Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15516/cje.v17i0.1535
Bridging the Gap between Teachers’ Initial Education and Induction: Case Study of Serbia
Tünde Kovač Cerović
; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
Jelena Radišić
; Institute for Educational Research in Belgrade
Dejan Stankovic
; Centre for Education Policy in Belgrade
Abstract
Student teachers’ school practice is an important part of initial teacher education (ITE) as it bridges the gap between ITE and subsequent induction and professional development. Since recently, school practice has been obligatory in Serbia as part of ITE. However, this development faces many challenges. We examine the results of a survey carried out to find out how school practice is organized at 44 faculty departments that educate future teachers at the four biggest state universities in Serbia. The results show that the requirements and organization of student teachers’ school practice vary across different faculties and that the outcomes and the content of the student teachers’ school practices are not aligned with the new demands of the teaching profession. Differences are found between departments educating class teachers and subject teachers, yet intra-group differences are high, indicating overall fragmentation of ITE in this respect. All surveyed departments report on a lack of essential cooperation between the faculty and practice schools, insufficient duration of student practice and a lack of human resources. As a response to the state of affairs in ITE in Serbia, we discuss a “practice school” model, aiming to overcome the gap between the academic part of ITE and student practice, as well as the initial challenges of this model.
Keywords
faculty-school cooperation; initial teacher education; practice schools; student teachers’ school practice
Hrčak ID:
143232
URI
Publication date:
28.5.2015.
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