementary school teachers, the
Fachhochschulen want to add this part of teacher education to their course
programmes. A Fachhochschule course programme only requires three years,
and the courses are strictly directed towards occupational competencies.
Staff members of Fachhochschulen are paid a lower salary than the staff at
universities, and the career opportunities and salaries of Fachhochschulen
students are not as high as are those of university graduates.
So, the shifting of teacher education to technical colleges would make it
shorter, cheaper, and strictly oriented towards practical goals. A second
phase of teacher education would no longer be necessary.
5.6. Reducing the Time/Costs of the Second, Preparatory Phase of Teacher

Education
During the two-year second phase of education, future teachers are
remunerated for their work, even though it is possible that in some periods
only 30 to 60 percent or even fewer will obtain teaching positions. This
dilemma has led to the idea of shortening the two-year phase to one year-
and-a-half and concentrating it on practice-oriented training. Doing so would
reduce the costs and shorten the total time of teacher education.
5.7. Concentrating Teacher Education on the Second, Preparatory Phase in

Schools
Certain experts suggest that teacher education should not be a part of
university studies but should be embarked on only after completion of a
degree course. On the basis of their university degrees, those wishing to
pursue a teaching career should apply to the institutions of the former
second phase, which, in fact, at that time, would represent the only phase of
teacher education. These institutions would enroll candidates according to
the foreseeable demands of teacher recruitment. This model of teacher
education, coming after the completion of university studies, would help
reduce the periodic unemployment of those who have just acquired their full
teaching qualifications, as the numbers of enrollments could be linked to
demand. But this model would also mean that the teaching qualification
would not be a qualification in its own right, but merely an additional and
supplementary qualification entitling one to enroll in courses, which would
not be oriented, for the very start, toward a teaching qualification. The
schools themselves would take over the pedagogical and didactical aspects of
teacher education.
5.8. Abolishing Teacher Education

Having shifted the pedagogical and didactic aspects of teacher education to
the schools, the next and last step would be to abolish formal university-
based teacher education altogether.
154 E. TERHART
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Except for the above-mentioned mainstream suggestions of the KMK to
achieve improvements step by step and within the university system, all other
proposals have two aspects in common: (i) They call for reducing or
narrowing the current level of teacher education in regard to time, costs,
status, and payments; (ii) All the proposals actually lead to a reduction of the
academic or intellectual basis of teacher education in favour of a stricter,
school-based orientation towards the practical needs of teaching. These
proposals and possible developments fit the so-called “Minimum-Competency
Model of Teacher Education” that Buchberger et al. (2000, p. 20 f.) cite in
their “Green Paper on Teacher Education in Europe”. In their view, the
“Minimum-Models” have the following central elements:
– a shorter duration of professional studies;
– a focus on (short) periods of practical training in schools
(“apprenticeships”);
– a disregard of or low priority for educational theory and educational
research;
– a disregard of scientific knowledge in the academic disciplines (subjects);
– a conception of teachers as “doers”, as executors of externally
prescribed tasks and instructional formats.
So the current debate on teacher education policies is characterized by
conflicting concepts on modernization in education. After some decades of
continuous growth and upgrading, the voices claiming a reduction of state
expenditure on education, schooling in general, and especially on teacher
education, have become increasingly strident. This author is convinced that,
on one hand, the current high standard of teacher education in Germany
must be conserved, but, on the other hand, he is persuaded that teacher
education in Germany urgently needs to make a great effort, involving all
parts and elements of its current institutional framework, in favour of greater
reflection aimed at the professional competence of teachers. Maintaining the
current institutional framework only makes sense in combination with
constant efforts to improve. Regarding universities as places for teacher
education, it is necessary to add that this goal remains possible only if
universities take their obligations to the field more seriously and perform
them at a higher standard than they do today.
Currently, and over the next few years, there will be a good chance to
develop university teacher education in Germany. It could be the last chance.
If institutions of teacher education in all phases fail to take this chance and
do not find practical ways to improve, the fundamental restructuring and
replacement of teacher education – which will then inevitably occur as
downsizing and as de-academization – might be the logical reaction.
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VIII. Changing Approaches to Teacher Training in
Hungary
PÉTER DEBRECZENI
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Historical Background
The institutional forms of teacher training in Hungary originated in the
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Queen Maria Theresa of the Habsburg
Monarchy set up the first institutions following signature of Ratio Educationis
(1777). The order introduced a unified system of education and teaching into
the Hungarian Kingdom; also, new institutes for teacher training were
opened: the so-called Norma School (or “Standard” School in English). The
first such institutes were opened in Vienna (1771), then in Pozsony
(Bratislava) in 1775, Buda (Budapest), Nagyvárad (Oradea) in 1777, and
finally Kassa (Kosice), Besztercebánya (Banska Bistrica) Pécs, and Gyor
(Raab) in 1778. However, these schools only trained teachers of the Roman
Catholic confession. The Protestant churches rejected every form of
centralization in regard to teaching and learning.
1.2. Centralization – Decentralization

The traditions of the Hungarian education system include both centralization
and decentralization. In secondary education, as in other countries, the
Protestant tradition can be characterized as one of decentralization, while the
Roman Catholic tradition, one of centralization. Since Hungary came under
the influence of Habsburg Catholicism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries, the tradition of centralization became strongest. However, the
then decentralized model of municipal control influenced the development of
elementary education – in the second half of the Nineteenth Century. Later,
partly owing to conflicts with the national minorities and partly to the
demands of modernization, state control became stronger in this field, too.
From the 1930s onward, strong state control dominated. It was further
strengthened by communist rule after the Second World War. An integrated
educational system was created in the 1950s with the introduction of Soviet-
style public administration. From the 1960s onward, one step towards
decentralization followed the other. Therefore, the decentralization of today is
the result of a long development and cannot simply be attributed to the
political transformation that started after 1989 (Balázs et al., 1998).
In 1806, a second Ratio Educationis was enacted by Emperor Francis II,
who wanted to introduce a unified education and teaching system across the
158 P. DEBRECZENI
entire Habsburg Empire. This time again the law was compulsory only for
Catholics. However, the Protestants, denying centralization in education, also
harmonized their teacher training by producing a document called Ratio
Institutionis in Debrecen, at the Reformed Church College, in 1807. Within
this framework, first in 1796, in Sárospatak, the nomination of pedagogarcha
were introduced into the reformed colleges. The pedagogarcha played the role
of supervisors for would-be-teacher students. In addition, a special
examination was introduced on ars paedagogica.
The first independent Hungarian Institute of Catholic Teacher Training for
the Roman Catholic Church was set up in 1828 in Eger.
University-level teacher training dates back to 1814, when the first
independent Department of Pedagogy was opened at the University of Pest.
Within this department, teaching concentrated on paedagogia sublimator, or
theoretical pedagogy, vis-á-vis the very practical training and teaching
practice of the Norma Schools.
In 1828, the first “Infant School” opened (later on called a kindergarten)
on the initiative of Brunszvik Teréz, who was very much influenced by the
writings of Wilderspin and Pestalozzi. This foundation and later such
institutes were actually schools, and not kindergartens.
The main reason for the setting up of such schools was the beginning of
industrialization in Hungary, the consequence of which was that a number of
the children of workers were remaining unsupervised during working hours.
Infant education (pre-school education) became part of general education in
1891, when Law No. 15 was passed by the Hungarian Parliament. This law
also specified the setting up of special training schools for infant school
teachers. These schools were the current secondary institutions. The training
lasted for two years, followed by special aptitude training.
For the first time, in 1848, Eötvös József, the Minister of Culture and
Religion, worked out the concept of special and independent educational
institutes for secondary school teachers. Owing to certain historical events,
this concept became a reality only after 1870, when an independent Institute
of Pedagogy opened its doors at the University of Pest, alongside the Faculty
of Arts of the University. In this institute, five main subjects were taught:
classical studies (languages, literature), history and geography, calculus and
natural philosophy (mathematics and physics), natural history, and
pedagogy. The second such institute was opened in 1873 at the University of
Kolozsvár (currently, the “Babes-Bolyai” University, in Cluj-Napoca,
Romania).
At the beginning of the Twentieth Century and between the two World
Wars, the university education and training of secondary school teachers
took place in faculties of arts, based on the consecutive model. Thus, after
students had completed their studies in the liberal arts, they attended
courses offered by Departments/Institutes of education. Pre-school teacher
training as well as primary and lower secondary teacher training were offered
in dedicated institutes.
CHANGING APPROACHES IN HUNGARY 159
After the Second World War and especially as of 1950, Hungary
experienced an acute need for qualified teachers. Thus, separate institutes
were opened for upper secondary school teacher training, and the
universities introduced the concurrent model, especially at faculties of
sciences. In 1959 in much of Europe, the training of primary school teachers
was extended from three-year to four-year studies. In Hungary, however, this
change was rejected because of a different concept favoured by the Ministry
of Education (in 1984, the Ministry of Culture and Education). In Hungary,
the concept of unified, university-level teacher training for all school levels
was debated for a long period; however, its implementation only began in the
1990s.
2. THE PRESENT SITUATION OF TEACHER EDUCATION WITHIN THE

NATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM
The present system of teacher education and training came into being at the
end of the Nineteenth Century and at the beginning of the Twentieth
Century. Currently, there are five major types of teacher education
institutions in Hungary:
– colleges for pre-school teachers (3 years);
– colleges for primary school teachers (4 years);
– teacher education colleges for general school subject teachers
(4 years);
– colleges of special education (4 years);
– university faculties of the humanities and the natural sciences
(5 years).
Vocational teachers are trained at a variety of other colleges and
universities, too, and, there are separate institutions for the training of
teachers of physical education. Until the end of 2000, out of the 102 higher
education institutions of Hungary, 53 were engaged in some sort of teacher
education. (The impact of the merging of higher education institutions on
teacher education, as of 2001, is discussed below.)
The professional and practical training of teachers is provided either at the
same time as their general course programmes (the concurrent model) or
comes later, for instance, at post-graduate level (the consecutive model). In
Hungary, usually the consecutive model is followed for pre-school, primary
school, and lower secondary school teachers, and the concurrent model, for
secondary school teachers. However, it is very difficult to say that this
pattern is the only one, because there are some exceptions, and it is better to
say that Hungarian teacher education is characterized by a mixture of
models. At the faculties of arts, teacher training is more or less consecutive
rather than concurrent, a principle that also holds true for technical subject
teachers. Natural sciences teacher training operates according to the
concurrent model for the theoretical training. The practical work is mainly
consecutive.
160 P. DEBRECZENI
2.1. Admission
At the beginning of the 1990s, enrollments in teacher education greatly
increased, but, all in all, the rate remained below that of the increase in the
whole of higher education. After 1994, however, the expansion of teacher
education slowed somehow. It was probably in 1995 that students entering
higher education began to sense that public education could no longer offer
job security and acceptable levels of income as it had in earlier times. Within
the totality of teacher education, expansion was more obvious in the
university sector than in the college sector. In later years, even the latter
began to experience declining enrollments (See Figure 1).
Figure 1. Changes in admission numbers in higher educational institutions where

teacher education is also carried out, 1988-97 (1988 =100%)
700
600
500
university faculties of humanities
400 university faculties of natural

sciences
colleges for lower secondary subject
teachers
300
colleges for primary school and
kindergarten teachers
200
100
0
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
In addition to full-time teacher education, the proportion of part-time

teacher education (correspondence and evening courses) is also significant.
According to a teacher survey of 1997, about one-quarter of the teachers
active today obtained their qualifications in part-time teacher education. At
the end of the 1980s, almost half of all part-time students were enrolled in
teacher education. That this proportion is diminishing is indicative of a
favourable trend in the quality of training. However, in absolute numbers,
there are more part-time students nowadays than previously.
One of the reasons for the expansion of teacher education, since the
change in political regime, is the widening of educational choices. In teacher
education, for example, training is also offered by private institutions, and
the role of Church-supported institutions has also risen. Roman Catholic
and Protestant teacher education is offered at university level. Roman
Catholic general school subject teacher education is offered at college level,
and primary school teacher education is offered both in Roman Catholic and
in Protestant colleges.
This expansion, however, is in an obvious contradiction with the
narrowing possibilities of finding teaching jobs. Those involved in teacher
education (lecturers and students) and the administrators of the national
educational policy most probably sense this paradox. Yet, higher education,
and especially teacher education, in Hungary are more and more viewed, at
least from one point of view, as a means of addressing youth unemployment.
One can also explain the interest of students in teacher training studies,
in the Hungarian higher education system, from another point of view.
Teacher training is viewed as a replacement for liberal arts studies. However
costly in the short run, such studies may provide a return in the long run,
for on the labour market, a graduate holding a teacher training diploma can
find a job, fairly easily, in a wide variety of fields.
2.2. In-Service Training

The changes that have occurred in the field of education have challenged the
system of in-service teacher training the most. As opposed to initial teacher
education, which enjoys a high degree of autonomy, is more bound by
traditions, and lasts longer, in-service training can respond more rapidly to
changing expectations. For this reason, it is in this field that educational
managers have initiated most of the institutional changes aimed at improving
the efficiency of education. Also, attention has been directed to the need to
retrain those already in service, dictated by the narrowing of the “market” for
teachers. Also, the business sector (including foreign companies and
institutions) as well as other interests are very interested in the possibilities of
in-service teaching.
Before the change in the political regime, in-service teacher training was
basically carried out under the aegis of the county pedagogical institutes, the
network of which has been able to adjust fairly easily to the new, service-type
expectations that have arisen since then. The in-service training possibilities
offered by the teacher education institutions has expanded, and new agents
(professional organizations, foundations, and private companies) have
appeared, with their offers, on an in-service training market. The churches
too have also started taking part in in-service training by training the
teachers of their own institutions.
On the demand side, the expansion of this sphere has been fueled by the
needs arising from the transformation of the public education system. New
needs have arisen owing to the tasks related to the implementation of the
national core curriculum. Local curricula and pedagogical programmes have
had to be developed, and new subjects have had to be introduced. There has
162 P. DEBRECZENI
been a general demand to revise methodologies, and teachers have had to
adopt new roles. Furthermore, teachers have had to develop competencies
that either they did not have or did not need to use in the past, for instance,
capacities for conflict resolution, effective communication, dealing more
effectively with disadvantaged pupils, and nurturing of talents. And new
competencies are now required for curriculum development, examination
expertise, institutional assessment, and new tasks of school management.
2.3. Working Conditions and Social Esteem

Salaries constitute only one aspect of the working conditions of teachers;
there are other factors as well. Special attention has to be paid to the changes
taking place in the composition of the student body. The demographic and
social changes of recent years have had a great impact on pupils, one that will
continue into the foreseeable future. The children who go to school today are
not the same as those who went to school in the past. It is a well-known
phenomenon, in Hungary, as well as in the most developed countries, that the
number of families that do not have small children is growing; therefore, an
ever-growing proportion of pupils is arriving from an ever-narrowing societal
sphere. There are twice as many families of Rroma (Gypsy) ethnicity raising
school-age children than in the rest of the population, and this rate is
growing. The number of large families with many children is also growing. The
number of children coming from families with the lowest incomes is on the
rise, too. So teachers, for the past few years, have had to face the fact that
some of the children they teach are becoming poorer. These changes not only
affect the internal lives of schools as well as the teaching environment, but
also the working conditions of teachers.
An important condition of the teaching profession is the social esteem that
teachers and their work enjoy and the self-esteem of teachers. Prestige
studies have shown that Hungarian society makes distinctions among the
various groups of teachers. The teaching profession as a whole tends to be
held in low esteem. It has also been found that there is an extremely wide
gap between the financial rewards and the esteem granted to the profession.
In a survey of the adult population of Hungary, carried out in December
1996, secondary school teachers ranked sixth; general school teachers ranked
seventh; and kindergarten teachers ranked tenth out of eleven professional
categories in terms of societal esteem. As far as financial rewards are
concerned, teachers are in an even worse situation. Secondary school
teachers ranked seventh out of eleven professional categories. The gap
between social esteem and financial rewards for given professions is greatest
in the case of teachers. It is they who are perceived, by the general public, as
being most underpaid, as shown in Figure 2. Teachers themselves rank their
profession even lower than the rest of the population does. They rank the
profession of priest above the profession of secondary school teacher, which
has the highest level of esteem within the teaching profession.
Figure 2. Public opinion split on the societal esteem and financial rewards of
various professions (differences in rank positions), 1996
lawyer 1.36
priest 1.32
journalist
1.28
economist
1.16
mechanical engineer 0.92

pharmacist -0.16
doctor (general practitioner) -0.2
librarian -0.32
secondary school teacher
-0.76
kindergarten teacher -0.84
primary and lower secondary -1

school teacher
rank position
The vision that teachers have of their future seems to be influenced by

three determining factors: sex, age, and the extent to which they like their
profession. (The latter factor is strongly correlated by sex: 90.5 percent of
women teachers love their profession as compared to 82.7 percent of the men
teachers). While 73.4 percent of men teachers think that they will continue
teaching at their current school, 77.4 percent of women teachers think that
this will be the case for them. Men and women vary in the way they envisage
the future in their schools. Every tenth teacher believes that he or she may
become a school head within five years. Among the youngest teachers, the
proportion of those who think that they may become a school head is
extremely low. Only 1 percent of teachers are afraid of becoming unemployed
(slightly more in Budapest and slightly less in the villages), and only 7.8
percent of the teachers plan to abandon their teaching careers.
The life strategies of those who are considering leaving their current
schools vary according to their sex. Women would rather stay in education
(they think of another school or of another position within education), while
the men in this group consider leaving the teaching career for good. The
option of leaving the current school or the career fades – in direct proportion
– with advancing age.
It is well known that the work of teachers is not limited to lesson
preparation and delivery. According to the same teacher survey that is
quoted below, in addition to teaching activities, 33.8 percent of teachers take
part in the development of their local evaluation systems, and 33.1 percent
take part in the preparation of the local curricula and pedagogical
programmes. Some 16.4 percent of teachers belong to a professional
164 P. DEBRECZENI
organization; 14.6 percent give presentations on a regular basis; 7 percent
work as educational consultants or experts; 6.9 percent publish their work;
4.3 percent are listed in the register of examiners; and 3.2 percent are listed
in the experts register. Taking or not taking part in these professional
activities is basically determined by the age of the teacher involved. For
example, 38.4 percent of the 40 to 49-year-old teachers and 37.4 percent of
the 50 to 59-year-old teachers participate in the preparation of the local
curriculum, while only 19.1 percent of teachers in their twenties do so.
2.4. Teacher Training and the Prevailing Educational Doctrines (1850–2000)

To better understand the present situation, an introduction to the history of
teacher training in Hungary is helpful, at least in regard to the period when
the institutionalized form of training became more or less widespread. One
can distinguish three main lines with at least nine well defined paradigms
(listed below) according to the following goals of education (Ballér, 1994):
i) Education should ensure a solid national knowledge and cultural base,
based on democratic and humanistic values (i, iii, v, ix);
ii) Education should transfer Christian and national values to lay a
cultural basis (ii, iv);
iii) Education should ensure [the provision of] communist (and later
socialist) values (vi, vii).
The “fourth” line, a kind of in-between, is called the “curriculum theory”,
and means innovation, diversification in schooling, differentiation in
curriculum, independence at school level, general human values,
competence-based learning (viii).
The nine paradigms may be specified as follows (the dates are
approximate and are related to the appearance of an ideology or legal text
regulating education or historical events):
i) (1850-1905): children, at the center of interest, their mental and
physical development; educators to concern themselves only
secondarily with the subject matter;
ii) (1879–1900): national public knowledge, historicism, development
and organization of curricula (Herbartism);
iii) (1900–1930): (paedologics);
iv) (1918–1945): selection and organization of curricula based on values
of general humanism, nationalism, “neo-nationalism”, and
Christianity;
v) (1945–1950): unified basic knowledge based on the values of
humanism and democracy;
vi) (1950–1961): tabula rasa education based on communist ideology;
vii) (1961–1972): humanized socialism under the slogans: “existing
socialism” and “building socialism”: education based on a scientific
world view and the scientific construction of society;
viii) (1972–1985): “curriculum theory” based on national traditions;
ix) (1980–today): “bipolar: core curriculum versus local (school-based)
curriculum” (actually, it is a new development in curriculum theory).
The schema below represents the interrelations and historical places of
these paradigms:
ii iv vi vii
iii viii
i v ix
1875 1900 1930 1945 1948 1950 1960 1970 1980
3. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM

The basic characteristics of the current administration of the Hungarian
system of public education can be summarized as follows (Balázs, 1998):
i. Public educational administration is highly decentralized, and the
responsibilities are shared among several actors;
ii. Horizontally, the responsibility at national level is shared between the
ministry directly responsible for education and certain other
ministries;
iii. Vertically, the responsibility is shared among the central (national),
the regional, the local, and the institutional levels, that is, there are
four administrative levels;
iv. At the local and institutional levels, the administration of education is
integrated into the general system of public administration; that is,
there is no organizationally separate educational administration;
v. At the local and the regional levels, public administration (and
educational administration within it) is based on the system of self-
government, that is, it is under the control of politically autonomous,
elected bodies. The central government cannot issue direct orders to
the local governments;
vi. The role of the regional level is quite weak, while the scope of
responsibilities at the local level is very wide;
vii. The number of the local authorities (local governments) is very high,
while their average size is small.
It is important to emphasize that the decentralized character of public
educational administration in Hungary is the result of a long development.
Although the basic features of the present system of shared responsibilities
166 P. DEBRECZENI
came into effect after 1990, many of its precedents go far back in time. The
main stages of this development are outlined below.
3.1. Main Stages of Integration and Decentralization in Hungarian Education

after the Second World War
– In the 1950s, with the introduction of the so-called council system, the
administration of education – as in the other countries of the Soviet
bloc – was integrated into the general system of public administration.
– At the end of the 1960s, the so-called double subordination of the local
and regional units of educational administration was abolished. From
that time on, the higher levels could no longer issue directives directly
to the lower levels.
– At the end of the 1960s, a unified system of regional infrastructure
planning was introduced, which incorporated educational planning as
well.
– At the beginning of the 1970s, the so-called Council Act empowered the
councils with greater general autonomy and also gave them wider
responsibilities in the maintenance of schools.
– In the mid-1970s, the administration of all of secondary vocational
training was devolved from the national to the regional level, and by the
end of the decade, the process went further and reached the municipal
councils.
– At the beginning of the 1980s, the council units responsible for
educational administration merged with units responsible for other
fields (e.g., health care, social affairs).
– In the mid-1980s (following the 1985 Act on Public Education),
educational inspection was separated from public administration and
reorganized as a service; at the same time, school autonomy was
largely extended.
In Hungary, as in all the countries of Europe, significant changes took
place after 1990. The most important of these changes are summarized
below:
– In 1989, the former incorporation of the local and central budgets was
abandoned; State support of local councils was now to be based on a
normative system, and the local governments had to raise their own
revenues.
– In 1990, the former local councils were replaced by the politically
autonomous local governments, which became administrators of the
previously state-owned schools.
– In 1992, teachers came under the purview of the Act on Public
Employees, and since then, their minimum salaries have been
determined as per the national salary grid.
– In 1993, the Act on Public Education endowed the local authorities
with wide-ranging powers. It thus annulled the tight centralized
curricular regulations.
It is important to add that, owing to changes in the socio-economic setting
and to rapid and thorough changes within the education system itself
(similar to those in the other countries in the region), the administration of
Hungarian public education can be characterized as having a transitory
nature.

Training for the teaching profession is gradually being permeated by the
concept of learning as a lifelong process. This concept is a permeating notion
in the main tier of training, in-service trainee instruction, and teacher
training programmes. Indications of this tendency may be observed in the
various educational systems and in everyday practice, but today’s reality is
better characterized by the institutional, organizational, and theoretical
differences between training and in-service training centers, and by the lack
of an in-service introduction for novice teachers entering the profession.
Changes in the numbers of teacher trainees are largely determined by the
processes which are taking place in higher education. The most striking
process is the dynamic increase of student numbers since the 1990s. From
1980 to 1995, the numbers of students enrolled in higher education, full
time, doubled. The number tripled toward the end of the decade. Although
the increase has been steady as of 1996, demographic decline will slowly
freeze the extensive development of the higher education system.
The decrease in the numbers of students leaving secondary school has
gone hand in hand with the drop in the numbers of students entering
teacher training, but the scale of the latter has been far greater. In 1995,
41.5 percent of all students applying for admission to higher education
institutions intended to continue their studies in the field of teacher training,
but the rate had dropped to 32.7 percent by 1999. The rate of full-time
students entering teacher training therefore declined from 35 percent in the
early 1990s, to 26 percent during the 1999-2000 school year. This rate is
high compared to international standards, but also high in comparison with
the labour force needs in Hungarian public education. The number of
graduating students is always around 15,000, which is three times the
number of vacancies in the public education system. The problem of
oversupply in teacher training has not yet caused problems that cannot be
controlled, since several professional fields are absorbing qualified teachers
to replace a retiring labour force, and because a proportion of applicants only
takes teacher training studies, out of obligation, in addition to their chosen
majors.
The most influential changes in teacher training in the 1990s were
brought about by the 1994 government regulation that dealt with nursery
168 P. DEBRECZENI
school and primary school teacher training and the 1997 regulation
regarding the uniformity of teaching qualifications. The former increased the
length of nursery school cohort teacher training to three years, and primary
school teacher training to four years, and at the same time extended the
training competencies of teacher training colleges by adding the first two
years of upper primary school to their fields of operation. The preparation
period for the introduction of the new training system gave rise to significant
changes in the content of nursery school and primary school training.
Teacher training colleges also initiated content-development, and the
integration into higher education had a powerful effect on professional
(pedagogical, psychological, and methodological) training.
In the 1990s, lesson plans began to include an increasing number of skill-
development activities and tasks; i.e., the intention to develop the pedagogical
and personal skills of teachers was strengthened. Several institutions
implemented social, educational, and applied psychology programmes, as
well as special needs training. The same pursuit may be observed in
pedagogy, as indicated by subjects such as educational and pedagogical-
sociology, school pedagogy, special needs pedagogy, and education
management.
Within the Hungarian institutional system of teacher training, the
fundamental concern is training qualified teachers (nursery school, primary
school, and secondary school teachers), which means that organizational
frameworks are more or less functional, fixed, and very similar to each other
in all institutional types. At the university level, there are other possible
fundamental goals; therefore, the educational role which the institution
decides to take may be influential in the development of its internal
organizational structure. As a result of the institutional integration ordained
by the amendment made to the Higher Education Act in 1999, several
colleges and universities will probably re-structure their teacher training
programmes, a few of them even developing them into teacher training
faculties.
5. IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING

Today, instead of in-service teacher training, one often speaks of “teacher
professional development” and, in addition to traditional training modes,
other training methods have appeared, such as training courses and school-
based personnel or staff-development training. In the domain of in-service
training, the greatest change in the 1990s was brought about by the 1996
Amendment to the Public Education Act of 1993 and the corresponding
regulations which required teachers to take part regularly in training
programmes, at least on a seven-year basis. It also required teachers to pass
the postgraduate examination, introduced along with the regulation, if they
were to continue to be teachers (within set time limits). The legislation also
laid down the financial conditions of the training system. Contrary to earlier
practice, state funds for in-service training were directed to the schools,
instead of to the institutions offering the programmes. By drawing up five-
year in-service training programmes, institutions of public education assert
their institutional interests with respect to their pedagogical curricula.
Applications for admission to the scheduled training programmes should
be based on the personal interests of teachers and their individual
professional ideas, and are annually acknowledged. As a part of the system,
two bodies have been set up by the regulation. One is a permanent “sister
committee” of the National Public Education Council (OKNT), called the
National Pedagogical In-Service Training and Accreditation Committee (PAB),
which deals with the rating of teacher-training courses. The other is the
Methodology and Information Center for In-service Teacher Training (PTMIK),
that is responsible for the efficient operation of the system.
The 1999 Amendment to the Public Education Act modified certain
elements of in-service training. Passing the postgraduate examination was
made optional. It only remained conditional for some posts (such as those
dealing with institution-management and different fields of expertise). It also
intended to place teachers having passed the postgraduate examination into
a hierarchically higher category. The law discontinued the operation of the
PAB, and its duties were taken over by the Body of Pedagogical In-Service
Training and Accreditation (PAT), set up by the Minister of Education.
According to the 1997 regulation, preparatory activities for the postgraduate
examination may only take place in higher education institutions, within
specialized teacher training frameworks. The requirements for qualification
are stipulated by ministerial decree.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education accredited the diplomas of
certain specialized training programmes as being equivalent to the
postgraduate examination (specialized programmes training participants to
become public-education managers, educational administration experts,
managers of nursery school teachers, pedagogical evaluation experts, and
curriculum-design experts). The Doctoral Degree and other advanced
degrees earned during specialization, if related to the specialized
qualifications conditional for the job, are also equivalent to the postgraduate
examination. The Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB), which is
responsible for the accreditation of higher level postgraduate training
programmes, permanently evaluates the applications, forwarded by teacher
training institutions, for the setting up of programmes.
As for training programmes which do not provide postgraduate
qualifications, the Ministry of Education allowed higher education
institutions and pedagogical service providers to offer training courses for
teachers and agreed to have them financed from the state budget. In the first
round of accreditation, in the spring of 1998, more than 70 percent of the
submitted programmes were linked to the subject areas of NAT, which was
concerned with the theoretical and methodological innovation of each
subject. Apart from these programmes, a significant number of training
programmes tackled the issue of locally designed curricula and computer
technology. The reasoning behind this activity is that the most important
170 P. DEBRECZENI
changes in public education of the period were the implementation of NAT
and the installation of the Sulinet system. By 1 January 2000, a further
1,064 programmes were given the green light.
At the beginning of 2000, almost one-third of the programmes were being
offered by higher education institutions (32 percent), and somewhat fewer (26
percent) by pedagogical service providers (Table 1). The list of and
information on programmes are regularly updated on the Internet. The vast
majority of the chosen training programmes were brief courses leading only
to the award of certificates.
Table 1. In-service teacher training programmes and the institutions sponsoring them:
1997, 1998, 2000
January 2000
1997 programmes 1998 programmes
Institutions Programmes
Numbers Percent Numbers Percent Numbers Percent
Higher education
2,090 38.0 704 39.1 341 32
institutions
Pedagogical provider
2,310 42.0 432 24 277 26
institutions
Public education
165 3.0 112 6.2 89 8.4
institutions
Associations, professional
165 3.0 144 8.0 119* 11.2*
organizations
Private businesses,
385 7.0 263 14.6 168 15.8
economic organizations
Private funds 55 1.0 73 4.1 - -
Other organizations 330 6.0 47 2.6 50 4.7
Private persons - - 25 1.4 20 1.9
Total 5,500 100 1,800 100 1,064 100
* Total of NGOs
Source: For 1997, 1998, and 1999: based on data received from Mihaly Kocsis. For January 2000, data
calculated by Márta Polinszky based on The Educational Journal (2000) first quarter.
5.1. Quality Control in the New In-Service Teacher Training System (from
Setényi, 2000)
In-service teacher training has lately and visibly became one of the most
important fields of action for educational governmental policy. The 1993 Act
on Public Education and its 1996 Amendment ruled that teachers entering
employment in 1998 and later will be required to take a special qualifying
examination within a given period. Another ruling of the Act has made 120
hours of in-service teacher training compulsory (abrogated in 1999) for all
teachers at least once every seven years. Participation in this training will
entail a guaranteed pay raise.
The responsibilities of the central government in the operation of this new
system are the following. It must ensure the financial conditions for
conducting accreditation and the evaluation and the quality assurance of the
in-service teacher training programmes. (The Act earmarks 3 percent of
the yearly educational budget for this purpose.) Schools receive per capita
(per teacher) grants for in-service teacher training to be spent freely on the
market for accredited training programmes. The other key holders of
responsibility in this area are the school directors, who must prepare a five-
year plan and corresponding yearly schedules regarding the participation of
their teachers. The school staff selects the programmes from the course
offerings on the market. Providers of in-service teacher training courses
(county pedagogical institutes, teacher training colleges, universities, private
enterprises, professional associations, the churches, etc.) must make their
offers of service via the market.
Basing this sort of service on market principles is a new feature in
Hungarian (and international) practice. The establishment of an in-service
teacher training system (including its programme accreditation scheme) has
created a self-regulating, quasi-market within school education, which is (i)
free to adopt actual governmental policy priorities; (ii) prepared to function
without external administrative inputs; (iii) able to work and learn in a
reflective way. The heart of the system is the accreditation scheme, which is
described below.
The programme was a full-fledged innovation in school management at
the national level given that:
– It forced schools to design their own human resource-management
policies. With the help of central resources (financial support, open
supply of programmes, legal frameworks), schools must prepare five-
year plans for in-service training. The plan shows that the central
management of education considers school-oriented and planned
investment in human resources as being of value and a force in favour
of integration. School directors have had to think about the benefits
and the efficiency of mass scale in-service training.
– Quality is ensured by the teamwork of suppliers, accreditors, and
buyers. The accreditation scheme guarantees that professional boards
do not make decisions as to the necessity of training programmes.
Accreditation only provides general quality control. The real decision is
made on the market of in-service training programmes, where the
buyers (schools with guaranteed buying possibilities) and programme
providers meet.
– As a risky, open-ended development project, the programme devolves
the responsibility for the innovation and the end product onto the
schools themselves. Previously, the professional skills and
competencies of the teaching staff were a barely changeable capacity
for the school director. The new system of in-service teacher training
has created a chance for the gradual reconstruction of the structure
and quality of human resources in schools. In the meantime, school
management and the teaching staff have become responsible for the
qualitative development of human resources.
172 P. DEBRECZENI
5.2. Concrete Strategy
The policy initiative was taken jointly by the Ministry of Education and an
educational consulting company. The Ministry provided clear political
guidelines:
– The in-service teacher training system should be market-oriented.
– State support should go directly to the schools.
– Nobody should have a monopoly over programme provision.
– The quality of training should be higher than it was in the past.
The new system, which was set up by Government Decree 277/1997 and
modified in 1999, reflected the policy priorities described above. Financed
from state grants, teachers may choose accredited training courses, including
graduate and postgraduate courses and vocational courses, offered by the
National List of Vocational Training Programmes (OKJ), as well as
programmes provided by the Council of Europe or by EU-Socrates. Training in
neighbouring countries and Israel (for schoolteachers who are members of
minority groups) is also eligible for support. The strict separation of
programme providers and the purchasers of programmes have led to the
opening of the market. Any accredited provider may establish accredited
programmes. Programmes can be set up (via accreditation) by any person or
legal entity. Thus, by letting in private experts, business companies, and the
schools themselves, a radical increase in the numbers of providers has
occurred. The latter, in particular, seem destined to provide interesting results
in the future, when horizontal learning will have become of greater importance
than now. Currently, the most important providers are the universities,
colleges, and county pedagogical institutes, but no organization has a
monopoly, and the market is open. Since the system is relatively new, it would
be too early to speak of trends, but the market shares of different providers
might change radically in the future.
The most innovative part of the new system is the accreditation scheme.
According to current regulations (1999), the Ministry of Education does not
exercise direct influence on the quality control of training programmes.1
Instead, the schools themselves test the programmes. The accreditation
procedure is carried out by a semi-autonomous ministerial center called the
Methodological and Information Center for In-Service Teacher Training. It
functions with the help of trained accreditation experts.2 Programme
proposals are written and submitted on the basis of a standard format. The
format (just like the accreditation criteria) is accessible on the Internet and in
hard copy as well. The design of the format forced potential suppliers to
change the traditional Hungarian concept of in-service teacher training and
1 According to the Government Decree (latest modification in 1999), the Minister of Education approves the
proposals of the accreditation body. In the last two years, 2,500 programmes were accredited, and the Minister
approved every one of them.
2 Currently 300-350 experts may satisfy the requirements of the Government Decree.
pushed traditional and ad-hoc ex cathedra lecturing out of the state-
supported area of the market:
– The minimum length of a programme is thirty hours.
– The supplier freely determines the cost of the programme.
– Without elements calling for intensive training, teamwork, and
practice, programmes cannot be expected to be accredited.
– The concept of student assessment and final evaluation is a
compulsory part of the programme.
– Internal quality control is also a compulsory part of the programme.
The procedures of quality control are applied to the programme founder,
the programme provider, and the programme providing school. Furthermore,
a set of quality control procedures is prescribed specifically for the links
between (i) the programme founder – programme starter and (ii) the
programme providing school.
This solution is risky and very untraditional. The choice of programme is
made at school level; outcomes are open-ended; and the final responsibility
for the efficiency of state support lies with the school. In the education sector,
there had been no traditions of choice and responsibility; on the contrary,
teachers (like students) were viewed as mere objects to be injected with
modern knowledge.
5.3. Innovation and Effectiveness

The first results of a national representative survey indicate that different
school management strategies are emerging side-by side. The data on the
reaction to the new system reflects both mechanical approval, rule-following,
and strategic thinking combined with teamwork in planning. As far as
customer satisfaction is concerned, initial data reveal a complex situation
(with very interesting differences between school directors and teachers)
(Expanzio Consulting, 2000).
Approved by
Statement
School directors Teachers
There are many low-quality programmes on the market 84 percent 77 percent
Choice depends on the geographical distance of the
74 percent 78 percent
training
Choice in the training market is too wide 66 percent 35 percent
The topics of the most popular programmes show the same traditional
attitude with interesting inner dynamics.
Programme topics 1997 1998
Information Technology 1 1
School Subjects 2 2
Pedagogy 3 3
National Core Curriculum 4 4
Methodology 5 2
Non-traditional methods 6 7
Psychology 7 5
Foreign Languages 8 6
174 P. DEBRECZENI
Another test of the degree of innovation is the actual functioning of the
system. The accreditation scheme works smoothly, and the participants in
the programme market have adapted their development work to the
standards of accreditation. There is growing quality consciousness amongst
market customers. The management of the in-service training system has
already established procedures for monitoring and strategic planning.
5.4. The Professional Knowledge of Teachers

Relatively little attention has been paid to the processes whereby pedagogical
activities are transformed. In past years, there seemed to be no need for
research in this area. According to research based on interviews carried out
in 1998 and 1999, in a sample of one hundred teachers, 91 percent are faced
with difficulties when teaching. The possible causes cited were the lack of
motivation and discipline on the part of students, their failure to prepare for
classes, family background, and the content of the curriculum.
Teachers attribute great significance to teaching methods in successful
teaching. Although they are acquainted with a variety of methods, basically
most of them use methods labeled as traditional (explanation, discussion,
visuals). At the same time, at least two-thirds of those interviewed use group-
work, student presentations, lectures, debates, and games, even if they rarely
use other modes.
Within each field of pedagogical knowledge (education, teaching, attitude
to students, planning, differentiation, teaching methods, evaluation), one can
distinguish between views held by strong teacher groups, mostly along the
lines of school types, the subjects they teach, their sex, and their experience
as teachers. Adopting a normative attitude to education, emphasizing the
positive role of the school, and approaching teaching and school-related
problems from a teacher and situation-centered point of view are all-
important features of the pedagogical knowledge of teachers. As shown by
everyday experience, there are different staff cultures, and every school has
its own atmosphere. It is likely that crucial changes in the 1990s and the
growing abundance on the educational market have intensified the
differentiation of staffs and have resulted in the strengthening of these
differences.
Schools typically vary as to how they prepare their pedagogical
programmes, the question being whether certain tasks (curriculum design,
the elaboration of lesson plans, situation analysis, the wording of the
pedagogical curriculum) were performed by more than one teacher, or to
what degree they had become specialized in carrying out certain tasks. It
seems that if a school is located in a larger town and has a higher number of
students and better infrastructure, it is more likely to carry out different
tasks by sharing duties. In other words, given the circumstances listed
above, the number of schools in which every teacher is equally involved in all
tasks is small.
This relationship is particularly interesting to observe in the case of lesson
planning, for example, in which a clear-cut hierarchy may be observed. The
larger the host cities of schools, the higher the number of teachers who are
working exclusively on lesson planning. The creation of pedagogical curricula
has a significant effect on the inner dynamics of staff members. In medium-
sized and larger schools, more-or-less the same discussions evolve around
the pedagogical curriculum, whereas fewer such instances have been
reported from smaller schools.
5.5. The Methodological Culture of Teachers

Teachers in Hungary have complete methodological freedom to achieve the
educational goals set forth by the pedagogical programme.3 Most of them do
not commit themselves to one method, but, rather, employ hybrid
methodologies. Group work, debate, student and teacher presentations, and,
especially, at lower school levels, games are also popular. At the same time,
hardly more than half of the teachers in urban areas use multi-media aids
(in villages the rate is likely to be significantly smaller), and a quarter of them
use other computer-related possibilities.
According to classroom observations, teachers preferring traditional
methods usually employ the frontal class-work technique. Knowledge transfer
is dominant during the lesson. The teacher’s explanation is usually
complemented with the help of traditional or modern visual aids. As teachers
are placing increased significance on regular testing, an indispensable part of
each class is made up of verbal and/or written examinations. Frontal class-
work is often criticized because of its verbosity and because of the lack of
attention given to individual students. The interaction between student and
teacher is very one-sided. Thus, this method fails to develop the co-operation
skills of students.
To improve educational effectiveness and as an effect of alternative
pedagogy, small-group activities have become increasingly popular. It is
common to split a class into two groups, based on student knowledge of the
subject, particularly in the cases of foreign languages, technology, and
mathematics, as well as by sex in physical education. In these cases, two
teachers work simultaneously with the children, but in different classrooms.
Hungarian teachers often use group work even with whole classes. The
aspects of grouping depend on the pedagogical goal. Sometimes a
homogenous group is organized with similarly developed and motivated
children, while at other times the group is kept perfectly heterogeneous.
In some schools – primarily in foundation-established schools and in
private schools – teaching is exclusively conducted in individual and co-
operative group forms. Integrated subjects and projects replace the rigid
separation of subjects, and the teaching material is developed within an
3 Kvt., 19 § paragraph (1)

176 P. DEBRECZENI
epochal framework. In Hungary, Waldorf (Steiner) schools are the most
widespread, but methods, elements, and techniques of the Freinet, Gordon,
Rogers, and Montessori pedagogical systems are also used in primary
schools.
6. THE PRESENT STATE OF THE TEACHING-LEARNING RELATIONSHIP

In Hungary, there is little tradition of linking teaching and learning
processes. Lessons are generally characterized by the use of the frontal
method. At home, or in the framework of the so-called daytime learning
organized in schools, students study independently, i.e., they do their written
homework and study from textbooks, memorize assigned texts, formulae, etc.
In Hungary, teachers assign homework almost every day in nearly every
subject, beginning in first grade with an amount that takes most students
one to three hours to complete.
In addition to textbooks, schools require the parents to purchase
accompanying workbooks and collections of exercises. Teachers usually
assign homework from these sources. Less commonly does one find
independent studies, simple experiments, and assignments involving in-
depth observation or collective work. In general, students are usually not
motivated by homework assignments to work from sources outside their
textbooks. Methods requiring increased student individual activity and
creativity are slowly gaining popularity in various school and non-school
programmes.
Widely varying traditions govern the linking of teaching and learning
processes with individual subjects. Student activities in the so-called
instructional subjects (e.g., drawing, singing) and in mathematics are
continuous. In physics and chemistry lessons, practical experiments are
conducted, while biology is characterized by field activities that involve
collective work. With the spread of communicative language instruction, the
use of pair work and materials from a wide range of sources has become
widespread in language learning. In most other subjects, only the teacher is
active; however, experience has shown that the personality and
methodological culture of the teacher is a stronger determinant than the
nature of the subject.
The problem of active versus passive teaching methods also appears in
teacher training. As a result of the enormous expansion of teacher training,
the use of presentations suitable for a larger number of students has gained
popularity, as opposed to more active methods such as small-group seminars
and exercises. Government decree 111/1997. (VI. 27), “Teacher Certification
Requirements”, stipulates that at least 40 percent of pedagogical training
should be of a practical nature, yet, according to teacher training
institutions, the financial means necessary for the implementation of the
decree are not available. Practical experience in the processes of planning,
organizing, and supplementing is missing from the beginning teacher’s
theoretical and didactic education.
7. THE EMPLOYMENT OF TEACHERS
Following passage, in 1992, of the law on the statutory rights of public
servants, the legislative practice of Hungary regarding the teaching
profession conforms to general European standards. Nevertheless, the
practice of teacher employment, dismissal, and remuneration has remained
one of the most controversial issues in the economic, administrative, and
pedagogical processes in Hungary following the change of regime. One of the
causes of this controversy can be found outside the educational system, in
the conditions of income gap between the public and the private sectors.
Although the gap between the two sectors occurs in all economies, the width
of the gap is strikingly large in Hungary (as is the case in the other young
democracies of Eastern and Central Europe). Another reason behind the
controversy is that the uniform rights of employed teachers laid down in the
above-mentioned law came into force in a system of shared responsibility. On
the one hand, the establishment of the terms of employment and of salaries
for teachers and other school staff, and the continuous updating of these
terms, also apply to a wider public servant sector. On the other hand, as a
result of the independent financial management and the financial autonomy
of most schools, there is no direct link between central salary regulation, the
state funding of education, and local decisions as to employment and
remuneration.
The so-called normative funding system, set up in 1990, basically links
the budgeted funding for education (salary funds included) to trends in
student numbers, but the school-age population dropped drastically in the
1990s owing to demographic causes. At the same time, the Hungarian
education system underwent expansion in a wide variety of ways. Aside from
and despite decreasing student numbers, the numbers of education
institutions expanded owing to the termination of the state monopoly on
schools and to the transfer of the custody of schools to the local authorities.
At the end of the 1990s, students were remaining in the school system for
increasing numbers of years. The number of people employed in education
did not change significantly between 1990 and 1997, whereas the total
number of people employed in the national economy dropped by almost 30
percent (about 1.5 million people) during the same period. As a result, in
1999, there were 248,152 persons employed in education. (This number
includes 44,013 service and technical personnel employed in education, who
compose 17.7 percent of the total.) In Hungary, the index measuring teacher
employment was very impressive even by international standards. In 1995,
Hungary ranked first among eighteen OECD countries with 4.2 percent of the
total labour force being primary and secondary school teachers.
The number of teachers required in education is basically a question of
student numbers. The unfavourable demographic processes of the 1980s
and 1990s are reflected in the data on student numbers. The cohorts born
between 1974 and 1978 have already left secondary education. As a result of
low birth rates in the 1980s and 1990s, the size of the school-age population
178 P. DEBRECZENI
is constantly shrinking. The total number of children attending nursery
schools and grade schools, and that of employed teachers, have all
decreased. Apart from the general decline, only in secondary education
(general and vocational schools) have student and teacher numbers
increased. This situation is partly the result of a shift of proportions in
secondary education (the powerful and continuous decrease of student and
teacher numbers in all vocational training schools), and partly owing to the
growing number of students and teachers, compared to previous decades, in
secondary institutions offering the school-leaving examination (taken at the
age of 17-18). The decrease in the numbers of teachers (except in nursery
school education) has been somewhat smaller than that of the numbers of
students throughout the whole period, whereas the increase in the numbers
of teachers in secondary schools has been somewhat greater than that of the
student numbers (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Changes in teacher numbers in the various institution types (previous

year = 100 percent)
12 0
10 0
80
60
40
20
0
19 8 9 / 9 0 19 9 0 / 9 1 19 9 1/ 9 2 19 9 2 / 9 3 19 9 3 / 9 4 19 9 4 / 9 5 19 9 5 / 9 6 19 9 6 / 9 7 19 9 7 / 9 8 19 9 8 / 9 9 19 9 9 / 0 0
Vocational training school Nursery school

Special institution Secondary vocational school
General scondary school Primary school
When set against international trends, both the teacher employment rate
in general in Hungary and the teacher/student rate are high. In 1998, for
example, in all of the nineteen OECD countries surveyed, the
student/teacher ratio at primary school level was lowest in Hungary.
(However, it is important to note that if day-care service teachers, who look
after children in the afternoons, in school, are excluded, the student/teacher
ratio approaches international trends.) The index, at an international level, of
the number of contact hours is also impressive. Regarding the annual total
number of contact hours of full-time employed teachers at the level of
education corresponding to upper-primary school, the state of affairs in
Hungary is only more favourable (from the point of view of teachers) in
comparison to Turkey, Korea, and Spain, where the numbers of contact
hours are strikingly low. Although these international comparative indices
need to be taken with care, the relatively small size of the workload of
Hungarian teachers, measured in terms of the average student and contact
hours numbers per teacher, is remarkable. On the one hand, the figures
indicated by the indices reflect the remnants of the ternary system of the
socialist state: full-time employment, low wages, and low efficiency. On the
other hand, they are the unintended by-products of the efforts made in the
1990s to expand the educational system. They are nevertheless a red light,
signaling problems of efficiency, at national level, in the employment of
teachers.
7.1. Teaching Staff Composition and Structure

The teaching profession in Hungary, with its 150,000 members, is fairly
heterogeneous in terms of education, school type, geographical location of the
school, degree subject, sex, age, professional competence, and beliefs.
With regard to qualifications, it can be said that on the whole, apart from
the 2 percent decrease in total teacher numbers, no considerable changes
took place between the 1989-1990 and the 1999-2000 school years (Table 2.).
According to the data, the general level of qualification rose. The number of
teachers with only intermediate level nursery school teaching qualifications
and that of teachers without any pedagogical qualifications dropped
considerably. As for larger professional groups, the number of teachers
qualified to engage in vocational education decreased significantly, and a
smaller decrease may be observed in the number of lower and upper primary
school teachers. In contrast, the numbers of teachers qualified in other
categories, such as teachers for handicapped children, higher-level nursery
school teachers, and secondary level teachers, are growing.
The proportion of different qualifications within institutional types also
changed fundamentally (Table 3). In nursery schools, between the 1990-1991
and the 1999-2000 school years, the numbers of nursery school teachers
with higher level qualifications expanded by 13 percent, whereas the
numbers of teachers holding intermediate-level qualifications and unqualified
teachers dropped by almost 80 percent and 65 percent, respectively. In
primary schools, simultaneously with the 8.5 percent decline in total teacher
numbers, the numbers of lower-primary school teachers rose by 2 percent,
and the numbers of upper-primary school and unqualified teachers were
reduced by 15 percent and 47 percent respectively.
180 P. DEBRECZENI
Table 2. Teaching staff qualifications and changes in the number of teacher between
1989-1990 and 1999-2000
1989/
Teachers 1989/ 1990/ 1991/ 1992/ 1993/ 1994/ 1995/ 1996/ 1997/ 1998/ 1999/
1990
qualifications 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 20000
(100%)
Intermediate
nursery 7,539 6,324 6,758 6,162 5,663 5,202 4,756 3,647 2,232 1,738 1,434 19.0
school
Higher level
nursery 25,413 25,668 25,625 26,131 26,341 26,750 26,569 27,200 28,526 29,292 29,117 114.6
school
Lower
primary 39,183 35,521 38,528 38,392 38,405 38,603 37,481 36,212 35,961 36,069 36,101 92.1
school
Primary
46,989 56,118 48,157 47,948 48,833 49,040 47,588 45,808 45,030 45,088 44,566 94.8
school
Secondary
22,089 24,415 23,926 24,741 25,793 26,523 26,938 27,301 27,695 29,014 29,919 135.5
school
Other
8,147 4,788 7,314 7,477 7,935 8,363 7,918 7304 8,045 8,321 8,699 106.8
teachers
Other
7,740 8,184 6,277 6,377 7,912 8,141 7,037 6,203 5,177 4,828 4,377 56.6
qualifications
Vocational
4,030 n. d. 3,875 3,849 4,204 4,167 3,990 3,726 3,511 3,286 3,134 77.8
training
Special needs 3,896 3,878 3,878 3,955 3,994 4,044 4,136 4,062 4,132 4,256 4,230 108.6
Unqualified 883 1,643 776 847 807 838 800 834 806 659 572 64.8
Total 165,909 166,539 165,114 165,879 169,887 171,671 167,213 162,297 161,115 162,551 162,149 97.7
Source: OM Educational Statistics. The data on the last two years from OM Educational Statistics, 1998/1999
and 1999/2000, calculated by Zsófia Szép and László Szalay.
In secondary general education, the numbers of teachers expanded

steadily (38 percent). The numbers of teachers with secondary school level
qualifications show a smaller increase (37 percent) and that of teachers with
upper-primary school qualifications a greater expansion (52 percent), as the
numbers of unqualified teachers were significantly reduced. In secondary
vocational training, teacher numbers rose by 44 percent. The numbers of
teachers holding upper-primary school qualifications fell by 23 percent, and
those of teachers with secondary school level qualifications rose by 35
percent. The numbers of teachers qualified in other categories also increased
considerably.
Owing to decreasing student numbers, teachers who are already in the
profession have an advantage over those about to enter as a result of the
decline in the need for teachers. In spite of this circumstance, the average
age of Hungarian teachers is lower than in most European countries.
One of the reasons for this age difference is the former pension scheme,
which was still in effect in the mid-1990s, which specified age 55 as the
retirement age for women. This retirement age is quite low compared to the
usual European standard. Another reason, closely linked to the first reason,
is probably the high proportion of women involved in the teaching profession
in Hungary, another striking deviation from international trends. Women
outnumber men at almost all school levels and types. The only exception is
the 54 percent rate of employment of men teachers in institutions offering
purely vocational training (secondary vocational and/or vocational training
schools).
Table 3. Institutional types and full-time teacher qualifications in public education
1998/1999
Institutions 1990/ 1993/ 1996/ 1997/ 1998/ 1999/
(percent of
1991 1994 1997 1998 1999 1900
School year 1990/91)
Nursery school
Higher level nursery school
25,668 26,341 27,200 28,526 29,292 29,117 113.4
teacher
Intermediate level nursery
6,324 5,663 3,647 2,232 1,738 1,434 22.7
school teacher
Other teacher 146 210 284 297 286 0.0
Other qualification * 1,643 807 834 806 659 572 34.8
Total 33,635 32,957 31,891 31,848 31,986 31,409 93.4
Primary school
Lower-primary school
35,521 38,405 36,212 35,961 36,069 36,101 101.6
teacher
Primary school teacher 52,461 49,259 46,083 45,054 45,254 44,596 85.0
Other teacher 592 418 244 802 977 1,111 187.7
Other qualification 1,937 1,573 1,119 1,087 1,104 1,021 52.7
Total 90,511 89,655 83,658 82,904 83,404 82,829 91.5
General secondary school
Secondary school teacher 9,121 10,786 11,674 11,831 12,085 12,494 137.0
Primary school teacher 989 1,009 1,287 1,462 1,551 1,502 151.9
Other teacher 24 83 102 78 87 90 108.4
Other qualification 112 73 70 80 63 69 61.6
Total 10,246 11,951 13,133 13,451 13,786 14,155 138.2
Secondary vocational school
Other teacher 224 4,121 4,462 4,500 4,450 4,487 108.7
Other qualification ** 2002 1,782 1,534 1,475 1,452 1,392 72.5
Total 12,656 14,862 16,329 16,829 17,567 18,162 143.5
Vocational training school
Other teacher 149 1,894 1,757 1,625 1,560 1,568 82.8
Other qualification *** 724 631 400 355 313 280 38.7
Teacher of all subjects 6,938 6,373 5,292 5,018 4,941 5,002 72.1
* Includes teachers employed as unqualified teachers and teachers in 1990 with other qualifications, and only
includes teachers with other qualifications as of 1991.
** Includes the number of teachers employed without higher professional and teaching qualifications and trade
workers employed as teachers.
*** Because of the striking differences in the 1990-1991 data, these are the 1999-2000 data and 1993-1994
data compared.
Source: OM Educational Statistics, calculated by Ms Zsófia Szép and Mrs László Szalay.
7.2. Professional Organizations and Trade Unions

The process of establishing professional organizations gives evidence of the
differentiation of professional roles begun in 1990. At the beginning of 1999,
182 P. DEBRECZENI
the Ministry of Education registered 117 professional organizations. The
main types are subject-teacher organizations, different bodies for separate
educational levels or functions, organizations formed on ideological bases,
associations serving special student needs or special education-policy aims,
movements and organizations for the education of the young, and local or
regional associations. Some 16 percent of teachers are members of one
professional organization or another, with the vast majority registered in
subject-teacher associations.
Along with the formation of new trade unions, the activity of the teachers’
trade union movement underwent a significant transformation after the
change of regime. In primary and secondary education, the Teachers’ Trade
Union (PSZ) and the Trade Union for Hungarian Public Education and
Professional Training are representative organizations, along with the Trade
Union of Hungarian Musicians and Dancers, which represents a narrower
segment. These are organizations entitled to represent teachers in national
consultative bodies, but other trade unions are also invited to these sessions,
such as the Teachers’ Democratic Trade Union (PDSZ) established at the
beginning of the 1990s. Some 49 percent of Hungarian teachers are
members of one trade union or another, with most of them (42 percent)
registered in the Teachers’s Trade Union.
The total number of those employed in education in May 1999, but not in
teaching, was 98,402 in local government-maintained institutions,
representing 65 percent of the total numbers of teachers. According to a
survey taken of a representative school-sample in 1997, 44 percent of
schools employed professionals to directly facilitate teaching. The need for
such colleagues is growing. The numbers of individuals employed in non-
teaching posts went well beyond the OECD average in 1994. At the same
time, there is a shortage of workforce for completing certain non-teaching
tasks (such as organizing extra-curricular activities).
7.3. Employment Conditions and Remuneration

Although the teaching profession was much less struck by unemployment in
the 1990s than the rest of the national economy, unemployment did appear
among qualified teachers. The rate of unemployed teachers compared to that
of employed teachers did not, at any point, go beyond the average rate of
unemployment amongst the highly qualified. Their number was declining
over the last two years surveyed. The changes were in accordance with the
movement of the large student intake of the populous generations of 1974 to
1978. The rate of retirement increased in all educational institutions in the
middle of the 1990s, but the number of people leaving for “other reasons”,
thus probably quitting the profession or the type of institution, has generally
been largest. This tendency is stronger in secondary institutions, and
extremely high in vocational training. The rate of graduates entering the
profession from regular teacher training has been fairly low, throughout the
decade, for all institutional types.
Since the legislation on the employment of teachers and other school staff
is guided by the principle of shared responsibilities, local and institutional
features play a significant role within general employment tendencies. The
results of a survey on a representative sample indicate, for example, that the
teacher to staff ratio was 73 percent on average, but that the spread was
between 28 and 100 percent. According to data from the same survey,
permanent teaching posts were discontinued in 49 percent of schools, and
new posts were added in 59 percent of schools between 1994 and 1997. The
decrease was more characteristic of towns in the countryside, of large schools
rather than of small ones, and of schools in the charge of local governments
rather than private or denominational schools. Local employment practices
also vary in the case of part-time and invited teachers. The tendency is that
invited and part-time teachers are employed at secondary school level,
usually in cities and in large schools. This type of employment is especially
frequent in non-government funded institutions.
The number of employed teachers is only an important factor in the cases
of large schools. The smaller the school, the more likely that, despite changes
in student numbers, teacher numbers will remain unchanged. The influence
of changing student numbers on teacher numbers is the least apparent in
country schools. The larger the town, the more probable it is for the decrease
in student numbers to mean a simultaneous decrease in the numbers of
teachers. The cost-per-student rate increased most in schools in which the
number of both students and teachers had fallen.
The pace of income growth in the public sector lagged behind that of the
private sector throughout the 1990s. The income gap between the two
spheres kept widening. In 1999, the incomes of those employed in the
budgetary sphere represented 62.5 percent of the income of workers in the
private sector. The relative income lag, as in earlier years, was largest in the
education sector (48 percent) and smallest in the executive and social
security sectors (23 percent). The 37 percent income lag, representing the
whole of the budgetary sector, is considerably higher than in European
Union countries. Poor salaries cannot be compensated by the advantages of
the public sector (greater employment security, greater flexibility in work
schedules, favourable distribution of work and spare time).
In the second part of the decade (through 1998), not only had the gap
between the national average income and that of teachers widened, but it
had not even kept pace with the rise in the consumer price index. Whereas
the average income of educational workers in developed countries is 20 to 30
percent higher than the national average, it is 10 to 15 percent lower in the
Central-European region, including Hungary.
8. PEDAGOGICAL SERVICES
In the Hungarian public education administrative system, the institutions of
pedagogical-professional services play a special role in carrying out the tasks
of assessing public education, in operating the information system, and in
184 P. DEBRECZENI
assisting the processes of content modernization. Pedagogical-professional
services can be provided by any institution, but the Public Education Act
makes the provision of these services a compulsory task of the county
authorities. As a consequence, the pedagogical institutes, for which the
county authorities are accountable, carry a special weight in the provision of
pedagogical services. Services are also provided by the national institutes of
research and development of education, by smaller institutes operating in
towns or in the sectors of the capital, and increasingly by private
organizations.
8.1. National Institutes for Educational Research and Development

The Institute of Research on Education (OI), the National Institute of Public
Education (OKI), and the National Service Office of Public Education (OKSZI)
are under the control of the Ministry of Education. The Institute of
Educational Research (OI) carries out research in all fields of the education
system including higher and vocational education. The National Institute of
Public Education (OKI) concentrates on tasks linked to the implementation of
the National Core Curriculum, the development of the evaluation system, in-
service teacher training, and the assessment tasks of public education. It
also carries out research on public education. The National Service Office of
Public Education plays a direct role in the operation of the system of school-
leaving examinations, in the organization of national study competitions, and
in other tasks concerning the teaching of individual subjects. The National
Institute of Vocational Education (NSZI) is responsible for the maintenance of
the National Training Register and the work connected with it. It also carries
out research on vocational education.
8.2. County Pedagogical Institutes

The traditional institutional system for the pedagogical services that directly
serve the work of schools is the system of county pedagogical institutes, with
units in the eighteen counties and in Budapest. At the start of the
transitional period, these institutes found themselves in a critical situation,
both from the organizational and the financial viewpoints. Owing to fiscal
restrictions and to the uncertainties of the central administration concerning
the role of these institutes, their personnel and infrastructures were kept at a
minimum in most counties. In the mid-1990s, their situations stabilized, but
by that time, huge differences had developed between the counties with
respect to the conditions of professional development and access to
information. In 1997, there was one pedagogical institute in each of the
eighteen counties and in the capital. In one county, the institute was
reorganized in the form of an economic organization to serve public purposes.
The county pedagogical institutes – in addition to offering traditional
pedagogical services – may fulfil other tasks as well (e.g., career orientation
and educational advisory services, cultural tasks, etc.). The institutes are
financially supported by the central budget, by the budget of the respective
local government, and by their own incomes. The proportion of their own
incomes varies greatly from county to county. In 1996, it ranged from 7 to 40
percent.
A field of outstanding importance among the pedagogical professional
services is professional counseling. In the 1980s, the school inspectorate was
abolished, a unique measure in Europe, and its counseling function was
allocated to the county pedagogical institutes. According to the Public
Education Act, the main objective of the professional counseling service is the
dissemination of methods and methodologies in education. The ministerial
decree that further regulates the field lists the following tasks: assistance in
the design of school documents (pedagogical programmes, local curricula,
school regulations, etc.); assistance in pedagogical development, in the
selection of textbooks and teaching aids, in the assessment of these
documents and activities, and in professional counseling for individual
teachers. As in the case of other services, professional counseling operates
according to customer demand. There is no legal regulation in force regarding
the conditions of service provision, so the scope of the services, the expert
staff employed, the conditions of operation, and the fees charged depend on
the decisions of the pedagogical institute running the service.
The other determining field of importance among the pedagogical
professional services is teachers’ in-service training. In 1996, 1,649 in-service
training programmes were being organized and facilitated by the twenty
pedagogical institutes of the country. Some 31 percent of these courses were
longer than 30 hours. The county pedagogical institutes play an outstanding
role among all in-service training providers in the country in the organization
of courses of shorter duration than thirty hours. These can respond rapidly
to new demands in a flexible way. In 1996, the main aim of the in-service
training programmes was to assist the implementation of the National Core
Curriculum. Some eighteen of the twenty institutes have run school
management training programmes and personality development training
programmes are becoming increasingly popular.
Regional and national seminars and conferences are organized by the
county pedagogical institutes. All of them publish their own monthly
publications (newsletters, information brochures, etc.), that have an
important role in disseminating professional information. The newsletters
offer information about professional programmes, study competitions, and
application possibilities, and even offer the monthly events calendar of the
given pedagogical institute as a supplement. Eight of the pedagogical
institutes have their own pedagogical periodicals, biannuals, quarterlies
and/or monthlies. They provide good publication opportunities for teachers
involved in creative developments. Brochures that cater to the career
orientation of pupils are published in six counties. Besides the regular
publications and a large number of circulars, schools and their teaching staff
members receive methodological recommendations, competition calendars,
and other printed materials.
186 P. DEBRECZENI
Except in one case, all of the pedagogical institutes have their own
specialized pedagogical libraries. Eighteen of the institutes have separate
textbook showrooms. The ITCs are playing an ever-increasing role in the
dissemination of information. The facilities and the activities of the county
pedagogical institutes are important assets in the development of public
education on computer science. In 1996, a public computer science office
was opened in each of the county pedagogical institutes. These were funded
by and with the professional help of the Ministry of Culture and Education,
the Soros Foundation, and the National Institute of Public Education.
The numbers of different types of study competitions – at the county,
regional, and national levels – that serve the nurturing of talents have grown
rapidly in the past few years. More and more services are oriented towards
the needs of the local authorities. Through networking, county pedagogical
institutes are able to take part in research and developmental activities and
in programmes based on international co-operation.
9. CONCLUSIONS
9.1. Evaluation of the Present Situation
The changes in public education in Hungary have resulted in a sizeable
number of useful experiences. An OECD report prepared in 1995 stated that
The situation in Hungary is truly unique because [this country] is
trying to transform a traditional, rather conservative, centralized
schooling system into a modern, competitive, market-driven,
decentralized, educational service. It has been a difficult transition
process utilizing a variety of strategies including pre-service and in-
service training, privatization and special incentive grants to motivate
staff and inspire leadership. A number of countries may find their
experience a useful laboratory to guide their own journeys of
innovation.
First of all, it is worthwhile to note the experience and the enormous
potential for innovation in the system of public education, which is able to
develop in a couple of years if freed and if this process of evolution is
consciously supported with the proper financial tools. At the same time, this
potential is necessarily uneven. While some institutions or branches of the
public education system respond actively to a policy that inspires innovation,
others remain passive and shut themselves off from innovation.
It is also important to point out that some methods – such as in-service
teacher training and the wide-ranging use of telecommunication equipment –
can play a key role in policies aimed at the renewal of public education. It
may be even more important to note that social and professional
communication becomes extremely valuable with a view to significantly
changing routine conditions.
– The Hungarian experiences show that change can only take place
through an intensive learning process on the part of the participants.
Only in this way is it possible to counteract the natural opposition to
and the natural sense of insecurity caused by change and to build new
collective forms of behaviour meant to replace previous
institutionalized patterns. Several examples: the need to write
proposals in order to obtain funding requires a level of professional
activity in the schools and among teachers that can be attained only
after several years of collective learning.
– School-level debates and negotiations on the content of education – as
opposed to former strictly centralized curriculum supervision and
conditions – require the use of new concepts and the learning of new
behavioural patterns by teachers.
– The understanding of more sophisticated relations in the decentralized
environment often requires serious mental adjustment, the working
out of new cognitive constructions, and a sense of understanding on
the part of decision makers.
– A long process of learning has led to an acknowledgement that the use
of market-oriented regulations and material incentives (for instance, in
in-service training for teachers) require relatively long periods of
adaptation.
Hungarian experiences are particularly rich with regard to the response of
the education system and of the teaching profession to a new curricular
system, which makes the development and adaptation of programmes at
institutional level a common occurrence and thus changes the tasks of
central administration. The Hungarian example clearly shows that the
advancement of local-level programme development does not decrease, but
instead increases the significance of national level programme development,
even though it also changes the professional content of the latter. Local-
institutional programme development and adaptation, having become
common, has led to a dramatic increase in the need for external professional
assistance. The central administration in Hungary was inadequately
prepared to provide such assistance.
Experience shows that it is easier to create the funds for increasing
external professional assistance than it is to create the necessary
professional capacity and competence. For example, the evaluation at
national level of the new textbooks appearing on the rapidly developing
textbook market and of the in-service training programmes appearing on the
new training market require a new group of experts, one which will take
several years to assemble.
9.2. Problems and Challenges

The problems and challenges that teacher training in Hungary is facing at
the beginning of the Twenty-First Century greatly resemble those that other
similarly developed countries are facing. These challenges, however, are
188 P. DEBRECZENI
showing up in different forms and sizes because of the specific attributes of
Hungary. Many problems are related to the difficult economic crisis that
struck the country at the beginning of the 1990s, as it did the other
countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as to the dramatic social
and economic transformations that took place during the decade.
– Strengthening the role of education in improving economic
competitiveness and ending unemployment. The aspiration of Hungary
to join the European Union and for the entry of the Hungarian
economy into the European competitive arena are posing enormous
challenges for school graduates as well as for younger and older
generations of people on the labour market. According to the latest
international comparative studies (OECD SIALS), the skills of the
Hungarian adult population are observably out of date, a situation that
needs to be addressed by the school system. For these reasons, goals
such as the development of the basic skills necessary for finding a role
on the labour market, the transition from school to work, and the more
effective stressing of the knowledge needed in modern technology, are
receiving increased attention in the learning and teaching processes
within public education.
– Rendering education more effective in the reinforcement of social
cohesion. Because of persistent unemployment, the numbers of
disadvantaged people have increased, and so have the numbers of
those who belong to that category in danger of being marginalized and
excluded. As already mentioned, the social reintegration of the Rroma
(Gypsy) minority, whose members were more pushed out of the labour
market than were members of other ethnic minorities, has become an
especially difficult problem. Added to this problem, while several new,
previously non-existent learning opportunities have opened up, the
Hungarian school system has become more selective than ever before.
– The pedagogical handling of the increasingly diverse learning population
and a more effective struggle against school drop-out. The growing
heterogeneity of the learning population causes problems. The effects of
school expansion are such that learning groups that did not previously
participate in higher secondary education are currently doing so. The
extension of basic education, and especially the extension of
compulsory education to the age of 18, are going to considerably
strengthen the rising trend towards the heterogeneity of the learning
population. This situation poses a significant pedagogical challenge for
institutions and teachers that are not prepared to deal with less
motivated students who often reject traditional forms of learning. A
significant task for the public education policy of the next decade will
be the development of the necessary pedagogical capacity of teachers
and schools and the working out of new pedagogical procedures and
institutional organizational patterns required for the task.
– Renewing the educational content and facilitating the methodological
development of teaching and learning. The question of revising the
culture of pedagogical methodology is strongly related to the problems
mentioned in the previous rubric, yet it deserves individual attention.
In Hungary, as in many other countries, a type of traditional
methodological culture predominates. It is based on frontal teaching
and the memorization of knowledge. At the same time, many initiatives
have been taken to renew the aims of pedagogical methodology. The
dissemination of these initiatives within the Hungarian school system
has run up against organizational, regulatory, and mental barriers.
Overcoming these barriers will be an especially important task over the
next decade. A particularly serious challenge is that the simultaneous
and mutually reinforcing activities of such different subsystems are
needed, such as initial and in-service teacher training, curriculum
development, and systems that support institutional innovation or
educational management.
– Guaranteeing educational quality and the development of the function of
evaluation. In Hungarian public education, significant quality problems
exist that can be traced back to various causes. Solving these problems
requires the coordinated use of different tools. One of the significant
challenges of the next decade will be that of finding a way to guarantee
the effective implementation of the evaluation function over the entire
public education system and to develop and work the various quality
assurance measures into a coherent system.
– A more effective management of resources. Similar to other countries of
the former Soviet bloc, a typical aspect of Hungarian public education
is the simultaneous lack of and waste of resources. Although the
country spends a relatively high percentage of its national income on
education, some of the indicators that illustrate the financial provisions
for education (e.g., teacher salaries as compared to the GDP per capita)
are low as compared to international averages. At the same time, the
indicators of financial effectiveness, such as the teacher/student ratio,
are also low. One of the major challenges faced by Hungarian public
education is that of answering the question of whether or not the
problems of material needs (e.g., low wages, deteriorating
infrastructure) can be solved by attracting more external resources or
by a more effective use of resources existing within the system.
– Raising the salaries of teachers. Probably the largest contradiction in
the restructuring of Hungarian education is that the numerous
renewals and changes that led to innovative solutions took place under
circumstances characterized by a dramatic drop in the living standards
of teachers. In the mid-1990s – as previously mentioned – owing to
budgetary restrictions, a significant drop in real take-home pay took
place over the entire public sphere, including education. By the end of
the decade, the gradual improvement of real salaries began,
190 P. DEBRECZENI
but the amount was not sufficient to compensate for the harm caused.
As a result of historically developed institutional and structural
constraints, more teachers are employed in the Hungarian public
education system than in those of other countries having populations
of comparable sizes, thus making it considerably more difficult to
rapidly improve teachers’ salaries. Therefore, appropriate teacher
remuneration can only be guaranteed if the rates of expenditure on
public education are given greater value than in other countries.
Changing the institutional and structural forces that represent
increased demands regarding the workforce would require significant
institutional reforms and might entail great social pressures.
– Making educational supervision and management more successful. A
particular question is how to guarantee the coherence, transparency,
and effective operation of the public education system in a
decentralized environment characterized by the large-scale autonomy
of the local actors. Although decentralization has had an enormously
positive effect on the ability of the system to adapt and innovate, to
make the content of learning and teaching more relevant, and to
increase public control, as well as to establish competition that brings
about quality improvement at numerous points in the system, new
difficulties have also surfaced. Inequalities are increasing. The quality
improvement of certain segments of the system is causing drops in
quality in other parts, and often the effectiveness of the use of
resources is questionable. In a decentralized environment, the role of
local management is growing considerably, and state control can only
affect the development of the system successfully through the rich
methodology of indirect intervention.
9.3. Possible Future Policies and Lines of Action

MEANS AND METHODS FOR STRENGTHENING THE TEACHING-LEARNING RELATIONSHIP
In order to strengthen the learning-oriented nature of education, the shift in
the central curriculum, from emphasis on the knowledge to be mediated to
the skills that are to be developed, has strategic significance. Previously
mentioned new elements of the curricula – developmental requirements in
NAT, introductory forms of activity – describe those cognitive and practical
activities through which learning takes place. The new curriculum deviates
from previous Hungarian curricular traditions by allowing teachers to replace
their programmed teaching activities by the orientation of student learning
and personal development processes. Authorities are using the centralized
regulation as a means to strengthen the openness of schools and to
disseminate methods that expand the learning activities of students.
One example of this tolerance occurred in the reaction to the decree
regarding the introduction of the framework curricula. The administration
stressed that, in the interests of activating and motivating students, teaching
activities could be planned in ways that varied from traditional methods, so
long as they guaranteed that the requirements would be met.
Project methods, forest schools, museums, library activities, and other
similar solutions are mentioned4. The diffusion of practice patterns
employing active methods plays as important a role as the changes in central
regulation in the approach and methodological revision of the educational
process.
Alternative schools, which play a pioneer role in bringing together
teaching and learning processes, are usually open to the public, making local
study of their educational practices possible for interested experienced
teachers and trainee teachers. The most significant alternative pedagogical
system developed in Hungary, the so-called Value Intermediary and Skills
Development Pedagogy (ÉKP), is strongly activity-oriented. Its curriculum is
used by nearly a hundred schools. This programme has an independent,
national development and an in-service training center funded by the central
authorities. The Pedagogical In-Service Training Methodology and
Information Center (PETI), which was established in 1997 by the Ministry of
Education and within which an Alternative In-service Training Directorate is
located, played an important role in the dissemination of active methods.
There is also a four-year Waldorf teacher training graduate programme in
Hungary. In addition, future teachers get to know the theory and methods of
the more significant alternative pedagogies in required courses in all teacher-
training institutions. They also have the opportunity to receive additional
experience about certain pedagogical systems in selected courses.
ASSISTANCE TO TEACHERS IN PREPARING AND IMPLEMENTING CURRICULA

Prior to 1989, teachers used to receive widely varied professional assistance
when starting to use the new central curricula. The support system
established at the time was partly based on previous elements (for example,
the county pedagogical institutes and the professional advisory system
existing in the 1980s), and partly on completely new elements (for example,
the expert system mentioned above was established after 1983, as well as the
national curriculum data base, which helped schools create their local
curricula).
In order to solve their professional problems, schools may ask external
advisors – in most cases on a fee-paying basis – from the national
pedagogical institutions, the county or the capital district pedagogical
institutes, or experts from the non-profit or the for-profit service providing
organizations – for assistance. They may also consult the persons listed in
the National Register of Experts. This register only accepts individuals with
appropriate degrees and ten years of teaching experience who are well-known
4 Framework curriculum Decree 3. § paragraph (2)

192 P. DEBRECZENI
experts in the field.5 According to research findings of the NAT
implementation review, 40 percent of primary schools and 17 percent of high
schools employed experts to implement the central curricula and to create a
local curriculum.
After the elaboration of the new curricular regulations and the
introduction of the National Core Curriculum, teacher training colleges and
universities began playing a more active role in assisting teachers in creating
and adopting curricula. Independent courses on curricular theory and
curriculum preparation were offered in increasing numbers of institutions,
aiming at developing curricular knowledge and the competencies of
participants. In these courses, the social-political and cultural aspects of the
curriculum and of curricular types are analyzed. In particular, the central
(NAT and framework curriculum) and local documents of the two-tiered
regulation, the role of curricula in the school teaching-learning process, local
curricular strategies, the tasks of school leadership and faculty in the
development of local curricula are covered. Teacher-training institutions
often organize in-service teacher training programmes in which participants
are introduced to curricular selection and practice the skills needed to
analyze curricula. They then undertake an analysis of the pedagogical
programmes and the local curricula of their own schools.
REFERENCES
BALÁZS, Éva, et al. Inter-governmental Roles in the Delivery of Educational
Services. Budapest: National Institute of Public Education, 1998.
BALLÉR, Endre. “Neveléstörténeti paradigmaváltás” [Changing the Paradigm
in the History of Education], in, Educatio 3 (1994): 355-366.
EXPANZIO CONSULTING. A pedagogus tovabbkepzesi rendszer ertekelese
[Empirical Survey on the System of In-Service Teacher Training].
Budapest: Expanzio Consulting, 2000 (forthcoming report).
KOCSIS, Mihály. A pedagógusképzés és továbbképzés tartalmi változásának
tendenciái az 1990-es években [Tendencies of the Changes in the Contents
of Initial and In-Service Teacher Training in the Nineties], Background
study. Budapest: Országos Közoktatási Intézet, 1997.
MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND EDUCATION. National Core Curriculum. Budapest:
Ministry of Culture and Education, 1996.
MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND EDUCATION. Nemzeti alaptanterv [National Core
Curriculum]. Budapest: Ministry of Culture and Education, 1995.
OECD. Education at a Glance. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, 1998.
OECD. Education at a Glance. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, 2000.
5 26 Ktv., 101 § paragraph 3

OECD. Reviews of National Policies for Education – Hungary. Paris:
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1995.
SETÉNYI, János. Study on Innovation in Education: New Approaches to
Educational Management: Hungarian Background Report to OECD.
Budapest: Országos Közoktatási Intézet, 2000.
SZÉP, Zsófia. A pedagógusok létszámának, munkaero-piaci viszonyainak és
bérhelyzetének alakulása. Kézirat. Budapest: Országos Közoktatási Intézet
Kutatási Központ, 1999.
IX. Teacher Education in Ireland
CIARAN SUGRUE
1. INTRODUCTION
As a rhetoric of reform, renewal, restructuring, and reconceptualizing has
enveloped education internationally, particularly over the past decade,
teacher education, too, has come under increasingly critical scrutiny. While
there have been criticisms of initial teacher education in Ireland, it has been
voiced primarily by teachers’ unions and members of the public, but not in a
sustained manner. Generally, in Ireland, there is an absence of a
comprehensive body of evidence derived from research in relation to teacher
education. This study, therefore, relies primarily on policy documents, on
limited published research on teacher education in the setting, on the
experience of the author as a teacher-educator over the past twenty years, as
well as the on collaboration of colleagues in colleges of education and
faculties of education in universities.
This study begins by situating teacher education within its larger socio-
historical context.
2. NINETEENTH CENTURY ORIGINS

As recently as 1991, an OECD visiting team described the Irish education
system in the following terms:
To understand contemporary Ireland, it is necessary to recognize how
much its remote as well as more recent history still affects public
values and attitudes and offers a key to understanding its institutions,
not least its system of education (OECD, 1991, p. 11).
Despite unprecedented change since the publication of the OECD report,
and at a pace not previously encountered, a virtual avalanche of reports on
various aspects of education from early childhood (Department of Education,
1999), to adult education (Department of Education and Science, 1998a), as
well as recent legislation – Education Bill (Department of Education and
Science, 1998b), and the passing of legislation to establish a Teaching
Council (Department of Education and Science, 2001), the Nineteenth
Century continues to cast long shadows over the deep structures of the
education system in Ireland. This heritage is particularly evident in the
structural location of teacher education and the manner in which it is carved
up, an intellectual apartheid that has its roots in Nineteenth Century politics.
A grasp of its more significant formative influences is essential to an
196 C. SUGRUE
understanding of contemporary schooling in Ireland as well as teacher
education.
3. NATIONAL EDUCATION
A system of “national” education was established in Ireland in 1831.
However, this establishment must be understood against the backdrop of the
granting of Catholic Emancipation in 1829. Lecky, a Protestant historian,
describes the period prior to “emancipation” in the following terms:
The legislation on the subject of Catholic education may be briefly
described, for it amounted simply to universal, unqualified, and
unlimited proscription (in, Dowling, 1968, p. 22).
The proliferation of “hedge schools” throughout much of rural Ireland gave
cause for concern to the British authorities regarding the spread of
Fenianism. Consequently, the establishment of a national system of
education was intended to impose control over teachers, curricula, and the
peasantry. As the Roman Catholic Church gained significantly in the number
of entrants to the priesthood, and several women’s (and men’s) religious
orders were founded throughout the remainder of the Nineteenth Century,
educating the masses became a major mission of the newly emancipated and
revitalized Church. Although the intention was that the national system be
non-denominational, by the 1850s its denominational nature was already
well defined.
Denominational control of the education system, firmly established by the
beginning of the Twentieth Century, remained almost undisturbed in
independent Ireland, a status granted by the British Government in 1922.
Successive home governments were reluctant to become involved in
structural reforms, preferring instead to bow to the pervasive power of an
increasingly triumphalist church (Cooney, 1986; Ó Buachalla, 1988;
O’Flaherty, 1992). Consequently, few efforts were made, until the 1960s, to
begin to alter the dominant position of the Roman Catholic Church. Speaking
in the Dáil (Parliament), in the 1950s, the then Minister of Education
described his role thus:
...I regard the position as Minister in the Department of Education as
that of a kind of dungaree man, the plumber who will make the
satisfactory communications and streamline the forces and
potentialities of the educational workers and educational management
in this country. He will take a knock out of the pipes and link up
everything (Ó Buachalla, 1988).
This quotation provides a flavour of the power relations in Ireland until
the 1960s, and this legacy continues to play out differently in relation to
primary and secondary schooling, with consequences also for teacher
education.
TEACHER EDUCATION IN IRELAND 197
3.1. Primary Schooling
There are approximately 3,200 primary schools in Ireland (Department of
Education and Science, 2000). The Roman Catholic Church owns somewhat
fewer than 3,000 of these. Typically, trustee status is vested in the Bishop in
whose diocese the school is geographically located. Prior to 1975, the local
clergyman, typically the Parish Priest, was the manager of the local national
school; however, it might be more accurate to describe these institutions as
de facto parochial schools. In more recent years, primary schools came to
have Boards of Management (BoMs) with parent, teacher, and community
representation. It is no longer axiomatic that the chairperson of the board be
a cleric; however, in many rural schools this practice continues. Teachers are
employed by individual Boards of Management. Thus, in a system that is
small by international standards, teacher mobility is reduced significantly
with consequences for teacher moral, promotion, and renewal. The salaries of
teachers are entirely paid by the State. Currently, there are more than
20,000 primary school teachers in full-time employment, the vast majority of
whom belong to the primary school teachers’ union – the Irish National
Teachers’ Organization (INTO). As the vast majority of teachers are employed
in denominational schools, they are obliged to provide religious instruction
for approximately thirty minutes daily as a condition of their employment.
Apart from approximately a hundred Church of Ireland (Anglican)
schools, many of which are very small and many of which admit Roman
Catholic pupils and employ Catholic teachers, the vast majority of primary
schools are denominational. During the past twenty-five years, however, as
the country has become increasingly prosperous, secular, and consumerist,
there has been a significant growth in the number of Irish medium primary
schools (about 140) which compete for pupils with local national schools.
Similarly, but more recently, the multi-denominational sector is
undergoing expansion and, while there are currently twenty-one such
schools, there are plans by its umbrella organization (Educate Together) to
double this number of schools within five years. The growth of this sector, in
particular in recent years, has been greatly facilitated by a Government
decision to entirely fund the establishment of such schools. Recent
educational legislation (Ó Buachalla, 1988, p. 68) recognizes the individual
“ethos” of each school. Some commentators suggest that, in an increasingly
multi-cultural as well as secular society, this legislation is likely to be the
basis of controversy in the near future.
It is evident, from this brief and broad-brush picture of the evolution of
Irish primary education, that its denominational character, shaped in the
Nineteenth Century, remains largely unaltered. This legacy is even more
pronounced when secondary education is examined.
3.2. Secondary Schooling

During the past thirty years, a vibrant and vital State sector has been
established in secondary education in Ireland. Its development is recent, and
198 C. SUGRUE
it takes its place beside a very dominant denominational majority of
secondary schools.
In the post-primary sector, there were, until the sixties, two school
types, secondary and vocational; the reforms of the sixties have created
three more, comprehensive and community schools and community
colleges. Comprehensive and community schools are managed by
boards composed of church, local authority, department, parental, and
teacher representatives (Ó Buachalla, 1988, p. 108).
For reasons already identified above, it was not until the 1960s and the
publication of Investment in Education (OECD, 1966) that the significance of
education for economic expansion energized some politicians and civil
servants to plan for educational expansion. Until then, secondary education
had been left almost entirely to religious orders. Consequently, all secondary
schools were privately owned, almost exclusively by religious orders, save for
a very small number of private lay schools, typically located in small towns in
which religious schools had not been established.
The only exception to this reality was the establishment of vocational
schools with the passing of legislation in 1930. The Roman Catholic hierarchy
ensured that these schools could not compete for students with “their”
secondary schools by insisting that vocational schools could not prepare
students for the Leaving Certificate Examination (LCE), a public terminal
examination that continues to mark the end of secondary education for the
vast majority of the age cohort, typically at age seventeen or eighteen. This
legislation was subsequently amended in 1970, three years after universal
secondary education was introduced nationally. However, since the
introduction, in the last decade of a “transition” year,1 students are more
likely to be eighteen on leaving secondary school, as more schools decide to
make the transition year compulsory rather than optional.
Until the end of the 1960s, only a minority of primary school pupils
transferred to secondary schools, all of which charged a tuition fee. However
modest, this fee was beyond the means of many.
When universal secondary education was introduced (1967), the majority
of fee-paying Roman Catholic secondary schools opted into what was
euphemistically described as the “free scheme”. Thus such schools became
eligible for maximum state support, while approximately fifty private schools
chose to remain outside this arrangement. These schools continue to charge
fees, but unlike public schools in England, for example, teachers in these
schools are paid by the State. However, despite participation in the “free
scheme”, all of these schools continue to be privately owned, with a small
number belonging to the Church of Ireland, while the vast majority have, by
1 The transition year is rather like the “gap” year in England except that, in the Irish context, it is
positioned between the three-year junior cycle and the two year senior cycle of the secondary system. The
Junior Certificate (JCE) is the public examination taken at the end of compulsory schooling, while the Leaving
Certificate Examination (LCE) marks the end of secondary education and is the means by which places in
tertiary education are allocated.
now, created Boards of Management with lay teacher and community
participation.
For much of the Twentieth Century, particularly until the end of the
1960s, when religious orders and communities continued to enjoy significant
recruitment, the tenure of lay teachers in such schools was frequently
tenuous. They were often employed for only short periods, and the
Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, founded in 1909, had to battle
hard for a better deal for its members. During the past thirty years, there has
been a dramatic decline in the number of religious vocations, and many
secondary schools today are staffed entirely by lay teachers, and several such
schools have appointed lay principals for the very first time during the past
twenty years.
The extension of universal education to all gave rise to dramatic increases
in the number of secondary teachers, with most of the expansion happening
in the State sector. This sector is also co-educational. From a total of 752
secondary schools, approximately 500 are privately owned (and Roman
Catholic), with the vast majority of these providing education separately for
boys or girls. However, some new community schools are amalgamations of
former religious schools, and some community colleges, even though under
the management of vocational education committees, are the result of
amalgamations of vocational and religious-run schools.2
3.3. The Irish Language

The emergence of a fervent Irish nationalism in the 1880s was accompanied
by a language revival movement in which many clergy played a prominent
part. Not surprisingly, therefore, in post-independent Ireland, and with the
Roman Catholic Church playing such a dominant role in all spheres of
education, the school curriculum rapidly became a major conduit for
imbuing the children of the nation with a new Irish identity. Consequently,
by the end of the 1920s, it had become compulsory for all children to learn
Irish (Gaelic) on entry to primary school, and in the early 1930s, it became
compulsory also that all teaching take place through the medium of Irish in
the early years of schooling. Until very recently, it was not possible to gain a
pass on the Leaving Certificate Examination, without gaining a pass in the
Irish language examination, and it continues to be a matriculation
requirement in virtually all of the Universities.
Despite sustained effort, Irish is spoken on a daily basis by approximately
3 percent of the population; however, enthusiasts are optimistic for its
future and point to the significant growth in Irish medium primary schools
as a very positive indicator. From a constitutional perspective, Irish is the
official first language of the country.
It may be justifiably argued that primary school teachers became the
custodians of the new official, government endorsed Irish identity in
2 The majority of teaching staffs in vocational, community, comprehensive, and community colleges are
members of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), a Union that has its origins in the trade sector.
200 C. SUGRUE
independent Ireland; the national schools, the locus of its transmission; and
the curriculum (and Irish as a medium of instruction), the conduit for
constructing this identity. MacMahon, a writer and “schoolmaster” during
this period, captures the essentials of the time about which he writes:
It was enjoined upon us by the state to undertake the revival of Irish
as a spoken language, a task that, by and large, we manfully faced;
and it was also enjoined upon us by the Catholic Church, which, to
put it at its mildest, was powerful at that time, to transfer from one
generation to the next the corpus of Catholic belief.... (MacMahon,
1992, p. 89).
The State no longer espouses a policy of language revival, but speaks a
rhetoric of an acceptable level of bilingualism, and, presumably towards this
end, compulsion is retained throughout primary and secondary schooling.
While the power of the Roman Catholic Church has been eroded owing to a
combination of secularization, economic growth and prosperity, and
education and scandals, religious instruction continues to be a regular
feature on school timetables, but in many instances, these time “slots” are
used to teach other subjects, something that would have been unthinkable
not so long ago. Against this larger canvas, it is now necessary to provide a
more detailed and focused account of the evolution of primary and
secondary teacher education in Ireland.
4. PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER EDUCATION: LOCATION, PROGRAMMES,

AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Primary school teacher education programmes are located in five
denominational Colleges that are located on separate campuses with
affiliation to or constituent college status within adjacent Universities. A
concurrent programme (BEd) is provided by all five colleges. Four of the five
colleges also provide a consecutive programme for graduates (a graduate
Diploma variously titled – Graduate Diploma in Education – Primary, or a
Higher Diploma in Education). In the interest of clarity and owing to
different evolutionary trajectories, these programmes are described
separately.
In a system that by 1850 was already denominational, the Roman
Catholic Church forbade its members from attending state colleges and,
during the next fifty years, established its own institutions. Consequently,
the Roman Catholic Church or religious orders own four of the current five
denominational colleges, while the fifth is the property of the Church of
Ireland (Table 1). This legacy also means that primary and secondary school
teachers continue to receive their professional formation separately; the
former in colleges, the majority of the latter, in education departments
within the Universities.
St. Mary’s Marino was originally established for the training of only
Christian Brothers. St. Patrick’s College was the first to become co-
educational, in 1971, while the others rapidly followed its lead. Today,
women represent approximately 90 percent of the student intake across all
institutions, while the intake of men into the Church of Ireland College is
almost non-existent.
Table 1. Colleges of education and their respective universities
Bachelor’s
Graduation
Degree in
Diplomas
Institution Ownership University Education
awarded
awarded
(2002)
(2001
Dublin City
Catholic Archdiocese of
St Patrick’s College, Dublin University 400 180
Dublin (RC)
(DCU)
Mary Immaculate College, University of
Sisters of Mercy (RC) 400 120
Limerick Limerick (UL)
Trinity College
Irish Christian Brothers
St Mary’s Marino, Dublin University of 100 100
(RC)
Dublin (TCD)
Trinity College
Froebel College, Dublin Dominican Nuns (RC) University of 50 40
Dublin (TCD)
Trinity College
Church of Ireland College No
Church of Ireland University of 50
of Education, Dublin programme
Dublin (TCD)
TOTAL 1,000 440
TOTAL ANNUAL INTAKE 1,440
Source: Data compiled through direct contact with the institutions.
4.1. Concurrent Programme: Bachelor of Education

Prior to 1974, students in these colleges completed a two-year Diploma
Programme, the award being provided by the State Department of Education.
Award of the Diploma was followed by a two-year probationary period, during
which beginning teacher competencies were assessed by the Primary Schools
Inspectorate. In 1974, a Bachelor of Education Programme was introduced.
In the case of the two larger institutions, this degree was awarded by the
National University of Ireland, while the three smaller institutions are
affiliated to Trinity College Dublin. The former programme is of three years in
duration and is awarded at “pass” and “honours” levels, while it is necessary
to study for a fourth year (on a part-time basis) for “honours” for those
students whose degree is awarded by Trinity College Dublin. Since the early
1980s, the probationary period for beginning primary school teachers has
been reduced to one year, and assessments continue to be carried out by the
Primary School Inspectorate. In the early 1990s, two National Institutes of
Higher Education were elevated to University Status, and St. Patrick’s College
and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, subsequently signed formal linkage
agreements with these new universities, an initiative inspired by Government
rather than by the college authorities.
202 C. SUGRUE
Apart from the difference in the length of the Bachelor of Education
programmes, there is another significant difference between the BEd
awarded in the two major colleges and by those affiliated to TCD. The
structure of the Degree in the former is illustrated in Table 2.
Table 2. Bachelor’s Degree in Education (BEd) structure
BEd Academic Education

Year 1 50 percent (two subjects) 50 percent
Year 2 40 percent (one subject) 60 percent
Year 3 40 percent (one subject) 60 percent
TOTAL 43 percent 57 percent
Source: Table constructed from official College documents.
It is not compulsory for education students in the smaller colleges to

study academic subjects as an integral element of the degree programme.
Table 2 indicates that 50 percent of the time a first year Bachelor’s Degree in
Education student is devoted to the study of two academic subjects, the
more popular of these being Irish, English, and History, with Mathematics,
Geography, French, and Music (Philosophy and German at Mary
Immaculate) being studied by a smaller number of students.
Since the signing of linkage agreements between the major colleges and
their adjacent Universities (early 1990s), a degree in humanities is being
provided in tandem with the Bachelor’s Degree in Education. One of the more
significant benefits accruing to the two major colleges from university
affiliation is the provision of post-graduate (Higher) degrees by these
institutions for the first time.
4.2. Consecutive Programme: Graduate Diploma

A one-year graduate programme was first introduced as an entrée into
primary school teaching in the mid-1970s, in response to a shortage of
teachers, but was quickly discontinued in 1981, after the crisis abated.
Projected recruitment into primary school teaching was seriously
underestimated in 1990 (Sexton, 1990), and the graduate programme, now
extended to a period of eighteen months, was resuscitated to avert a crisis. In
advance of providing some detail concerning the structure and content of
these two programmes, attention is focused on entry requirements to both.
4.3. Entry Requirements: Concurrent and Consecutive Programmes

The Department of Education and Science determines minimum entry
requirements, and, not surprisingly, the Irish language features prominently
among them. These minima have changed little for several years. They are
specified as follows:
Leaving Certificate Examination(s):
i. Grade C3 Higher level in not less than three subjects;
ii. Grade D3 in three other subjects;
iii. Grade C3 in Higher level Irish;
iv. Grade C3 in English Ordinary level or D3 Higher level;
v. Grade D3 in Mathematics (either Ordinary or Higher level).
The same requirements apply to graduates who seek entry to the
graduate Diploma. However, it is possible for such candidates to substitute
a pass on the First Arts Examination (first year of university studies) in
Irish, English, and Mathematics, instead of the requirements specified
above.
A number of places are allocated annually to “mature” students, those
who are twenty-three years or older. These applicants must meet the
minimum requirements set out above (with the same flexibility that applies
to graduate entrants) and are also subject to an interview and an oral
examination in Irish. In the case of both mature students and graduates, a
combined score of the interview and the oral examination determines
allocation of places. The Department of Education and Science determines
the actual number of mature students admitted per annum, when
determining the overall allocation of places. In reality, the vast majority
that gains entry to primary school teaching is of a high caliber, scoring
consistently above the 77th percentile, as measured by the Leaving
Certificate Examination, and this degree of competition for places has
remained remarkably consistent (Greaney et al., 1987).
A maximum of 10 percent of places in primary school teacher education
is reserved for candidates from Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) areas. A small
number of places continues to be allocated to such candidates annually,
and their Leaving Certificate Examination results are, in many instances,
significantly lower than those of the applicants who are allocated places
through the Central Application Office. Some commentators regard this
continuing “legacy” as iniquitous and anachronistic.
5. SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHING

As already indicated, the preparation of teachers for secondary schools
occurs predominantly in faculties of education in Universities. When
religious vocations were plentiful, lay teachers were employed only when
the religious communities could not find one of their own members to take
responsibility for a particular subject, frequently without formal
qualification in that subject area. Consequently, having a religious
vocation was accorded higher status than expertise acquired by studying
for a university degree, while having a teaching qualification was not
accorded high priority either.
Lay teachers, when they were employed, frequently on a temporary
basis, felt marginalized within the secondary sector that was owned,
controlled, and dominated by various religious organizations. Through
their Union (Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland – ASTI), lay
teachers struggled over a number of decades to gain security and
promotion and a degree of control over their conditions of work (Greaney et
al., 1987). A significant decline in the number of those entering religious
life, expansion of state involvement and provision of secondary schooling,
204 C. SUGRUE
dramatic increases in the numbers of secondary school teachers as a
consequence of the provision of universal access to secondary education
(1967), as well as rapid urbanization and socio-cultural change during the
past thirty years, have all contributed to significant changes in the
educational landscape (Ó Buachalla, 1988, p. 111).
The Teachers’ Registration Council determines the requirements for the
recognition of secondary school teachers (Coolahan, 1981, p. 239). The
most common qualification for entry to secondary school teaching is the
Higher Diploma in Education, a one-year full-time graduate programme.
Within the Vocational school sector, and prior to the emergence of
Community Colleges, clear distinctions were made in terms of
requirements for the teaching of general and craft or vocational subjects.
Coolahan describes these requirements as follows:
Vocational teachers fall into two major categories (1) teachers of general
subjects who must be university graduates and (2) teachers of
specialist subjects who must hold recognized teaching diplomas
awarded as a result of their having successfully completed training
courses in colleges of art, of domestic science [now home economics] or
of physical education, or in institutions where approved courses are
provided for the training of teachers of woodwork and metalwork
(Coolahan, 1981, p. 240).
Since 1980, the education of traditional craft teachers and others have,
rather like the colleges of education in the primary sector, entered the
university orbit, also through a series of links and relationships.
Traditionally, there have been two colleges for the preparation of women
as Home Economics teachers: St. Catherine’s in Dublin, owned by the
Dominican nuns, and St. Angela’s in Sligo, the province of the Urseline order.
Both of these institutions provide a four-year concurrent Bachelor of
Education Degree, for which, in addition to Home Economics, students also
study an academic subject to degree level (in a very limited range of subjects,
such as Irish and economics). Consequently, in addition to teaching home
economics, these graduates become more attractive to schools when they are
also qualified in another discipline. The Dublin-based institution has its
degree awarded by Trinity College (Froebel College, on the same campus, has
the same affiliation for primary school teachers), while Western College has
its degree awarded by the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG).
These institutions are denominational, privately owned (by religious orders),
and publicly funded.
The same Dublin campus provided the only professional preparation for
teachers of physical education (PE) (women only), until Thomond College was
established in Limerick County, in 1980. Until then, there had been no
provision in the Irish Republic for the professional preparation of male
physical education teachers. Consequently, those with an interest in this
area typically completed a post-graduate diploma in England to gain the
necessary qualification. This situation reflects a traditionally strong emphasis
on field games in boys’ schools, with Gaelic football and hurling being very
actively and competitively promoted in schools run by the Christian Brothers
and Diocesan clergy, while more élite schools promoted and continue to
promote rugby (the “ascendancy” game). Similar distinctions are perpetuated
in girls’ schools where hockey and camogie (a derivative of the native game of
hurling) served parallel functions to hurling and rugby. Emphasis on
competition rather than participation is a continuing tension in boys’ schools
in particular, with very recent evidence that girls are more likely to have
physical education scheduled more regularly than their male counterparts
(Looney and Morgan, 2001).
Thomond College (1980) preceded the establishment of the University of
Limerick (1991), but unlike other colleges that continue to be removed from
their “parent” university campuses, Thomond is now the faculty of education
of the university, but this status is a function of fortune and of location
rather than of strategic planning. This faculty also provides a four-year
concurrent BSc for the traditional “craft” areas of woodwork and metalwork,
as well as rural science, all of which are awarded by the University.
Traditionally, little attention was paid to the preparation of teachers for
the teaching of religious education in a denominational system, as there were
many religious personnel in schools. However, in more recent years, as their
numbers have declined, preparation of teachers of Catechetics has received
attention. A new institution, the Mater Dei Institute, was established by the
Roman Catholic Church for this purpose, and its Diploma was initially
awarded by the Pontifical University in Maynooth. However, in the past two
years, this institution has negotiated with Dublin City University to award its
degree. This degree is very similar to those provided in the former Thomond
College and in the Home Economics colleges: it is a four-year concurrent
programme through which candidates also study an academic subject to
degree level (albeit in a limited range of disciplines).
In the past few years, another concurrent Degree programme was
introduced by Dublin City University, in an attempt to contribute to the
teaching of science in secondary schools, at senior cycle, where the number
of students taking Physics and Chemistry, particularly at honours level, has
declined in recent years. The most recent figures available across the entire
sector are indicated in Table 3, in respect of each institution.
In addition to the three degree programmes provided on the University of
Limerick campus, more recently a Diploma in Business and Music is also
being provided, with an intake in the current year of 28 and 12, respectively
(figures not included in Table 3).
As the number of religious denominations in schools has declined, the
student intake, in recent years, to Mater Dei Institute, has increased. While
numbers entering the other programmes have remained more constant, they
represent a significant minority of entrants to secondary teaching, while the
Higher Diploma continues to be the entrée to secondary teaching for the
majority of graduates.
206 C. SUGRUE
Table 3. Concurrent programmes for secondary school teachers
Institution Affiliation Programme Intake (2001)

St. Catherine’s
TCD BEd (4 yr. Conc) 29
H.Ec
St. Angela’s
NUIG BEd (4 yr. Conc) 25
H.Ec
Mater Dei
DCU BEd (4 yr. Conc) 70
Institute
Thomond BSc (PE) (4 yr. With an “elective”
College/UL chosen from English, Irish,
On UL campus 46
Geography, Chemistry,
Mathematics)
BSc (Education:
Biology with Physics or
Chemistry
34
Biology and Agricultural Sc.,
Biology and Physics and
Chemistry)
BTech 30
Materials and Construction (Materials and
Technology Construction)
Materials, Engineering 27
Technology (Engineering)
Dublin City Programme provided
University by Sc. Faculty in DCU
and Education Physics, Chemistry, and
24
faculties in DCU, St. Education
Patrick’s College, and
Mater Dei Institute
TOTAL ANNUAL INTAKE (2001) 284
Source: Data compiled from information provided by colleagues in these faculties.
In the case of the various Bachelor’s Degree in Education programmes

cited above, all places are now allocated through the Central Applications
Office system. This path is also used for allocating places in the Higher
Diploma in Education provided in four of five of the Universities with Trinity
College Dublin opting to remain outside this centralized system and to
continue to interview prospective students itself. While there are seven
universities in total, the two most recent institutions to join this group are
without such a programme (the University of Limerick and Dublin City
University).
Three major criteria, shared across the institutions, are applied to the
selection of candidates: (i) whether a degree is awarded at pass or honours
level; (ii) postgraduate qualifications; and (iii) teaching experience. There is a
growing trend whereby successful candidates having a variety of
postgraduate qualifications, coupled to a shortage of teachers, is creating a
situation whereby many applicants are able to enhance their prospects of
gaining a place on an HDE programme by accumulating additional
qualifications and teaching experience, as these “additions” are weighted on a
scaled points system.
The most recent annual intake, by institution, to these programmes is
indicated in the following table.
Table 4. Intake to HDE by institution
Institution Programme Intake (2001)

University College Dublin (UCD) 200
University College Cork (NUIC) 220
218
English
University College Galway (NUIG)3 Higher Diploma in Education
34
Irish
University College Maynooth (NUIM) 170
Trinity College (TCD) 160
TOTAL INTAKE (2001) 1,002
Source: Data provided by colleagues in their respective faculties and by the CAO office.
In both the primary and secondary sectors, there is an increasing

shortage of qualified teachers. The economic success of Ireland in recent
years has opened many lucrative opportunities for young graduates.
6. TEACHER EDUCATION: POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES

From a policy perspective, it is necessary to turn to official documents to find
broad outlines in relation to teacher education, before providing a more
focused analysis of actual programmes within each of the two sectors.
6.1. Policy: Primary School Teacher Education

After the publication of the OECD report on the Education system in
Ireland, in 1991, there followed a Government Green Paper (consultative
document) in 1992 (Government of Ireland, 1992). A widespread process of
consultation followed which culminated in a National Education Convention
in 1993 in which all major partners participated. A report emanating from
this forum (Coolahan, 1994) became the basis of a Government White Paper
(Government of Ireland, 1995) the following year. As all teacher education
programmes are accredited within the University system, and there are no
agencies or organizations with a brief to oversee the content of these
programmes, Faculties of Education in Universities and Colleges enjoy
significant autonomy in comparison with the situation in other systems.
However, the report that provided the final impetus for the establishment, in
2001, of a Teaching Council, recommended a series of committees within
the Council structure, including one with responsibility for policy on initial
teacher education (Government of Ireland, 1998). It is likely, therefore, that
3 University College Galway has a particular remit in regard to the Irish language, owing to its proximity to
the Gaeltacht area in the west of the country. Consequently, when possible, and when demand requires it,
programmes are provided through the medium of Irish. In this particular instance, a total of thirty-four
students are currently studying for the Higher Diploma through the medium of this language. This facility
places an additional demand on resources.
208 C. SUGRUE
this new (self-regulating) body will be much more specific in its
requirements regarding the content of teacher education programmes.
Broad requirements are stipulated by the Department of Education and
Science in relation to primary school teachers with significance for
programmes. All graduates (of Bachelor’s of Education and Diploma
programmes) must be qualified to teach the entire primary age range
(effectively 4 to 12 year-olds) and in all curricular subjects. In the last few
years alone, with the addition of Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) in initial teacher education programmes, as well as Drama
and Social, Personal, and Health Education as additional subjects in the
primary curriculum, these reforms have placed additional burdens on initial
teacher education programmes that were already overloaded. Recent
additional emphasis on early childhood education, on the mainstreaming of
special needs learners, etc., increases pressure on existing provision even
further.
The White Paper identifies a number of issues that it considers worthy of
note:
– A concurrent model of teacher education will be retained for the initial
training of primary school teachers.
– Pre-service courses should not be narrowly confined to the immediate
requirements of the system but should include the personal education
and development needs of students.
– There is a need to strengthen and prioritize the education of student
teachers in the creative and performing arts and in the scientific
aspects of the social and environmental programme (Government of
Ireland, 1995, pp. 122-123).
There is general recognition that lifelong learning will have to become the
norm, for the policy states that “initial teacher education cannot be regarded
as the final preparation for a lifetime of teaching (Government of Ireland,
1995, p. 121).
There are two additional statements that may be “read” as covert
criticisms of current practice. The first is that “there will be an emphasis, in
pre-service courses, on combining academic study with the study of
educational theory and practice directed more towards the requirements of
the primary school curriculum” (Government of Ireland, 1995, p. 122).
Second, the following statement appears to be a criticism of a perceived lack
of rigour in the evaluation of the practice performance of student teachers. It
states that “a key responsibility of the colleges of education during the
teacher education programme will be to evaluate students’ teaching
potential” (Government of Ireland, 1995, p. 123). Beyond these broad
statements of intent and general requirements, teacher education
programmes have evolved over a considerable period of time. The advent of
the BEd in 1974 has been the major change in a period of 30 years, while
closer links with the university system has resulted in considerable growth in
graduate provision for primary school teachers.
6.2. Policy: Secondary School Teacher Education
Requirements relating to secondary school teachers are exclusively at the
level of qualifications and are specified by the Teacher Registration Council.
The White Paper is quite overt in its criticisms of the professional training
and education of secondary school teachers. It states that “some disquiet has
been expressed about the adequacy of the Higher Diploma in preparing
students for a career in teaching” (Government of Ireland, 1995, p. 124).
Being cognizant of this “disquiet”, “a systematic review of pre-service
education for second-level teachers” is recommended to be undertaken by
the Higher Education Authority (HEA), and it then goes on to stipulate seven
“important features” that “should underpin the professional preparation of
second-level teachers” thus effectively pre-empting some aspects of the
review. The concerns are:
– maintaining a “mutually reinforcing balance” between personal and
professional development as well as between theoretical and practical
preparation;
– developing a firm grasp of the foundation disciplines of modern
educational theory and practice;
– developing an understanding and appreciation of the role of the
education system... and the ways in which second-level schools
contribute to that role;
– developing knowledge and skills to enable teachers to specify objectives
and implementation strategies matched by appropriate pedagogies and
modes of assessment;
– an understanding of adolescent development and gender equity;
– extending the repertoire of teaching skills of student teachers by giving
them a number of school placements (rather than simply one, which
continues to be the norm);
– introducing mentoring programmes, subsequently to be extended into
systematic induction of beginning teachers (Government of Ireland,
1995, p. 124).
This policy document also declares that, “a well-developed and carefully
managed induction programme, coinciding with the teachers’ probationary
year, will be introduced for first- and second-level teachers” (italics used in the
original). Despite various attempts by various parties, such a programme has
not yet been set up; however, the most recent reports suggest the
commencement of a pilot induction programme in September 2002.
210 C. SUGRUE
7. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: POLICY AND PRACTICE
A significant increase in professional learning opportunities for primary and
secondary school teachers in Ireland has been registered over the past
decade (Sugrue, et al., 2001). In 1991, the OECD report drew attention to
the paucity of such provision, its sporadic, uncoordinated, incoherent, and
frequently provider-driven nature. The mainstay of in-service courses for
primary school teachers has been the ubiquitous “Summer” course, typically
provided during the first week in July, the first week of the vacation period
for primary schools. Teachers select courses, often on grounds of availability
and convenience rather than of professional need. They pay for the vast
majority of these courses from their own pockets; nevertheless, some
courses, representing a proportion that has increased significantly in recent
years, are funded by the Department of Education and Science.
In the early 1990s, the Department of Education and Science established
an In-Career Development Unit (ICDU) to plan and co-ordinate provision. It
has expanded exponentially over the past decade. This expansion has been
largely a consequence of widespread curricular reform. For example, junior
and senior cycle programmes in secondary schools have been significantly
altered in terms of content, pedagogy, and modes of assessment, and there
were single initiatives in the primary school sector such as Stay Safe,
Relationships, and Sex Education, before the Department of Education and
Science launched an entire “revised” primary school curriculum, in
September 1999 (Government of Ireland, 1999). However, proliferation of
programmes and providers has increased fragmentation of provision rather
than improved cohesion, while in a context of increasing provision,
participants have become more selective and critical.
Approximately 50 percent of primary school teachers take such courses
annually, and one incentive is allocation of three personal leave days, during
the school year, for those who attend Department of Education and Science
approved courses. However, given the timing of these courses and the
individual nature of participation, their impact on teaching and learning is
extremely difficult to quantify (Sugrue et al., 2001). Since the launching of
the revised curriculum, each teacher is currently in receipt of six
professional development days per annum, typically organized on the
following basis: four days out of school and two days working collaboratively
with colleagues in school or in clusters, in the case of small rural schools.
Except for more recent provision, there has been almost no attempt to create
a differentiated programme with the majority of courses being of short
duration without subsequent follow-up or support at the level of the school
(Sugrue et al., 2001). However, professional support for the implementation
of the revised primary curriculum is beginning to provide support of a more
sustained and targeted kind.
Participation rates in in-service courses for secondary teachers are more
difficult to quantify, but increases in state provision have considerably
broadened participation in recent years. Additionally, all three of the
teachers’ unions are increasingly taking a more proactive approach to
professional learning for members, one that is part of a more international
trend towards the development of new forms of professionalism (Hargreaves
and Goodson, 1996; Bascia, 1998). Colleges and Universities too have
increased provision significantly. In the case of education departments
within old and new universities, there has been a significant increase in the
provision of graduate diplomas and degrees, many of them with
administration, management, or leadership in their titles (Sugrue et al.,
2001). Colleges, too, with their more recent links with universities, are
providing Master’s Degree programmes with particular focus on aspects of
primary schooling.
The main conduit for ongoing (non-accredited) in-service courses is a
national network of thirty education centers, approximately twenty of which
have full-time directors. As the necessity for reforms has become more
urgent, the major means of staffing provision has been the secondment of
principals and classroom teachers to provide support for colleagues.
Currently, approximately 200 are seconded for this purpose. They represent
a new kind of “educational entrepreneur” in Irish education (Sugrue, 2002).
Meanwhile, increased provision has led to additional fragmentation and lack
of coherence in a general climate in which more is construed as better.
Policy appears to lag behind provision, and providers appear to compete
rather than collaborate. An artificial cleavage is maintained between in-
service courses and accredited programmes provided by colleges and
universities, that tend to exacerbate theory/practice divisions as well as to
make inefficient use of existing resources and expertise (Sugrue et al., 2001).
The White Paper (Government of Ireland, 1995) recognizes “the need for a
cohesive national policy on, and a comprehensive programme of, in-career
professional development for teachers” and acknowledges that “frequent
criticisms are that much of the provision is fragmented”. This policy
document also argues that “the approach to professional and personal
development should be decentralized, school-focused, and conducive to high
levels of teacher participation.” (Government of Ireland, 1995, p. 125).
Recent support for primary school teachers in relation to the revised primary
curriculum and whole-school development planning are moving in this
direction (Sugrue et al., 2001). School principals are identified as a priority
group needing professional support (OECD, 1991; DES, 2000a). However,
much energy has been expended on provision to the relative neglect of these
other aspects of professional development. Emphasis is primarily on
provision to the relative neglect of policy formulation, capacity building,
evaluation and research (Sugrue et al., 2001). In-depth analysis of initial
teacher education is hindered by a paucity of research in this area in the
Irish context. Consequently, pre-service teacher education remains
something of a secret garden in the setting.
212 C. SUGRUE
8. PRIMARY PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION: CONTENT AND
PEDAGOGY
The most significant difference in the programme content of Bachelor’s
Degree in Education programmes for primary school teachers is the study of
academic disciplines (two) in the first year and one of these for the three
years of the programme. Those who pursue the four-year Bachelor’s Degree
in Education programme attend Trinity College where the disciplines of
education are taught (Philosophy, History, Psychology, and Sociology). In
such circumstances, there is greater possibility of perpetuating a dichotomy
between theory and practice.
Generally, the Graduate Diploma programme is regarded as the
Bachelor’s Degree in Education programme without an academic discipline.
Consequently, there is little substantive difference between the concurrent
and consecutive programmes, and very little concession is made for the prior
learning or experience of students in the latter. However, the smaller
numbers of students in the graduate Diploma programme make it more
feasible to teach these cohorts in smaller groups.
The basic structure of the Bachelor’s Degree in Education programme
(primary) has not been altered since its inception in 1974. It is predominantly
a 1960s model of teacher education imported from England, that was already
being replaced at the time of its inception, with academic disciplines being
removed, and the role of the disciplines of education being reduced.
The basic structure of the programmes includes the study of disciplines,
curriculum studies, and teaching studies. Teaching practice is undertaken
on block release each year of the programme; some practice teaching is
undertaken during June and September in the local (“home-based”) schools
of students, and efforts are also made to vary placements so that students
have experience of different age groups and social contexts with some
programmes promoting work with children having special needs or in less
formal educational settings. A total of eighteen weeks of teaching practice is
typical across all programmes.
Students who do not study Irish as an academic discipline are obliged to
study “professional Irish”, a demanding course that extends throughout both
programmes and is additional to courses in “curriculum Irish”. Virtually all
students also complete a course on Catechetics. While it is not within the
structure of the Degree programme itself, the vast majority of students feels
obliged to take it, owing to the denominational nature of the system (and the
Colleges). These elements place additional burdens on a programme that is
commonly accepted as already overloaded (Sugrue, 1997; Sugrue, 1998).
The information and communication technologies have become part of
teacher education in recent years. At St. Patrick's College, students are
provided with two modules (40 hours) in this area, while increasing
assignments, projects, and course work in all areas of the programme are
prepared on PCs. However, it continues to be necessary to provide two
“service” courses for many first year Bachelor’s Degree in Education
students, to teach them basic keyboard skills, as some have not had such an
opportunity in their secondary schooling. While these courses have been a
significant addition to the Bachelor’s Degree in Education programme in
recent years, there have been other additions as well, such as Social,
Personal, and Health Education, now a new subject in the primary
curriculum. The revised curriculum places greater emphasis on primary
school science, and the physical education programme has been expanded to
include dance and outdoor pursuits. Drama, too, has been elevated to the
status of a curriculum subject, and all of these additions effectively overload
a teacher education programme that, for many years, has been regarded as
overcrowded (Sugrue, 1997, 1998).
While there has been a significant increase in faculty personnel in the
Colleges of Education during the past four years, it has been in response to a
crisis in teacher supply. Consequently, there has been a significant amount
of crisis management with immediate staffing problems being addressed
through the mechanism of teacher secondment. Many of these positions,
subsequently made permanent, have been allocated to personnel with
considerable strengths in curricular areas and experience in teaching, but
with relatively modest research expertise. Consequently, there is growing
tension within institutions, that have become relatively recently part of the
university structure, between consequent pressures and aspirations to be
more research productive, and the profile of recently appointed academic
staff. During the past decade, both of the major Colleges have developed
thriving graduate programmes where, for the first time, primary school
teachers are not required to complete Master’s Degrees in secondary
education departments in Universities. This diversification also signals the
need for significant internal restructuring that awaits attention. As part of
this restructuring, an appropriate career structure for academic staff in
colleges of education is a major concern.
At a recent symposium on the reform of initial primary teacher education,
consensus was achieved on the following:
i. Participants agreed on maintaining a balance between the theoretical
and the practical aspects of professional preparation. However, time
did not permit a more extensive discussion of what this “balance”
would really be.
ii. There was agreement that the problem of “overload” is pervasive.
Thirty contact hours per week is common in both Bachelor’s Degree
in Education and Diploma programmes. There has been a
proliferation of modes of assessment in an uncoordinated manner
that has resulted in more demands being placed on students.
iii. It was recognized that an induction programme is an overdue
necessity with important consequences for creating some space in
overcrowded initial years. Additionally, induction was perceived as
an important vehicle for promoting university-school partnerships
that would be useful also for mentoring and teacher professional
development. There was also recognition of the necessity to engage in
research and experimentation to explore alternatives as well as to
214 C. SUGRUE
build the knowledge base of teaching in the setting. This section of
the report concludes that: “[t]he overriding priority therefore would
appear to be a fundamental review of initial teacher education with
an emphasis on reconceptualizing as well as restructuring
programmes” (Sugrue, 1998, p. 49).
If such a symposium were being held today (rather than in 1996), it is
almost certain that the ICTs would feature much more prominently,
particularly their impact on teaching and learning, both in schools as well as
in faculties of education. Harnessing their potential needs to be addressed in
a critical, positive, and productive manner, as an integral element of reform.
There is an air of anticipation that a fourth year has to be seriously
considered as part of the restructuring so as to alleviate some of the current
chronic overload.
9. SECONDARY PRE-SERVICE: CONTENT AND PEDAGOGY

The numbers of full-time permanent staff members in the education
departments of universities do not exceed more than fourteen, with fewer
in some instances. Consequently, Higher Diploma programmes are
significantly dependent upon the use of part-time staff, both for the
supervision of students in classrooms and for the delivery of methodology
courses in a wide variety of subject-matter areas. When other courses,
such as Master’s and Graduate Diplomas in a variety of areas are added to
pre-service responsibilities, some of the crisis management evident in the
primary sector, owing to increasing student numbers and constant staffing
needs, is apparent in the secondary sector also, but for somewhat different
reasons.
Separation of primary and secondary teacher education creates a
fragmentation of effort and makes the impact of limited resources less
productive. As universities have come under greater pressure in recent
years to generate income and capital expenditure from private sources,
education tends to be neglected by institutional authorities, thus
marginalizing a discipline the status of which has been, for many years,
suspect in the minds of many other academics. In a more competitive
climate, it is difficult for education to expand or even to replace retiring
staff, as the bargaining chips of funding and research are not always
available. The sizes of faculties militates against the creation of a vital
research culture in the absence of a critical mass of personnel and
expertise. In these circumstances, reform and innovation can be difficult to
initiate and to sustain.
Despite the full-time status of programmes, students typically attend
classes in the afternoons. Some institutions allow students to teach until
lunchtime, each day, returning to campus in the afternoon, while in
others, there is greater effort to designate times for particular days of the
week. However, the room for maneuver in these situations is heavily
circumscribed by the scheduling needs of schools and a necessity to keep
schools “on side”.
Programmes typically include “foundation” disciplines (sometimes
subdivided into humanistic – history and philosophy, and scientific –
psychology and sociology), “methods” courses in the particular subjects in
which students have studied within their degrees, as well as curriculum
and assessment. Some programmes also include teaching studies as a
section of the programme and the ICTs may be located here or have a
separate designation. As this programme is at “graduate” level, students
are obliged to pay fees, etc. Consequently, they are keen to maximize their
“teaching” time in any one-week, to enhance earnings. Being a “utility”
player within a school is helpful for the given school principal, because a
“dip” student may be deployed as a “substitute” teacher when a member of
staff is unavoidably absent. There is a basic tension, therefore, between
theoretical and practical issues, the logistics of traveling to school and,
from there, to a university, on the same day.
Despite the relatively short length of the programme (September to
May), the challenges of staffing it adequately are numerous. Individuals
rather than institutions have sought to bring about reforms in the form of
portfolios, reflective practice, reflective analysis of teaching through micro-
teaching, and, of course, all programmes now include elements of the ICTs
with recent academic appointments in these areas. This programme is
subject to the same demands for additions to already overcrowded and
sometimes fragmented offerings as are evident in the primary school
sector.
Reforms, therefore, have tended to be within existing structures and
constraints rather than being part of more fundamental re-structuring and
reconceptualization. The Government White Paper recognized the need for
a serious rethinking of the enterprise, when it called for a review in 1995.
Attempted innovations not withstanding, programmes tend to
perpetuate a “sink or swim” attitude and approach to teaching or
classroom survival, an approach that is shared by staff and students.
Student-teachers generally are not afforded the opportunity of observing
the teaching of experienced colleagues, and mentoring, when it exists,
tends to be the result of personal interest on the part of conscientious
teachers rather than of good planning and programme coherence. Criteria
for the assessment of student teachers, when having their teaching
observed and assessed, tend not to be clearly articulated, and the role of
supervisors tends to be tilted in favour of evaluation rather than of
developmental constructive feedback. The Diploma is awarded at honours
and pass levels. It is necessary to gain honours in “teaching”,
independently of coursework, in order to gain an honours award.
Allowances, in addition to basic salary, are paid to both primary and
secondary school teachers for degrees and graduate diplomas, with
significant differences between allowances paid for pass and honours
levels.
216 C. SUGRUE
10. CONCLUSIONS
Discussion herein is confined to six major issues:
– the structural location of teacher education;
– pre-service programmes: content and balance;
– induction;
– continuing professional development’
– research;
– the information and communications technologies (ICTs).
Discussion of these emergent concerns will be brief, as the foregoing
analysis has been comprehensive.
10.1. Structural Location of Teacher Education

Teacher education for primary and secondary school teachers continues to
be provided separately, foremost as a legacy of the Nineteenth and early
Twentieth Centuries. Despite the presence of academic disciplines within
the Bachelor’s Degree in Education programme provided by the larger
colleges of education, graduates are prohibited from teaching in the
secondary school sector, and neither can they gain entry to the Higher
Diploma in Education programme. This institutional divide is also reflected
in the curriculum committee system created by the National Council for
Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). Consequently, it is difficult to build
in continuity, in terms of curriculum content and pedagogy from senior
primary years to the junior cycle of the secondary system. Enabling
primary school teachers to work across this artificial boundary would
enhance teacher mobility in a system that has few career possibilities, and
such flexibility would also contribute to the alleviation of current teacher
shortages.
The (denominational) boundaries that exist between colleges of
education and education departments in the universities have serious
consequences for capacity building within this sector, particularly in the
areas of continuing professional learning and the conduct and promotion
of research. In the absence of more radical review and restructuring, these
challenges are likely to persist with important consequences for the status
of education within the academy, as well as its potential contribution to
policy and practice through teaching and research.
10.2. Pre-Service Programmes: Content and Balance

Current programmes are overloaded and tend, to varying degrees, towards
fragmentation and incoherence. Additional constraints in recent years
derive from significant increases in student numbers owing to shortages of
teachers, so that crisis management and the grafting of “additions” to
existing content as pragmatic responses to demands, prescriptions, and
changing circumstances, prevail over more fundamental
reconceptualization and restructuring. It is anticipated that the review
committee created for primary school teacher education will have
something significant to say about the role of academic disciplines within
the Bachelor’s Degree in Education programme for the majority of
students, and it is also anticipated that a fourth year will be recommended
as a means to alleviate some overload, but with some expectation also that
there will be strong “prescriptions” regarding the nature of such an
extension to bring theory and practice into more productive tension. With
the advent of the Teaching Council, in which teachers will hold majority
membership, there is concern in some academic circles that the scales
may tilt in favour of “practice”, something that may fit with a more
technicist and practical orientation to teacher training rather than teacher
education.
In the secondary school sector, programmes are reliant, to a great
extent, on part-time staff, a situation that is a significant constraint on
reform, while the duration of programmes is generally regarded as
inadequate. However, in the absence of a comprehensive and systematic
approach to induction for beginning teachers, as well of as a more
systematic and sustained approach to continuing professional learning
across the teaching career, it is likely that the initial socialization into the
profession will continue to be overloaded. There is need in both sectors to
forge partnerships between schools and the academy, while recognizing
that such efforts are very labour intensive and, in the absence of additional
personnel and resources with attendant hybrid career trajectories, it is
unlikely that more adequate mentoring and more sustained commitment
to ongoing professional development and learning can become the norm
(Johnson et al., 2000; Rental and Ditmer, 1999). Given the pace of change,
it is generally recognized that “business as usual” is no longer an option
(Little, 2001).
10.3. Induction
It is generally recognized that a comprehensive and coherent national
programme is overdue. At the time of writing, there is some expectation
that a programme will begin in September 2002. However, the fact that
little planning in relation to this important initiative has been completed to
date suggests that the degree of challenge and complexity involved in such
an undertaking is either being underestimated or not being treated with
the seriousness it deserves. It is definitely time to forego further ad hoc
arrangements and to build in evaluation as integral to new initiatives
within a context of a comprehensive approach to lifelong learning. The
potential significance of an adequate induction programme for beginning
teachers, for alleviating some of the chronic overload that is evident in
initial teacher education, should not be underestimated. Its potential also
for reducing a growing attrition from teaching by new or more recent
entrants to the profession needs to become part of strategic thinking.
218 C. SUGRUE
10.4. Continuing Professional Development
Activity in this sector has increased exponentially during the past decade, as
pressures for curricular and pedagogical reforms, in particular, have
increased in frequency and intensity. However, expansion has tended to be
piecemeal and in a relatively uncoordinated manner, save for more recent
efforts in the primary school sector, in which more focused and targeted
support appears to be paying dividends (Sugrue et al., 2001). The
Department of Education and Science is in the process of further developing
its network of Education Centers that is perceived by many as the conduit for
centrally determined reforms, while the three teachers’ unions have also
become significant players in this arena. Colleges of Education and
Education faculties, too, are making a significant contribution in the form of
postgraduate Diploma and Degree programmes, and participation rates have
increased in recent years with greater competition, also between institutions,
particularly since Colleges have their own programmes. However, there is a
substantial “glass wall” between accredited and non-accredited programmes
and a significant absence of ongoing research as to the effectiveness or
impact of professional support on the quality of teaching and learning. A
more coherent policy, with evaluation and capacity building as integral
elements, is more likely to address current and emergent needs and to bring
greater coherence to a fractured and fragmented area that is largely a
product of piecemeal growth and an assumption that more is better.
10.5. Research
Despite globalizing tendencies, there is growing recognition, also, that
national and local circumstances have a significant shaping influence on
educational change within national borders, not the least of which are the
history, traditions, and culture of a given country (Beck, 2000).
Consequently, if a national education system is to avoid misfit between
prescriptions that are minted in other jurisdictions and its own reform
trajectories, it is necessary to support and sustain a vibrant research culture
within its own borders. While significant increases in research funding in
tertiary education have occurred in recent years, educational research
proposals have not found favour. When this rejection is added to the kinds of
fragmentation evident in the system between colleges and university
departments of education, without a more radical rethinking of existing
structures, this scenario is unlikely to change – with important consequences
for policy formulation – owing to an absence of evidence as to what is
currently happening within the system. Building a more adequate research
culture within teacher education, therefore, with both policy and practice
orientations, is an urgent necessity in the setting.
10.6. The Information and Communication Technologies

It is significant that, in the Governmental White Paper on Education
(Government of Ireland, 1995), information technology is notable for its
absence. However, there has been an explosion of interest and support for
this important area. The expansion initially targeted schools and made
significant provision of PCs and Internet access. Teacher education had to
compete for resources in this milieu and, as a consequence, provision of
resources and personnel has been a more recent development. There is little
evidence available as yet that the ICTs are having any fundamental impact
on the organization of teaching and learning within teacher education.
Rather, it appears that they are primarily perceived as an addition to
programmes. There is a necessity, therefore, for experimentation and
exploration of alternatives that begin to exploit the potential of this new
evolving terrain, but with a critically constructive eye. The potential impact of
such powerful new technologies is far too important to be left in the hands of
enthusiasts only. However, if teacher educators are to engage more seriously
with this current “unknown”, this effort too will have resource and personnel
implications that need to become part of strategic thinking and planning
(Cuban et al., 2001). It is a further dimension that provides additional
complexity to the process of teacher education reform. In the Irish context, as
in other jurisdictions, the role of the newly established Teaching Council (or
its equivalent elsewhere) has the potential to be a catalyst for innovation,
even though there is evidence from some countries that increased
bureaucratization is also a possibility.
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X. Teacher Education in Italy: New Trends
MARCO ENRICO TODESCHINI
Until the 1990s, the education of teachers in Italy took place as follows:
– Pre-school and primary school teachers were not required to have
graduated from a higher education programme.
– All secondary school teachers were required to have earned the
university degree, Laurea, that was comparable to a second cycle
degree in most countries (Master’s Degree level).
Yet the “training” side of access to teaching was not as clearly defined as
the “education” side. There was no formal training for secondary school
teachers. The necessary and sufficient condition was to hold a university
degree in the subject to be taught.
As of 1998-1999, pre-primary and primary school teachers are prepared
in universities, and would-be secondary school teachers have to enroll in
two-year postgraduate programmes dealing with pedagogy after graduation
in the subject area.
1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. The Deep Roots
Italy, as a sovereign nation-state, is a relatively young country. Even though
its territorial structure and cultural existence was clearly defined (the “big
boot”) as early as Roman times, the nation-state of Italy emerged much later
than other European nation-states.
For centuries, the land, while suffering invasions and foreign domination,
experienced a lively municipal life that gave birth to many city-states as well
as to the powerful Republic of Venice. The making of a nation-state took
place during the Nineteenth Century through wars fought against the
Austrian Empire – that ruled most of the North – the Bourbons of Naples in
the South, and the Papal States in the Center. The main actor was the Savoy
Dynasty, the territory of which included the Northwest plus the island of
Sardinia after which the Kingdom was named. The Kingdom of Italy was
declared in 1861, and the capital, set in Florence. Rome – still under the
secular rule of the Pope – was occupied in 1870 and became the capital.
The reason for giving this sketchy historical background is the incredible
persistence of elements of legislation that preceded the unification of the
country.
The Kingdom of Italy arose from the “quasi-colonial” expansion of the
former Kingdom of Sardinia. Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia kept the same
ordinal (II) as King of Italy. The “Albertine Statute”, the law that King Charles-
Albert had granted in 1848, had its validity extended through the process of
224 M. E. TODESCHINI
unification and lasted a full century as the main statutory law for all of Italy,
until the birth of the Republic.
Accordingly, legislation that might have been appropriate for a very small
state was extended to the whole territory of a country that had for centuries
experienced a lively localism and complex international influences and
experiences.
1.2. Immutability – Non-Reformability

Schools were organized on a variety of patterns in each of the Italian states.
The most advanced were those of Tuscany and of the parts of Italy under
Austrian rule. No traces of either were left in subsequent national legislation.
Since the birth of unified Italy, the backbone of the formal educational
structure has been a law of the Kingdom of Sardinia, later extended to areas
incorporated into the country, to be eventually (1877) formalized as a law for
the whole Kingdom of Italy. It is known as the Casati Law (Legge Casati),
after the name of the minister who had supported it. The law was
promulgated in 1859 during the war against Austria that Victor Emmanuel II
was fighting with the military support of the French emperor, Napoleon III.
Its structure is highly centralist and has been kept as such so far. The
government structure of the Kingdom of Italy has followed the Napoleonic
pattern, modeled on military structures. Most of the activity at all levels is
determined and controlled at the upper levels. The radical political change
through which the Republic was born did not affect this pattern. In spite of
the decentralization that has taken place over the last decade, the structure
is still pyramidal, with many decisions to be taken at central level by the
national Ministry.
A country the size of which had increased by a factor of five by the time
that unification was completed and the population of which had increased
from 22 million to 58 million did, of course, produce additional legislation on
education since 1859. Yet the overall structure remained the same, being
somewhat changed through additions reflecting the social expansion of
school attendance.
1.3. The Impact of Philosophy/Ideology

It is also necessary to look at the philosophical background of education.
At the end of the Nineteenth Century in Italy, as elsewhere, positivism was
prevailing, placing great emphasis on research, both in the natural and the
social sciences. In education, this trend meant attention to the “rationale” or
“scientific” organization of teaching. Universities supported research in this
domain, and schools reflected this culture in their curricula. The name of
Maria Montessori shows the Italian contribution to the “Copernican
revolution” in education. Yet Montessori is better known outside Italy,
nowadays, than in her own country. One of the reasons is the later shift
towards idealism, with Croce and Gentile as the main representatives.
Immediately after coming to power, the Fascist government focused its
attention on the school. Giovanni Gentile was appointed Minister of
TEACHER EDUCATION IN ITALY 225
Education and, between 1922 and 1923, he signed a set of laws and decrees
(since referred to as the Riforma Gentile) that designed an élitist system, the
pivot of which was the Ginnasio-Liceo, based essentially on the humanities.
Benedetto Croce had been Minister of education in a previous cabinet, 1920-
1921. Both referred to the tradition of Nineteenth Century German idealism
and historicism. If history is the one and only scientific – i.e., true and
reliable – form of knowledge, all other areas of investigation and knowledge
are “pseudo-sciences”, not producing true knowledge. Their influence
succeeded in reducing the liveliness of research in the experimental sciences.
Social sciences and an empirical-experimental approach to education went
through a long eclipse.
The general architecture of the educational system was not significantly
changed. The upper age limit for compulsory schooling was raised to 14.
Changes were made in curricula whereby, at secondary level, a clear-cut
social dichotomy was reflected in the organization of schools: the lycées
(Ginnasio-Liceo, and the new Liceo scientifico) became the via regia for access
to higher education and for preparation to enter the ruling class, where other
tracks would prepare qualified staff for industries but did not grant access to
higher education. The tertiary level had no internal articulation in that:
– Outside the universities there were only the arts academies, the
schools of music, and the military academies (no employment-oriented
tracks).
– Universities granted a single degree (the Laurea) equivalent to the
second university cycle in most countries (their main mission being to
prepare students for the “liberal” professions and for the high levels of
State administration).
Specific teaching competencies were ignored. It was assumed that a
person who had a strong command of knowledge could easily and effectively
transfer it. A structured and powerful disciplinary knowledge was believed to
be a sufficient condition to be a teacher, and no specific training was believed
to be necessary.
It should be noted that upper secondary school started to lose its élitist
character only after the 1950s. While the Gentile reform had made school
attendance legally compulsory through age 14, most observers remain
convinced that the raising of the school-leaving age to 14 came (in 1962) with
the law (L. n. 1859/62) that created an unstreamed cycle of lower secondary
school, to follow primary school, as compulsory elementary education. Yet –
even ignoring Gentile – the Republican Constitution (Art. 34, para. 2) had
already stated, in 1947, that “Lower instruction, imparted for eight years at
least, is compulsory and free of charge”; so, if the starting age is six, then the
school-leaving age will be 14.
Why such a blatant mistake? The wrong belief can be explained by
statistical data that display a dramatic variation in enrollments in post-
primary schools, starting from the 1960s, showing a threefold increase in
twenty years. This increase was the result of dramatic changes in the
availability of facilities – school buildings, equipment, teaching, and
administrative staff – that made attendance possible all over the country.
1.4. Contemporary (Republican) Italy

Immediately following the end of the Second World War, Italy became a
Republic, the result of a referendum (1946).
This radical change did not imply the phasing out of previous legislation.
The new state did not succeed in fifty years in eliminating its baroque
copiousness of rules and the virtual impossibility to change them.
Essential and fundamental laws have a most difficult gestation as a
consequence of the structure of the legislative power at national level. As
both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have identical legislative
responsibilities, a proposed law must be approved by both Chambers. A
project approved by one Chamber and amended by the second has to go
back to the first to be submitted to further discussion for possible approval.
Laws dealing with crucial issues must follow an extremely difficult path that
frequently ends in a cul-de-sac and does not produce formal laws. On school
matters, the climax was probably reached during the 1970s with the sequel
of unsuccessful attempts to reform upper secondary school, when a range of
political parties kept presenting reform proposals, from 1972 through 1993,
of which none succeeded in getting through the fatiguing parliamentary
process to become law.
Yet changes have occurred in the country, and the legislation relative to
educational structures has reflected some of them. Significant among others
is the Law of 1973 (L. n. 477/1973) delegating to the Ministry the power to
legislate on a number of issues concerning school structures. It has also
affected teacher education, stating that all teachers must have a full
university education (L. n. 477/1973, Art 4, para. 5: “...in the perspective of a
complete university education to be a prerequisite for all teachers...”).
As a social group, the teacher-category expanded rapidly to respond to the
needs of a huge expansion of schooling. While losing the former social
prestige of an élite group, it acquired weight as a powerful guild. Law no.
477/1973 and related decrees reflect the pressure that public opinion and
the school-connected guilds could bring to bear on the Parliament. But, as to
initial teacher preparation, it was left without consequences.
2. EDUCATION AND TRAINING – THE “PREPARATION” OF TEACHERS

Let us go back to the term, “preparation”. Romance languages have a word
that combines and integrates both the theoretical/academic side and the
operationally-oriented side of a process of teaching/learning (formazione in
Italian, formation in French, formación in Spanish, formação in Portuguese,
etc.). When translating the expression, formazione degli insegnanti into
English, neither of the terms, taken alone, is sufficient, the complete
equivalent being Education and Training. (For this reason, the term,
“preparation” should be used.) In the case of Italy, the two questions, (i) How
are teachers educated?, and (ii) How are teachers trained?, would not receive
the same answer, as will be further explained below.
3. OUTLINE OF THE CURRENT EDUCATION SYSTEM

Schools are under the authority and control of the central government.
Private schools are very limited in number and size and are mostly
denominational (almost 100 percent Roman Catholic plus a few international
schools).
The structure is as follows:
1. Pre-school, Scuola materna, ages 3 to 6
2. Primary school, Scuola elementare, ages 6 to 11; compulsory;
3. Secondary school;
3.1. First cycle, Scuola media, ages 11 to 14; compulsory, totally
unstreamed;
3.2. Second cycle; at post-compulsory level, split into several tracks:
– Academic:
? classical (like Grammar school, Gymnasium);
? scientific;
? modern languages;
? fine arts;
? teachers’ institutes (magistrale) (until 1997);
– Technical:
? commercial;
? industrial;
? agriculture;
? survey;
? nautical;
? tourist industries, etc.
– Vocational (professionali di stato): same as above, but shorter
(three years) and more operational; since 1969, many of the
programmes have added a two-year cycle, to give access to
higher education (see below).
3.1. Higher Education

Outside of universities proper, very little exists at tertiary level: military
academies, art academies, some schools for social workers, very limited “second
level” (i.e., post-secondary) training activities of the regional governments.
Since 1969, anybody holding the certificate of a 5-year post-compulsory
school may enroll in a university, choosing any programme and institution.
This situation results in the overcrowding of some universities, leaving others
almost empty.
Until 1990 (Law 341), the one and only academic degree awarded by
universities, was the laurea, functionally equivalent to the intermediate
degree of most higher education systems, like the Maîtrise or the Master’s
Degree.
Since all those holding the laurea degree are called dottore, when the
doctorate referring to a third cycle within higher education was introduced
(1980), it was called the “Research doctorate” (Dottorato di ricerca).
3.2. Paths to Becoming a Teacher (Until the 1990s)

Pre-school educators – until adoption of Law 341 of 1990 – were not required
to graduate from a tertiary level programme; moreover, they were the product
of a shortened upper secondary track, the Scuola magistrale, with a duration
of only three years following compulsory schooling. In terms of education,
universities had no formal commitment at this level.
Likewise, primary school teachers, until adoption of the above-mentioned
law, were not required to graduate from a tertiary level programme and were
the product of a specific track of upper secondary schooling, the Istituto
magistrale, with a duration of four years as opposed to five-year Licei and
Istituti tecnici. Education and training took place at secondary level in a
shortened track and training, through periods of supervised practica in
schools.
Secondary school teachers have always been required to obtain a
complete university education and to earn the academic degree, laurea, i.e. a
second level (MA, MS) degree. Such a degree, however, is subject matter
oriented and does not include any additional path of formal training as
teachers.
In comparative terms, the access path in Italy was shorter than the
average in most countries for pre-school and primary school teachers, while
it was (on the education side) more demanding, than in most countries, for
secondary school teachers, but was entirely lacking so far as the training side
was concerned.
Examinations in national competitions for teaching posts (concorsi) are
aimed at assessing subject-matter competence, disregarding the didactic
side. Access to the responsibility of headmaster/headmistress requires
administrative and legal competencies, but does not require abilities like
curriculum planning and/or evaluation, guidance, staff management, etc.
This description is the official version. Yet one of the most peculiar
features of Italy is, no doubt, its multiple identity, something that makes the
country so difficult to interpret and understand, not only by foreigners, but
by nationals as well.
Comparative studies (like IEA inquiries) do find comparable aptitudes in
teachers across countries, Italy included. Italian teachers develop those
aptitudes on the job, when dealing with the concrete teaching situation in a
classroom and obtain specific competencies by trial and error, i.e. at a
considerable individual and social cost.
As no explicit provision is made to ensure initial training, very little is
provided to support a monitored probationary period for novices. What does
occur in this area emerges out of the solidarity of the profession as a guild.
Teachers’ associations have a wider membership than teachers’ unions, are
lively and active, and have a remarkable impact. Most are active across the
levels of the educational system, bridging school and higher education, with
active members on both sides.
3.3. The Acquisition of Competencies

In spite of the absence of a formal path for initial training, teachers were
acquiring qualifications even before the law of 1990 came into effect. Let us
look closer, as here we are coming to the focal point.
Of the four (chrono-)logical steps of professional training, (i) initial
education, (ii) initial training, (iii) induction (i.e., a controlled probationary
period), (iv) in-service training, the two intermediate steps (training and
induction) were absent. What was lacking was not only practical training in a
controlled induction phase, but also academic introduction, one specifically
oriented towards the teaching side: thus, university education for most, no
training at all for would-be teachers.
The normal access route was through short periods of part-time teaching
(supplenze). Such service could contribute partly to making a smoother
“running-in”, avoiding the possible shock of getting immediately involved,
full-time, without training. Then the guild-like system started working, with
the more experienced practitioners acting informally as trainers of the
novices. But since these senior teachers are not equipped for their training
role, we must assume that the significant elements of their expertise would
be practical experience and charisma, the latter meaning recognition and
support by colleagues.
A few remarks about the sector of vocational training.
A substantial part of post-compulsory education, run by the national
government [Istituti Professionali di Stato (IPS), similar to the French Lycées
Professionnels] is vocationally oriented. The path of access to teaching
functions here is not different from that in the other branches of secondary
school.
Parallel to it, the regions and the autonomous provinces have
responsibility and legislate in the sector of vocational training. A detailed
analysis would not show significant differences from the general pattern, i.e.,
no formal path for initial training as teachers and/or instructors.
Comparatively speaking, the result is paradoxical:
– As far as education is concerned, Italy has pioneered the “universitization”
of teacher education, because no third level specific institutions for the
preparation of teachers (like Pädagogische Hochschulen, Teachers
Colleges, Écoles Normales) have ever existed.
– As for training, lacking an explicitly formalized path, and therefore
leaving the training side to the acquisition of expertise on the job, the
Italian practice has pioneered a form of that “school-based teacher
training” that is increasingly attracting attention in several countries.
3.4. In-Service Training
Universities have a quite different influence on in-service training.
In-service training has seldom been planned and implemented at national
level. Since 1973 (L. n. 477/1973), each one of the twenty regions has an
institution responsible for the planning, stimulation, coordination, and
support of in-service training, called Istituti Regionali di Ricerca,
Sperimentazione e Aggiornamento Educativo (IRRSAE). IRRSAEs act in co-
operation with universities, with scientific and cultural associations, with
teachers’ associations, as well as with teachers’ unions.
According to an enquiry on Italian teachers that took place in 1991, most
teachers expressed dissatisfaction with their preparation, especially with
their training in general and specific teaching skills and expectations for
change in contents and structure. A further inquiry (1999) confirmed the
same dissatisfaction about initial preparation. More than 50 percent felt that
the social perception of their function was declining and that this decline
would continue in the future. The attitude varied when in-service training
was considered, and many felt that among the tools needed to change the
trend was constant updating. According to the Ministry of Public Instruction,
over 80 percent of the teachers had experienced multiple in-service training
activities in the two previous years; 95 percent during the 1997-1998 school
year. During the 1999-2000 school year, the ministerial office for
Coordination of Teacher Training (Coordinamento della Formazione degli
Insegnanti – CFI), established in 1998, started a scheme for the monitoring of
and research on school-provided in-service training initiatives, to give the
Ministry some feedback as to the needs and opportunities for teacher
training.
The idea of sabbaticals is supported by teachers’ associations and
teachers’ unions. The suggestion is often made that sabbaticals could be
spent within universities.
4. STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE ACCESS TO TEACHING IN THE 1990s

(SINCE ADOPTION OF LAW 341/1990)
In spite of the commitment taken in 1973 with Law 477, changes in initial
teacher preparation did not occur. Formal procedures of assessment aimed at
the delivery of explicit certification (abilitazione) that should have been at least
biennial, took biblical amounts of time to be convened. The same happened
with the national competitions to receive recognition as tenured civil servants
(concorsi per l’entrata in ruolo).
Consequently, a significant part of the teaching body was not certified, and
many teachers had (and still have) an unstable status.
While no provision was made to set up higher education programmes for
nursery and primary school teachers, access to secondary school teaching
required a degree. Most graduates aiming to become teachers come from three
main areas: the faculties of arts, the faculties of sciences, and the faculties of
education (Magistero). As a consequence, the universities, always committed
to the issue, have set up and have maintained interdepartmental centers for
research on teaching (Centri Interdipartimentali per la Ricerca Educativa –
CIRD). Thus, changes for initial education and training of teachers took
another turn, eventually to be defined within the framework of new rules
concerning higher education. A Law (L. n. 941/90), aimed essentially at
setting general guidelines for tertiary education, also makes formal provision
for:
– an entirely new, degree-granting programme aimed at preparing early
childhood educators and primary school teachers;
– a postgraduate biennial course intended to complement, on the teacher
training side, graduates of the various areas aiming to become teachers
in secondary schools.
The law was approved and promulgateded in 1990, and its overall
implementation started immediately except the parts dealing with teachers.
With reference to the preparation of teachers, the law lays down general
guidelines for the new programmes, delegating their detailed planning to the
government through ministries and technical committees.
The new programme concerning pre-school and primary school appears in
Article 3 of the law, where the Laurea (second cycle degree, Master’s level) is
defined. Programmes leading to it will not be shorter than four years. If
everybody (within the universities and the schools themselves) agreed on the
need to have university education, many put a strong pressure for it to be at
diploma level (three years). They were unsuccessful: hence the obligation of a
5 + 4 (secondary + university) path to earn the degree. Award of the degree by
universities also means certification (abilitazione) by the Ministry of
Education, hence the possibility to enter competitions for tenured posts.
Postgraduate programmes for secondary school teachers are defined in
Article 4 that deals with the Diploma di specializzazione. As for the primary
school programme, a university degree also means certification by the
Ministry of Education.
A decree giving detailed structure and organization was due by the end of
1992. Yet, the innovation in the field of teacher education and training took a
long time to take off.
The reasons are not difficult to understand: while until 1989,
administrative competencies in higher education were the remit of the
Ministry of Public Education (MPI), they have since been transferred to the
Ministry of Research, formerly the Ministero della Ricerca Scientifica, later the
Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (MURST).
Thus, all matters concerning both ministries have to be dealt with, according
to Art. 4 of the Law that transferred the competencies (L. n. 168/89), by an
inter-ministerial committee. This committee has a complex membership
including experts appointed by the two Ministers, representatives of the
National Council for State Education (CNPI), of the National University
Council (CUN), of the Chamber of the Economy and Labour (CNEL), and of
IRRSAEs. The starting up of the committee was slow. Its agenda was
overloaded, given the number of items concerning interaction between the
ministries to be discussed. Apart from governmental bodies, interest groups
on both sides are applying pressure on the committee to support a wide range
of positions.
A much-debated issue was the formal value to be granted to degrees
delivered by universities. The Ministry of Education and the teachers’ unions
maintained that, should the specific degree become a necessary condition to
gain access to a teaching post, teachers already active in the system without
being tenured and the high number of holders of a certificate from an Istituto
magistrale would be disadvantaged.
But why should somebody enter a four-year higher education programme
to teach in primary school, if a secondary certificate continues to be
recognized as sufficient? Nobody objected to the appropriateness of
strengthening initial education and training, but a jump from a four-year path
(Istituto magistrale) to a nine-year path, 4+1+4 (magistrale + anno integrativo +
laurea programme), more than doubling the time of preparation, led to a great
deal of debate. And why would somebody holding a laurea enter a two-year
postgraduate programme as long as there are alternative paths to the
abilitazione (certification by the Ministry of Education)?
Established in July 1991, the committee produced a set of documents later
transmitted, in July 1993, to the Minister of Education and to the Minister of
Universities.
Only in 1996 were regulations concerning the postgraduate programme for
secondary school teachers (DPR n. 470/1996) and the laurea programme for
pre-school and primary school teachers (DPR n. 471/1996) issued. Secondary
school tracks aimed at the preparation of teachers for pre-school and primary
school were closed (DIM 10 March 1997).
The first programme took off in 1998; the second, in 1999.
The primary school programme is hosted by faculties of education (Facoltà
di scienze della formazione) that do not exist in all universities: so if we take
the case of the Lombardy region (Milan), of all the state universities –
Bergamo, Brescia, Insubria, Milan, Milan-Bicocca, and Pavia – only Milan-
Bicocca has a faculty of education. Therefore, the programme started there.
The Catholic University having two faculties, one in Milan and the another in
Brescia, also started the same programme in both. No risk of over-production:
the population of Lombardy being over 9 million and the Ministero
dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (MURST) setting each
year, by decree, the total number of places available and their distribution
among universities. In most other regions, the programme took off in one
university only and/or through inter-university co-operation.
The postgraduate programmes are run by inter-university consortia to
enable a rational utilization of existing resources, especially in terms of
competencies.
5. STRUCTURE OF THE NEW PROGRAMMES

5.1. Pre-School and Primary School
While the programme belongs to the Facoltà di scienze della formazione
(Faculty or School of Education), the resources of other faculties/schools can
be used to ensure the activity of the programme (subject matter-oriented
competencies can be taken from other faculties: arts, sciences, languages,
etc.).
The formal condition for access is possession of a certificate of a five-year
track of upper secondary school.
The duration is four years for a programme articulated in two tracks: one
oriented towards pre-school, the other towards primary school. The first and
second year is common to both tracks, while the detailed planning falls
under the responsibility of the individual institution within the framework of
national guidelines.
The degree mentions the specific track, and graduates may obtain it for
the other track through an additional year of studies.
The preparation will require no less than 2,000 hours, of which 1,600
articulated in no less than 21 year-equivalent courses and at least 400 hours
of a teaching practicum (tirocinio) mentored by a teacher or headmaster,
whose formal assessment will count towards the final graduation.
Curricula should include – within detailed guidelines given by the national
decree and retaining the distinction between the pre-school and the primary
school tracks – elements from different discipline areas as defined in detail (a
range of 153 items), of which the titles only will be given:
1. Pedagogy
2. Methodology-Didactics
3. Psychology
4. Medicine
5. Legal Studies
6. Sociology-Anthropology
7. Linguistics-Literature
8. Physics/Mathematics
9. Nature Studies, Environmental Sciences, and Hygiene
10. Music and Sound Communication
11. Foundations of Science (Scienze motorie)
12. Didactics of Modern Languages
13. History-Sociology
14. Drawing
15. Integration of disabled pupils.
One takes the final examination after one has passed all curriculum
examinations and has undergone a positive check of foreign language
competencies and the positive assessment of a practicum. The examination
requires the defense of a thesis and a report on the teaching practicum.
Within the ministerial guidelines, each individual university defines its
programmes (piani di studio), that can therefore vary among different
institutions.
5.2. The Example of the University of Milan-Bicocca
Since the start (1998-1999), the University of Milan-Bicocca had anticipated
elements of the ongoing reform of higher education. Therefore studies here
were already based on credits, as portrayed in the tables below:
Table 1. General Guidelines

Duration: four years, articulated in eight semesters
– Total hours: 2,400
– Total credits: 2,240
– Total examinations: 2,224 (3 per semester)
Table 2. Percent distribution of credits in the two tracks:

Primary school Pre-school
Area
Percent Credits Percent Credits
Sciences of education 25 60 35 84
Subject basics and didactics 35 84 25 60
Pedagogical and didactic lab 10 24 10 24
Practicum 20 48 20 48
Elective courses 5 12 5 12
Special activities 5 12 5 12
Table 3. Areas of courses for the first biennial cycle

Sciences of Education
– pedagogical area
– area of methodology and didactics
– area of psychology
– socio-anthropological area
Subject Basics and Didactics
– philosophical and epistemological area
– area of linguistics
– foreign language area
– literary area
– area of history
– area of geography
– area of sociology-anthropology
– area of mathematical and computer sciences
– area of physical sciences
– area of biological, natural, and environmental sciences
Table 4. The areas of courses for the second (oriented) biennial cycle
Sciences of Education
– legal area
– medical area
– area of disabled pupils’ integration
Subject Basics and Didactics
– area of subject didactics
– area of religious cultures
– area of image and artistic education
– area of sound and music education
– area of the foundations of science (Scienze motorie)
– areas of pre-school and primary education
5.3. The Specialization School for Secondary Education (Scuola di

Specializzazione per l’Insegnamento Secondario – SSIS)
The school is to be articulated in at least two disciplinary tracks as defined
by the university or consortium of universities running the programme.
In addition to granting an academic degree, the final examination will
grant certification (abilitazione) to teach in the areas defined by the Ministry
of Education and will entitle the holder to take part in national competitions
for tenured posts.
The duration will be of two years including at least 700 hours of courses
and didactic laboratories, plus at least 300 hours of practica monitored by
tenured secondary school teachers.
Each student will submit for approval an individual curriculum related to
the previous laurea curriculum. It might include a wider range of courses, in
case the student is aiming at more than one Ministry of Public Education
(MPI) certification.
Admission to the School is open to graduates whose laurea is acceptable
for teaching in secondary schools and to European Union citizens whose
higher education degrees are recognized as suitable for aspiring secondary
school teachers in their countries of origin.
The number of places available for the different tracks and for each School
is set each year by a joint decree of the (Ministero dell’Università e della
Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica) (MURST) and the Ministry of Public
Education (MPI). All students having incomes below a set limit may receive
financial support.
Admission criteria, the form of the final examination, and the composition
of panels that will include university professors, secondary school teachers,
and other experts, will be defined by individual schools within the guidelines
of inter-ministerial agreements at the national level and the requirements of
specific schools for their area of activity.
5.4. Some Examples of Secondary School Teacher Preparation
LOMBARDY
The Inter-University Lombard School of Specialization for Secondary
Teaching (Scuola Interuniversitaria Lombarda di Specializzazione per
l’Insegnamento Secondario – SILSIS) was set up during the 1999-2000
academic year and has three local sections: Milan, Pavia, and
Bergamo/Brescia.
The State University of Milan (the co-ordinating institution) and Milan-
Bicocca, the Politecnico (the State Institute of Technology), the Università
Bocconi (a private school of economics), and the Libera Università Carlo
Cattaneo di Castellanza (a private school of economics and management)
pertain to the Milan section. The curriculum is articulated in six subject
tracks, namely: the Natural Sciences, Physics-Computer Science-
Mathematics, Literary Linguistics, Foreign Languages, Law-Economics, and
Art, reflecting a range of seventeen classi di abilitazione (clusters of teaching
qualification as defined by the Ministry of Education). Activities in the area of
Educational Sciences are compulsory for all tracks. Attendance is
compulsory, and the activity is articulated in classes, in teaching
laboratories, and in monitored practica within secondary schools, for a total
time corresponding to 30 percent of the credits required. Student places
available are defined through the evaluation of the needs in caption areas.
Currently enrolled students amount to 510 over a two-year period.
MULTILINGUAL AREAS: AUTONOMOUS REGIONS-PROVINCES

Two other examples are worth mentioning to show elements of transnational
co-operation: that of the SSIS for the Region Autonome Vallée d’Aoste –
Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, bordering France, and that of the Brixen-
Bressanone section of the Freie Universität Bozen-Libera Università di Bolzano
in the autonomous province of Alto Adige-Südtirol, bordering Austria.
The first of these was created in 1999 by the Autonomous Region (where
no university had existed) in co-operation with the University of Turin, the
IUFM (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres) of the Académie of
Grenoble (France), and the University of Liège (Belgium). To ensure that all
students acquire all competencies needed to teach in a bilingual
environment, 20 percent of the credits are to be acquired from the
IUFM/Grenoble or from the University of Liège. The school covers two areas:
Physics – Computer Science – Mathematics, and Literature-Linguistics,
towards four clusters of abilitazioni.
The recently created University of Bolzano/Bozen in the multilingual
(Italian, German, and Ladino speaking) area of Northern Italy is the second
example. It has its education section in Brixen-Bressanone, offering the
degree programme, Bildungswissenschaften für den Primarbereich along with
the Corso di laurea in scienze della formazione primaria, and also the Corso di
specializzazione per insegnanti di scuola secondaria
<www.unibz.it/education/index.htm>.
6. THE FULL REFORM OF THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE OF FORMAL
EDUCATION (1996-2001)
Meanwhile two other radical transformations were mandated by law.
– The architecture of schools was changed from the 5+3+5 (primary,
lower secondary, upper secondary) pattern to 7+5 (basic education,
secondary education), with an increase from eight to nine years of
compulsory full-time schooling, plus a further obligation, up to age
eighteen, in vocational training for those not pursuing academic tracks.
– The architecture of higher education was changed, with universities
shifting from a pattern whereby the first cycle (Bachelor’s Degree level)
had been lacking from 1859 through 1990, to a 3+2+3 (Laurea, Laurea
specialistica, Dottorato) pattern.
Autumn 2001 should have been the starting point of both. As a
consequence of political change produced by the general elections, even if the
relevant law was not abrogated, school reform was frozen and consequently
did not begin.
6.1. Implications for Teacher Education and Training as of 2001

The education/training paths for teachers at the three levels of pre-school,
primary, and secondary education only took off in 1998, but these reforms
have necessarily implied changes.
The programme for early childhood educators and primary school
teachers took off as a four-year programme and may have to be redesigned
as a three-year programme, possibly with further two-year specializations.
Postgraduate programmes for would-be secondary school teachers should,
in principle, be affected by the redistribution of competencies and
responsibilities within the new school structure.
The practical implementation of Law 341/1990 has lengthened the formal
access path to teaching: the extension is six years for pre-school (fourth and
fifth years at secondary level in order to gain access to university studies,
plus a four-year laurea programme), five years for primary school, two years
after graduation for secondary schools, both for the lower and the upper
cycles.
The new school structure (now frozen and on the way to being cancelled)
removes the gap between the primary and the lower secondary school cycles.
This modification raised questions about teachers. Will they remain the same
from the first to the seventh year? Should they all have the same
qualification? As of now, the difference between the two cycles is clear:
generalists equipped with pedagogical competencies in primary schools,
subject-matter oriented graduates with no training as teachers in lower
secondary school. Given the implementation of the relevant articles of Law
341/1990, the university programmes for pre-school and primary school, on
the one hand, and for postgraduate programmes for secondary school, on the
other hand, will deliver academic degrees also granting certification by the
Ministry of Education. The latter could, in principle, be recruited in
secondary schools, the former in primary schools. But the change in the
structure of the elementary school (scuola di base) could imply that the
programme, specifically designed for teachers, might not be needed for all.
The secondary cycle is split into phases, in that the first and second year
are still compulsory for all and that their main goal is to help orient further
choices, while the terminal triennial phase is oriented and specialized.
This situation suffices to explain and to justify a complex debate about the
definition, hence the preparation, of teachers.
To complicate matters further comes the reform of university structures:
– Should the four-year teachers’ programme contract into a three-year
laurea programme or expand to include, after a laurea (3 years), a
laurea specialistica (2 further years)?
– While retaining the two-year postgraduate programme to prepare
teachers, should the access-granting degree be a three-years laurea for
all, the 3+2 laurea specialistica for all, or three years for some and 3+2
for others?
The two simultaneous reforms being new, the debate is open and is far
from being concluded.
Some people believe that the preparation of teachers for all kinds and
levels of schooling, from nursery school to upper secondary, ought to have
the same duration.
Some other arguments deserve attention, particularly those that
emphasize the difficult competition between teaching as a civil service
activity, in which working conditions are not very attractive, and employment
in the private sector. This situation is particularly evident in the area of
sciences and technologies. If a three-year degree in mathematics, physics,
computer sciences, etc., can open the gate to well-paid jobs, why would
somebody be tempted by an additional path leading to a second-level degree
plus a training programme?
On the other hand, how can one be certain that a three-year cycle of
higher education plus a training programme will impart an adequate level of
competency for one to be a teacher at the highest level of secondary school?
The School Reform Act was approved on 10 February 2000 (L. n. 30/00).
According to Article 6, Implementation of the New Cycles, the Ministry must
plan a five-year transition phase. The plan should include, among other
issues, the re-qualification of teachers. Non-tenured teachers would retain
their positions until the reorganization was completed. The two Ministries will
define the university degrees and programmes required for teaching in the
first cycle (scuola di base).
The minister of education supported the following pattern:
– for elementary schools (ciclo di base): laurea (3 years) plus SSIS
(postgraduate teacher training) stressing the presence of practica
(totaling 5 years);
– for secondary schools: laurea (3 years), plus laurea specialistica, plus a
modified SSIS with a subject matter-oriented first year and a second
year of practicum (totaling 7 years).
In April 2000, the faculties of education proposed another pattern:
– laurea for pre-school (3 years);
– for ciclo di base: laurea plus specific laurea specialistica (to be called
...della formazione scolastica di base) (5 years);
– for secondary school: laurea, plus laurea specialistica, plus SSIS or a
postgraduate annual programme called Master’s Degree (7 or 6 years).
During the summer of 2000, the Inter-Ministerial Committee produced
two proposals:
– the majority proposal: given the current pattern beyond primary school,
that is, the traditional laurea, plus SSIS, the pattern could become the
new laurea plus the laurea specialistica plus one single year of SSIS,
mostly oriented towards pedagogy and didactics (total 6 years);
– the minority proposal: the new laurea plus SSIS, within a common
programme of training for all kinds of teachers to facilitate transfers
from one level to another (elementary and secondary or vice versa)
(5 years).
It was also remarked that the existing SSIS do not have the resources to
train as many teachers as will be required when the reform will be
completed. Therefore, the current procedures to enter the teaching profession
(certifications by the Ministry of Education through examinations and
selective competitions to enter as tenured teachers) should not be phased
out.
At the end of October, the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
Scientifica e Tecnologica (MURST) reached a compromise: the laurea plus
SSIS (5 years) for scuola di base; the laurea plus one year of laurea
specialistica plus SSIS (6 years) for secondary school, while teachers’ unions
still supported the laurea plus SSIS (a total of five years) for all.
As of June 2001, the last formal act before the incoming cabinet took over,
was an Inter-ministerial Decree setting rules for the preparation of teachers
of scuola di base (DIM, 4 June 2001). The requirements that are common to
all teachers of scuola di base are the laurea (three years) and SSIS.
Differences may result from the type of laurea that can be either that of the
specific programme, Scienze della formazione primaria (redesigned as a three-
year programme), or a programme belonging to a range of classes in the
humanities, the sciences, technologies, etc. Article 4 stated that the overall
curriculum (five years) had to include (a) courses and practical laboratories
in the sciences of education needed for a general preparation for teaching; (b)
courses and laboratories in disciplinary clusters or single disciplines; (c)
courses in discipline-related pedagogy, and (d) disciplinary or
interdisciplinary practica in connection with the courses in (a) above.
No formal act had been passed as of June 2001 concerning the secondary
cycle.
6.2. Implications of the Changed Parliamentary Majority Following the General
Elections of May 2001
The general elections held on 13 May 2001 produced a shift in the
parliamentary majority. Right wing parties had been critical of the reform
that the previous majority had been proposing since 1996 even though it had
been developed over several years with the wide involvement of schools and
of public opinion and had resulted in the Law of February 2000. During the
electoral campaign, the right wing coalition repeatedly stated that it intended
to cancel the reform and to return to the previous structure. It focused its
criticism on the first cycle that had resulted from the merging of primary and
junior secondary school. The declarations that followed the electoral results
were less radical, but the starting up of the new structure was “frozen” by the
new cabinet. The 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 school years were not affected
by the Law of February 2000 and have remained within the pre-reform
structure.
The rejection of the reform feeds back on policies and practices concerning
teacher education and training.
The reform of higher education has not been unanimously accepted
within universities and has given rise to a heated debate. Yet its machinery
has been operating for several years, giving rise to deep transformations. It
got underway formally during the 2001-2002 academic year.
Criticism never came from the representatives of the political parties as
such. The path of change went through a complex and intricate legislative
procedure because the highly praised autonomy of individual universities is
far from total; rather, it is still subject to a great deal of limitations and
controls. Although the former opposition had not campaigned against the
reform of higher education, the representatives of the coalition announced,
after the elections, that the reform would be frozen. The reaction of many
universities that came immediately was that freezing this reform was like
“trying to stop a train running at high speed” and would have catastrophic
consequences. Rather, the new structure should be evaluated so as to
identify areas where further amendments could be made if and when
necessary. A freezing of the reform or its radical transformation would
obviously affect the oncoming changes in the preparation of teachers.
The decree issued jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of
Universities at the beginning of June 2001 regulating the preparation and
the enrollment of future elementary cycle teachers (ciclo di base, 7 years) was
immediately cancelled by the new minister.
The new cabinet merged the two ministries and MPI + MURST to become
the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR). In July, the
new minister appointed a committee of experts to set up the guidelines for a
reform of educational structures, from pre-school to upper secondary school.
The committee submitted a report at the end of November 2001.
It recommends for all teachers a laurea specialistica (3+2, 300 credits) the
award of which would qualify the candidate for teaching in a specified sector
(pre-school, primary, secondary) and – for secondary schools – a specific set
of subjects. It was also suggested that the +2 cycle could be set in a further
class, beyond the existing 104. The degree-qualification would be followed by
60-90 credits of university-supervised practica during the first and second
year of school service. The SSIS would disappear and be transformed into
Services for Teacher Training in those universities in which the relevant
specialization cycle(s) would be implemented.
The Cabinet was supported by a coalition of several parties, and their
positions were far from homogeneous on many political issues, including
school policies. As a consequence, within the Cabinet the debate has been
long and difficult. An agreement on school reform has not been reached
except for two points that were unanimously accepted: (i) the rejection of the
previous reform; and (ii) the request that the Parliament authorize the
Cabinet to legislate within the framework of very broad guidelines.
A first draft of the bill to be discussed by the Parliament was approved by
the Cabinet on 1 February 2002 under the title, “Delegation to the Cabinet to
Define General Rules on Education and the Basic Levels of Performance
Concerning Education and Vocational Training”.
The draft having raised objections and criticism within the Cabinet itself,
a second version was approved on 14 March 2002.
Article 5 deals with Teacher education and training. It states the following:
All teachers will follow an equivalent path at the level of laurea specialistica.
Further decrees will determine which will be the relevant classes of laurea
specialistica that could also be inter-faculty and or inter-university and could
include periods in universities abroad. After graduation-qualification and
before entering into tenured teaching service, graduates must hold
probationary contracts. Universities will have a dedicated structure for
teacher training that will also provide in-service training activities.
The draft has been sent to the Senate for discussion and was approved in
mid-November 2002. It has been sent for further discussion and approval to
the Chamber of Deputies.
As of November 2002, it is not possible to forecast when a new set of rules
about the education and training of teachers will be completed and become
operational.
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(2001).
XI. Teacher Education in the Netherlands:
Changing Gears1
MARCO SNOEK and DOUWE WIELENGA
1. INTRODUCTION
Describing a complex and dynamic topic such as teacher education is a
nearly impossible and precarious task. To begin with, teacher education in
Europe is in a state of transition, and a choice must be made: does one write
a clean description like a snapshot of the present state or does one try to
develop a dynamic description of trends and developments. Secondly, the
perspectives of the authors play an important role in the picture that is
presented, whether it be a snapshot or a dynamic description.
The first part of this study includes a description of the context of teacher
education in the Netherlands through a description of the formal educational
system of the country, including a general description of the educational
trends that have affected it. The authors also focus on the teaching
profession: licenses, working conditions, and the provisions for educating
teachers. The second part presents a number of trends that have a very
strong influence on Dutch teacher education, showing the growing emphasis
on school-based and competency-based teacher education.
The third and fourth parts focus on the consequences for schools and for
teacher educators of the trends mentioned earlier. They describe changes,
developments, and demands with respect to these actors. The concluding
summary presents some statements based on the Dutch situation.
It is the opinion of the authors that the exchange of knowledge about
developments in teacher education in the European countries is useful. They
hope that the Dutch situation will be of interest for other countries. Just as
in other countries, teacher education in the Netherlands is being challenged
to reduce the gap between theory and practice. An important change agent is
the redefinition of the goals of teacher education in terms of integrated
competencies, which give meaning to educational and subject knowledge and
skills by linking them directly to the demands of authentic work in schools.
In the last two years, a new priority has surfaced, i.e., the need to reduce
the growing shortage of teachers. The many initiatives to deal with this
shortage are accelerating the existing initiatives and are putting them under
1 This study is a shortened version of a larger case study that the authors prepared for the UNESCO-
CEPES project, “Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education in the Europe Region: Current Models and New
Developments”. The original, larger study that reflects the result of the “Planning Meeting for National Case
Studies, held in Vienna, Austria, from 1 to 4 March 2002, is available at
<http://www.efa.nl/publicaties/docs/unesco-cepes/fulltext.doc>.
246 M. SNOEK and D. WIELENGA
pressure. This article argues that the present situation is akin to changing
gears, which leads to a dynamic situation with respect to teacher education
in the Netherlands. New and unconventional ideas are being welcomed and
tried out. However, the pressures underlying these developments run the risk
of leading to a lack of reflection and distance because there is so little time
for critical observation (Lunenberg et al., 2000).
Buchberger and his colleagues (2000) have stated that there is a need for
new approaches in teacher education. Despite a general agreement on the
necessity of dynamic conceptions of teacher education, most systems and
models of teacher education in the member states of the European Union are
organized, in principle, along traditional lines. The situation in the
Netherlands may lead to new dynamic conceptions for teacher education. In
this respect, the Dutch situation is a fruitful context from which to gain
insights into new ways for the provision of teacher education.
2. THE CONTEXT OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN THE NETHERLANDS2

2.1. Educational Trends Influencing Teacher Education
A variety of issues are influencing the debate on (teacher) education in the
Netherlands. In a rapidly changing society, the role and goals of education
are under constant discussion. The education system must adapt to a
rapidly changing society. It must educate people to live in this society, and it
must help solve the social, economic, and cultural problems of today. As a
result, developments in (teacher) education are strongly influenced by a
number of issues, such as:
– The evolving knowledge society: Education must be more than a body
of knowledge and skills to be used in the future.
– The shift from teaching to learning: The education “industry” is shifting
from the delivery of knowledge to assisting people in elaborating their
own learning processes.
– The information and communication technologies: On the one hand, the
ICTs are agents in the societal changes that are leading to another role
for education; on the other hand, they are agents of change in the
educational domain itself. A gradual shift is occurring from the use of
the ICTs as an efficient delivery mechanism to an instrument for
sharing, communicating, and producing.
– The pedagogical tasks of the school: A nation-wide debate on this issue
has been underway since 1998. It reflects a dividing line between
people who are calling for the establishment of a list of values that
2 More detailed background information on the Dutch educational system can be found on the Website of
the Amsterdam Faculty of Education <http://www.efa.nl> and in the original version of this study. The
information covers pre-school education (0-4 years), primary school education (4-12 years), the four types of
secondary schools (VMBO = 4-year pre-vocational secondary education; HAVO = 5-year senior general
secondary; VWO = 6-year preparatory academic education; BVE = 4-year senior secondary vocational education)
and higher education (with HBO = higher professional education and Academic Universities). In addition to the
educational system, the system of teachers’ licenses and certificates is covered.
CHANGING GEARS 247
teachers might use in their teaching and people who are arguing that
the pedagogical task should mainly refer to helping children build their
identities (De Bekker, et al., Ketelaars, 1998);
– The so-called “educational technician”: A growing number of Dutch
teachers are rebelling against being pushed into the role of educational
technicians and contractors, required to follow a precisely described
“building plan”.
All these trends are reflected in new curricula in primary, secondary, and
higher education. Little by little, schools are trying to implement the ICTs
into their educational programmes. They are addressing pedagogical
problems, particularly in relation to the challenges of inclusive education and
a multicultural society – and, for example, in upper secondary education –
trying to organize education in such a way that the learning processes of
pupils constitute the starting point for classroom activities.
One of the most urgent questions is whether or not teachers are equipped
and competent to take part in these trends.
So, teacher education has the task of training people for a dynamic,
entrepreneurial job, in a rapidly changing environment.
2.2. Autonomy and Decision-Making in Teacher Education

To understand developments in Dutch teacher education, it is important to
understand the ways in which changes occur. In the Netherlands, authority
is never taken for granted, and the parties involved intend to influence the
decisions to be made. So, decision-making is based on consensus. All parties
involved (Government, administrators, and teachers) participate in the
development of major changes and are actively involved in implementing
innovations. Thus, educational change is not the work of a small group of
wise men and women, but is prepared through wide-ranging dialogue with
almost all participants involved: teachers’ unions, organizations of (subject)
teachers, organizations of school principals, national pedagogical centers, the
National Educational Council, etc. If consensus is reached, teacher educators
can accept the plans and use them in building their own curricula.
This approach has several effects. The final decision is more or less a
compromise. Thus, most of the groups involved in the debate can live with
the results. Educational reforms benefit from the broad support of the groups
involved. Since proposals for educational reform are discussed over relatively
long periods of time, institutions and organizations are offered the possibility
to be proactive and to act as if given decisions have already been taken.
The situation concerning teacher education is slightly different. The
Minister of Education is responsible for the quality of primary and secondary
school education, and since the quality is largely dependent on the quality of
the teachers, the Minister feels a stronger responsibility for teacher education
than for other fields of higher education. Thus, teacher education has
regulations that are more stringent than for other course programmes.
Teacher education institutions try to influence these regulations by being
proactive, and not waiting for decisions to be made outside teacher
education. By being proactive, institutions believe that they can influence
decision-making by “taking the reality into their own hands”. The Ministry
stimulates this approach by challenging institutions to be innovative and to
take initiatives in reaction to the demands of the school. At the same time,
the institutions are asked to indicate which regulations are hindering their
developments and innovations, so that these restrictions may be removed.
The whole procedure requires that the institutions themselves display an
entrepreneurial spirit. The risk of this approach is that institutions become
very autonomous in their efforts at being entrepreneurial, hence giving rise to
a lack of coherence and to strong competition among such institutions.
3. CONDITIONS FOR THE TEACHING PROFESSION

3.1. Responsibility for the Quality of Education
In the 1970s and 1980s, the conviction that the government was responsible
for the quality of education and of teachers led to the growing influence of the
Ministry of Education on educational issues and objectives. The general
government policy was based on quality control by regulations set
beforehand (van Es, 1993). In the 1990s, a process of deregulation began
when responsibility for the financing and the organization of education was
devolved onto the school authorities (local authorities or independent school
boards). However, the culture of quality control through regulations still
exists, a situation that triggers intense debates.
The situation at the end of the 1980s, in which heads of schools had little
or no freedom to reach decisions relative to finances, staff, and organization,
led to a working atmosphere in which teachers functioned as autonomous
and isolated specialists. Few opportunities existed for career development,
changing jobs, or even for leaving the teaching profession.
This situation was analyzed in a national report titled, A Profession with
Perspective. It dealt with the attractiveness and status of the teaching
profession, leading to a number of recommendations (van Es, 1993). In
reaction to, and in line with, the recommendations made in the report, the
government took several initiatives to improve the attractiveness of the
teaching profession, its status, and the quality of education (Ministerie van
Onderwijs, 1993). Regarding the deregulation of the government policy on
education, the initiatives included the following:
– higher starting salaries for teachers;
– greater freedom for schools on issues of collective decision-making and
job evaluation;
– the development of professional profiles and qualification requirements;
– the development of procedures for assessing teacher performance;
– increased teacher mobility, facilitating career changes;
– the professionalization of school management;
– career development and task differentiation.
CHANGING GEARS 249
3.2. Teacher Qualifications
One way to improve the image of the teaching profession is to emphasize the
high professional qualifications of teachers. The Ministry of Education
started to develop a systematic approach to teacher qualifications.
In Figure 1, schools, as employers, are responsible for the quality of the
education they provide, and teachers (represented by a national teacher
body), as professionals, are responsible for their own qualifications (Ritzen
and Kösters, 1998).
Figure 1. Teacher qualification model
Teachers School
Conditions for
accreditation Conditions for promotion
Profession Coaching and assessment
Register
Career development
Teacher Education
Professional standard Starting competencies Competency model
Professional profile
The basis of the qualification model is a description of the professional
profile of the model teacher (or team of teachers). Based on this model,
starting competencies for beginning teachers can be described, just as well
as a competency scheme, which can be used by employers for career
development and performance-judgment in relation to salaries.
The need to stimulate the development of a professional registry for
teachers, based on professional standards and owned by the teachers
themselves, is under discussion.
4. TOWARDS COMPETENCY-BASED AND SCHOOL-BASED TEACHER

EDUCATION: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENTS IN TEACHER EDUCATION IN
THE NETHERLANDS (1996-1998)3
In the last two decades, teacher education in the Netherlands was dominated
by several issues (for an overview of changes in Dutch teacher education, see,
Willems et al., 2000). The leading pedagogical issues were concerned with the
gap between theory and practice and the definition of the professional
profiles of teachers (Verloop and Wubbels, 2000). The curricular issues
concerned the balance between subject studies and educational studies and
the integration of the two, leading to fierce debates both in primary school
education (should subjects have a place of their own or be integrated into
projects and problem-based approaches) and in secondary teacher education
(shifting the amount of subject theories from 70 to 80 percent to 50 percent
of the curriculum and discussing to what extent subject theories and
educational theories could be integrated).
Teacher education in the Netherlands has also become increasingly
school-based. Future teachers in the Netherlands are spending more time in
schools, at present, than they did ten years ago. The education of teachers is
increasingly regarded as the preparation of professionals. Therefore, the link
to the activities of teachers in schools has been strengthened.
Also the nature of teaching practice periods has changed. In 1995, the
Dutch Ministry of Education initiated an ambitious plan called the LiO
project. Through it, an independent teaching practice of half a year (the
“teacher-in-training” period) was introduced at the end of HBO studies
(Lunenberg, 1999). The project aimed at diminishing “praxis shock” by
stimulating students to work independently for a few months. Teachers-in-
training are paid a small salary by the involved schools. In this way, the
induction period has become part of the curriculum, with coaching from the
institution for teacher education being available. The impact of the teacher-
in-training project was enormous. The curriculum was adapted to prepare
3 Other topics describing aspects of the 1996-1998 situation are dealt with on the Website of the Faculty of
Education: <http://www.efa.nl/publicaties/unesco-cepes/5.html>. Such topics include information that there
are no national examinations and no national curricula for teacher education in the Netherlands, the general
structure of the curricula and the percentage of supervised teaching practice, the quality assurance system and
the results of national quality assessments of teacher education, and the results of a national Process
Management [for] Teacher Education to develop a joint curriculum for teacher education colleges for primary
and secondary education. (Procesmanagement Lerarenopleidingen, 1998a and b).
CHANGING GEARS 251
students for their teacher-in-training period, and the supervision of student
teachers and mentors improved considerably.
5. TOWARDS COHERENT INNOVATION PROGRAMMES

5.1. Care and Courage
At the beginning of 1996, the Dutch Minister of Education appointed an
international group of experts on education and information technology to
advise him about the role of the ICTs in Dutch courses for teacher education.
This Committee on Multimedia in Teacher Training (COMMITT) published
a rather provocative report about the transformations needed in (teacher)
education to meet the demands of the Twenty-First Century (COMMITT,
1996). According to the Committee, two parallel strategies were necessary to
move from the old, present-day situation to the new situation. These
strategies are characterized by the terms, Care and Courage: Care for the
existing system, i.e., how innovation can be included in the existing system,
taking care of the present-day students and schools; courage to begin
experiments that will offer some vision of the future: exploring new ways, new
technologies, and new methodologies.
Using the two concepts, the national curricula developed by the Process
Management Teacher Education can be represented as the Care-line in
thinking about innovation. The starting point for these national curricula
was the current situation and not the demands of tomorrow. In that respect,
the national curricula are not very innovative but tend to be supply-driven
(Snoek and Swennen, 1998).
In the next decade, society will have moved into the information age,
whilst education still seems to be organized according to the ways of the
industrial age. In that perspective, a more far-reaching innovation is needed.
COMMITT suggested an innovative programme intended to facilitate and
stimulate the necessary transformation of teacher education. In reaction to
the COMMITT report, the Dutch Minister of Education, in 1997, launched a
programme on the ICTs in teacher education, called PROMMITT
(Brummelhuis and Drent, 1999). Within the PROMMITT programme, the
most successful part was the introduction of “experimental teacher
education programmes”. This part was the representation of the COURAGE-
approach to innovation: the forty teacher education institutions were invited
to present proposals for a complete redesign and turnaround of teacher
education. Two institutions have been rewarded a special status as
“experimental teacher education” institutions. These two institutions
assumed the task of transforming their courses and organization into a new
form of teacher education that is more compatible with the demands of the
information society (COMMITT, 1996) than the traditional organizations.4
4 A description of the experimental teacher education programmes [Ichthus Hogeschool and the Education
Faculty of Amsterdam (EFA)] can be found at <http://www.efa.nl/publicaties/unesco-cepes/6.html>.
5.2. Educational Partnership
The conceptual model of the experimental teacher education programme of
the Amsterdam Faculty of Education has strongly influenced Dutch teacher
education. The model put together constructive educational concepts and
elements derived from the policy of the Ministry of Education. In 1999, the
seven largest institutions of secondary teacher education jointly developed a
new innovative programme called “Educational Partnership”, taking into
account the need for short teacher education courses to attract new groups
into the teaching profession, integrating parts of the conceptual model of
EFA, and strengthening the link with schools by creating shared
responsibility with the schools for the education of new teachers. This
ambitious innovative programme was in line with the 1999 and 2000 policy
documents of the Ministry of Education (Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur,
en Wetenschappen, 1999a, 1999b, 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, and 2000d). The
Ministry supported this innovation by financing the programme over a period
of three years (2000-2002) with an additional budget of 32 million Euros.
At this moment (June 2001), the results are visible in new curricular
approaches, whereby new groups are being attracted to the teaching
profession by the offering of short flexible teacher education routes, based on
an intake assessment. These approaches include the introduction into
curricula of assessments and the use of portfolios and work-based learning
into initial teacher education by offering student-teachers paid jobs at
schools during parts of their study periods, and the encouragement of
intense partnerships between schools and teacher education. The
institutions have developed a new quality framework, which reflects the
concepts of work-based learning, competency based learning, and self-
responsible learning (EPS, 2001) as well as a competency model supporting
these concepts (Dietze et al., 2000).
For primary school teacher education, the situation is less coherent. The
thirty-five institutions offering primary school teacher education have not
been able to create a coherent conceptual model. Individual institutions or
groups of institutions develop their own conceptual models, stimulated by an
additional budget from the ministry (9 million Euros), to attract new groups
into the teaching profession.
Within the universities, an agreement with the Ministry was made in
1999, aiming at attracting more students into the post-graduate course, by
restructuring it in such a way that it could be attended partly during normal
graduate study and partly in a work-based remunerated setting. There is
little need for university teacher training institutions to create short routes
for new groups, as the post-graduate course is only one-year long and
already has a strong flexible structure.
5.3. Change Agents

In 1998, a report was published that included a description of the national
curriculum for the education of teachers in both primary and secondary
schools (Procesmanagement Lerarenopleidingen, 1998a; 1998b). This report
CHANGING GEARS 253
can be considered the latest example of a certain way of thinking about
vocational education. According to this philosophy, the profile of the vocation
is being translated into requirements for a successful start in the profession.
This shift, in its turn, is translated into a profile of the initial training
programme. Thus, one now thinks in terms of the supply of modules in the
curriculum that are needed to bring a student up to the necessary level. The
result is often that the requirements for a successful start in the profession
are being fragmented into a multitude of attainment goals that student-
teachers cover when following the modules in the programme. The
competencies that are needed for a successful start become a question of
accumulating many modules that can be taken separately. The final
examination is often an administrative process intended to verify the number
of credits earned.
In the last three years, a new way of thinking has emerged, leading to a
fundamental change with respect to the supply-driven way of thinking. There
are several reasons for this change in the curricular concept.
One reason has been the growing dissatisfaction with the fragmented
approach to the curriculum by which it is left to the integrative ability of the
student-teacher to process the minute elements into what today are called
competencies. Also the validity of the corresponding assessment method has
been questioned (Dochy and Moerkerke, 1997; Elshout-Mohr et al., 2000).
The dynamics of society (including education) require a capacity to
manage change. The development of this capacity must be one of the main
targets of education. This agent provides fertile soil for the constructive
philosophy of education.
Another agent is the emergence, in the Netherlands, too, of the concept of
the “reflective practitioner”.
The shortage of teachers causes institutions to deliver routes tailor-made
to people who have a history of other study programmes, different work
experiences, or who have attained a certain level of competence for the
teaching profession by individual study or other activities.
It is the convergence of the effects of such factors that is causing a
changing of gears in the evolution of Dutch teacher education towards a
competency-based, dynamic, flexible, and practice-based structure.
5.4. Towards a Competency-Based and Dynamic Curriculum

The need for a shift of responsibility to the learner, individual learning routes,
demand-driven facilities for learners, instruments for managing one’s own
learning processes, including a corresponding change in the evaluation
system have been discussed above. Along with the need to forge a close link
between the curriculum and the reality of the working field, this shift has led
to a general trend in favour of competency-based learning in higher
professional education (Schlusmans et al., 1999). All teacher education
institutions have developed projects and pilots for competency-based
learning, the formulation of competencies, the introduction of portfolios, and
the development of new competency-based evaluation tools.5
Here the fundamental debate in the world of Dutch educational research
is worth mentioning. It concerns the way assessment systems must be
aligned to constructive and competency-based educational arrangements.
The contribution of Elshout-Mohr et al. to ECER 2000 (Elshout-Mohr et al.,
2000) is a good example. The traditional meanings of validity and
reliability are not relevant in the context of competency-based assessments
and must be replaced by new meanings (Dierick et al., 2001).
This question is not one of old versus new in the world of assessment.
Rather, it is new next to old, each functioning in its appropriate realm. The
real issue is the change in the overall concept of curriculum, from “supply-
driven and assessing whether the supply has been adequately consumed”, to
“demand-driven and challenging students to construct their own proofs of
competence”. The end of the classical concept of a curriculum is nigh.
5.5. Towards Work- and School-Based Curricula6

The gap between theory and practice has already been mentioned. In several
areas of higher education in the Netherlands, there has been a strong
tradition of work-based curricula (e.g., in nursing education). Here students
are enrolled by an employer and follow a curriculum that integrates serious
work-related activities with learning activities. However, in teacher education,
the curriculum is still based on certain periods of supervised teaching
practice. In the last few years, the amount of practice teaching in curricula
has increased, and the professional studies in curricula have been
strengthened. Gradually, better opportunities are arising to link theory to
practice in schools, to stimulate students to reflect on their experiences in
the classroom and the school, and to try to situate these experiences in a
broader context.
The situation, nevertheless, is still far from perfect. The integration of
knowledge and skills in useful practical competencies seems difficult, and
newly qualified teachers still often experience a praxis shock when they start
teaching. The change agents, mentioned above, reinforce each other,
providing a strong stimulus to broaden the work-based curricula from
nursery school education to other higher education areas.
In addition, work-based courses might be particularly attractive to
students, since they entail the earning of a salary during studies. Work-
based programmes are an answer to the problem of praxis-shock because
they incorporate praxis into the curriculum, where guidance can be offered.
5 In the original version of this study, some examples of these developments are given: the formulation of
competencies in the EPS partnership, the national effort to get people with prior learning into a quick route to
qualified teacher status, and the Dynamic Curriculum of the Amsterdam Faculty of Education.
6 The original version of the study includes some examples of recent developments: the independent
teaching practice at the end of the curriculum, the learning practices of the Amsterdam Faculty of Education,
the work-based dual curriculum, and quick routes to qualified teacher status.
CHANGING GEARS 255
Thus, schools are becoming increasingly involved in the actual education
and training of new teachers. In the most recent policy document, the Dutch
Minister of Education stated that “teacher education is a part of the human
resources responsibility of a school board” (Ministerie van Onderwijs,
Cultuur en Wetenschappen 2000a).
Only a few years ago, school boards would not have recognized themselves
in such a statement, considering that their main responsibility was to their
pupils and to the educational offer of the schools in their jurisdiction. The
shortage of teachers, however, has made schools more greatly aware of the
need for intensive human resource management. Teacher education
institutions were not able to attract a sufficient number of students so as to
satisfy the need for a higher number of teachers in the schools.
Currently, schools, themselves, are in the course of recruiting new
(unlicensed) teachers. Some schools even state that they are willing to
educate teachers themselves, if teacher education institutions are not able to
meet their needs. Although such rhetoric is not being put into practice at this
moment, it seems likely that large school organizations might be able and
willing to organize their own education of teachers, with or without buying
expertise from teacher education institutions. As part of this development,
teacher education institutions and schools are studying the ways whereby
schools might be able to take over at least part of the traditional activities of
teacher education institutions.
Research on the LiO teachers-in-training period for primary school
student teachers (Lunenberg, 1999) showed that the division of tasks and
responsibilities between the mentor cum que teacher educator in school and
the teacher educator in teacher education institutions was indistinct.
However, this research demonstrated that the teacher-educator in the
schools seemed to be best qualified and most self-assured in supporting the
student teacher in planning and preparing lessons, choosing and using
pedagogical/didactical strategies, and becoming a staff member, in other
words: help in outward performance and classroom management.
Pedagogical/educational issues and issues concerning professional
development were more often viewed as tasks for teacher educators in
schools of education.
One problem that arises is that traditionally there is hardly any
differentiation in the tasks and responsibilities of teachers in schools.
Therefore, schools have very limited experience in providing student teachers
with work situations which are adapted to their level of development. But the
situation is better in secondary vocational high schools. These schools have
developed a range of different professional levels, varying from assistant-
teachers and junior-teachers to experienced teachers. They have asked
teacher education institutions to design dual routes to educate and train, as
a start, assistant-teachers. Within these schools – at least in theory –
student-teachers who follow regular courses at a teacher education
institution can be offered tasks that demand increasing levels of competency
and responsibility.
6. THE ROLE AND THE QUALITY OF TEACHER EDUCATORS – TEACH AND
LEARN AS YOU PREACH
A promising development in the Netherlands is the growing interest in and
attention to the professionalization of teacher educators. The Dutch
Association for Teacher Educators (VELON) plays an important role in this
domain. Inspired by the standards as developed by the American Association
of Teacher Education (ATE) (see, for instance, Houston, 1999), Koster and
Dengerink developed a first version of the professional standards for teacher
educators, applicable both to institution-based teacher educators and to
school-based teacher educators (VELON, 1999; Dengerink and Koster, 2000).
The Netherlands is the first European country with a professional standard
for teacher educators.
The work of Korthagen was one of the building blocks for the development
of this professional standard for teacher-educators (Korthagen, 2000).
This emphasis on the responsibility of the teacher-educator for his or her
own professional quality and development is strengthened by institutions
which realize that the changes in the curricula and new approaches in
teacher education require new competencies for teacher-educators. The
management teams of institutions for teacher education are stressing the
need for professional development and are intensifying their human resource
management and professional development programmes.
The starting point of these programmes is the “teach (and learn) as you
preach” paradigm. The same concepts are used for the professional
development of teacher educators: competencies (preferably with the same
systematic approach as the competency-description for students, using the
matrix mentioned above), productive learning, portfolio, and assessments
(e.g., Terwindt, 2000). However, the learning processes of students and
teacher-educators reflect some fundamental differences; e.g., a student-
teacher is mainly involved in developing work routines, while an experienced
teacher-educator has to unlearn existing routines (Kwakman and Kuiper,
2001).
7. CONCLUSIONS AND TRENDS

As already stated above, the authors believe that the Dutch situation with
regard to teacher education is interesting indeed. The pressure on teacher
education owing to the shortage of teachers leads to a situation of
pragmatism in which there is little room or time for critical reflection, careful
consideration, and balanced quality. On the other hand, however, the
situation lends itself to new experiments, a search for dynamic curriculum
models, and an attempt to prescribe new requirements to be met by teachers
(they should be responsible for themselves and competent in the face of
change). In a situation in which the role and structure of teacher education is
being fundamentally questioned, nothing can be taken for granted, and
intensive rethinking and reflection are required.
At the moment, many developments are still based on unproven
assumptions. There is a strong need for research, along the lines of the new
CHANGING GEARS 257
developments. One example is the discussion about the development of
assessment mechanisms and procedures, that satisfy the requirement of
validity (Elshout-Mohr et al, 2000), in a competency-oriented curriculum.
Innovations are being initiated and stimulated both by the government
and by teacher education institutions. However, the orientation of (and the
motivation for) the different innovations can be quite different. Two examples
follow.
Encouraging the use of the ICTs as tools to facilitate the learning process
can be motivated from organizational points of view, concerning:
– efficiency – independent learning using the Internet might be cheaper
than lecturing, or
– flexibility – whereby a student-teacher is able to build his or her own
learning route and to study where and when suitable.
But it can be motivated differently, from educational points of view,
concerning:
– the role-model concept – whereby a student-teacher must experience
how the ICTs can support his or her learning, so that he or she will be
willing to use them in his or her own future teaching practice;
– productive learning – participation in the development of new
knowledge, or
– collaborative learning.
The same differences in orientation can be observed with respect to
flexible and tailor-made programmes. The Ministry is mainly motivated by
the need for short and flexible routes, taking into account prior experiences
and schooling, while the institutions are mainly motivated to develop flexible
and individualized learning routes because they wish to make student-
teachers responsible for themselves and capable of managing change.
Sometimes, these differences in orientation strengthen each other. In
other situations, the different orientations can hinder each other and
generate misunderstandings.
As indicated above, the changes taking place affect all aspects of teacher
education: the role of the school, the role of the student, the role of the
teacher-educator, and the role of the curriculum. The full consequences of
these changes cannot yet be grasped, since the implementation of new
approaches in pilot situations has just started. One might argue that the
changes are only happening marginally. However, if one looks back over the
past two years at issues of the Dutch Journal for Teacher Education, one
observes that almost 50 percent of the articles are about competency-based
teacher education (including the use of assessments and portfolios) and
school- and work-based teacher education. In that respect, teacher-
educators have changed their language. But as in each innovation process,
the measure in which the new rhetoric is translated into truly new
approaches is still open.
One can, with profit, draw a parallel in regard to teacher education with
the scenarios that were developed by OECD in its Educational Policy Analysis
(2001), which describe the possible future of schools of tomorrow (OECD,
2001). The authors have done so in some detail in the full text of this article.
The first scenario assumes the continuation of bureaucratic
institutionalized systems that resist radical change. The second scenario
describes a future in which market approaches to education are extended
much further than today. The third scenario describes a future in which
schools will have developed powerful social links and a community
leadership function. In the fourth scenario, schools become learning
organizations with a strong knowledge focus and qualified and motivated
teachers. In the fifth scenario, the role of the school diminishes through the
widespread establishment of non-formal learning networks.
The last scenario is a pessimistic one: an exodus of teachers,
unresponsive to clumsy attempts to raise the status of the teaching
profession, causes the “meltdown” of the school system. Even this very
pessimistic scenario has its parallels in teacher education: the status of both
the teaching profession and teacher education leads to an ongoing decrease
in the numbers of students opting for teacher education, to the loss of
confidence by society in the usefulness of institutions for teacher education,
and to a declining willingness to invest in this sector of higher education.
The future, however, is still open. The trends described below in the
Netherlands seem to be leading to scenarios number three and four, but
other forces influencing teacher education might lead to a more pessimistic
scenario. In that respect, the situation is critical. If the institutions for
teacher education in higher education are not able to respond adequately to
the needs of schools and society and educate (together with schools) the
teachers of tomorrow, they will lose their right to exist.
REFERENCES7
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CHANGING GEARS 259
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CHANGING GEARS 261
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XII. Teacher Education in Poland
IRENEUSZ BIALECKI
1. INTRODUCTION
In Poland, complex educational reform has been being implemented since
1998. Most of those involved in education policy stress that the qualifications
and attitudes of teachers are of crucial importance to the success of the
reform.
Primary and secondary school teachers were traditionally trained either in
higher education institutions or at the secondary school level and within
teacher training colleges. Low salaries1 and low professional status resulted
in “negative selections” for teaching jobs.
While the salaries of teachers are low (below the average salary level in the
national economy), appointment regulations and the low teaching load are
important privileges linked to the profession and strongly defended by the
powerful teachers’ unions that are over-represented in Parliament. On the
other hand, the low and not too differentiated salaries, along with
appointment regulations, make it rather difficult to dismiss a teacher. These
matters and the reduced teaching load (eighteen hours per week)2 have made
personnel policy difficult, and the use of human resources in schools, not
very effective. For these reasons, many experts deem the attitudes of
teachers, their recruitment, and their training as obstacles to reform.
Factors often named as strongly influencing current educational policy,
both nationally and locally, include the following: the strong and influential
interests of teachers that are not balanced by the interests of other
stakeholders; the demographic decline of the school-age population resulting
in a serious decline in numbers of pupils, a decline expected to continue over
the next seven to ten years; schooling in rural areas (poor and rather
expensive teaching, given the small-sized schools); and the autonomy of
higher education.
1 School principals have some freedom to increase basic salaries by up to 20 percent. To avoid conflicts,
however, they tend to raise the salaries of all teachers by 5 percent rather than differentiating among them.
School principals can also grant merit raises, but only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of principals use this
procedure as a form of incentive, since the membership of the conservative teaching corps prefers equal salary
increases to individual increases. In general, school principals (usually themselves teachers) fail to use salary
differentiation to the full extent, for they feel dependent on and accountable to teachers. This situation arises
because the appointment and evaluation of a school principal is influenced by the teachers’ unions and the
teachers’ pedagogical council operating at local school level.
2 The mandatory number of teaching hours per week is the so-called pensum. At present, it stands at
eighteen hours per week in both primary and secondary schools. A heavier load per week is defined as overtime.
It is paid extra and requires the consent of the given teacher.
264 I. BIALECKI
2. OUTLINE OF THE EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN POLAND
Educational reform began in 1998 and has been underway ever since then.
Some features of the ongoing reform, which pertain to teacher training, are
worth mentioning.
Responsibilities and powers, which have been devolved to the local
administration, have been decentralized. The local authorities manage the
schools within their territories. They decide on the numbers of schools and
on the networks which they must serve. They appoint and dismiss the
school principals. The school principal, in his or her turn, hires and
dismisses teachers depending on the programme, the numbers of pupils,
and the required teaching hours, and on the preferred qualifications and
scope of work. The school principal also decides as to how the school
teaching hours are to be used, taking into account the centrally set
standards and the minimum allocation of hours to the subject provided for
a given grade. It is up to the school principal to decide how to allocate 20
percent of the teaching hours: whether, for example, to extend the teaching
of mathematics or to add the teaching of another foreign language.
Also, the authority of teachers has been broadened. They can and are
expected to actively design the programmes of the subjects that they teach,
while observing the centrally set standards for given subjects. They may
choose the programmes and textbooks for their subjects, and they are
encouraged to design their own programmes, providing they respect the
standard requirements as to the number of hours taught and the resulting
competencies of pupils.
Teachers are also free to decide as to the principles according to which
their pupils will be graded3. In short, it is at school level that most
decisions are made as to what and how to teach. This degree of autonomy
may lead to excessive variation from one school to another in terms of
results as to the level and scope of competencies achieved. National
standardized tests taken after each level of schooling (i.e., primary,
gymnazjum, and secondary) are going to be introduced with a view to
controlling the potential differences in school achievement.
The approach to teaching has also been influenced by the changed
school curriculum and the restructured school system. The objective of
teaching is no longer the transfer of encyclopedic knowledge in the area
being taught; rather, the object is now one of forming a set of functional
competencies.
Grades 1 to 3 in primary schools are meant to provide “integrated
teaching”, that does not partition knowledge into classical disciplines. In
the subsequent grades, 4 to 5, the knowledge transmitted is divided into
“aggregated blocks” consisting of related subjects: mathematics, natural
sciences (przyroda), and humanities. The teaching of computer science and
foreign languages are to be expanded in the new curriculum, both in terms
3 In addition to class evaluation, the reform has introduced three external, standard, nationwide tests, each
one to be taken at the completion of the respective school level: primary, gymnazjum, and secondary.
TEACHER EDUCATION IN POLAND 265
of the number of teaching hours and of the level of competency expected at
the end of the course. Teaching should develop, to a larger extent than at
present, functional, cross-curricular competencies, and take into account
the needs of the school and of the region concerned.
These changes are all giving rise to new expectations and requirements
as to teacher qualifications. Greater autonomy in decision-making as to
teaching and broader competencies as to curriculum building are required.
Extensive knowledge about the use of computers for business and for
educational administration, as well as specific knowledge on subject
teaching methodology, are also required. In order to use teaching time
more efficiently at the level of individual schools, teachers are also
expected to be prepared to teach more than one subject.
Teacher training, both initial and in-service, must be adjusted to the
new requirements. The question to be asked is how (and to what extent)
the existing system of initial and in-service teacher training should be
changed in order to respond to these new needs.
Over 80 percent of primary and secondary school teachers are women
(Ksiazek, 2001, p. 51). Their salaries were traditionally low, ranging below
the national average most of the time. The reform now being implemented
is increasing the remuneration of teachers.
The teaching profession is strongly unionized. More than half of the
total number of teachers are members of the old teachers’ union, the
Union of Polish Teachers (Zwiazek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego – ZNP), dating
from the communist period. About 20 to 25 percent of teachers belong to
the new trade unions originating in the Solidarity movement. Members of
the ZNP are traditionally conservative and left-oriented.4 The ZNP trade
union supports the Democratic Left Alliance (Sojusz Lewicy
Demokratycznej – SLD) and brings together an important share of its
constituency. Teachers’ unions have a considerable role in shaping
educational policy. Their influence is felt through their presence and
strength in the major political parties, and also results from the
consultation procedures currently in effect. The Minister of National
Education is required to consult with the teachers’ unions on the most
important decisions and, in some cases, he or she needs the approval of
the unions.
The Unions sometimes compete with each other, but on other occasions
will co-operate in striving to attain common goals. At the initial reform
stage, the Unions were primarily interested in preserving the Teachers’
Charter in a form very much resembling its 1982 version. At that time,
teachers were granted numerous privileges.
The Unions, for the most part, speak out on practical matters that affect
teachers, e.g., the mandatory teaching load (pensum), salaries,
appointments and/or dismissals, but also on programmes or minimum
4 Which means, in this case, support for centralized rather than decentralized regulations and control, as
well as reluctance to accept changes.
266 I. BIALECKI
programme requirements. Even if increases in salaries are explicitly the
most important goal, one can presume a tacit acceptance of low
remuneration in exchange for the privileges offered by the Teachers
Charter: job security, long vacations, flexible working home, and a reduced
teaching load. Perhaps the reason for the acceptance of this “tacit
contract” – little work for little pay – was that most of the teachers are
women, and many of them are traditionally home-oriented. To them, the
advantage of being a teacher was (and is) that the job leaves relatively
more time for household activities, while the family’s main source of
income is the husband’s salary. The large percentage of teachers working
on a part-time basis – almost 24 percent of the total (Table 1) – seems to
confirm the preference for working time limitation.
Table 1. Teachers employed during the 1980-2000 period
Year 1980 1984 1986 1988 1992 1994 1998 2000

Full-time (percentage) 92.1 87.6 83.3 81.8 85.3 84.2 80.4 76.2
Part-time* (percentage) 7.9 12.4 16.7 18.2 14.7 15.8 19.6 23.8
Total numbers (thou.) 437.7 601.9 641.5 671.0 639.6 691.4 719.7 721.7
NOTE: * The term, “part-time”, includes all forms of employment, except full-time (niepelnozatrudnieni).
Source: Stan i struktura zatrudnienia... (2001).
The Teacher’s Charter regulated teacher salaries, appointments, career

paths, and size of teaching load. At the beginning of the year, 2000, after a
few attempts that failed, an amendment to the Teachers’ Charter was
finally passed by the Parliament. The most important changes that have
been introduced include the recognition of five levels (degrees) of
professional status. They are the following: (i) teacher trainee; (ii) contract
teacher; (iii) appointed teacher; (iv) licensed teacher; and (v) professor of
education.
This hierarchization results in a greater differentiation of salaries. A
teacher may be promoted to a given level of professional advancement if he
or she holds the required specific qualifications (subject qualification), has
accumulated previous periods of satisfactory work according to his or her
individual skill development scheme, and passes the certification
procedure (examination, in the case of a contract teacher) administered by
a selection committee of external experts. Apart from professional
advancement, periodic evaluation and more flexible teaching loads
(eighteen to twenty-six hours per week) are being introduced.
Currently, the salaries earned by teachers are relatively
undifferentiated. What differentiation there is depends mostly on seniority.
Teachers used to move up the salary ladder every two years, irrespective of
the quality of their work. However, the salary increase based on seniority is
not substantial: after thirty years of service one’s salary would have
increased by 40 percent.
School principals tended to distribute evenly the rewards and bonuses
that they might have on hand, rather than on the basis of merit and
quality of work. The evaluation of the work of teachers was formal and was
not linked to quality.
The new amended Teachers Charter is more stringent in terms of salary
and required evaluations. The salaries have increased substantially;
however, they are now more differentiated than before, and evaluation has
become more substantial (based on merits) and linked to rewards.
Depending upon professional status, the salary rate varies, with teachers
at the lowest level receiving 2.5 times less than those at the highest.
However, the actual use and effectiveness of these instruments still
depend, to a large extent, on the attitude of the school principal, that is, on
his or her current policy.
The amended Teachers Charter (O nowelizacji Karty Nauczyciela)
(Ministry of National Education, 2000), along with additional regulations
issued by the Ministry of National Education, sets down the qualification
requirements for teachers. They are defined according to the type and level
of school as per the following: relevant level of education – usually a
credential either awarded by a higher education institution or a teachers’
college, certified pedagogical qualifications, and special qualifications for
teaching a specific subject. As for the level of education, Table 2 below
portrays the level of education of Polish teachers. It should be noted that
most of the teachers are graduates of higher education institutions. The
percentage of university graduates increased from 54.7 percent in 1980, to
84.4 percent in 2000. Not all higher education graduates complete their
studies with a Master’s Degree. Some only earn the Bachelor’s Degree. In
1998, 68 percent of full-time teachers (part-time teachers are not included
in this calculation) were graduates of higher education institutions and
held a Master’s Degree. By 2000, this percentage had increased to 75.9
percent. It appears that not only the number of higher education
institution graduates are increasing, but that also the percentage among
them of graduates earning the Master of Arts Degree is also increasing at
an accelerating pace.
The proportion of graduates of higher education institutions among
teachers varies according to school type and level. In 2000, 57 percent of
all kindergarten teachers, 86 percent of primary school teachers, and 72
percent of teachers working in lower vocational schools held academic
degrees. The highest percentage of both higher education institution
graduates, in general, and of Master’s Degree holders, in particular, could
be found in general secondary education. The figures amounted,
respectively, to 96 and 97 percent.
268 I. BIALECKI
Table 2. Educational level of full-time teachers during the 1980–2000 period
(in percentages)
Education 1980 1984 1986 1988 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000
Secondary education 13.5 19.4 19.8 18.1 11.4 9.1 7.6 5.9 4.8
Teachers’ school * 31.8 24.9 26.3 28.6 30.2 29.2 22.8 15.1 9.9
Teachers’ college 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.1 0.8 0.8
Higher education institution 54.7 55.7 53.9 53.3 58.4 61.3 68.5 78.3 84.4
*Teachers’ schools – former post-secondary schools for teachers replaced by teachers’ colleges, awarding a
Bachelor's Degree, in higher education institutions.
Certified pedagogical qualifications are awarded to students who

accumulate about 300 hours of pedagogical training within their fields of
study. Such is the formal requirement laid down in the Teacher’s Charter. In
most cases, persons lacking certified pedagogical qualifications were
graduates of academic faculties who did not receive the appropriate
pedagogical training required of teachers. In periods when the demand for
teachers was rising rapidly, both for demographic reasons and because of the
expansion of general secondary education, the number of those working as
teachers without certified pedagogical qualifications was significant. In 2000,
less than 0.7 percent of teachers lacked such qualifications.
To have special qualifications to teach a definite subject (a teacher’s
specialization) means that the teacher in question is qualified to teach one of
the subjects taught in schools of different levels. Special qualifications are
usually acquired either through graduation (both at Master’s Degree and
Bachelor’s Degree levels), with a major corresponding to the subject to be
taught or gained through extra in-service training (both postgraduate and
complementary studies) in the area related to the subject5.
In general, school subjects are classified as general academic subjects,
including Mathematics, Physics, Geography, Biology, foreign languages, etc.,
and vocational subjects, including Chemistry, Engineering, Computer
Sciences, Construction, Forestry, etc6. As the special (subject) qualifications
are school-related, they depend on the type and level of school. Thus, one
specialization is primary school teaching, in which teaching is not divided
into classical academic disciplines, but, instead, grouped into larger entities,
that is, into subject blocks.
The number of teachers qualified to teach two subjects is growing. During
the 2000-2001 school year, about 23 percent of the total number of teachers
were entitled to teach two subjects. What is important is that many teachers
with a double teaching specialization become specialized in subjects that are
in great demand, such as the information and communications technologies
– the ICTs – and the teaching of foreign languages (English and German).
5 Quite often, post-graduate and complementary courses offer training in second (additional) subject
qualifications.
6 The list of academic subjects comprises thirty-four specialties, pedagogical ones included; e.g., logopedy,
preschool teaching, etc.). The list of vocational specialties includes eighteen subjects.
Tables 3 and 4 below portray the percentages of teachers who are
teaching subjects compatible with their special (subject) qualifications.
Table 3. Correspondence of academic subjects taught by full-time secondary school

teachers with their specific subject qualifications
(in percentages)
Correspondence of
Teaching subject No subject All teaching with no
teaching with
Year different from acquired qualification corresponding
acquired subject
qualification acquired qualification
qualification
1 2.0 3.0 2+3
1992 66.4 25.4 8.2 33.6
1994 74.3 19.5 6.2 25.7
1996 77.9 17.2 4.9 22.1
1998 81.5 15.0 3.5 18.5
2000 83.2 14.1 2.7 16.8
Table 4. Full-time teachers in 2000 who taught subjects that did not correspond to
their special qualifications
(in percentages of all full-time teachers)
Subjects Percent
Mathematics 15.3
Polish 10.6
English 24.6
ITs 23.8
The incompatibility of the subject learned and the subject taught is

often due, not so much to the lack of qualified teachers prepared to teach a
given subject, as to the misuse and misplacement of special qualifications.
Table 4 portrays the percentages, by province (województwo), of
Mathematics and Polish language teachers who teach subjects
incompatible with their specific specializations. Nationwide, there are
several thousand teachers (out of 80 thousand) qualified to teach
mathematics and who teach a different subject, outside their
specializations.
It is worthwhile explaining how special qualifications are acquired and
defined. Usually, they are disciplines that teachers learned in the course of
studies. Sometimes, the subject was acquired during upgrading through
in-service training either at a higher education or at a teacher training
institution. The Minister of National Education defines the special
qualifications, as having been acquired in the course of study, as those
gained through majoring in an area that is identical or close to the subject
taught. Special qualifications can also be acquired during in-service
training in extra-mural specialized courses offered by teacher training
institutions or higher education institutions. The Teachers Charter, for its
part, when enumerating the five levels of professional status of teachers,
270 I. BIALECKI
links the appointment procedure with the acknowledgment of a teacher’s
special (subject) qualifications by the appointing commission. Such special
qualifications are required for a teacher to be appointed to the position of
either “contract teacher” or “appointed teacher”. In all cases, the granting
of a professional grade (level) involves approval by the appointing
commission of the concerned teacher’s subject qualifications as linked to
school type and level.
The very notion of special (subject) qualifications almost automatically
brings to mind the issue of supply and demand and, consequently, of who
defines the needs in the area of qualifications. On the one hand, the
Ministry of National Education sets the requirements; on the other hand,
the definition of special qualifications is school-related and associated with
professional advancement at the local school level. The definition and
interpretation of mismatch determines findings as to the extent to which
the supply of teachers’ qualifications meets the actual needs at the school,
local, and national levels.
Table 5. Percentages of primary school teachers who are teaching the Polish language
or Mathematics without relevant qualifications in the four provinces (województwo) in
which this position is most and least prevalent
Polish language
1998 2000
Four provinces in which the practice is most prevalent
Lubelskie 24.2 Wielkopolskie 21.0
Warminsko-mazurskie 23.6 Zachodniopomorskie 19.9
Podlaskie 21.8 Lubelskie 18.4
Mazowieckie 21.3 Podlaskie 17.9
Four provinces in which the practice is least prevalent
Swietokrzyskie 14.2 Swietokrzyskie 11.6
Podkarpackie 13.5 Podkarpackie 11.2
Lódzkie 12.6 Opolskie 11.1
Opolskie 12.0 Lódzkie 10.6
Nationwide 18.9 Nationwide 15.9
Mathematics
1998 2000
Four provinces in which the practice is most prevalent
Kujawsko-pomorskie 31.4 Zachodniopomorskie 28.2
Lubelskie 30.1 Kujawsko-pomorskie 28.1
Zachodniopomorskie 25.2 Lubelskie 27.5
Pomorskie 25.2 Slaskie 25.3
Four provinces in which the practice is least prevalent
Lódzkie 20.6 Opolskie 20.9
Opolskie 17.9 Dolnoslaskie 19.9
Podkarpackie 16.1 Podkarpackie 15.9
Swietokrzyskie 13.3 Swietokrzyskie 15.8
Nationwide 23.1 Nationwide 23.0
Is a Master’s Degree graduate of the Physics Department of a university
qualified to teach Mathematics in secondary school? The narrower the
definition of lines, the more mismatch one can expect. This question also
gives rise to the issue of adequacy and effectiveness in the use of teaching
time in accordance with curricular needs at school level. Who defines and
articulates teaching needs at school level in terms of the subject
qualifications required, and who transmits those expectations to the
teacher training institutions? In-service training, organized at school level
in co-operation with local teacher training agencies, is intended to improve
the articulation and communication of qualification needs and to increase
the adequacy of teacher training to the levels of competency expected at
that particular school and level of instruction.

Polish teachers are trained within two parallel legal and administrative
systems and in two different environments: academic (higher education
institutions) and educational.
3.1. Teacher Training in Higher Education Institutions

Teacher training in universities is regulated by the September 1990 Act on
Higher Education that is currently being amended.
Decisions as to the number of students to be educated and trained and
the forms of training (uniform or two-stage course programmes) are taken
by the individual institutions.
The Main Council of Higher Education co-ordinates the activities of
higher education institutions (those in the field of teacher training
included).7
The Minister of National Education can influence changes in teacher
training only by acting through the Main Council. The indirect ways of
exerting influence on teacher training, exerted by the Ministry, includes
the setting of qualification requirements in the ordinances on the detailed
qualifications of teachers to be employed at schools.
The following types of higher education institutions offer teacher
training courses:
– Universities train primary and secondary school teachers. Four
forms of this type of teacher training can be distinguished:
i. 5-year (residential) day-courses of specialized study that train and
educate teachers in general subjects (e.g., Polish, Mathematics,
Biology) for all types of secondary and primary schools and that
end with a Master’s Degree;
7 The Main Council of Higher Education (Rada Glówna Szkolnictwa wyzszego) is a buffer organization
elected by university delegates. The Council represents the higher education institutions to the Ministry of
National Education. Its responsibilities include making recommendations to the Minister concerning the
approval of new university programmes and disciplines.
272 I. BIALECKI
ii. 5-year extramural specialized courses that train and educate
teachers in different subjects for primary and secondary teaching
that also end with a Master’s Degree;
iii. 3-year day and extramural vocational courses, granting graduates
a Bachelor’s Degree. Usually, candidates are prepared for teaching
at pre-school and primary first stage level (specific qualifications
oriented to integrated teaching);
iv. 2-year day and extramural courses, as a second stage for
graduates of three-year colleges, offered to pre-school and primary
education teachers;
v. post-graduate studies for teachers with a Master’s Degree in
various specialization.
As a rule, universities train single-subject teachers. Most of the
speciality teachers required in primary and secondary education are
trained at universities. Usually, primary school teachers prepared to
teach preliminary (integrated) courses (grades 1 to 3 – nauczanie
integracyjne) are trained in the pedagogical departments of higher
education institutions, while those acquiring specialized
qualifications to teach specific subjects, are graduates of discipline-
linked departments (e.g., Mathematics, Physics, Geography, etc.)
In large higher education institutions, an interdepartmental
teacher training unit (college) operates. It offers teacher training
courses to student majors of non-pedagogical disciplines (e.g.,
Biology, Mathematics, Chemistry, etc.). The two largest Polish
universities, the University of Warsaw and the Jagiellonian
University of Cracow, include such units. They were established by
the Main Council of Higher Education as a standard requirement for
students majoring outside the pedagogical department and wishing
to obtain a teacher’s certificate (uprawnienia pedagogiczne) in the
framework of five-year Master’s Degree course programmes. Such a
programme includes 90 course hours in pedagogy, 90 course hours
in psychology, and 120 training hours in the teaching of the given
discipline. All in all, the course includes 300 hours of pedagogical
training.
In recent years, over half of all teachers have been trained in
higher education institutions within departments that are not
specialized in teacher training (i.e., other than departments of
pedagogy).
The comment has often been made that higher education
institutions in Poland are rather academically oriented, focused on
the given discipline rather than on how to teach it. Also little
attention has been paid to courses in moral and civic education, as
well as to the psychological aspects of teacher training. Being
autonomous, higher education institutions are free to design their
own teacher training curricula, and the Ministry of National
Education has little or no influence on what is taught. Also, the
Ministry of National Education has no say in the allocation of teacher
education candidates among the different disciplines. For this
reason, an over supply of teachers exists in some teaching subjects,
while in others, there is a shortage. The disciplinary structures of
higher education institutions (traditionally, departments are
organized around specific disciplines) do not correspond to the
exigencies of preparing teachers either for teaching two subjects or
for cross-curricular competencies.
– Higher teacher training schools (Wyzsze Szkoly Pedagogiczne, also,
Akademie Pedagogiczne), having structures similar to those of
universities, train teachers for primary and secondary schools.
– There are 3-year higher vocational schools awarding a Bachelor’s
degree and training teachers for primary schools and educational
institutions for children having problems. They have been
functioning within the structures of higher education institutions
since 1995. The mission of vocational schools is to respond to the
needs of the local labour market. Teaching has priority over
research. The autonomy of higher vocational schools is more limited
than that of higher education institutions. They are run more like
businesses and have local government representatives on their
boards.
The syllabi and curricula for Bachelor’s Degree studies are laid down by
the Ministry of National Education and are binding on nearly all such
schools.
Graduates of Bachelor’s Degree studies can complement their education
with two or three-year university studies and earn a Master’s Degree.
– Other public higher education institutions, for instance, institutes of
technology, academies of economics, medical academies, art schools,
and agricultural academies organize inter-faculty, 300-hour, teacher
training courses for students wishing to acquire general secondary
and secondary vocational school teachers qualifications.
– The Maria Grzegorzewska College of Special Education trains
teachers for physically and mentally handicapped children.
– Private higher education institutions and other forms of teacher
training deal with special cases. The private system of teacher
training and improvement has already taken off. There are several
private teacher training institutions which include one private
teacher training college and Mazury Teachers’ University that is run
by a national minority. Private higher education institutions are
usually profit-oriented and charge tuition fees. They operate teacher
training departments and also prepare specialists in school
administration. However, there are also private higher education
institutions involved in teacher training that are run by non-profit
organizations affiliated to the Polish Academy of Sciences and by
associations promoting science and the public understanding of
science. Private higher education institutions concentrate on
instruction that leads to the award of the Bachelor’s Degree to
274 I. BIALECKI
teachers. Such institutions are regulated in the same way as the
public higher education institutions are; however, they have their
own accreditation system.
As a general rule, teacher training courses are funded according to the
same principle as are all the other course programmes offered by higher
education institutions. Money for the instructional activity of public higher
education institutions is allocated by the Ministry of National Education as
based on an algorithmic formula, the operation of which depends upon the
number of students taught at given establishments (with some weighting
attached according to the varying costs of programmes). According to the
algorithmic formula, extra-mural teaching costs about half of the amount
paid per regular day student. However public higher education institutions
may charge tuition fees for extra-mural courses (while regular courses are
free of charge).
Private higher education institutions are not financed by the Ministry of
National Education. They function and make profits mostly from the
tuition fees paid by all their students, irrespective of the type of courses
and the mode of study (be it day or evening, residential or non-residential).
The supply of teacher training courses by private institutions is
expanding to meet demands, the result, to a great extent, of substantial
increases in teachers’ salaries as per the renewed Teachers’ Charter
regulations. The new design of the career path (line) that includes five
levels of professional advancement, as well as increased differences among
them in terms of salary, has also increased the demand for the training
and the retraining of teachers. Finally, a special fund has been created for
the professional advancement of teachers intended to reimburse the costs
of retraining and development.
As for the public higher education institutions, according to the law,
day (residential) courses are free of charge; however, higher education
institutions can charge tuition fees for evening and extra-mural teaching
(zaoczne i wieczorowe studia). Therefore, for the same reasons as in the
case of private institutions, public higher education institutions have also
increased their numbers of evening and extra-mural courses for teachers.
Thus, for financial reasons, most of the teachers trained within the higher
education system are at present studying as extra-mural, fee-paying
students. Unfortunately evening and extra-mural courses tend to be of
lower quality than day courses.
3.2. The System of Teacher Training Colleges Existing Outside the Higher
Education Institution System and Organized by the Provincial Educational
Administration
The provincial teacher training colleges were part of the educational
administration supervised by superintendents (Kuratorzy), local
representatives of the Ministry of National Education. These
superintendents were in charge of teacher training at teachers colleges and
of training and refresher courses offered by provincial in-service education
agencies (wojewódzkie placówki doskonalenia nauczycieli). At present, they
are run by the provincial administrations, while each superintendent has
retained substantive and pedagogical guidance over those within his or her
jurisdication.
Teachers colleges have now replaced the two-year Teacher training
Colleges (Studium Nauczycielskie), that formerly operated within the offices
of Superintendent and were closed in 1994.
The Teacher Training Council, acting as the Ministers’s adviser, deals
with teacher training in this system. Its responsibilities include:
– evaluation of and recommendations concerning the programmes and
the organization of teacher training institutions;
– recommendations as to the closing and/or opening of such
institutions.
The completion of a three-year course leads to a Bachelor’s degree. The
Ministry of National Education approves the programmes of teachers
colleges. Education majors usually spend some part of their training as
student teachers. Provincial superintendents supervise, quite closely, the
instruction offered by the teachers colleges that function outside the
system of higher education institutions. These colleges usually train
teachers for pre-schools and primary schools and foreign language
teachers for primary and secondary education. In the 1990s, the Ministry
of National Education opened around seventy teacher training three-year
language colleges offering the Bachelor’s of Arts Degree. A college
programme matches the given school curriculum. With the exception of
language teachers, student teachers are trained to teach two subjects.
Teacher training colleges, public and private, educate and train fewer
than half of all teacher training students.
The reform gave rise to intense debates regarding the status of teachers,
their qualifications, and their training. The higher education institutions
organized around traditional academic disciplines are focused more on
research programmes and on forming students according to an academic
research pattern rather than on the anticipated tasks of teachers in mind.
The level of coordination between pedagogical training and the specific
subject qualifications acquired in the course of studying academic
disciplines within separate departments is insufficient. It has been pointed
out that even integration with pedagogical training is missing, especially in
cases in which certain subjects are taught in Psychology departments and
others in Departments of Pedagogy. Usually, the theoretical programme is
not consistent with school practice.
Many teacher training colleges, run by local authorities, are located in
small towns that lack the relevant background to assure quality teaching.
The instructors who lecture in these institutions are often not well
prepared for their jobs. They attempt to train student-teachers in
pedagogy, didactics, curriculum building, etc., even though they
themselves may have had only two or three-years of school teaching
276 I. BIALECKI
experience, and lack any special retraining in the very fields in which they
are training future teachers (Kamedula, 1999, p. 253).
Table 6. Full-time teachers, by type of qualification and sex, taken into service during
the 2000-2001 school year
Graduates as teachers, hired in 2000 Numbers Percent Women Percent

University graduates 4,201 37.14 3,543 39.18
Higher Pedagogical School graduates – WSP 2,703 23.90 2,320 25.66
Other higher education institution graduates 1,833 16.21 1,120 12.39
Teachers college
Total 703 6.22 562 6.22
graduates
Teachers college Higher education
555 4.91 441 4.88
graduates institutions
College-level non-
Teachers college
higher education 148 1.31 121 1.34
graduates
institutions*
Language teacher college
Total 1.065 9.42 916 10.13
graduates
Language teachers Higher education
835 7.38 724 8.01
college graduates institutions
Language teachers College-non higher
230 2.03 192 2.12
college graduates education institutions*
Other post-secondary
Total 805 7.12 581 6.43
teacher training
Other post-secondary Higher education
374 3.31 242 2.68
teacher training institutions
College-level non-
higher education 12 0.11 11 0.12
teacher training
institutions*
Other post-secondary Post-secondary
30 0.27 29 0.32
teacher training teachers
Secondary 389 3.44 299 3.31
teacher training
* Colleges operating within the educational system outside higher education institutions.
NOTE: The shaded figures in two columns add up, respectively, to 100 percent
Source: Stan i struktura zatrudnienia... (2001), p.78.
For this reason, the debate about the role of teachers in the reformed
educational system includes arguments that teachers colleges and higher
education institutions should collaborate more closely for mutual benefit.
Practical orientation and the links of the colleges to practice should be
combined with the theoretical background offered by higher education
institutions (Dolata and Putkiewicz, 1998, p. 86; Kamedula, 1999, p. 257).
Indeed, co-operation between universities and colleges is gradually
increasing. Higher education institutions are organizing courses for
Bachelor’s Degree holders and for the graduates of teachers colleges
granting the Master of Arts Degree (Magister). Agreements have been
signed between higher education institutions and teachers colleges in
regard to collaboration and the scientific patronage of colleges by higher
education institutions. The Ministry of National Education and the
provincial governments are offering grants designed for higher education
institutions that wish to prepare teacher training curricula.
In 2000, the numbers of all students taking teacher training courses
exceeded 100,000, while the yearly requirement is more than 7,000 new
teachers (Ksiazek 2001, p. 51).
Table 7. Graduates employed as teachers in 2000, by type of institution*
Percent Numbers
Graduates of higher education institutions as a percentage of all
92.85 10,501
graduates
Women graduated from higher education institutions as a percentage of
92.79 8,390
all graduated women
College graduates as a percentage of all graduates 3.45 390
Women graduated from colleges as a percentage of all graduated women 3.58 324
* Percentages do not add up to 100 percent because, in 2000, there were also graduates from higher education
institutions other than higher education institution and teachers colleges.
Table 8. Newly employed teachers in 2000 by position on the labour market

Numbers Percent Numbers Percent
Graduates as a percentage of all hired as teachers in 2000 11,310 20.33 9,042 20.53
All persons hired as teachers, from the outside, in 2000 24,932 44.81 19,583 44.46
All persons changing schools, hired as teachers in 2000 30,713 55.19 24,459 55.54
Total hired as teachers in 2000 55,645 100.00 44,042 100.00
NOTE: The shaded figures in two columns add up, respectively, to 100 percent.
4. IN-SERVICE TRAINING AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

In-service training is divided, formally, into professional upgrading and
professional development. Professional upgrading occurs when teachers seek
professional advancement or formally acknowledged certification for
advancement. Professional development refers to training for development or
enrichment and updating of qualifications, not followed by, or associated
with, professional advancement.
As educational reform is being implemented, an important objective of in-
service training is the presentation of the reform itself that includes: system
restructuring, new methods for administration and financing, and new
teaching methods. The presentation and offer of training in new tasks for
teachers in restructured schools, including the teaching of business or the
teaching of integrated groups of subjects in primary school (e.g., natural
History, Biology, Mathematics, etc.) are acquiring increasing importance. New
tasks that are frequently mentioned include: information technology (IT) as
an integral part of teaching, curriculum building, moral and civic education,
the interdisciplinary educational path, business, school management, and
new methods of pupil assessment, to mention the most important ones. The
278 I. BIALECKI
new teaching model based on higher pedagogical competencies makes
possible the development of the civic qualities of pupils and responds to
their psychological needs. Thus the teacher is no longer just a narrow
specialist in the teaching of a specific subject. It is also assumed that a
teacher should be prepared to teach two subjects.
As to the organization of in-service training, several forms exist:
– individual study supported by distance education and guidance at
school. The school principal is obliged to assist the teacher and to
supply him or her with appropriate teaching aids;
– intra-school study organized by the school principal, including, in
particular, the education of teacher trainees and of groups of
teachers of specific subjects. Three new functions pertaining to intra-
school learning have been introduced at school level: that of trainee
adviser (doradca stazysty), that of contract teacher counselor
(doradca nauczyciela kontraktowego), and that of group leader. A
group is organized for teachers of the same subject or who share the
tasks of integrated teaching, civic education, etc.;
– counseling on teaching methods and programmes and guidance
offered by the local government running the schools (the municipal
[gminy] and the district [powiaty] authorities).
A teacher-counselor is elected from among experienced teachers in a
group of teachers of the same subject (or group of related subjects).
The local government will appoint one teacher-counselor for each group
of 120 teachers. The counselors have their eighteen-hour teaching loads
reduced so that they may devote a part of their time to teacher training.
Their main task is to guide and to support training in the field of a specific
subject. Local government agencies are expected to fund such training
from a special fund that is part of the educational subsidy paid to the
communes. The fund should amount to 2.5 percent of the monies devoted
to teacher’s salaries.
– Provincial systems of teacher training operate. Each system is
organized by the respective local government and is substantially
guided by the superintendent who is aware of the educational needs
in his or her region. The system includes both public and private
agencies. The agencies monitor municipal/communal centers in
order to secure the compatibility of the teacher training with the
needs of the province;
Provincial teacher training agencies are expected to operate as a
system that responds to the needs of the development of human
resources. All agencies, both public and private, should orchestrate
their activities in order to provide training of all kinds. Under the
guidance of the superintendent (kurator), agencies organize
seminars, conferences, courses, workshops, etc. They also supply
teaching materials and assistance for individual study. Higher
education institutions, too, provide similar support, i.e., in-service
training accompanied by research and doctoral (postgraduate)
studies (MNE, 1998, p. 61). For teachers willing to continue their
studies, teaching loads can be reduced or extra leave granted by the
school principal. The Ministry of National Education provides
superintendents with funds to defray tuition costs for teachers
enrolled in evening or extramural studies.
Numbers of private agencies are operating at the provincial level.
The financing of the provincial system of training, like communal
level training, amounts to 2.5 percent of the teacher salary budget.
– National teacher training agencies, at central level, are operated by
the Ministry of National Education. The most important are: (i) the
Main Center for Teacher In-Service Training (Centralny Osrodek
Doskonalenia Nauczycieli – CODN), with ninety-seven employees,
which operates nationally and sets the national standards and
models for teacher development. Its Internet Homepage presents a
data base including all courses available for teacher training and
retraining (available at <http.www.codn.edu.pl>); (ii) the
Methodological Center for Pedagogical and Psychological Guidance
(Centrum Metodyczne Pomocy Psychologiczno-Pedagogicznej), with
fifty-eight employees; (iii) the National Center for Vocational
Education (Krajowy Osrodek Wspierania Edukacji Zawodowej), with
fifty employees); (iv) the National Center for School Curriculum
Development (Krajowy Osrodek Rozwoju Programów Szkolnych), with
twenty-five employees. The national centers set the standards and
basic requirements for teacher training and are instrumental in the
accreditation of teacher training agencies.
According to the plan included in the reform implementation, the
intention was to train and retrain about 300,000 teachers, with 20,000
school principals among them (Ksiazek, 2001, p. 60).
According to the Teachers’ Charter, 2.5 percent of the salary budget,
which is part of the educational subsidy allocated by the central
government to local governments, is supposed to be used to create funds
for teacher in-service training. However, local governments, up until now,
have failed to honour the 2.5 percent requirement, given the insufficient
level of funding for salaries (Ksiazek, 2001, p. 62).
The money from the funds for in-service training is to be allocated as
follows: 60 percent to the individual schools, and it is up to the respective
school management to decide how this money is to be used; 20 percent to
local governments that organize and coordinate local systems of in-service
training, outside school; 20 percent to the Ministry of National Education
for it to run centrally operating agencies and to allocate part of the sum to
provincial superintendents.
It is assumed that 60 percent of the money sent to the demand side of
the in-service training market (the purchasers of training) will help
increase the quality of the courses offered. Money will be spent more
effectively, and the provider will be influenced to respond to the needs
more adequately.
280 I. BIALECKI
Another funding source, in existence since 1999, is represented by
grants offered on a competitive basis. At first, calls for proposals for in-
service development courses as well as for postgraduate studies were made
centrally. Starting in 2000, calls have been made both centrally and
locally, at provincial level. Public and private institutions took part in the
competition, and eventually 110 proposals for postgraduate studies in
higher education institutions were accepted and granted. At provincial
level, 141 proposals for various courses were implemented. In 2000,
51,000 teachers participated in forms of in-service training (Ksiazek 2001,
p.62).
Table 9. Teachers employed full-time, by type of upgrading or training completed.

(in percentages)
Year Change in
Type of courses taken (upgrading or improvement)
1998 2000 thousands Percent
In-service training for upgrading 69.3 102.3 33.0 47.6
Of the above, postgraduate studies for upgrading
32.4 62.2 29.8 92.0
in that number
In-service training for professional improvement 157.5 206.3 48.8 31.0

Of the above, postgraduate studies for
16.3 18.5 2.2 13.5
improvement in that number
Source: Stepniowski (2001), p. 208.
Table 10. Teachers working full-time who are enrolled in courses for professional
upgrading – by type of subject taught (special qualification)
(in percentages)
Year
Subject taught/Specialty
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000
Integrated education 12.6 23.7 23.1 14 15.9
Academic subjects 8.3 11.4 10.9 10.8 16.1
Vocational subjects 4.1 5.6 6.7 8.7 10.1
Pre-school education 6.9 14.5 24.3 23.6 22.7
Civic education 10.1 15.6 16.7 14.9 14.8
Other teachers 8.4 9.5 11.2 9.6 12.3
8.6 13.2 14.2 12.4 15.7
Total (country wide)
15.7 percent = 86,100
Source: Stepniowski (2001), p. 208.
5. CONCLUSIONS
At present, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy underlying
the changes that have been introduced. The time that has passed since the
start of the reform and the application of the new rules is too short to allow
an accurate judgment. The decentralization of powers to the local authorities
and to the schools, as well as market economy rules, are principles that are
expected to improve the performance of teacher training.
Decentralization is characterized by two features: (i) The school principal
is authorized to organize individual studies for teachers in schools and is
accountable for offerings. Each provincial government, along with the
respective superintendent, is responsible for the operation of outside in-
service training offered at provincial level. (ii) Most of the funding (80 percent
of the total) for teacher training is allocated to the schools and to the local
autonomous governments. The individual school is expected to know best
what is needed to improve the competencies of the teachers (and groups of
teachers) that it employs.
How accurate is this supposition? For the time being, 2.5 percent of the
money earmarked for allocation to local governments for teacher training was
not, in fact, allocated (as the Teachers’ Charter says), because there was
insufficient funding for salaries. Most likely, if the funding in question can be
spent outside the school, it will be used to “buy” those qualifications most
valued in the market for teachers. What qualifications will teachers value the
most? Most likely they will value those qualifications that are most likely to
assure rapid movement forward on the promotion ladder. For this reason, it
is likely that both the appointing committees as well as the nomination
procedure will define the quality of training.
On the teacher training course market, the courses that are going to be
most appreciated are those that are the most helpful in securing promotion.
Of course, other agencies and mechanisms will also influence the quality of
training offered to teachers. The system of accreditation (that is to be
introduced) and national standardized tests for school leavers at each level of
schooling will also have an effect. However, the appointment procedure still
seems to be the aspect having the most direct influence on the evaluation
and choice of training. The Teachers’ Charter provides for the composition
and the proceedings of Appointment Committees. At present, 79.5 percent of
teachers have obtained the position of appointed teacher. What is surprising
is that more appointed teachers (83.1 percent) are working in rural areas
than in urban areas (78.1 percent), despite the assumption that the best
teachers are found in cities.
Therefore, from the standpoint of teaching quality, the most important
factor seems to be the use of the formal appointment procedure for filling the
positions for appointed teachers. An examination procedure and an
examining commission are involved in promotions to positions of appointed
teacher. A commission, the members of which are appointed by the local
government running the school, consists of a government representative, the
school principal, a teacher training institution expert, the representative of
the superintendent, and an appointed teacher from another school.
The quality of teaching (also that of teacher training courses) depends, to
a large extent, on the given commission. Is this body actually quality-
oriented? It remains to be seen. As of now, promotion procedures have been
formal and mostly based on criteria of seniority.
282 I. BIALECKI
The massive promotion of teachers to the position of “appointed teacher”
when the amended Teachers’ Charter introduced the new five-level
classification of teachers positions, in 2000, hardly seemed promising. It
seems very likely that this large number of promotions to the dignity of
“appointed teacher” occurred more to secure the highest possible salaries for
teachers than for any reasons linked to merit.
What is lacking in the attempt to ensure the quality of teachers and to
bring about market regulation and decentralization is accountability to local
stakeholders, i.e., parents and local government authorities. In two or three
years, national standardized tests to be taken by all pupils after primary,
gymnazjum, and secondary school will yield proficiency scores that most
probably, will be aggregated to school level. Thus, each school will obtain a
score – an indicator of its functioning and quality. Such school indicators (so-
called “added value”, to be more precise) might serve as the basis for
reporting to local government and to local public opinion on given school
performance. Such accountability through indicators might affect the
personnel policies pursued by the local governments and the school
principals. Such policies might, in turn, change the attitudes of teachers
toward courses and in-service training, thus influencing the market, on the
supply side. Whether or not such a course of change will have positive or
negative results remains to be seen.
At present, 70 percent of teacher training, initial and in-service, consists
of extra-mural courses. Most of the training agencies, be they public or
private ones, higher education institutions or non-higher education
institutions, charge tuition fees. The electronic data base of the Main Center
for Teacher In-Service Training is announcing over 1,800 courses offered by
all sorts of institutions (e.g., Table 11).
Table 11. One of sixty pages announcing upgrading courses by higher education
institutions.
Higher Education
Nr. City Subject Type of courses offered
Institution
Postgraduate studies;
1831 Warsaw University Of Warsaw Other
additional speciality
1832 Warsaw University of Warsaw Other
1833 Warsaw University of Warsaw Philosophy
1835 Warsaw University of Warsaw Pro-family Education
Higher Education
Nr. City Subject Type of courses offered
Institution
1839 Wroclaw University of Wroclaw Civic education
Catholic University of Postgraduate studies;
1840 Lublin Special Pedagogy
Lublin additional speciality
1841 Lublin Pro-family Education
1842 Lublin Information Technology
Kardynala Stefana
1843 Warsaw Wyszynskiego Philosophy
University
Higher School of Postgraduate studies;
1844 Czestochowa Arts
Pedagogy additional speciality
Jana Kochanowski Postgraduate studies;
1845 Kielce Pro-family education
Academy additional speciality
Jana Kochanowsk Postgraduate studies;
1846 Kielce Other
1847 Kielce Information technology
1848 Kielce Initial education
1849 Sosnowiec Slaski University Natural history
1850 Sosnowiec Slaski University Natural history
Source: Internet site of the Main Center for Teachers In-Service Training <http://www.codn.edu.pl>
Most announcements (of offers of postgraduate courses) promise

acquisition of additional subject qualifications. One can see that courses for
teachers represent an important part of the educational market. For the time
being, the quality of such services remains unknown.
REFERENCES
DOLATA, R., and PUTKIEWICZ, E. “Ksztalcenie nauczycieli” [Teacher Training],
in, E. PUTKIEWICZ, and M. ZAHORSKA, eds. Uwagi i propozycje do projektu
reformy systemu edukacji [Comments and Proposals Pertaining to the
Design of the Reform of the Educational System]. Warsaw: Instytut Spraw
Publicznych, 1998.
KAMEDULA, E. “Koncepcje ksztalcenia i doskonalenia nauczycieli w szkolach
wyzszych” [On the Ideas of Teacher Initial and In-service Training], in, Z.
P. KRUSZEWSKI, ed. Przemiany szkolnictwa wyzszego u progu XXI wieku.
Plock: Szkola Wyzsza im. Pawla Wlodkowica w Plocku, 1999.
KSIAZEK, W. Rzecz o reformie edukacji [On the Reform of Education]. 1997-
2001. Warsaw: Ministry of National Education, 2001.
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. Reforma systemu edukacji. Projekt. [The
Reform of the Educational System: Project]. Warsaw: MNE, 1998.
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. O nowelizacji Karty Nauczyciela [Amended
Teachers’ Charter]. Warsaw: Biblioteczka Reformy, 2000.
284 I. BIALECKI
Stan i struktura zatrudnienia nauczycieli w roku szkolnym 2000/01.
Dynamika przemian [Teacher Employment in the 2000/01 Academic Year
– State and Structure: Dynamics of Change]. Warsaw: Centralny Osrodek
Doskonalenia Nauczycieli [Main Center for Teacher In-Service Training],
2001.
STEPNIOWSKI, I. Nauczyciele w roku szkolnym 2000/01 [Teachers in the
2000/01 Academic Year]. Warsaw: Centralny Osrodek Doskonalenia
Nauczycieli [Main Center for Teacher’s in-Service Training], 2001.
XIII. Teacher Education Reform in Romania:
A Stage of Transition
DAN POTOLEA and LUCIAN CIOLAN
1. EMERGENCE OF NEW POLICIES FOR THE REFORM OF TEACHER

EDUCATION
1.1. The Educational Consequences of the Major Socio-Economic and Political

Changes in Romanian Society since 1989
Eleven years after the collapse of communism, Romania is one Eastern
European country that is still experiencing serious problems in its efforts to
complete economic and social reconstruction. Despite many difficulties,
important changes have taken place and progress has occurred in the
building of democratic institutions and the setting up of a market economy.
A private sector has emerged in the economy, and the role of the State has
diminished. Legislation has been modified in order to support macro-
stabilization, liberalization, and economic restructuring.
The new project for social development and new values for Romanian
society have been derived mainly from objectives and strategic options, best
summed up as follows: “The establishment of a democratic law-abiding state,
of a developed market economy as well as integration into the Euro-Atlantic
political structures (The European Union and NATO) have represented and
continue to represent the main objectives of post-communist Romanian
society.” (Bîrzea, 1999, p.5).
The economic problems of recent years led to the under-funding of the
education sector; hence, the insufficient resources directed at teacher
training.
The Law on Education (Ministry of Education, 1995) provides for a
national education budget equal to at least 4 percent of GDP; however, from
1990 to 1995, the budgetary allocation for education amounted to only 2.5 to
3.5 percent of GDP. In 1999 and 2000, total funding fell short of the goal
established by the Education Act. This shortfall is partly offset by the
extensive involvement of donor organizations in the education sector that
have provided loans and grants.
Between 1999 and 2001, Romania registered the first signs of economic
progress and macro-stabilization. General elections in late 2000 led to a
change in political power and registered the first signs of economic progress
and macro-stabilization. However, the political evolution over this period has
been more emphasized and is more successful than economic performance.
286 D. POTOLEA and L. CIOLAN
Despite internal and external difficulties, the Romanian educational
system adopted a more-or-less successful and constructive approach to its
contradictions and tried to manage the nonlinear and sometimes
conflicting changes that occurred. Innovations have occurred, maybe not
always at the desired magnitude and rhythm, but the system as a whole
has an ascendant trend and continues to offer valuable public services.
1.2. Milestones in Educational Reform

As has been the case with all the other sectors, education has been and
still is subject to important and diverse changes.
Special events and processes have marked the evolution of educational
reform and have had a bearing on the restructuring of teacher education.
i. Enactment of the Law on Education (1995) and of the Law on the
Statute of the Teaching Staff (1997). The Law on Education was
seriously revised in 1999, and the Statute of the Teaching Staff is
currently being revised.
ii. Initiation and implementation of the Pre-university Education Reform
Project, co-financed by the Romanian Government and the World
Bank. This Project, that was implemented from September to
December 2001, focussed on several main goals:
– development of a new curriculum;
– restructuring the teaching staff training system;
– devising alternative textbooks;
– reforming the evaluation and examination system;
– reforming the management and funding of education;
– the definition of new occupational standards through co-operation
among Government, employers, and trade unions.
National Councils for each component have been set up, including a
National Council for Teacher Training. These institutions have prepared
reform strategies and have proposed them to the decision-makers.
i. The reform of education entered a new phase at the end of 1998,
when the so-called comprehensive reform began. The concept has
been applied to six chapters of measures to be taken:
– development of new frameworks/timetables, curricula, textbooks,
and efforts to ensure the European compatibility of the national
curriculum;
– a shift from reproductive learning to problem solving and, at the
same time, the relaunching of research;
– the elaboration of a new relationship among general schools, high
schools, and universities, on the one hand, and between these
institutions and their cultural, economic, and administrative
environments, on the other hand;
TEACHER EDUCATION REFORM IN ROMANIA 287
– improvement of the educational infrastructure and the linking
connection of educational institutions to the new electronic
communication networks;
– the reform of school and university management through
decentralization and institutional autonomy;
– major involvement in international co-operation;
ii. A new stage in the reform of Romanian education began in late 2000
with the change in government. The main question then was the
following: Was Romania going to refine and accelerate
implementation of the reform underway, or would there be a “reform
of the reform”? The process has just started, and any final judgment
would be premature. However, the current team in the Ministry of
Education and Research has decided that certain objectives of the
previous government should continue to be priorities, namely:
– bringing about reform and educational changes at classroom level
through a more beneficial linkage of educational policies and
methodologies with educational practice;
– extension of the use of the ICTs across the entire education
system;
– the rehabilitation of schools in rural areas;
– the restructuring of in-service and pre-service teacher education;
iii. On the other hand, some of the measures that have recently been
promoted are different from or even contradictory to aspects of the
previous reform programme:
– amendment of the national curriculum, increasing the role of the
sciences, and decreasing the school-based curriculum;
– limiting the numbers of approved textbooks;
– re-establishment of the pedagogical high schools for the training
of pre-primary and primary school teachers and the closing of the
private colleges for pre-primary and primary school teachers.
The authors consider that the future evolution will not affect the
structure of the ongoing reform process, particularly its basic concept and
the already established principles regarding, at least, the curriculum and
evaluation. But they expect consistent transformation in teacher training,
a field in which the reform process has been slow and hesitant.
1.3. Teacher Education as a Component of the Reform Process

As indicated above, the reform of the teacher training system is a priority.
In fact, it is an urgent matter for at least two reasons: (i) the need for a
consolidated consciousness, according to which teacher education is a
vital factor in the success of reform. It does not matter how complex and
elaborated the reform is as a project, if it is not accompanied by a change
of mentalities, attitudes, and behaviours, very little will change. (ii) The
system of teacher training has registered a slower development, a certain
discrepancy of rhythm and efficiency, as compared with the other elements
of reform, particularly curriculum and instruction, evaluation, and
management.
Recent research (Vlasceanu et al., 2002) shows that the large majority
of teachers adhere to the spirit of the reform, but one-third of them fail to
acquire the “codes” of reform. They are not sufficiently familiar with the
concepts and methodological principles of reform. For this reason, they fail
to apply them consistently.
The delays in the design and implementation of a new teacher
education system have certain causes.
There is a gap, natural to a certain extent, between the consolidation of
the principles of the strategies and goals of reform and the renewal of the
teacher education system. The Universities, that were particularly
concerned to acquire and to consolidate their autonomy and to realize
academic and managerial changes, failed to grant much importance to
teacher training. The National Council for Teacher Training began its
activity later than the other reform Councils began theirs.
A rather passive reaction has been observed on the part of the teachers,
confronted, as they are, with changes resulting from reform and with
difficulties of assimilating their new roles. The professional identity of
teachers needs to be reconsidered.
Currently, there are signs that the vision and structure of teacher
education will pass through important changes, both at theoretical and
conceptual level, and in regard to the teacher training practice. Some of
these signs are presented below.
In February 2001, the Teacher Training Department of the Faculty of
Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Bucharest
organized a seminar on “Priorities for Teacher Training Policies in
Romania”. The strategic directions for teacher training and career
development were identified.
Internal and external factors affecting teacher education were identified:
global changes in society, educational reform in all sectors, achievements
of scientific research in relevant fields, European and international
standards of teacher education, and the recommendations of international
institutions (The World Bank, the European Commission, and UNESCO).
The concept of professionalism was linked to the teaching career, and
the emergence of a new type of professionalism was forecasted (Paun,
2001). The participants discussed the legitimacy and importance of
national standards for teacher education, and a framework for building
them was presented (Potolea, 2001).
A discussion on teacher education based on credit points, initiated by
the work of Iucu and Pacurari (2001), had some influence on certain
decisions taken by the Ministry. Curriculum projects for teacher training
were also drawn up.
The conclusion was that the “voice” of the University has to be clearer
and stronger in proposing and running teacher education projects. An
important part of the recommendations of this seminar were integrated
into official policy documents of the Ministry of Education and Research.
The General Directorate for Continuing Education and Teacher training
in the Ministry of Education and Research has recently developed an
important document: Strategy for the Development of In-Service and Pre-
Service Teacher and Manager Training Systems in Pre-University Education,
2001-2004 (MEC, 2001). The feedback from different stakeholders is highly
positive with respect to this project.
The main issues the Strategy addresses are:
– professionalization of the teaching career in Romania (development of
national standards for the teaching profession);
– re-sizing the balance between theoretical and practical components
of the teacher training curriculum by extending initial training after
college/faculty graduation. To be awarded a Teacher’s Diploma,
graduates would have to spend one year in a mentoring system and
pass an examination at the end of this period;
– developing an educational market of in-service teacher training
programmes based on competition and quality;
– linking the structure and the steps in the teaching career with
educational standards and ensuring the dynamics of the teaching
profession by using a system of transferable credits;
– developing a new institution, the National Center for the Training of
Pre-university Teaching Staff, for improved in-service teacher
training.
In 2001, the National Center for the Training of Pre-university Teaching
Staff was set up as a public institution and legal entity, subordinated to
the Ministry of Education and Research. The Center is in charge of policy
making for the training of teachers and of managers of teacher training, of
ensuring the quality control of the professionalization of the teaching
career, and of the development of specialized studies. Also, the institution
is called upon to develop national standards for teacher training and for
managers of teacher training and to accredit programmes of initial and
continuing training.
A data base on the results of empirical research in the field of teacher
education is being built.
An example of this work follows.
Under the supervision of the National Council for Teacher training, a
comprehensive research project was conducted, in 1999-2000, on in-
service and pre-service teacher training. The first part of the research was
based on a representative sample of the teaching population of the country
(1,472 persons). It was focused on important issues, such as teacher
training needs at national, regional, and personal levels; the strengths and
weaknesses of the current initial teacher training system; strategies for the
development of a reform programme for the initial teacher training system;
the material, human, and financial resources involved in the effective
carrying out of initial teacher training; and reflections as to the institutions
that should be responsible for initial teacher training and the
establishment of their specific responsibilities (Iucu and Pânisoara, 2000).
The second part of the research tried to answer the same questions with
regard to continuing/in-service teacher training. Certain findings of that
research and its role in the development of new teacher training strategies
are summarized below.
Altogether, an impressive quantity of information has been progressively
accumulated that bears a diagnostic and prognostic value. By
corroborating all similar data, future policies and strategies for pre-service
and in-service teacher training can be redesigned.
New models for initial teacher training have already started to be tested:
classroom management, integrated education, multicultural education,
etc. The results of experimentation will consolidate the training
programmes lending them high professional effectiveness.
The teaching career is moving towards a new type of professionalism.
The five signals mentioned above are proof of the emergence of new and
promising premises and practical actions for the development of teacher
education.
2. THE STATUTE OF THE TEACHING STAFF: CAREER DEVELOPMENT

2.1. The Legal Basis
The statute of the teaching staff, the rights and responsibilities of teachers,
the conditions that need to be met for one to occupy a teaching or a
management position in an educational institution, the system for
promotion and remuneration, and the training system are regulated by two
main laws: Law no. 84/1995, revised in 1999 – Law on Education (Ministry
of National Education, 1999) and Law no. 128/1997 – The Statute of the
Teaching Staff (Ministry of National Education, 1997).
The Law on Education includes two chapters, under the heading “V:
Human Resources: 1. The Educational Staff. Pupils and Students”, and “2.
In-service Training of the Teaching Staff”.
In Chapter I, a special article reads:
The Ministry of Education and Research has the obligation to ensure
the initial and further training of the teaching staff in the national
educational system and to establish, through specialized bodies,
...national standards attesting the quality of being a teacher.
(Ministry of National Education, 1999, Art. 155, pp. 25).
The chapter on in-service teacher training regulates the following
matters:
– the accredited institutional structures offering training and
conversion programmes for pre-university and university teaching
staff members;
– the specific responsibilities of these institutions in relation to the
training process;
– the financial responsibilities of the Ministry of Education and
Research for in-service teacher training.
According to this chapter, the Ministry of Education determines the
objectives and priorities and co-ordinates in-service teacher training in
pre-university education. The Ministry is also in charge of the accreditation
and the financing of continuous training and professional conversion
programmes. Professional conversion refers to the extension of initial
training and offers teachers the possibility to teach other subjects or to
occupy other teaching positions. Specific institutions are authorized to run
such programmes.
The faculties and departments in higher education institutions offer
training in specialized areas (subjects). Teacher training departments in
higher education institutions offer training in Psychology, Pedagogy, and
Methodology. University pedagogical colleges and pedagogical high schools
provide training in Psychology, Pedagogy, and Methodology for teachers
engaged in pre-primary and primary school education. County “Teachers’
Houses” (Casa Corpului Didactic) provide teachers in specific areas of given
counties with methodological support and documentation. Training
centers are organized in schools for the training of teachers lacking
qualifications.
The Ministry of Education can set up other training structures for
different purposes, such as the training of educational managers.
The Law grants the higher education system a central role in teacher
training. There is an ongoing debate about the possible liberalization of
continuing teacher training including the setting up of a free market in
teacher training services. The trend is to build a new system on the
principles of transferable credits. Doing so would lead to a greater diversity
of programmes and would offer more freedom to teachers in choosing
programmes according to their needs, and more coherence and flexibility
in staff development policies at school level.
The Statute of the Teaching Staff, in its turn, regulates issues related to
the competencies, rights, and responsibilities of the teaching and
managerial staff; the terms under which positions and functions in
teaching and educational management can be taken up or given up;
retirement conditions; the system of teacher training and evaluation; the
workloads, salaries, awards, and distinctions of teachers; as well the
conditions under which penalties may be imposed.
The statute of the teaching staff is currently being revised.
2.2. Professional Roles Associated with the Teaching Career

The basic competencies required of teachers and the professional roles
that a teacher should be able to perform are mentioned in different
documents. The recommendations arising from these documents include
the following: becoming acquainted with the characteristics of students
and, on this basis, offering psychopedagogical counseling; the design,
management, and evaluation of learning activities; the provision of
educational services to the community (educational assistance offered to
the families of students, children, and youth organizations, etc.);
participation in and improvement of the educational process and of school
innovation; a good knowledge and understanding of the specific subject(s)
taught in relation to the ages of students and to the requirements of the
National Core Curriculum; communication with students, parents, and
other teachers; and professional self-development and life-long learning.
As shown in the OECD Report (2000, p.75), teachers have the
responsibility of playing a major role in decision-making about pedagogic
approaches and the selection of instructional materials. The more
progressive teachers are already playing active roles in this regard;
however, many teachers remain unsure of the new demands and continue
to teach much as they did in the past. Together with local inspectors and
curriculum experts, teachers will become instrumental in designing the
contents and delivery of the school-based curriculum. A responsibility
viewed as essential is the effective communication by teachers with the
parents of their students. Such communication involves explaining the
benefits and the costs of the changes engendered by the reform and
effectively transmitting information on the progress of individual students.
There is widespread agreement that the reorganization of the teacher
training system in Romania and the new competencies of teachers should
emphasize the following aspects:
i. new roles for teachers, in:
– the design and development of the school curriculum;
– the evaluation and selection of textbooks;
– the management of cross-curricular and interdisciplinary
activities;
– serving as counselors (e.g., for curricular matters and as
information transmitters);
– serving as facilitators (e.g., in the use of the ICTs in education);
– serving as mediators (e.g., in the school-community, and in
matters of “learner-knowledge” and “learning-daily life”);
– serving as actors in cross-border/international projects;
– management of diversity (i.e., intercultural learning environments,
the European dimension of education);
– self-management (information management, professional
flexibility).
ii. new roles for schools, as:
– community resource centers;
– training providers (e.g., mentoring for beginners, peer training,
training stages at the request of various stakeholders);
– centers of knowledge production and distribution (massification of
research, multi-functionality);
– centers of political socialization (“teaching democracy”).
iii. new challenges addressed by teacher education in the present
context:
– the quality and adequacy of pedagogical training/modules for
different types of teachers (e.g., primary versus secondary school
teachers; mathematics versus language teachers);
– the validity and relevance of the curriculum for pre-service
teacher training;
– the coherence of pre-service teacher training provided by different
universities (i.e., national standards for the teaching profession);
– the effective use of the ICTs in teacher education and daily
activities;
– the starting of the selection process for the teaching profession
(e.g., the beginning of university studies, the ending of the second
year of university studies, the start of training following the first
degree in a specific subject/field);
– the lack of communication between university and pre-university
education (the suppliers of the teaching workforce and the main
labour market for teachers);
– the diversity and coherence of pathways for teacher qualification;
– attracting high quality scholars to the teaching profession
(notwithstanding the low salaries offered and the dearth of
facilities, educational resources, and materials);
– the large numbers of unqualified teachers in rural areas;
– the pressure for setting up a free market of educational services
(e.g., training, consulting).
All these new roles demand a substantial change in teacher training
programmes. The process of change in this regard is well underway.
2.3. Social and Professional Aspects of the Teaching Profession

The major issue confronting the teaching staff in Romania in the last years
seems to be a lack of social status, emphasized by low salaries, the
downgrading of the teaching profession, and the absence of motivation for
this career.
In general, the salaries of teachers are below the national average
salary. Those of beginning teachers are very close to the lowest salaries
paid in Romania.
A second problem is that of the deficiencies or lack of teacher
professionalization, mainly in the spirit of the reform. This problem is
particularly serious in rural areas because of economic recession and the
decline of agriculture.
The lack of trained teachers reflects another problem. “Currently, with
the exception of pre-school and primary school education, a teacher’s
status is occupational, not professional: for higher education graduates to
be a teacher is just one of several job opportunities” (Novak et al., 1999,
p.49).
Lack of adequate information could be considered yet another problem
of the teaching staff. The efforts made in recent years (meetings,
publications, and use of the ICTs) have not yet dealt adequately with the
need to circulate information throughout the country. Even if
decentralization is underway, the participation of teachers in decision-
making processes is insufficient. This situation diminishes accountability
and ownership.
The student/teacher ratio in Romania, at different levels of education, is
close to that of Western Europe. One can observe that, in high schools, the
ratio is very low as compared to available resources. When considering the
situation portrayed by Table 1 (below) and the demographic evolution, it is
possible to conclude that there is a surplus of teachers, at least at
secondary school level.
Table 1. Numbers of teachers and the student/teacher ratio in pre-university

education (1996-1997)
Level of education Teachers (numbers) Student/teacher ratio

Pre-school 39,200 16.8:1
65,590, of which:
61,850 primary school 22.2:1
Primary school
teachers (primary school teachers)
33,740 speciality teachers
Lower secondary 98,776 11.4:1
Upper secondary 64,485 12.3:1
Source: OECD Report: Romania, 2000.
3. THE INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF TEACHER TRAINING IN ROMANIA

3.1. Pre-Service Teacher Training
Prior to the 1995 Law on Education, the initial teacher training system
reflected the institutional structures of the communist period. Pre-school and
primary school teachers were trained in five-year pedagogical high schools
(recently renamed Scoala Normala). Teachers for lower and upper secondary
education would receive university training (4 to 5 years of studies).
After 1995, university colleges assumed the roles of the above-mentioned
high schools. In the newly-created institutional structure, pre-school and
primary school teachers (Institutori) receive two-year training if they are
graduates of pedagogical high schools and three years of training if they are
graduates of all other types of high schools. After graduation, they become
primary or pre-school teachers and also receive a second specialization in a
foreign language, music, drawing, or physical education. They can teach this
subject only in primary and lower-secondary education.
In 1999, the pedagogical high schools began to be closed and to be
replaced by university colleges.
In 2001, according to the new educational policy, the teacher training
system of pedagogical high schools (Scoala Normala) was restored. The
current debate about the issue poses questions as to the wisdom of this step
and its compatibility with practices in the educational systems of the
Western European countries, in which all future teachers must be graduates
of higher education institutions.
Table 2. The institutional structure of initial teacher training

Two-year Three-year University
University
university university (technical, arts,
(academic)
colleges colleges sports)
Pre-school X X
Primary X X
Lower secondary(Gimnaziu) X X
Upper-secondary (Liceu) X
Vocational, technical, ability-
X X
based
Source: Supplied by authors.
For a better understanding of the institutional structure providing pre-

service teacher training, the status of the different types of teachers will be
presented in terms of the level of education at which they can teach and by
the type of institution in which they are initially trained. Romanian terms
that are not full equivalents of related English terms will be explained.
– educator – title of a pre-school (kindergarten) teacher trained in a
pedagogical high school;
– învatatoare – title of a primary school teacher trained in a pedagogical
high school;
– institutor – pre-school and primary school teacher trained in a short-
term university pedagogical college. There are two types of professional
specialization for institutori:
? pre-school and primary school education;
? primary education and one subject for lower secondary education
(mentioned above).
This last alternative could be considered an innovation and is explained
by the need for increased mobility on the educational market, the need to
complement teaching loads in small schools, and also by the shortage of
teachers of foreign languages, music, and drawing. University pedagogical
colleges are autonomous and function within universities. Usually, they are
under the academic and scientific supervision of faculties of educational
sciences.
– Profesor – teacher for lower and higher secondary education (at
university level, they are called university professors). While training in
a specific subject/field, they can enroll in the pedagogical modules
provided by teacher training departments. A future secondary school
teacher may follow two training and education models:
i. The concurrent model – students are enrolled in 4- to 5-year faculty
studies ending in a licenta in a specific subject/field. At the same
time, they enroll in a special programme, with a certain number of
credits. At the end of this programme, students are awarded a
Teacher’s Certificate. No tuition fees are charged for the teacher
training programme taken in the concurrent model.
ii. The consecutive model – Having graduated from a university and
having been awarded a licenta, applicants may enroll in a teacher
training department to obtain the minimum number of credit points
and the Teacher’s Certificate. In this case, candidates are required
to finance their own teacher training studies.
The consecutive approach can also be adopted in the case of
professional re-conversion. This route has been followed by a
number of engineers who decided to attend teacher training courses
because of the decline of heavy industry in Romania. After
graduation, they took teaching positions in vocational and technical
education.
– Consilier scolar – counseling and guidance teachers are graduates of
the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. Their main
activity is helping the other teachers better understand their students
and offering counseling services to the latter.
3.2. In-Service Teacher Training

As mentioned above, higher education plays an important role in
continuing/in-service teacher training. However, as the free market in the
field is under development, some other actors have become important in this
regard.
University pedagogical colleges and teacher training departments have the
most important responsibilities regarding in-service teacher training. They
provide methodological and psycho-pedagogical training. For training in
specialized subjects, they co-operate with the corresponding faculties. Both
the pedagogical colleges and the teacher training departments are
autonomous entities in universities and function in close co-operation with
faculties of educational sciences.
“Teachers’ Houses” are regional documentation and training centers
financed by the Ministry of Education and Research. They provide in-service
training courses for teachers in their respective areas, according to the
priorities of reform and local needs.
Schools are involved in continuing training through their discipline-based
departments. In the cases of larger schools, so-called catedre and
methodological commissions serve groups of smaller schools. At county level,
under the co-ordination of the School County Inspectorate, a “pedagogical
round-table” (cerc pedagogic) is organized, with regular meetings of speciality
teachers in all subjects.
NGOs have entered the field of teacher training. Their offerings are
diverse. There is an emerging market of programmes, specialized in different
areas (however, overlooked, most of the time, by the “official system”).
As part of the diversification of in-service teacher training offerings, a
project was developed to establish the number of credits needed by teachers,
at different periods, with a view to continuing their teaching careers or to
obtaining promotion. According to this project, credits could be accumulated
from different sources. All credited courses would have to be evaluated and
accredited by a specialized commission to be set up. This initiative, were it to
become the object of a political decision, could be an important step towards
the development of a flexible market for high-quality in-service training
courses.
Another important issue under discussion concerns possible institutional
alternatives to teacher training. One option envisages the creation of special
institutions dedicated to teacher training, including simultaneous training in
specific subject(s) and in subject teaching. The other envisaged alternative is
for all students to undergo common training and education for the first two
years of studies. During the succeeding two years, different pathways could
be followed: one for a teaching career, and the other, for a different
profession, research included. Educational policy-makers need to reach a
consensus with the universities and to reach a decision acceptable to both
sides.
3.3. Teacher Training Programmes

The first question in the survey carried out under the auspices of the
National Teacher Training Council asked subjects about the opportunity to
bring about initial (Report no. 1) and continuous (Report no. 2) reforms in
teacher training, according to trends in Western Europe. This survey item
received high percentages (87.9 percent for pre-service teacher training and
91.47 percent for in-service teacher training). “The interviewed teachers have
very well noticed the importance of re-dimensioning the training system
through a balance between the use of the rich Romanian experience and the
flexibility and openness of other training systems in Europe” (Iucu and
Pânisoara, 2000, vol. 2, p.68).
Mention must be made here of the results of survey item no. 4, in the first
research report (pre-service training) and survey item no. 5, in the second
report (in-service training). This item tried to measure teacher satisfaction
with the concordance of training programmes with their expectations and
aspirations.
In the case of pre-service training, 39.5 percent of the respondents
considered that the programmes had met their expectations at medium level;
34.5 percent were satisfied to a great extent, 16.5 percent to a very great
extent, 5.4 percent to a minimal extent, and 4.0 percent to a very minimal
extent.
In the case of in-service training, most of the respondents replied to this
question; however, only 4.01 percent were highly satisfied; 28.76 percent
were highly satisfied; 46.48 percent were fairly satisfied; 16.72 percent were
not very satisfied; and 4.03 percent were not satisfied at all.
The conclusion was that reform is needed, and that there is a great deal of
room for improvement at both levels of teacher training.
3.4. Curricula for Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Training
What follows refers, in particular, to the structure of the training
programmes offered by pedagogical colleges and teacher training
departments (for a comprehensive view, see Figure 1).
The curriculum for three-year pedagogical colleges is divided into four
different categories of subjects, each of them comprising disciplines,
modules, or practical training. The training and education offered is mixed
and includes extensive psycho-pedagogical training that is much better
covered here than in the programmes of the university departments of
teacher training.
The basic subjects represent about 25 percent of all studies; e.g.,
Fundamentals of Pedagogy, Introduction to the Theory of the Curriculum,
The Theory and Methodology of Instruction, The Theory and Methodology of
Evaluation, Research Methodologies in Education, General Psychology and
Developmental Psychology, Informatics and Computer-Assisted Instruction,
etc.
Figure 1. Steps in career development related to in-service teacher training
Master’ Degree and PhD Access to management

programmes positions: chief of
department, director, and
inspector.
Optional
Teacher’s
Certificate
Compulsory Optional Optional Compulsory
Secondary
School
Universities
Entering the
profession Definitivat Second degree First degree
In-service
Institutor Diploma training
Teacher Colleges Mentoring courses
Primary and Lower
training Examination Examination Inspection
Secondary School
programmes - 1st Degree
Project
Pedagogical
high schools
(Scoala Normala)
Invatator Diploma – Every 5 years

Pre-school and 2 years 4 years 2 years
Primary School
education
Further two-year
studies: Institutor’s Further two-year studies: Institutions responsible for in-service teacher-training (Teacher-training
Diploma Licence + Teacher’s Departments from University, Teacher Houses, schools, and NGOs).
Certificate
Source: The authors.
An innovation has been the inclusion of the New Information Technologies

(NITs), research methodology, and integrative education – all of which were
very poorly represented in previous programmes.
Speciality compulsory subjects include Mother Tongue, Children’s
Literature, Didactics of the Romanian Language and Literature, Didactics of
Mathematics for Pre-primary and Primary School Education, as well as the
didactics of all subjects taught in primary education. The amount of time
devoted to this category of subjects is 25 percent. Practical training is
included in this category and represents 15 percent.
Practical training, crucial for the pedagogical quality of future teachers, is
granted a central place.
Speciality optional/elective subjects like Foreign Languages, Sociology of
Education, Social Pedagogy, and Class Management constitute the third
category, which can take up to 5 percent of the whole study programme.
Students have to choose a certain number of subjects from the existing offer
in this category.
Elective subjects provide students with possibilities for satisfying their
professional interests and for deepening their knowledge of specialized fields
of education: Intercultural Education, Management of Educational
Institutions, Environmental Education, etc.
The teacher training departments in Universities are in charge of the
pedagogical and methodological training of future teachers in secondary
school education. The training and education are provided in the scope of a
pedagogical module structured as in Table 3.
Table 3. Structure of the pedagogical module. (All subjects are compulsory)

Course Seminar/ Total
Total seminar/
Subject Semesters hours per application course
application hours
week hours per week hours
Educational Psychology 1 2 1 28 14
Pedagogy* 2 2 1 56 28
Didactics of specific
1 2 1 28 14
subject(s)**
Practical training*** 1 - 4 - 56
* Pedagogy is a comprehensive course, including curriculum evaluation and the methodology of
instruction.
** The time load for subject didactics is one semester for each subject. If the student specializes in
two subjects, he or she has to take a one-semester course for each specialization.
*** The practical training hours could be merged according to the organization of activities. The
time load for practical training is 56 hours for each subject in which the future teacher
specializes.
Figure 2. Structure of training in the Psycho-pedagogy module. (The training is

required in order to be awarded the Teacher’s Certificate.)
18.75
Practical training
37
Practical training
18.75
Educational psychology
Subject Methodics
25
To complement the compulsory subjects, a proposal has been made to

introduce optional courses into the structure of the pedagogical module.
These might include Information Technologies, Educational Counseling and
Guidance, Integrative Education, Sociology of Education, etc.
The diversity of the providers of in-service teacher training was noted
above. The programme offerings vary in nature, magnitude, target groups,
and in their competitive force and advantage. Some of them are relevant at
the national level; others try to deal with specific local needs.
It is very important for this phenomenon of expansion and diversity that it
support the reform philosophy and pay close attention to the pertinence and
quality of its programmes. The setting up and operation of an accreditation
body for in-service training programmes will be an effective mechanism
through which the expertise of the teaching staff will be enriched and the
schools will be protected against incompetence.
3.5. Trends in Teacher Training Development: Looking Ahead

Certain events, accomplishments, and trends lead to the configuration of
short or medium-term evolutions.
The 2001 National Conference in Sinaia on the Priorities of Teacher
Training Policies in Romania changed the vision about teacher education and
determined – with the large consensus of the specialists in the field – the
priorities and lines for sustainable development, which influenced official
educational policies.
At the content level, new modules have to be developed and integrated
into the structure of teacher training programmes. Among them, particular
attention should be paid to intercultural education, individualized and
integrated education, the new information and communication technologies,
research methodologies in education, etc.
Starting with the 2001-2002 academic year, a credit system was
implemented into pre-service and in-service teacher training. Serious
investments were needed in order to ensure the success of this initiative, but
the expected medium- and long-term benefits were significant reasons for
this effort.
The development of support and mentoring programmes for the new
teachers is also an area in which a great deal of work has been and probably
will continue to be accomplished in the near future. A methodology for
mentoring activities has been developed, and the process of training of
mentors has began.
The revision of the entire knowledge base of training programmes is
viewed as a holistic priority. The new trends at international level, the latest
achievements of scientific research in the field, as well as the feed-back
collected by different departments, colleges, and faculties of educational
sciences have to be assessed and integrated into new programmes to be
developed in the near future.
4. SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS

Teacher training in Romania – like all other components of the Romanian
educational system – is undergoing a process of change and restructuring.
This process represents a stage in the transition to another system of teacher
education, which implies new goals and new models of training and
certification as well as new institutions willing to play a role in this field.
The reform of teacher education is an urgent priority on the agenda of the
reform of the Romanian school system. The new national strategy for teacher
education is expected to be an incentive to accelerate this larger reform and
to offer more coherence and dynamics to future steps.
So far as the methodological perspective is concerned, the success of
teacher education depends on its functional link to many factors: the general
development of Romanian society, the changes envisaged at all educational
levels, and the development of its own research basis. The latter should put
to good use the results of research in other connected fields and also take
into account the standards and expertise in teacher training of the advanced
education systems.
In many cases, in the debate on the compatibility of teacher education
and school reform, the focus is only on pre-university education and
disregards all the necessary changes that should be promoted in the
Universities.
The point of view herein promoted is that of integrating the reform of
teacher education into general university policy and the re-evaluation of the
importance of the function of teacher education as assumed by the
University.
Teacher training strategies should lead to the preparation of teachers able
to support the reform of education in a competent manner, acting in its
spirit.
The philosophy of teacher education programmes should include two
more functions: one that is critical-evaluative and another that is constructive-
innovative. The first refers to the cultivation of abilities enabling the pertinent
examination and evaluation of the objectives, contents, means, and outcomes
of school reform, as well as the reflexive examination of personal experiences.
The second function focuses on the development of the creative and
innovative capacities of teachers in order to take the evolution of school and
students beyond the norms of the reform.
The reform of teacher education should be comprehensive and integrative.
New approaches are needed regarding the system of initial teacher training
and the system of further teacher training. Each system is important for
establishing proper responsibilities. Institutional providers of training
services must articulate these two systems coherently and define the
continuities and discontinuities between them.
The criteria and methods of analyzing and assessing the input and the
output of the teacher education system need to be enhanced, and the quality
of the process going on between input and output needs to be heightened.
As far as teacher education programmes are concerned, some priorities
are clear: the elaboration of national standards for teacher education,
especially of curriculum standards; the modernization of education and
training strategies, including use of the new information and communication
technologies; and the increased relevance of evaluation and certification
strategies for teacher qualification.
Quality assurance and control of the teacher education system is an
essential objective of educational policies. The attainment of this objective
has three aspects.
Accrediting institutions and organizations play a major role in this
direction, reaching conclusions as to the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency
of teacher education programmes. The National Council for Academic
Evaluation and Accreditation has the authority to recommend to the Ministry
of Education and Research the programmes for professional specialization
designed by higher education institutions, as well as the training
programmes proposed by teachers colleges. The National Center for Teaching
Staff Training will draw up and utilize the specific accreditation
methodologies of teacher training departments and of any other in-service
teacher training entities.
The quality of the trainers of the teaching staff is another basic factor
which influences the value of teacher education programmes. The lecturers
delivering courses such as Educational Psychology, Pedagogy, Educational
Sociology, Educational Management, etc. are trained in the faculties of
Psychology and Educational Sciences. They are certified through Master’s
Degree and Doctoral programmes. The training of specialized personnel for
special didactics (teaching methods) is still being debated so as to identify the
best institutional framework for their initial and further training.
The rethinking of the relationships linking the university, the school, and
the community and the development of a functional partnership constitutes
another resource for and controlling factor of the quality of teacher education
programmes. The schools habilitated to offer teacher training should become
– at least some of them – development schools, in which research actions
should be constantly promoted, and representative innovations should be
tested. In its turn, the community can play a new role by evaluating the
quality of education and the effectiveness of teacher education programmes.
REFERENCES
BÎRZEA, C., ed. National Report on Education for All: Romania. Bucharest:
NREA, 1999.
IUCU, R. B., and PACURARI, O. Formarea initiala si continua [Pre-Service and
In-Service Teacher training]. Bucharest: Humanitas, 2001.
IUCU, R. B., and PÂNISOARA, O. Teacher training – Research Report. Vols. 1 and
2. Bucharest: Ministry of National Education, UMC Publishing, 2000.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (MER). Strategia de dezvoltare a
sistemului de formare initiala si continua a personalului didactic si a
managerilor din învatamântul preuniversitar [The Strategy for the
Development of In-service and Pre-service Teacher and Manager Training
in Pre-university Education]. Bucharest: MoER, 2001.
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION (MNE). “Legea nr. 128/1997 – Statutul
personalului didactic” [Law No. 128 /1997 The Statute of the Teaching
Staff], Monitorul Oficial al României 158 (July 1997).
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION (MNE). “Legea nr. 84/1995 republicata –
Legea învatamântului” [Law on Education No. 84/1995 Republished],
Monitorul Oficial al României 606 (December 1999).
NOVAK, C., JIGAU, M., BRÂNCOVEANU, R., IOSIFESCU , S., and BADESCU, M. The
White Paper of Education Reform. Iasi: Spiru Haret, 1999.
ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD). Review
of the National Policies for Education: Romania. OECD Examiners’ Report.
Paris: OECD, 2000.
PAUN, E., “The Teaching Career: Toward a New Type of Professionalism”,
Paper presented at the National Seminar, Priorities of Teacher Training
Policies in Romania, Sinaia, 2001 (unpublished).
POTOLEA, D., “National Standards for Teacher Training: A Framework and
Some Comments”, Paper presented at the National Seminar, Priorities of
Teacher Training Policies in Romania, Sinaia, 2001 (unpublished).
VLASCEANU, L., ed., with MIROIU, A., NECULAU, A., and POTOLEA, D. Reforma
curriculara în România. Continuitate si schimbare [Curriculum Reform in
Romania: Continuity and Change]. Iasi: Polirom, 2002.
XIV. Institutional Approaches within Higher
Education to Reform Teacher Education
in Yugoslavia
GORDANA ZINDOVIC-VUKADINOVIC
1. INTRODUCTION
In the field of education, Serbia and Montenegro, the two constituent
republics of Yugoslavia, are autonomous, one with regard to the other.
Teacher education has not changed for many years. There has never been an
all-inclusive system linking pre-service and in-service training. Teachers of
compulsory and upper secondary education must hold university degrees.
Post-graduate degrees are required of university staff members. Pre-school
teachers must graduate from two-year pre-school teachers colleges. As for
teacher education patterns, theoretical instruction is dominant. Students
have few possibilities for practice teaching, and teaching methods are
traditional. Most teachers are civil servants and have low social status.
Teacher drop-out is widespread. The professional development of teachers is
a priority of the reform of education.
In general, education in Yugoslavia is experiencing a serious crisis. The
country is poor but is attempting to introduce reforms. These few words
describe the current situation. Each republic enacts autonomously all legal
regulations and decisions relating to the development of the education
system. The Federal government has no say in the matter. There is
practically no coordination or co-operation in educational planning between
Serbia and Montenegro. However, there is a flow of information which helps
in tracing a general picture of the situation prevailing on the territory of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
A special problem is that all analyses, including this one, leave out one
part of the system – education in Kosovo and Metohija. For a long time, no
data have been available about this part of Yugoslavia. No co-operation exists
that would allow one to obtain information on education in this area, which
is still a constituent part of the Republic of Serbia.
The system of professional development for teachers (pre-service and in-
service) has not changed for years. It is fair to say, however, that such a
system has never been elaborated to be all-inclusive so as to link pre-service
and in-service training functionally, or as a system easily adaptable to
different needs and changes.
306 G. ZINDOVIC-VUKADINOVIC
2. OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT SITUATION
2.1. The Education System and Teacher Training Institutions
The formal school system in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is composed
of: (i) early childhood care and education (from birth to 6-7 years); (ii)
compulsory – primary school education (from ages 6-7 to 14-15 years); (iii)
upper secondary education, including general grammar schools, vocational,
and art schools (for students aged 14-15 to 18-19 years); (iv) tertiary
education, including both non-university (two-year studies in higher schools)
and university education (study duration from 4 to 5-6 years).
Compulsory education has two levels: from grades 1 to 4 (one principal
class teacher) and from grades 5 to 8 (subject teachers).
Upper secondary education includes four-year general and vocational
schools and two- or three-year vocational (craft) schools.
The system also includes art and music education (primary, upper
secondary, and tertiary), special education (for children having special
needs), education in minority languages (at all levels), and adult education.
Some 1.6 million citizens out of a total of 8.4 million participate in the
formal school system. There are about 100,0001 teachers, from pre-school to
university education, including school associates (pedagogy specialists,
psychologists, librarians, social workers, and special teachers for children
with special needs and for adults).
The higher education system (non-university and university) in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia consists of ten universities2 with 110 faculties
and fifty non-university two-year higher education institutions.
Non-university institutions and universities provide for teacher pre-service
and, to some extent, for in-service training.
Education is mostly State funded. Pre-school education is family-State co-
funded. Funding from private institutions is accepted. Upper secondary and
tertiary education can be organized in private institutions after the latter
have been approved by the Ministry of Education.
2.2. National Policy and Teacher Training Legislation

Serbia and Montenegro lack a general legal act on education. Separate laws
in the two republics regulate each level of education.
In 2002, the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia adopted a new set of
Acts on Primary, Secondary, and University education. These represented no
substantial changes as compared to previous Acts, except in regard to school
management regulations and teacher development.
1 The number of active teachers is changing over the school year.

2 Including four private universities with approximately nine faculties. It is not clear if they are all included
in the total number of faculties listed by the Federal Statistical Office. The University of Priština in Kosovo is
included in both figures (in 1996, as a part of the Serbian university network, and in 2000 in the number of
Serbian universities, being moved to Central Serbia in 1999). The status of the University of Priština has not yet
been settled.
INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES TO REFORM TEACHER EDUCATION 307
Figure 1. The system of education in Serbia
The Acts incorporate provisions concerning the requirements for being
employed as a teacher and make reference to in-service training. Thus,
following courses of professional in-service training, a teacher may be
awarded professional titles, such as education counselor, mentor, or
instructor.
Teachers of compulsory education (grades 5-8) and upper secondary
education must hold university degrees. Post-graduate degrees (the Master’s
Degree and the Doctorate) are required for university teaching staff members.
In the case of non-university tertiary education, both university and post-
university degree holders are permitted to teach in this area.
Pre-school teachers have to be graduates of a two-year pre-school
teachers college or of the two-year pre-school course programme in the
Faculty of Philosophy in Niksic (Montenegro). Pre-school associates (pedagogy
specialists and psychologists) must be university educated.
Figure 2. Initial education of teachers
Teachers college
3 Teachers facuty
Other faculty
University teaching
2
Pre-School Primary and Secondary. University

Secondary
Since 1993, teachers for grades 1 through 4 are offered university training
in six teacher training faculties in Serbia and at the Faculty of Philosophy in
Niksic, Montenegro.
Subject teachers, at all levels, from compulsory to university education,
are trained in almost all the universities and faculties in Serbia and
Montenegro. Not all faculties have courses for teacher pre-service training;
however, all university degree holders may apply for teaching jobs. Thus, the
problem of the lack of professional pedagogical skills is especially
pronounced in upper secondary vocational education.
Except for teachers in the humanities and sciences, who are trained at the
so-called teacher training faculties, i.e., these having teacher training
departments: Philology, Philosophy, Sciences, Teacher Training Colleges, the
other teaching staff members are recruited from different professions,
according to the needs of the given vocational school (medical doctors,
economists, engineers, lawyers, craft specialists, etc.).
After one year of preliminary teaching supervised by experienced school
teachers, all teacher candidates, except university staff, must take the State
Teacher Examination, consisting of three parts: (i) methodological approaches
to the teaching subject; (ii) pedagogy and psychology; and (iii) school
legislation.
2.3. The Social Status of Teachers, School Needs, Employment, and Working
Conditions
To perceive the current status of education and teachers, it is necessary to
take into account the fact that, in recent years, the size of the proportion of
the appropriation for education derived from the gross national product has
been declining3. Currently, the average salary of a teacher is about 143
Euros, excluding seniority bonuses. Salaries that have been low for a long
time (about 100 DM in 2001); lives that must be lived close to subsistence
level; and poor working conditions have all been very demotivating for
teachers. An increasing number of teachers must moonlight to make ends
meet. They engage in other kinds of work that have nothing to do with their
teaching. Thus, they have no desire or reason to use what leisure time they
may have for professional training. Negative selection is an additional result
of the longstanding poor social and material status of education and
educators. A survey made among the students at one of the teacher training
faculties in central Serbia revealed that an average student teacher has
origins in the lower middle class (his or her parents are either workers or
clerks in industry), that the secondary school records of such students are
mediocre, and that the student is a woman. About 90 percent of the
enrollments in teacher training faculties are women. Thus, the trend,
observed over many years, toward the feminization of the teaching
profession, holds particularly true for the pre-school and primary school
levels.
Graduates of the so-called subject teacher faculties (philosophy, philology,
mathematics, and sciences) prefer to seek employment outside education,
even if they have graduated from the teacher training departments of the
respective faculties.
In particularly short supply are teachers of the mother tongue, English,
mathematics, computer sciences, and arts, as well as teachers of such
3 At present (June 2002), the situation is improving.

subjects as geography, of whom there were, until recently, surpluses. The
schools have dealt with this deficit by recruiting students and/or grades 1-4
teachers, or by recalling retired teachers to active duty. As for workload, all
employed teachers must work forty to forty-two hours per week, including
supervision of curricular and extracurricular activities, as well as group or
individual tutoring sessions, sports practice, mentoring, the undertaking of
research, and professional development. The number of actual contact hours
varies slightly, depending on the level of education being taught.
The above-mentioned Acts and the General Labour Relations Act lay down
the conditions for the employment of teachers and the setting of their
salaries. To occupy a teaching position, teachers participate in public
competitions announced by schools. Also, the State Employment Office
follows up school needs for personnel and informs teachers whose names are
on waiting lists of possibilities. Employment decisions are taken by
competition panels or by school boards and involve teachers, parents, and
representatives of the local community.
All teachers are civil servants, except for a very small number of those
who are employed by the small numbers of private secondary schools and
private universities.
2.4. The Professional Organizations, Associations, and Unions of Teachers

Traditionally, teachers join associations linked to their respective
specializations. Numerous professional associations exist. They include the
Association of Chemistry Teachers, the Society of Pedagogical Specialists, etc.
The professional societies and associations have no collective bargaining or
political orientation. Depending on their possibilities, they generally involve
themselves in the professional development of their members, organizing
meetings, symposia, seminars, etc. In an earlier period, these professional
associations had much more important and active roles in defining and
adopting school curricula and in the professional training of their members.
The centralization of the system diminished and marginalized the role of the
professional associations. Moreover, poor funding has resulted in a reduction
in the numbers of professional gatherings and of publication activities.
As for the unionization of teachers, the situation is both highly vivid and
highly chaotic. Just as the whole situation of labour unions in Yugoslavia is
in transition, the teacher unions do not yet have a clear profile or clear
objectives and adequate strength.
3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF TEACHER EDUCATION

3.1. Concepts and Institutional Development
Three key periods in the past century may be singled out:
i. Prior to the Second World War, teacher education had a balanced
programme of preparation for the instructional and educational work
to be undertaken with children and with adults. Teachers were
expected, in addition to working with children, to raise the cultural and
educational level of the local population. Class teachers for grades 1-4
were trained in secondary schools in four- to five-year course
programmes, and secondary school teachers were educated in
universities.
ii. After the Second World War (when eight-year primary education
became compulsory), until the 1972 reform, future teachers were
trained on the basis of reduced curricula (immediately following the
war) for engagement in massive literacy campaigns for adults, and for
education in the spirit of socialism. A strong ideological slant marked
the training of future teachers during this period. Pre- and primary
school teachers continued to receive instruction in upper secondary
vocational schools, while for subject teachers (grades 5-8 of compulsory
primary school), the so-called post-secondary teacher pedagogical
schools were created.
iii. After the 1972 reform of education, following which the education of
pre-school and primary school teachers was elevated to a higher level,
and particularly with the introduction of university-level class teacher
education in 1993, a serious imbalance between theory and practice
emerged.
The raising of the pre-service training of future teachers to college and
university levels was not accompanied by improved methods of training. This
period was characterized by excessively theoretical pre-service training that
was poorly adapted to real needs and practice.
3.2. Teacher Education in Crisis (1990-2000)

The education and training of teachers deteriorated, as did the entire school
system, especially in recent years. The 1991 decision to abolish the
pedagogical institutes was harmful because they had been particularly
valuable for their offerings in pedagogical advising, supervision, and in-
service teacher training. The institutes had had their own centers for
innovational and in-service teacher training. This work also stopped.
International isolation and the bombing caused the general situation to
further deteriorate. The working conditions in schools fell below all
acceptable standards. The salaries of teachers dropped to seventieth place on
the scale of earnings in the country, and teacher motivation fell to the level of
inertia, as teachers began to go to school simply for the sake of going
somewhere. An additional aggravating factor was the inflow of large numbers
of refugee pupils. Thus many schools in urban centers had classes of over
forty pupils each. Teachers were particularly expected to help with the
integration of the refugee children and to apply compensatory programmes
for those who, because of war and exile, had lost several months or an entire
year of schooling.
Owing to lack of funds, a great number of pedagogical journals were no
longer published. School libraries could no longer purchase new books, and
international magazines and foreign literature either did not reach
Yugoslavia or did so only infrequently. Although Internet communication
functioned on a permanent basis and served as a means to obtain
discipline-specific information, few members of the teaching staff had
access to the Web.
In short, during the crisis period, teachers and teacher training
institutions were left to their own devices. Yet, driven by inertia,
consciousness, or possibly a skilfull school management, these institutions
succeeded somehow in finding additional sources of funding that they
used mainly to pay salaries.
The situation resulted in a drain of qualified teachers. Some rural
schools were forced to employ a staff of more than 50 percent semi-
qualified or even non-qualified teachers. Young people lost interest in the
teaching profession. Currently, the market-oriented university reforms,
which will, inter alia, lead to increased tuition fees, may result in a further
decline in interest in the profession, which already ranks low on the social
scale of values.
What marked this period of crisis, despite certain positive initiatives
and programmes provided by non-governmental and international
organizations, was the absence of goals, coordination, and of a coherent
and systematic policy for regarding the professional development of
teachers.
4. PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

4.1. Institutional Organization
Subject teachers teaching in the senior grades of compulsory education,
grades 5-8, used to receive their first training and education at two-year
pedagogical colleges. These were established after the Second World War
and closed down in the early 1970s. Since then, this category of teachers
has been required to have university education as well. Thus, they receive
the same instruction as future secondary school teachers, according to the
same curricula, and with the same pedagogical training.
No pedagogical training is provided for secondary vocational school
teachers (medical doctors, economists, lawyers, engineers, veterinary
doctors, experts in various crafts, etc.).
The State Teacher Examination, which is mandatory after one or two
years spent in practice, does not suffice, be it by volume or contents, in
making up for the lack of initial pedagogical preparation. This Examination
is not harmonized, even in programmatic terms, even though, in both
republics, the faculties from which the candidates have graduated are
aware of the State Teacher Examination regulations.
Most of the changes have taken place in the training of future pre-
school and primary school class teachers (grades 1 - 4).
The system of initial training of pre-school teachers has changed several
times in the last thirty years.
The 1978-1979 reform of the education system brought about changes
in the system of pre-school and compulsory primary school teacher
training. The so-called common core education (i.e., two-year general
education) was introduced into pedagogical academies, but that
arrangement lasted for only a year. Then new changes and additional
articles in the Act granted the pedagogical academies the status of
independent schools, with four-year course programmes which consisted
of two stages: a two-year preparatory stage (which corresponds to years 3
and 4 in a secondary school) and a two-year final stage (which corresponds
to the first and second years of study in institutions of higher education).
Students entered these academies after a ten-year schooling period (eight-
years of elementary education plus two years of general secondary
education).
Finally, in 1993, the pedagogical academies were closed, and pre-school
teachers colleges and teacher training faculties for compulsory primary
school (class teachers – grades 1 - 4) were introduced.
The latest changes also include changes occurring in Montenegro. Thus,
the training of pre- and primary school teachers is organized at the Faculty
of Philosophy in Niksic. Here, two-year course programmes for pre-school
teachers and four-year course programmes for primary school teachers are
offered.
School associates, specialists in pedagogy, and psychologists are
educated in four Faculties of Philosophy in Serbia. The Faculty of
Philosophy in Niksic does not have a programme for these categories of
school associates. The undergraduate programme lasts four years (eight
semesters). Moreover, adult education teachers are trained in the
Department of Pedagogy of the Faculty of Philosophy. The Faculty of
Special Education at the University of Belgrade trains specialists who deal
with hearing-, speech-, or vision-impaired children and adults, invalids,
mentally retarded persons, and persons with disturbed social behaviour
(prevention and re-socialization).
4.2. Recruitment, Funding, Decision-Making, and Curriculum Development

All candidates having completed their four year-education in grammar
schools or other vocational schools may enroll in the first year of studies at
institutions of higher (non-university) and university education after
passing an entrance examination.
The acceptance of candidates is based on two types of criteria:
eliminatory and classifying criteria, for pre- and compulsory-primary
school teachers (grades 1 - 4):
– certification of physical (health), speaking, and musical competencies
on the basis of a medical certificate (the certification of speaking
competency must be issued by a speech pathologist) and
confirmation by a panel of experts;
– passing the classification test in the Serbian language and proof of
cultural knowledge.
Enrollment in the Departments of Pedagogy and Psychology of the
Faculty of Philosophy requires passing the entrance examination, which
consist of tests in general culture and in the main subject of studies
(Pedagogy or Psychology). In other Teacher Training Faculties, entrance
examinations cover the major subjects of studies and of one of the subjects
from the group of so-called general education subjects.
Each year, in co-operation with the Ministry of Education, Colleges and
Faculties establish the number of students whose studies will be covered
by the budget and the list of those who must pay partial or full tuition
fees4.
Teacher Training Faculties design their own curricula; however, these
curricula have to be approved by the Academic Council of the given
Faculty. As for pre-school training colleges, the curricula are designed and
agreed upon within the Association of Pre-School Teacher Training
Colleges.
4.3. The Patterns of Educational Programmes

The pedagogical concept of the preparation of future teachers has not,
unfortunately, been improved in any significant way over the last thirty
years. The curricula of the faculties having departments that train subject
teachers for senior compulsory primary schools (grades 5-8) and to teach in
upper secondary schools mainly include the so-called pedagogical subjects:
pedagogy, educational psychology, and the teaching methods of the subject
to be taught. The volume and contents of these curricula, however, are not
harmonized. Some faculties do not even have pedagogy and psychology.
Some faculties organize practical classes in schools, and some do not.
The present curriculum of Pre-school Teacher Training Colleges includes
four basic categories: general subjects; professional disciplines; a practicum,
and pedagogical practice.
All students are required to complete two weeks of practical work in a pre-
school institution, in the third semester, and three weeks at the end of the
study course.
In Montenegro, pre-school teachers are trained over a two-year course
programme at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšic. Their curriculum varies
slightly from the Serbian curriculum.
Irrespective of the differences that exist, current curricula consist mainly
of general education (44.35 percent) and of specific/pedagogical subjects
(55.65 percent). If compared with the practices of the earlier Pedagogical
Academies, the general-academic to professional education ratio has
improved in favour of professional education.
4 With reference to tuition fees, the New Universities Act has established that there will be only two student
fee categories: those students whose fees will be covered by the government and those students who must pay
out-of-pocket.
As for the teacher training faculties that educate and train class teachers,
the mandatory subjects, in most cases, in the first two years of studies are
the Serbian language and Serbian literature, Instruction Theory-Didactics,
Educational Psychology, foreign languages, Development Psychology, General
Pedagogy, Mass Communications Educational Sociology, Philosophy and
Ethics, Information Technology, and Social Ecology.
In the third and fourth study years, student-teachers are, for the most
part, offered instruction in teaching methods and take the following courses:
School and Family Pedagogy, Children’s Literature, the Methodology of
Pedagogical Research, Educational Technology, Work with Developmentally
Impaired Children, and the Constitution and School Legislation.
There are also optional subjects, such as: School Hygiene, the History of
Pedagogy, the History of Civilization, Film and Television, Family Sociology,
Rhetoric, Adult Education, etc.
Student practice consists of two parts: class assistance and class
teaching. The so-called autonomous work in primary schools is organized
according to the following schedule: one week in both the first and second
years of study; two weeks after the third year of study; and one month at the
end of studies (end of the fourth year).
Figure 3. Structure of initial teacher education programmes in teacher training

colleges and faculties
Gen. 45%
Prof. 50%
Pract. 5%
Students may undertake their practice teaching in primary schools of

their own selection and then submit, to the faculty, a certificate of completed
practice issued by the school with which they have worked.
An analysis of the curricula, contents, and insight5 into practice teaching
indicates that the education of future class teachers is based on a traditional
pedagogical doctrine. The theory of instruction is dominant. Students have
little time to practice. The teaching methods applied are conservative.
5 The author herself was a part-time professor at a teacher training Faculty.

Future teachers learn how to work with children mainly by observing the
work of experienced teachers. Independent class teaching is often semi-
autonomous or simply observational. So, student-teachers learn, in this way,
to copy traditional school teaching models. The teachers who accept students
into practice-teaching are not specially prepared for this work – a serious
fault in the system.
In Montenegro, the curriculum of the Teacher Training Department of the
Faculty of Philosophy of Nikšic includes Geography and Biology as
compulsory subjects in the first study year, and Physics and Chemistry in
the second study year, in addition to the listed pedagogical and psychological
subjects of the Faculties in Serbia. These were included in the curriculum
with a view to training future teachers in introducing their pupils to the
natural and the social sciences. At this Faculty, in addition to General
Sociology, students study Family Sociology, Anthropology, and Social
Psychology. They also study Media in the framework of three courses.
The course programmes of future pedagogical and adult education
specialists include mainly pedagogical and psychological disciplines,
Philosophy, Ethics, foreign language, Methodology of Research, teaching
methods, etc.
As for the pre-service training of psychologists, the current curriculum
places a strong accent on research. Activities deal with specific issues in
psychology, such as mental health, psycho-diagnostics, psychological
counseling centers, school psychology, etc.
The role of a pedagogical specialist and psychologist in pre-school,
compulsory, and upper secondary institutions varies from that of a
consultant to that of an active participant in designing and implementing the
institutional programme of the given institution. The statuses of pedagogical
specialists and school psychologists have not been very clearly defined. Both
the scope and the character of their activities often depend either on the head
of the institution, on the staff, or on themselves. The cause of this situation,
they believe, is the inadequate training they receive in universities. The
pedagogy specialists particularly stress that their studies do not offer
adequate methodological training. They point to a specific lack of courses in
planning, programme design, and observation and evaluation procedures.
The first year of studies at the Faculty of Special Education is the same for
all students and offers general courses in fundamental disciplines in Special
Education. In the second year of study, students opt for different tracks,
such as speech therapy, the hearing-impaired, etc.
Studies in the so-called Teacher Training Faculties (preparing subject
teachers) are also academic and research oriented. The only difference
between the educational and the non-educational departments is often the
prescribed minimum of courses in psychology, pedagogy, and teaching
methodology.
In general, outdated pedagogical concepts dominate the faculties and
colleges that educate and train teachers. Traditional teaching methods and
fact-oriented knowledge and research are the predominant concepts.
5. IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING
The system of in-service training (INSET) is conceived as follows:
– upgrading of pre-service training;
– innovations in professional knowledge (concerning teaching subjects);
– improvement of teaching skills;
– further professional development.
In addition, in-service pedagogical training adapts its provision of, or
additions to, the theoretical and practical pedagogical knowledge of teachers
who
i. lack adequate pre-service pedagogical training, as in the case of subject
teachers having graduated from a unit other than a teacher training
faculty;
ii. lack sufficient pedagogical knowledge, as in the case of subject
teachers.
Figure 4. Forms of in-service training
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
1-2days-92%
50%
2-3days-5%
40% week- 3%
30%
20%
10%
0%
seminars workshops courses
Knowledge innovation relates mainly to the subjects to be taught. This

segment of in-service training has been set mainly within the competencies of
teacher training faculties and teachers’ associations. One can speak of ad hoc
seminars, theoretical in nature, dedicated to a topic that, in the opinion of a
school or a faculty, is interesting for analysis and discussion.
The preparation for and the taking of the State Teacher’s Examination is a
part of in-service training. The examination is held in the schools in which
teachers have worked under the supervision of experienced teachers.
Despite the proclaimed and necessary continuity between initial and
continuing teacher training and certain innovative programmes developed by
NGOs, true continuity has never been established. Thus, it frequently
happens that teachers, who are graduates of Teacher Training Faculties,
must listen, in the seminars, to the same lectures on theory delivered by
their former university professors or acquire skills that are not necessarily
related to school needs.
6. EVALUATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TEACHING SKILLS

The type of required professional training for teachers and associates and the
regulations and content of the State Examination are determined by special
regulations endorsed by the Ministry of Education for each level of education.
Following the one-year internship and mentor’s report (the mentor being a
senior teacher appointed by the school principal), teacher candidates take
the State Examination at the Faculty from which they graduated. The
examination consists of two parts: theory (pedagogy, psychology, and school
legislation), and a practical demonstration of teaching skills, i.e., a class
taught in a school designated by the Examination Commission.
7. THE NEEDS OF TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS RELATIVE TO PRE- AND IN-

SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING
What the schools criticize about the current system of teacher training is that
it offers excessive theoretical knowledge and neglects practical pedagogical
skills and that the in-service training system is inadequate. The schools, in
particular, call attention to the lack of good in-service training which they
perceive as a valuable opportunity for improving school practice and the
efficiency of education.
Teachers expect to gain greater specific knowledge and skills appropriate
for the standards and needs of modern life such as improved skills in
working with children having special needs, in initiating parent-school co-
operation, in communication and active learning, in creative thinking and in
the setting up of creative workshops, and in the use of new technologies.
They also expect to find a well-elaborated and functioning administrative
system in place that will stimulate and reward their professional upgrading
by providing higher-ranked titles and higher salaries. Teachers expect in-
service training to respond to the need to provide theoretical and practical
pedagogical knowledge to teachers.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia lacks a meaningful system of pre- and
in-service teacher training. In-service teacher training must not be limited
exclusively to a set of lectures. It should consist of various interactive forms,
such as workshops, which link the practical experiences of teachers with the
various innovations to be introduced into schools. Pre- and in-service
training, the system of assessments through the inspection of schools, and
the careers and salaries of teachers should not be bound to a single concept
or practical implementation. So far, there is no unified policy on the lifelong
professional development of teachers in Yugoslavia.
The following are certain specific weaknesses in the concept and
organization of teacher training:
– inadequate agreement as to curricula among the training and
education institutions;
– inadequate and insufficient correlation between the initial and the in-
service teacher training system;
– insufficient funding of the teacher training institutions, particularly
reflected in the lack of adequate equipment and practice areas;
– lack of professional pedagogical skills, especially in upper secondary
education;
lack of a varied choice of programmes that may be chosen according to
the needs of schools and teachers.
According to the anticipated educational policy, the professional
development of teachers should be a priority among the preparatory steps for
educational reform.
The future system of teacher education and professional development in
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should include a continuity of education
and of professional development, linking pre- and in-service training,
professional advancement, and the recognized status of the institutions
offering advanced training. Thus, it would be advisable to consider the
following:
– programmes that adhere to participatory methods, enabling teachers to
design their own personalized professional practice programmes;
– introduction of a system of cross-curricular and elective courses;
– student training aimed at the delivery of generative and functional
knowledge and skills;
– introduction of courses on communication skills;
– introduction of courses dealing with the education of children having
special needs and of those coming from minority cultural and linguistic
backgrounds;
– encouragement of teachers to engage in research activities and to
assess teaching and learning methods;
– the setting up of local groups, networks, and in-service training centers
for teachers;
– the compulsory external evaluation of programmes so as to identify
those that best fit the needs of children and of schools;
– creation of an environment whereby schools play a more active role in
the design and implementation of training programmes;
creation of an independent network of teachers who provide mutual
professional support.
Therefore, the role of school inspection and school directors must change.
Consequently, the main objective of their re-training will have to be
preparation for an active role in the processes of school reform. In particular,
those benefiting from training will have to
i. improve the efficiency of management;
ii. adopt appropriate evaluation skills;
iii. learn how to develop and implement in-service training programmes,
according to local and school needs;
iv. familiarize themselves with similar experiences in other countries that
might improve school efficiency at home6.
To conclude, experience has shown that those who formulate the global
objectives of education are not always brilliant when it comes to
implementing them. Therefore, one cannot expect teachers to successfully
accomplish all these tasks without adequate training.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BUCHBERGER, F. Teacher Education and Professional Training. Podgorica:
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Montenegro, 2000.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA. Documents:
Statistical Year Book of Yugoslavia. Belgrade: Ministry of Education and
Sport of the Republic of Serbia, 1999.
UNICEF. Evaluation of Education in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Belgrade: Institute for Educational Research, 2000.
ZINDOVIC-VUKADINOVIC, G. “Obrazovanje nastavnika: potrebe I zbivanja”
[Teacher Education – Needs and Realities] Vaspitanje i obrazovanje 3
(1996): 3-14.
ZINDOVIC-VUKADINOVIC, G. “The School Curricula: Between the Necessary and
Possible”, in, UNESCO and UNICEF. Towards a Modern Learner-Centred
Curriculum. Belgrade: Institute for Educational Research, 1996.
ZINDOVIC-VUKADINOVIC, G., and MAKSIMOVIC, I. “Teachers’ Future”, in,
Prospects of Education – Petnica Almanac. Belgrade: Institute for
Educational Research, 2000.
6 At present, the educational system in Yugoslavia is undergoing review and reform. Projects that deal with
the reform of teacher education are underway. The first changes will be introduced and be visible by the
beginning of the 2002-2003 school year.
XV. A Retrospective View of the National Case
Studies on Institutional Approaches to
Teacher Education
BOB MOON
1. INTRODUCTION
Education is a major policy concern in all European countries. Changes in
economic and social structures, most importantly the development of the
knowledge economy, have created a demand for higher standards of
education amongst a greater number of the population than was
traditional for most of the Twentieth Century. University level education in
many countries has already embraced, or will, shortly, over 50 percent of
any age group. Such expansion has a significant impact on the
expectations of the secondary and primary schooling that precede it.
There are, therefore, major opportunities for educational reform but also
major stresses and constraints. Teachers are a key element in the policy
concerns of education and of teacher education, a major process through
which the educational challenges of the Twenty-First Century are
mediated. This UNESCO project explored the way in which the
institutional structures of teacher education had evolved across a range of
UNESCO European-region countries. It provides a parallel study to that
recently carried out in the Asia-Pacific region (Morris and Williamson,
2000). Within this overview, Canada is included as a bridge between
Europe and the important developments taking place in the United States
(reported in the Asia–Pacific study).
The first general point to make about these studies is that almost all of
them report that the last decade has witnessed an unprecedented array of
legislative, regulatory, or other governmental activity directed at teacher
education. This activity takes a variety of forms, but overall, the
impression is gained that more policy attention has been given to teacher
education in the 1990s than in the hundreds of years of history that
preceded it. And most of the activity has focused around quality. Much of
the latter part of the last century was concerned with creating institutional
structures that could provide for the large number of teachers required by
mass, compulsory primary, and secondary schools. As the century closed,
increasingly high expectations had been established about what teachers
should know and be able to practice at the moment of qualification.
A second point is that almost all the activity has focused on pre-service
education. In-service education, increasingly referred to as continuing
professional development, remains in most countries at a much lower level
322 B. MOON
of policy interest, with provision often uncoordinated and poorly provided
with resources. There are some exceptions, and new models of
organization are being explored but, overall, the studies reveal a number of
major concerns around this question.
The third issue that comes through most of the studies is a major
concern about maintaining teaching as a profession that young people, or
more mature entrants, might choose to enter. Maintaining a supply of well-
qualified entrants is an aspect of the policy concern around teacher
education. Interrelated with that is the issue of teacher status, nationally,
as described in each of the case studies, but also internationally, as we
witness the first significant signs of teacher mobility to educational
systems other than those in which they were educated and trained. These
three major issues will be looked at more closely in the more detailed
analytical sections that follow.
The fourteen countries that participated in the UNESCO–CEPES project
“Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education in the European Region:
Current Models and Developments” represent the geographical, political,
and social range of education systems across Europe. The authors of the
studies were given a structured brief that allowed for flexibility in the way
they addressed key issues in the development of teacher education. The
outcome is a fascinating series of studies, each adopting a different stance
and perspective, but all focussing on issues that make up the reform and
development agenda for teacher education in Europe.
The comparative analysis of the case studies is considered under five
headings:
– the historical context;
– institutional and regulatory structures;
– the development of curricula;
– continuing professional development;
– the status of the teaching profession.
2. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Institutions of teacher education began to appear in Europe at the end of
the Eighteenth Century. In Germany, the first teacher seminary
(Lehrerseminare) was established in 1698. In England, the first teacher
training college was established in Southwark, London, in 1798. It is
known that teachers from Croatia were travelling to already established
advanced teacher courses in Vienna in the 1770s, and very soon after, the
final preparatory courses for teachers were established, in the northern
Croatian town of Bjelovan.
These institutions were focussed primarily on the preparation of
teachers for the elementary years of schooling. The French system of écoles
normales typifies the singular purpose of these institutions that grew and
strengthened as universal and compulsory elementary education was
introduced across Europe.
A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW 323
The écoles normales came to play a significant role in the nation-
building associated with the period of nation-state construction in Europe,
in the second half of the Nineteenth Century.
Every child, then, rich or poor, must be able to go to school;
education must be free.... The official syllabuses issued in 1887
called upon teachers... to give lessons on Duty to the Family and to
the Fatherland.... But even though they held these sentiments very
strongly, they did not form the central point of their doctrine: they
believed above all in Man, in Reason, in Progress (Thabault, 1944,
Section 3).
The instituteur in France, as with the Volkschullehrer in Germany or,
perhaps above all, the maestro in Italy, prepared through the normale
institutions of teacher training, had a national purpose, a strong social
identity, and a sense of mission that was different in kind to that of
teachers in secondary schools.
As all of the studies made clear, the history of institutional teacher
education in Europe has been dominated by the schism between the
elementary and secondary forms of teacher preparation. It is an important
defining factor that has also influenced the pedagogy and curriculum of
teacher education.
During the 1970–2000 period, many countries chose to integrate the
normale schools into the established structures of higher education. The
timing and speed of this transition varied from country to country, but the
process of “universitization”, as it has been called (Neave, 1992) has now
taken place across most of Europe. And the influence on curriculum, as
Ewald Terhart puts it in the German study, has meant that the former
normale form of teacher education has “passed through a process of
academization”, and the former university preparation, when it existed,
has “passed through a process of pedagogization” (Terhart, 2003, in this
volume, pp. 137-158).
The process of integrating the education of primary school teachers into
the universities went forward in parallel with the introduction of a
compulsory requirement to have earned a teaching qualification to teach in
secondary schools. Pedagogical institutes at universities aimed at
secondary school teachers had been set up as early as the mid-Nineteenth
Century. The prestigious Chair of Education at the University of Helsinki,
a post the incumbent of which is nominated by the President of Finland,
was established in 1852. In Hungary, Institutes of Pedagogy were set up at
the University of Pest in 1870 and at the University of Kolozsvar (now
Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca in Romania) in 1873. But for much
of the next century, teacher education for secondary schooling was an
option taken up by very few. In Italy, this situation has prevailed right up
to the present day. Legislation has only recently been introduced to require
intending secondary school teachers to go through a qualifying process.
Education for primary school teachers had been established alongside
the introduction of compulsory elementary education. Mandatory pre-
324 B. MOON
service for secondary teachers came a century later to meet the needs of
the expanding systems of compulsory secondary education, introduced in
many countries in the post-Second World War period of social
reconstruction. Over most of Europe, therefore, teacher education as a
whole moved into the universities in the period between 1970 to 1990.
3. INSTITUTIONAL AND REGULATORY STRUCTURES

The institutional structures of teacher education take a variety of forms.
There are countries that still retain the primary/secondary divide with the
institutions of primary teacher education set outside the University sector
(Austria and Italy). In other countries, both primary and secondary school
teacher education is wholly set within the universities (Finland and
France). There is a third institutional category whereby teacher education
appears to be slipping away from the university into other much more
school-based entry routes into teaching (England is the prime example).
The vast majority of the countries fall into the middle category, with
teacher education for all levels of schools firmly in the university, even
though there may be different course provisions for primary and secondary
school preparation. Hungary, for example, has three-, four-, and five-year
courses for lower primary, upper primary/lower secondary, and upper
secondary teachers, respectively. Amongst the countries studied, only
Austria retains the divided primary/secondary system that characterized
most of Europe in the middle years of the last century. Romania is
considering reinstating a non-University training route. And only England
appears to be encouraging a move away from a universal system of
university preparation.
Both illustrate the ways in which political interest in teacher education
has become much greater in the last fifteen years than in earlier times. In
1988, in England, the passing of the Education Reform Act brought in a
national curriculum and created the conditions for a significant devolution
of authority and power to the school level. Soon afterwards, in the early
1990s, teacher education was brought under strict regulatory control with
a requirement that more than half of the time devoted to pedagogical
preparation be spent in schools. In Austria, the introduction of a one-year
traineeship, Unterrichtspraktikum, restored the important influence of
schools on teacher training in the university, because it now had a final
say in the qualification process.
Although teacher education has moved, for the most part, into the
universities, governments have retained, in many instances, a strong
regulatory control, viz.:
– the Teachers Charter initiatives in Poland, 2000;
– the introduction of a National Council for Teacher Training in
Romania, in 1995;
– the College of Teachers set up in each of the Canadian provinces,
between 1987–1996.
In some instances (Croatia and Italy), the process of institutional
restructuring towards a more university-focused teacher education has
taken place alongside the introduction of regulatory procedures. In Italy,
for example, a potential teacher, after successfully completing a university
degree, is still required to obtain certification (abilitazione) from the
Ministry of Education.
Only Finland, of all the countries studied, had accepted the university
as autonomous and free from regulatory control in developing the Master’s
Degree level courses common to both primary and secondary school
teachers, including more recently teachers of kindergarten classes.
A certain degree of ambiguity, therefore, exists between the level of
central or regional control over teacher education and the traditional rights
of the university to remain free of such controls. In England, through the
1990s up until the present time, this ambiguity has led to significant levels
of tension between government and teacher educators (Stone, 1994; Moon,
1998). The relatively weak status of teacher education, as a newcomer in
the university world, appears to have left it vulnerable to activist
approaches by governments, increasingly drawn to question the quality of
education, in general, and teacher education, in particular. England and
Canada seem to have been the most vulnerable to what in the Canadian
case study is referred to as “persistent tensions” and “massive change but
little innovation” (Laferrière, Sheehan, and Russell, 2002, in this volume,
pp. 37-51).
A phenomenon that Arthur Wise has critically explored is the issue of
increased state intervention. By looking at the forms bureaucratic activity
takes, using a Weberian framework, Wise suggests that every act of the
bureaucratic machine involves either weighing the relationship between
means and ends or ensuring that a practice conforms to norms:
When the relationship between means and ends is not known and
the bureaucratic rationalization persists, we shall say that we are
witnessing the phenomenon of hyper-rationalization – that is an
effort to rationalize beyond the bounds of knowledge (Wise, 1979, p.
65).
The relevance of this phenomenon to the public control of education is
then developed. Such a process inevitably, writes Wise, leads to increased
centralization with an excess of prescription from outside the local setting.
The correlate of this phenomenon is the adoption by the bureaucracy of
goal reduction strategies. For Wise:
In the past, policymakers were content to render goals for education
abstractly, globally, and with the highest expectations that rhetoric
could muster. Goals stated in such terms were not only difficult to
put into operation – they were perhaps unattainable altogether.
Policymakers now prefer goals which appear attainable and which
are measurable. It may be that goals appear attainable because they
are measurable, or it may be that they are chosen because they are
326 B. MOON
measurable. At any rate, both the level of rhetoric and the
expectations have been reduced (Wise, 1979, p. 29).
Examples of the forms that bureaucratic rationalization may take
include scientism – the inappropriate reliance on research to solve difficult
ethical and political questions; first order solutions – the creation of a
programme with the same name as the problem, thereby giving the public
the impression that the dilemma is being dealt with; and wishful thinking –
when policymakers, for example, require by law that schools achieve a goal
which in the past they have not achieved.
Unlike Canada and England, the Netherlands, faced with similar
pressures to review and improve the quality of teacher education, has
adopted a more consensus-building than regulatory approach. The
Minister of Education feels a stronger responsibility towards teacher
education than to other fields of higher education because of the
relationship that teacher education has to the quality of primary and
secondary education generally. Teacher education is more strongly
regulated than other sectors of higher education. However, a process of
consensus building, in which government, teacher educators, and other
interested parties are involved, always precedes regulatory activity, and
that appears to avoid some of the pitfalls of the English and North
American experience.
Thus, whilst England and the Netherlands both have a mandatory
profile of teacher competency that all teacher education courses must work
towards achieving, the process by which goals are arrived at is wholly
different. In England, a national government agency, the Teacher Training
Agency, prepares the goals (the names of those involved in this process are
not made known), and a short but formal period of consultation follows. It
is not a dialogue but rather the opportunity for anyone to comment. The
Agency then considers the comments before passing the recommendations
to Ministers.
Policy-making for teacher education has to exist within established
national and regional structures for education policy-making. Specific
contexts have particular interplay of power that do not exist in other
contexts. Teachers’ unions, for example, have had a major impact on
policy making in Poland in a way that they do not have in other countries.
At the same time, international influences appear to be creating common
forms of regulatory activity. The integration of primary school teacher
education into the universities, the retention of central and regional
control over the qualification processes of teachers, the setting up of
national bodies (accreditation committees, national councils, and teacher
training agencies, for example) to administer ministerial controls, all
exemplify this process.
Looking across the studies one further point is apparent in regard to
institutional and regulatory structure. The divide that would previously
have existed between the countries under the varied forms of communist
control and other European countries no longer exists. Whilst the history
of teacher education in Hungary or Poland may include a long post-Second
World War period of detailed regulation and prescription, the policy debate
and discussions are now within the mainstream of a genuinely European
debate. Croatia and Romania, although more challenged by economic and
resource constraints, are also working through comparable policy
developments. A common teacher education framework exists across
Germany. Only Yugoslavia, ravaged by recent political and social turmoil,
and only just entering into a phase of policy reconstruction, has been
unable to contribute to this cross-European dialogue.
It seems clear, therefore, that institutional structures and regulatory
control will continue to influence teacher education in the future. The
analyses contained in the studies demonstrate the range of policy
processes in play. They range from minimal governmental involvement
(Finland), through consensus building (the Netherlands), to, in the English
context, something approaching coercion. The focus of the policies and the
policy-making process itself is now, through projects such as this one,
subject to increasing comparative analysis and scrutiny. In the majority of
countries, it appears that building strong foundations for the relatively
recently established balance between university responsibility and
autonomy and the public and political requirement for governmental
oversight is one of the major challenges of the coming decade.
4. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CURRICULA

The curricula of teacher education have, in recent years, provoked
controversy. Academic and peer pressures within universities have
stimulated the development of a strong research and theoretical basis to
the practically oriented curriculum that had characterized the normale
tradition. Attempts to balance theory and practice have, at different times
in different places, dominated debate about the function and purpose of
teacher education. Teacher educators have found themselves between
conflicting pressures. Ministries, schools, and, occasionally, parents, for
example, have pressed for programmes relevant to classroom practice and
the development of teaching skills. Yet teacher educators have also had to
compete for status and prestige against the very different expectations of
the academic world.
This debate has also reflected the ambiguous status that teacher and
teacher education holds in many European countries. Although other
professions (medicine and law) have debates about the balance of theory
and practical work in curriculum design, the presence of the practical does
not, in any way, detract from the academic status of the programme of
preparation. Despite this tension, it is possible to detect in the studies a
growing confidence about the way the practical elements of training are
incorporated into curriculum design and the implications this
incorporation has for the relationship between teacher education and
schools.
Many teacher educators, independent of any political pressures, have
been calling for a new interpretation of practice (Moon, 1996). The
328 B. MOON
University of Oxford in England had, in the early 1980s, transformed its
secondary teacher education programmes into almost wholly school-based
programmes (MacIntyre, 1990). The German second two-year practically
oriented form of preparatory service (Vorbereitungsdienst) was increasingly
referred to, as was the French model of professeur stagiaire, also a second
phase of training that brings with it quasi functionnaire (civil servant)
status and a salary – true also of Germany.
Canada, England, and the Netherlands have all, in the last decade,
come under pressure to reinforce the practical dimension of training. In
each instance, a right-of-center political force was seeking to diminish the
theoretical components of courses which were often caricatured as
propagandist and left wing in orientation (Lawlor, 1990). Equally, in each
instance, teacher educators have turned this pressure towards a positive
orientation and one that reflects, as indicated above, some important
aspects of curriculum development already identified within the field.
This adaptation has been noted at an official level. The Quebec
Accreditation Committee is reported in 2000 as saying
The main benefit of the current reform is with early field experiences
and student teaching. Partnerships between faculties of education
and schools are delivering expected benefits.
In England, it is clear that, despite the opposition of many teacher
educators, the prescribed insistence on extensive school experience in
training has led to the formation of partnership models which are now
supported by all interested groups.
In the Netherlands, a recent policy document of the Dutch Minister of
Education states that “teacher education is part of the human resources
responsibility of a school board”, and a variety of innovative forms of
school-based training are currently being evaluated. In other countries, the
policy imperative to develop a stronger school-base to training has been
hampered by resources. In Hungary, for example, a governmental decree
defining teacher certification requirements stipulates that at least 40
percent of pedagogical training should be of a practical nature and yet the
financial basis necessary for the implementation of the decree has not
been established.
Buchberger (1994) has identified four components that are common to
most teacher education courses:
– education studies/studies in the educational sciences;
– academic/subject studies;
– studies in subject matter methodologies/subject didactics;
– teaching practice.
They all exist in the curricula of the fourteen countries. There is,
however, a shift towards emphasizing the central role of practice and the
importance of making didactic and pedagogical studies relevant to that
practice. Partnerships between teacher education and schools (often
represented as the equivalent to a relationship between a medical faculty
and teaching hospitals) has been significantly extended and in some
experimental contexts extended to embrace a wider community
involvement than just the school.
Danielle Zay, for example, has developed a French conceptualization of
partnership in the following terms:
Partnership, as a term, can be used to describe the ways in which
individuals from different institutions work together. The term, team,
we shall reserve for individuals working together from within one
institution.
This approach, for the first time, ensures that the way the
education system is situated within the broader society and local
community is given the same attention as the traditional axes that
underpin teacher education courses: disciplinary knowledge and
classroom apprenticeship.
The ability to work with partners in this way is one of the
professional competences that must be acquired.
The teaching profession does not operate exclusively within the
classroom. It also requires collaborative work with a large number of
partners; first of all with the parents of pupils with whom it is
important that the teacher establish a regular and genuine dialogue;
then with associations and partners with connections with the socio-
cultural environment. Teachers at all levels, but particularly those in
the technical sector, have to be familiar with the world of economics
and be prepared to establish and manage relationships with industry
or the professional sectors (Zay, 1994).
The more developed the partnership approach and practical component
of programmes, the more likely that assessment formally incorporates a
model of competencies, outcomes, or standards. The Dutch have
accomplished this task through the consensus process. English teacher
educators have had to accept a model that was centrally imposed with a
minimum of consultation. The majority of countries in this study do not
formally prescribe “outcome” requirements of courses. There is a sense,
however, in which, whether by ministerial decree or through the choice of
teacher educators, a stronger conceptualization of qualifying standards is
becoming much more explicit than was traditionally the case. In many
instances, this explicitness goes with the grain of similar developments to
make the outcomes of the school curriculum more explicit.
In terms of the length and structure of courses, a mean seems to have
been established of around four or five years through concurrent or
consecutive programmes. Germany is the exception, with the longer
programme, although these create concerns about costs and the age at
which a qualifying teacher, who has gone from school to university,
actually reaches the classroom (over 30 years of age). In Austria, Italy, and
Hungary, diversified course lengths represent a stratified structure linked
to the phases of training. The younger the child to be taught, the shorter
the training.
330 B. MOON
The length of the training and the issues of concurrent/consecutive
training models are not highlighted as contentious issues in the studies.
German concerns have already been referred to, and Canada has been
debating whether or not training should extend to a fifth year. There are
some signs of a move from concurrent towards consecutive models, but no
major European trend in this direction can be identified.
Finally, in terms of curricular development, several case studies make
reference to the information and communications technologies (ICTs). Brief
quotes or paraphrases from the case studies provide an indicator of the
prevailing perception and utilization of the ICTs.
– Austria: “Key words such as ‘e-learning’ and ‘knowledge
management’ indicate the direction of future societal development.
In-service training has been the trendsetter so far, but pre-service
institutions are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity to
integrate ICT skills across the curriculum.”
– Canada: The integration of the ICTs into education has been
accelerating rapidly since 1990. It is expected that incoming teachers
will know how to use them properly.
– Croatia: “An overview of study programmes for teacher education...
reveals that courses on the use of the new information and
communication technologies in teaching simply do not exist. On the
one hand, this situation is partly due to the generally poor
information and communications technology equipment available in
Croatian institutions of higher education. A more important reason
lies with the insufficient competencies of teacher educators in this
area.”
– England: All qualifying teachers have to meet a set of ICT standards
for pre-service teacher education courses.
– France: The development of ICT knowledge and understanding is now
required of all pre-service courses. A number of key criteria are built
in, including the need for trainees to be able to use ICT to develop
autonomy in learners and to facilitate learner to learner co-operation.
– Finland: “The teaching of information technology applications in the
instructional process is integrated into practically all courses.”
– The Netherlands: “Experimental teacher education programmes”
involve innovation in primary school courses, focusing on new
approaches that use the ICTs and tele-learning. The curriculum is
meant to equip future primary school teachers in the integral use of
the ICTs in schools.
– Poland: The new teachers’ tasks that are mentioned often include IT.
– Romania: The new challenges for teacher education [include] the
effective use of IT in teacher education and in the daily activities of
teachers.
Overall, the impression gained from the studies is that there is a high
level of interest: in most countries, pockets of innovation (fairly extensive
in Canada), but, as yet, a lack of full integration into communication and
curriculum systems. This area is one in which the economic systems of
some countries are hindering development (Croatia, Romania, and
Yugoslavia). The potential of the ICTs in teacher education is strong,
particularly in terms of the networking capability that can keep student
teachers in touch and involved with institutional programmes, while
practicing their teaching in schools. But widespread realization of the
potential, even in contexts characterized by a generous provision of
resources, has not been achieved.
5. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The overall trends and organization that provide many common features to
pre-service education do not exist in the in-service field. A myriad of different
provisions exists within and among countries. A major finding of this project
is the perceived inadequacy of many existing structures to meet the needs of
teachers working in modernized education systems. It is clear that
investment in teacher education remains heavily skewed towards pre-service
provision.
Induction programmes for the early years of teaching do represent an area
of increasing coherence. The status of initial teacher education in Austria,
Germany, and France incorporates an induction element into a training
programme. England has a formal system of training for “newly qualified
teachers”. Beyond induction, however, a much less coherent picture emerges.
In Finland, for instance, a systematic in-service teacher education system
is not functioning. Regular in-service teacher education in the Finnish
teacher education system is badly needed. Training is not conducted in a
planned and systematic way. The area of in-service policy and organization
requires major improvements.
In most countries, continuing professional development appears to be
offered by a variety of providers, including, increasingly, private
organizations. From the perspective of the teacher, what is offered is not
always coherent and related to need, and access to such provision can be
difficult, particularly in some rural communities. Very little attempt is made
to record the involvement of teachers in the upgrading of their knowledge and
skills. Some countries have set aside a certain number of days or working
hours for professional development, but again these appear to be used in
relatively unplanned ways.
However, despite the apparent incoherence and the self-critical stance
adopted by most of the case studies, there is a range of interesting ideas,
some relatively new, that can inform wider debate in this important area.
Higher education institutions are involved in most of these initiatives and in
most countries are likely to remain a major source of professional
332 B. MOON
development provision. A few of the examples of innovation are described
below.
The Manitoba School Improvement Initiative is a school-based initiative
(mirrored in a pan-Canadian initiative “Shape the Future”) that involves
teachers in action research and focuses on teacher development and
professional growth. Individuals and groups of teachers adjust their
professional development to school-wide priorities.
In Croatia, following a process of collaboration with schools, a catalogue of
thematic courses is offered to teachers and schools. The range of courses
offered and the involvement of teachers are monitored.
In England, professional development courses are being targeted as
national priorities. In the 1998–2001 period, a significant investment was
made in the teaching of literacy in primary schools, and the standards of
pupil attainment have increased significantly.
In France, professional development has recently been brought together in
an overall training plan developed by each académie. Central priorities are
set, but how these are achieved is left to local decision-making. In 1999, the
professional development priorities set by the Minister included ICT practice
in schools, the use of research findings to update the knowledge of teachers,
and support for newly qualified teachers.
In Hungary, the government has specifically addressed the importance of
professional development. Schools receive per capita (per teacher) grants for
training to spend freely on the training market of accredited programmes.
Heads of schools have to prepare a five-year plan and corresponding yearly
schedules concerning the participation of their teachers. The most innovative
part of the new system is the accreditation scheme. It involves “entry control”
to the training market, but leaves it to schools to choose, implement, and
evaluate the programmes.
In Ireland, an In-Career Development Unit of the Education Ministry has
been established to co-ordinate professional development, and teachers are
given three days leave per year to attend courses approved by it.
In Italy, twenty regional institutes are co-ordinated by the national
ministry in the task of planning, stimulating, co-ordinating, and supporting
research, experimentation, and professional development. These institutes
act in co-operation with universities, teachers’ associations, and teachers’
unions in planning programmes.
In Poland, teacher counselors are elected from amongst experienced
teachers by teachers of the same subject. They then receive a reduced
teaching load in order to provide support and guidance to other colleagues.
In Romania, “Teachers’ Houses” have been set up. They act as local
training and documentation centers. Of particular interest is the way in
which they establish methodological commissions “that link subject
specialists who may be a solitary specialist in a school, to those teaching the
same subject in other schools”.
Themes are beginning to emerge that are of relevance to the future
development of higher education. It clearly appears that higher education
institutions are not going to be a monopoly provider in this area. National
and regional institutions, NGOs, and private organizations are also seizing a
major role. As the Dutch case study puts it, the “traditional, but not always
efficient” institutions of higher education will have to become more cost and
quality conscious, if they are to succeed in what is increasingly a market
structure (in countries such as England and Hungary, professional
development is now formally market-oriented).
The widespread recognition of the need for coherence is being linked
increasingly to policies that focus on school improvement. Higher education
has traditionally provided “courses” for individual teachers of varying lengths
(and, for a very small minority, higher degrees). The extent to which higher
education is staffed and granted resources with which to contribute to the
more partnership and professional learning developmental approaches set
out in some of the studies will be problematic in some instances.
New interactive technologies have a role to play in supporting more
school-based, network-style approaches to learning. Some higher education
institutions (particularly the dedicated “open” universities) are adapting to
serve this role. The extent to which the traditional institutions of higher
education expect to play a role in on-line support and development appears
unclear or “untaught about” in many contexts.
It seems inevitable that the focus in teacher education may shift away
from the traditional preoccupation with pre-service training to a more policy-
led concern with professional development. In a context of constrained
resources, this development may involve some redistribution of resources.
The form and nature of the contributions of higher education to the
professional development of teachers require a much stronger articulation of
the “knowledge, skills, and understanding” that are generally associated with
universities if they are to be transposed into these new forms of programmes
and provision.
6. THE STATUS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION

A careful reading of the studies indicates a range of challenges and, in some
instances, serious difficulties regarding the status of the teaching profession.
Even in Germany where status traditionally has been high and salary
congruent with that status, the perception that teachers are not coping with
some of the problems facing and created by young people (violence, racism,
and drug abuse) is denting the image of the role of the teacher.
Other problems include, in some contexts, an acute shortage of persons
wanting to become teachers. In England and the Netherlands, this shortage
has become so serious that new routes into teaching have had to be created
that bypass the established training routes and allow a much more rapid
entry into the teaching profession. This situation is partly a response to
cycles of economic growth. When economies are growing, young people are
attracted to better paying jobs. But this situation is also a reflection of
334 B. MOON
deeper-seated changes in employment structures. The more knowledge-
based forms of occupation and new types of employment appear to be
attracting away those parts of any age cohort that traditionally went into
teaching. Another part of the world that has had an acute problem of teacher
supply for some time is California, an indicator that this process may well
increasingly extend across European countries.
This situation is going to be a particular challenge for countries in which
the status of teachers is still high, despite relatively low salary levels. Poland
is an example. The extent to which high status can be maintained as
economic structure change will be a concern.
Higher education institutions, therefore, may need to become much more
proactive in presenting the attractiveness and benefits of the teaching
profession, including the quality of the ongoing professional support that
teachers can receive.
Higher education institutions may also have to think about providing
more flexible courses that provide access to more mature part-time entrants,
with family and job constraints, which would make enrollment in
conventional course programmes difficult. The success of the Open
University of the United Kingdom in qualifying nearly 5,000 primary and
secondary school teachers through open and distance programme provides
an interesting example that may be transferable to other continents.
One success story of recent decades has been the growing status of
primary school teachers. Universities and the integration of primary school
training and education courses into higher education have contributed
significantly to this rise in status. In many countries, the status of primary
and secondary school teaching is equal and in some (England, for example)
more people are applying for primary than for secondary school pre-service
training courses.
It is interesting to note from a number of the studies that governments are
addressing the issue of teacher status and supply through specific initiatives.
This concern is taking a number of forms. The decentralization and
devolutionary model being pursued in Hungary is devolving increased
autonomy and responsibility to the individual school. This effort, along with a
major national programme of continuing professional development, are
attempting to improve the quality of the education system and to raise the
profile of teachers.
In England, more instrumental approaches have been taken to attract
people into teaching with one-off payments (the greater the shortage in a
subject, the higher the payment). The Netherlands adopted a more long-term
view in identifying, more than ten years ago, that the teaching profession
needed revitalizing. The report, “A Profession with Perspective”
(<http://www.efa.nl/publicaties/unesco-cepes-nl/references.html>),
published in 1993, made a number of recommendations which, in summary,
provide a very important list of issues around which the status of the
teaching profession can be considered:
– a strong increase in the starting salaries of teachers;
– more freedom for schools in the matter of collective agreements and job
evaluation;
– the development of professional profiles and qualification requirements;
– the development of procedures for assessing the performance of
teachers;
– increases in the mobility of teachers, so that they may change jobs
during their careers;
– the professionalization of school management;
– career possibilities and the differentiation of tasks.
7. CONCLUSION
The accounts of teacher education in Europe have identified a number of
issues and trends that are being addressed in all countries. Studies of
teacher education in other parts of the world show this to be a global rather
than a European picture. In their publication, Teacher Education in the Asia–
Pacific Region: A Comparative Study (which includes the United States),
Morris and Williamson (2000, p. 281) wrote:
Despite the significant differences across the countries studied and
their systems of teacher education, there was a similarity in the nature
of the issues and dilemmas being faced. Those that were identified
related to the resolution of the balance between theory and practice;
the attempts to match the demand for and supply of teachers; the
degree of central control of teacher education; the status, recruitment,
and output of teachers.
All these issues were addressed in the studies and the overview. Teacher
educators in Europe are part of, and helping to create, the terms for global
discussion of teacher education. There appear to be some specifically
European dimensions to the debate. The long history of teacher education
institutions and the prominence of what this overview has termed the
“normale” tradition are more strongly experienced in Europe than in certain
other traditions. The intellectual traditions associated with pedagogy and
didactics give a characteristic to the curriculum of teacher education in
Europe that is not found elsewhere. Post-Second World War political systems
and the restructuring of European political systems after 1989 gave a
particular tone and context to many of the studies.
A wide range of issues of common interest to higher education is rendered
evident by a comparative analysis of the studies. The following appear to be
of particular significance:
– the relationship of self-governing and autonomous universities to
governmental or regional mandatory and regulatory control of teacher
education;
336 B. MOON
– the extent to which a more prescribed specification of the expected
“outcome” or “standards” of qualifying teachers contributes to
improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools;
– the move towards a more positive and school-partnership approach to
teacher education and the implications this evolution has for the
reputation and standing of teacher education within higher education;
– the specific contribution that the university sector can make if
continuing professional development becomes more coherent and co-
ordinated, particularly if the move to a multiple provider, market-based
model of provision extends across the Europe region;
– the role of higher education as networked and interactive technologies
came to play a significant role in all aspects of teacher education;
– the way in which higher education can contribute to maintaining and
strengthening the status of teachers, including the attraction of high
quality entrants into pre-service education and training programmes.
In the future, case studies exploring each of these issues from different
perspectives will provide an important foundation for future debate and
dialogue surrounding them. Looked at as a whole, they are issues that are
central to the challenges of developing and improving European education
systems for the Twenty-First Century.
REFERENCES
BUCHBERGER, F. “Teacher Education in Europe – Diversity versus
Uniformity”, in, M. GALTON, and B. MOON, eds. A Handbook of Teacher
Education in Europe. London: Council of Europe/Fulton, 1994.
GALTON, M., and MOON, B., eds. A Handbook of Teacher Education in Europe.
London: Council of Europe/Fulton, 1994.
LAFERRIÈRE, Thérèse, SHEEHAN, Nancy, and RUSSELL, Tom. “Teacher
Education in Canada: Renewing Scholarly, Pedagogical, and
Organizational Practices”, in, Bob Moon, Lazar Vlasceanu, and Leland
Conley Barrows, eds. Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education within
Higher Education in Europe: Current Models and New Developments.
Bucharest: UNESCO-CEPES, 2003, pp. 37-51.
LAWLOR, S. Teachers Mistaught: Training in Theories or Education in Subjects?
London: Centre for Policy Studies, 1990.
MACINTYRE, D. “The Oxford Internship Scheme and the Cambridge Analytical
Framework: Models of Partnership in Initial Teacher Education”, in, M.
BOOTH, J. FURLONG, and M. WILLEN, eds. Partnership in Initial Teacher
Training. London: Casswell, 1990.
MOON, B. “Practical Experience in Teacher Education: Charting a European
Agenda”, European Journal of Teacher Education 19 3 (1996): 217–260.
MOON, B. The English Exception? International Perspectives on the Initial
Training of Teachers. London: Universities Council for the Education of
Teachers, 1998.
MORRIS, P., and WILLIAMSON, J., eds. Teacher Education in the Asia–Pacific
Region. A Comparative Study. New York and London: Falmer Press, 2000.
NEAVE, G. The Teaching Nation: Prospects for Teaching in the European
Community. Oxford: Pergamon, 1992.
STONE, E. “Mayday! Mayday!”, Journal of Education for Teaching 20 2 (1994):
139–141.
TERHART, E. “Teacher Education in Germany: Current State and New
Perspectives”, in, Bob Moon, Lazar Vlasceanu, and Leland Conley
Barrows, eds. Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education within Higher
Education in Europe: Current Models and New Developments. Bucharest:
UNESCO-CEPES, 2003, pp. 137-158.
THABAULT, Roger. Mon village. L'ascension d'un peuple. Paris: Delagrave, 1944
(latest ed., Paris: Presses de la FNSP, 1982).
WISE, A. F. Legislated Learning: The Bureaucratization of the American
Classroom. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.
Zay, D. Enseignants et partenaires de l´école. démarches et instruments pour
travailler ensemble [Teachers and Partners of the School. Ways and Means
to Work Together]. Brussels: De Doech, 1994.
The Contributors
BARROWS, Leland Conley, Senior Editor and Programme Specialist

Address: UNESCO-CEPES (European Center for Higher Education),
39, Stirbei Voda, R-70732 Bucharest, Romania
Phone: +40-21-313-0839 Fax: +40-21-312 3567
E-mail: [email protected]
BIALECKI, Ireneusz, Professor, Director

Address: Centre for Science Policy and Higher Education, University of
Warsaw, Nowy Swiat 69, PL–00-046 Warsaw, Poland
Phone: +48-22-826-0746 Fax: +48-22-826-0746
CIARAN, Sugrue, Professor

Address: St. Patrick's College, Dublin City University, Drumcondra, Dublin
9, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-884-2000 Fax: +353-1-837-6197
CIOLAN, Lucian, Assistant Lecturer

Address: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of
Bucharest, 1-3 Iuliu Maniu Blvd., Bldg. A, 5th Floor, Bucharest,
Romania
Phone: +40-21-410-2740 Fax: +40-21-411-6890
DEANE, Michèle
Address: Centre for Research and Development in Teacher Education
The Open University, 12 Cofferidge Close, Stony Stratford, Milton
Keynes MK11 1BY, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-117-929-9641 Fax: +44-117-925-5215
DEBRECZENI, Péter, Dr., Senior Consultant

Address: Debreczeni and Associates Consulting, Damjanich utca 23 III/18,
Damjanich utca 23 III/18, Hungary
Phone: +36-1-344-4801 Fax: +36-1-343-1224
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
340 THE CONTRIBUTORS
KANSANEN, Pertti, Professor
Address: Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki,
P.O. Box 38 (Ratakatu 6A), FIN-00014, Finland
Phone: +358-9-191-28137; +358-9-492-055
Fax: +358-9-191-28114
http://www.helsinki.fi/~pkansane/
LAFERRIÈRE, Thérèse, Professor

Address: Département d'études sur l'enseignement et l'apprentissage,
Pavillon des Sciences de l'éducation, Local 954, Université Laval,
Québec, Canada G1K 7P4
Phone: +1-418-656-2131/ ext. 5480 Fax: +1-418-656-2905
MOON, Bob, Professor, Director

Address: Centre for Research and Development in Teacher Education,
The Open University, 12 Cofferidge Close, Stony Stratford, Milton
Keynes MK11 1BY, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-1908-652-374 Fax: +44-1908-652-218
POTOLEA, Dan, Professor Dr.

Address: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of
Bucharest, 1-3 Iuliu Maniu Blvd, Building A, 5th Floor, Bucharest,
Romania
Phone: +40-21-410-2740 Fax: +40-21-411-6890
RESINGER, Paul Josef, Professor

Address: Department for Teacher Education and School Research, University
of Innsbruck, Christoph-Probst-Platz, Innrain 52,
A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Phone: +43-512-507-4658 Fax: +43-512-507-2815
RUSSELL, Tom, Professor

Address: Faculty of Education, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario,
K7L 3N6, Canada
Phone: +613-533-3024 Fax: +613-533-6584
THE CONTRIBUTORS 341
SCHRATZ, Michael, Professor
Address: Department for Teacher Education and School Research, University
of Innsbruck, Schöpfstrasse 3, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Phone: +43-512-507-2486 Fax: +43-512-507-2815
SHEEHAN, Nancy, Professor

Address: Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
Phone: +1-604- 536-2281 Fax: +1-604- 822-6501
SNOEK, Marco, Professor

Address: Education Faculty of Amsterdam (EFA), Wibautstraat 2-4, P.O. Box
2009, P.O. Box 2009, The Netherlands
Phone: +3120-5995-881 Fax: +3120-5995-770
TERHART, Ewald, Professor Dr.

Address: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Institut für
Schulpädagogik und Allgemeine Didaktik, Bispinghof 5/6, D-48413
Münster, Germany
Phone: +49-251-832-9262 Fax: +49-51-832-9268
TODESCHINI, Marco, Professor

Address: Dipartimento di filosofia, Università degli studi di Milano,
Via Festa del perdono, 7, Milan, Italy
Phone: +39-02-5835-2927 Fax: +39-02-5830-4755
VIZEK VIDOVIC, Vlasta, Professor

Address: Zagreb University, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of
Psychology, Luciceva 3, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Phone: +3851-612-0190; 612-0187 Fax: +3851-612-0037
VLAHOVIC ŠTETIC, Vesna, Professor

Address: Zagreb University, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of
Psychology, Luciceva 3, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Phone: +3851-612-0190; 612-0187 Fax: +3851-612-0037
342 THE CONTRIBUTORS
VLASCEANU, Lazar, Programme Specialist and Assistant Director
Address: UNESCO-CEPES (European Center for Higher Education),
39, Stirbei Voda, R-70732 Bucharest, Romania
Phone: +40-21-315-9957 Fax: +40-21-312 3567
WIELENGA, Douwe, Professor

Address: Education Faculty Amsterdam (EFA), Wibautstraat 2-4, P.O. Box
2009, P.O. Box 2009, The Netherlands
Phone: +3120-5995-881 Fax: +3120-5995-770
ZINDOVIC-VUKADINOVIC, Gordana, Professor

Address: Faculty of Geography, Faculty of Geography, Studentski trg 3,
11000 Beograd, Serbia and Montenegro
Phone: +381-11-600-872
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Bucharest, Romania

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Studies on Higher Education

Institutional Approaches to Teacher

Editor of the Series:

Leland Conley Barrows

Assistants to the Editor:

The publication of this set of national studies on teacher education in the

MICHAEL SCHRATZ and PAUL JOSEF RESINGER

2. THE AUSTRIAN SYSTEM OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Table 1: Characteristics of teacher education in Austria

Certificate A-level Certificate Teaching diploma Teaching diploma Teaching diploma

3.2. Teachers Educated at Teacher Training Colleges

MAIN FEATURES OF QUALIFICATION

3.3. Teachers Educated at Universities

MAIN FEATURES OF QUALIFICATION

3.4. Vocational School Teachers

LOCATION OF INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING

3.5. Teacher Education in Other Subject Areas

3.6. The Information and Communication Technologies

4. THE STATUS AND THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE TEACHING

Figure 1. Demographic trends among persons of school-age (1980-2015)

actual development 1999 estimated development

age 8-9 age 10-13 age 14-18

Figure 2. Indicators of the teacher/pupil ratio in general compulsory schools

Figure 4. Numbers of teachers employed in general compulsory education by age

Figure 5. Numbers of teachers in academic secondary education by age group

6. IMPACT OF THE EUROPEAN CO-OPERATION PROGRAMMES

7. INSTITUTIONAL FORMS OF IN-SERVICE AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

ORGANIZATION OF IN-SERVICE TRAINING

7.2. Continuing Education for Teachers

LOCATION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION

ORGANIZATION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION

7.3. Future Directions

8. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FURTHER PERSPECTIVES

8.1. Teacher Training Colleges

remained stable. This stimulation mainly reflects the immense pressure

THÉRÈSE LAFERRIÈRE, NANCY SHEEHAN, and TOM RUSSELL

2. EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND TEACHER EDUCATION IN CANADA

3. TEACHER EDUCATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

3.1. Politically Driven Changes

3.2. Socially Driven Changes

3.3. Professionally Driven Changes

CHALLENGES PRO AND CON

3.4. Persistent Tensions in Teacher Education and in Faculties of Education

4. TEACHER EDUCATION IN ONTARIO

4.2. Innovation or Change?

4.3. Policy but not Research

4.4. Words without Substance

4.5. Persistent Tensions

5. TEACHER EDUCATION IN QUEBEC

5.1. Politically Driven Changes

5.2. A Fragile Social Consensus Regarding the Professional Education of

IN-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

5.3. Persisting Tensions in Teacher Education and Faculties of Education

6. COMMON THEMES AND TENSIONS

6.2. Scholarly Activity and the Practice of Teaching

6.3. Innovative University-Based Practices

6.4. Innovative School-Based Practices

6.5. Innovative Network-Based Teacher Education