Projects / Programmes
Education of teachers as a factor of providing high-quality life-long learning in the learning society / the society of fast socio-economic changes and unsure future
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.01.00 |
Social sciences |
Educational studies |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S270 |
Social sciences |
Pedagogy and didactics |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.03 |
Social Sciences |
Educational sciences |
education of teachers, quality of educational work, class achievements of students, achievements of students at the national assessment of knowledge
Researchers (22)
Organisations (4)
Abstract
The demands for determining the quality of education in general appeared relatively late, in the second half of the 20th century, and even later in Slovenia, at the end of the 20th century. Determining the quality is thus a recent phenomenon that has not yet been studied extensively. However, the notion of the quality of work in the educational system is often used in today’s social context, most frequently in relation to measurable indicators (e.g., pupils’ results etc.). Various authors (e.g., Creemers and Kyriakides, 2013) prove that it is connected with many factors at the level of the socioeconomic system, the level of the school, the level of the teacher and at the level of the pupils.
The basic aims of research activities are as follows: to identify factors that raise the quality of educational work in primary schools as manifested by the learning results in class and at NAK. Teachers' perception of learning, teacher’s motivation, work engagement and professional self-efficacy, the use of various teaching strategies, various work forms and methods, communication among pupils in class and self-regulated learning are assumed to be important factors of the quality of educational work.
We will be interested in the differences between schools regarding the indicators of the quality of educational work and their predictive value for pupils’ learning results and their results at NAK.
We will conduct the following empirical non-experimental surveys: cross-sectional surveys, case studies. Cross-sectional surveys will comprise a large sample of teachers and pupils of Slovenian primary schools. Random 5% of primary schools from each statistical region will be selected. The sample of teachers and pupils will be group random stratified (proportional) with respect to statistical regions in the Republic of Slovenia. Case studies will be conducted in the northeastern part of the Republic of Slovenia with groups of teachers and pupils.
Research work will include quantitative and qualitative procedures: surveying (questionnaires, self-assessment questionnaires), interviews (semi-structured interviews, focused interviews), observation (systematic observation protocols), and analysis of documents related to pupils’ results. Qualitative and quantitative data processing procedures will depend on the level of the data obtained. Qualitative data processing will include content analysis and qualitative content analysis. Quantitative procedures will include uni- and multivariate methods (methods of difference analysis, connections and impact - regression).
Originality is ascribed to the interaction between the identified educational and psycho-social factors under research and to their influence on the quality of the educational work in primary schools; it is visible in the attained learning outcomes in classes and specifically in the National Assessment of Knowledge (NAK). We expect the project results to provide empirically verified arguments for application of NAK (1) for a formative monitoring of learning and teaching in the Slovenian primary schools (and not for comparison and classifying schools in terms of their work quality) and (2) for implementation of a student-centered learning and teaching, as a synonym of the quality of a higher-education learning and teaching of future teachers, in the times of rapid socio-economic changes and unreliable future in the 21st century.
The research results will make a crucial contribution to the development of pedagogical sciences and to the pedagogical practice as well as to the socio-economic development and existence of the country and humankind. Our future namely depends on the level of our capability of a high-quality life-long learning. The pedagogic and psychosocial factors of the quality of the educational work have a critical role in this process.
Significance for science
Results of the projected research will make an important contribution to the development of the pedagogical science and practice and educational policy. Let us clarify. Several investigation of so far confirm that the knowledge of Slovene pupils/students is insufficiently durable and usable; their motivation is low and they dislike learning; their results are under the average. Search for the way to overcome this situation is our primary task. The issue to begin with reads: what is the perception of learning and knowledge like? It the persuasion prevails that learning is reception and reproduction of knowledge, the result of learning is a memory knowledge that is subject to forgetting. If, on the other hand, one considers learning as an active generation of knowledge, hence an active process, in which process stands before the content of knowledge, one can suppose the this learning will result in a durable and usable knowledge and in developed capacity of independent learning. The conclusion follows that teachers have a decisive role in it. With their selected teaching strategies they can generate the class work that is student oriented, hence learning conditions stimulating the student for a high-quality independent learning. Finally, the issue of the quality criterion is here. The students' learning achievements related to their knowledge that are measured in either an internal or an external checking provide only one of possible indicators. They include the national assessment of knowledge (NAK), but NAK puts several issues today concerning its justification. The projected research offers, among other aspects, (1) for resolving the dilemma of justification of NAK in the formative monitoring of learning and teaching (and not in comparison and classifying schools in terms of their work quality) and (2) for implementation of a student-centered learning and teaching, as a synonym of the quality of a higher-education learning and teaching of future teachers, in the times of rapid socio-economic changes and unreliable future in the 21st century. Hence on deals with important scientific findings that present a sense-making and urgent next step of the researches of so far, from the viewpoint of the socio-economic development.
Significance for the country
Results of the projected research will make an important contribution to the development of the pedagogical science and practice and educational policy. Let us clarify. Several investigation of so far confirm that the knowledge of Slovene pupils/students is insufficiently durable and usable; their motivation is low and they dislike learning; their results are under the average. Search for the way to overcome this situation is our primary task. The issue to begin with reads: what is the perception of learning and knowledge like? It the persuasion prevails that learning is reception and reproduction of knowledge, the result of learning is a memory knowledge that is subject to forgetting. If, on the other hand, one considers learning as an active generation of knowledge, hence an active process, in which process stands before the content of knowledge, one can suppose the this learning will result in a durable and usable knowledge and in developed capacity of independent learning. The conclusion follows that teachers have a decisive role in it. With their selected teaching strategies they can generate the class work that is student oriented, hence learning conditions stimulating the student for a high-quality independent learning. Finally, the issue of the quality criterion is here. The students' learning achievements related to their knowledge that are measured in either an internal or an external checking provide only one of possible indicators. They include the national assessment of knowledge (NAK), but NAK puts several issues today concerning its justification. The projected research offers, among other aspects, (1) for resolving the dilemma of justification of NAK in the formative monitoring of learning and teaching (and not in comparison and classifying schools in terms of their work quality) and (2) for implementation of a student-centered learning and teaching, as a synonym of the quality of a higher-education learning and teaching of future teachers, in the times of rapid socio-economic changes and unreliable future in the 21st century. Hence on deals with important scientific findings that present a sense-making and urgent next step of the researches of so far, from the viewpoint of the socio-economic development.
Most important scientific results
Interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Interim report
