Does undergraduate education influence teachers’ perceptions of learning and teaching? The case of the Republic of Slovenia

Abstract

In the first part of the paper, different models of teacher education are presented and analysed: the pre‐technocratic model or the model of training master craftsmen; the technocratic model or the model of applied science; and the post‐technocratic model or the reflexive model. In the second part of the paper, the results of the empirical research are presented. The aim of the empirical research was to determine the influence of undergraduate teacher education on teachers’ perceptions of learning and teaching and, consequently, on teachers’ actions. In Slovenia, teachers’ education was carried out following two main models: the pre‐technocratic model or model of training master craftsmen, which was typical for the Academy of Education, and the technocratic model or the so‐called model of applied science, which is used at the education faculties nowadays. Because of this dualism in teachers’ education models, there exist differences between teachers and their perception and actions as well.

Keywords:

• teacher education
• models of teacher education
• teacher perceptions
• professional development

Notes

1. Elementary‐schooling is compulsory schooling, which lasts for nine years (pupils start at the age of 6 and finish at the age of 15). Gymnasium is schooling that follows primary school, and prepares students for study at university. Gymnasium lasts for four years, and it ends with the external Matura examination, which contains five subjects (three are obligatory: maths, Slovene and a foreign language, plus two optional subjects). The Matura is the final exam, and it is set at the national level. External means that the examination questions, standards and grading methods are not within the jurisdiction of the schools, but father the National Examination Centre. All candidates take the test under the same, predefined conditions. The importance of the Matura, which marks the end of high school and also the entrance ticket to university, has an impact on teachers, students and school lessons, in such a way as to decrease the quality of student learning (see Ivanuš Grmek and Javornik Krečič 2004).