Page 21 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 21
i. elezović ■ civic and citizenship education in croatia ...
achieving teachers and/or a possible penalty system for the inactive teach-
ers had created the climate of a very individual approach to the teaching
profession. For those individuals willing to specialize and professional-
ly develop within the particular theme(s) there is enough official train-
ing5 to start building capacities for achieving such personal goals. But crit-
ics have pointed out that serious reform processes cannot lean too heavily
on individual strengths and preferences, and also personal time of school
employees, but training should be provided across all types of education-
al institutions and encouraged (rewarded) in a standardised and consist-
ent manner.
In Croatian, there is a wide array of documentation and practice
which focuses on institutionalized and/or formally recognized forms of
the increase of teachers’ competences as considered under the term “pro-
fessional development”. These can also have different durations, from a
few hours or one-day seminars, courses, specialized short-term training
to one semester or multiple year’s studies. In education, professional de-
velopment for teachers consists also of different forms and types of semi-
nars, consultations, lectures, courses, workshops and round-tables organ-
ized on the level of schools, municipality, city, county or in international
level (Horvat and Lapat, 2012). These activities are necessary for teach-
ers to be familiarized with current professional demands and also to nur-
ture their willingness to increase their own competence. Hill (2009) pos-
its that attendance at training does not mean good results and that new
modern forms of professional development does not immediately mean
quality or effectiveness. The usual short forms of teacher training almost
always position teachers as passive and inactive receivers of information.
But without the mechanism of participant’s feed-back or continuous sup-
port to teachers, these forms stay on the superficial level and do not have
long-lasting effects6. But if professional development is seen as the instru-
ment of the system for fostering development of its teachers, and conse-
quently, the development of the system itself, this instrument needs to be
monitored and advanced. Every year, in every country, a large amount of
5 The responsible agency is Teacher Training Agency (www.azoo.hr), and for the vocation-
al secondary schools teachers, it is the Agency for Vocational Education and Training
and Adult Education (www.asoo.hr). In the present reform, a substantial part of teacher
training is provided by the Ministry of Science and Education itself and another agency
CARNet – Croatian Academic and Research Network, due to the many themes being
dedicated to the ICT in education.
6 Some research (Powell, Diamond, Burchinal and Koehler; Garet et al., 2008 and 2011;
O’Dwyer et al., 2010; Powell et al., 2010) shows under-expected results or effects of tra-
ditional forms of professional development on the improvement of their knowledge and
instructional practice, as well as on the student achievement.
19
achieving teachers and/or a possible penalty system for the inactive teach-
ers had created the climate of a very individual approach to the teaching
profession. For those individuals willing to specialize and professional-
ly develop within the particular theme(s) there is enough official train-
ing5 to start building capacities for achieving such personal goals. But crit-
ics have pointed out that serious reform processes cannot lean too heavily
on individual strengths and preferences, and also personal time of school
employees, but training should be provided across all types of education-
al institutions and encouraged (rewarded) in a standardised and consist-
ent manner.
In Croatian, there is a wide array of documentation and practice
which focuses on institutionalized and/or formally recognized forms of
the increase of teachers’ competences as considered under the term “pro-
fessional development”. These can also have different durations, from a
few hours or one-day seminars, courses, specialized short-term training
to one semester or multiple year’s studies. In education, professional de-
velopment for teachers consists also of different forms and types of semi-
nars, consultations, lectures, courses, workshops and round-tables organ-
ized on the level of schools, municipality, city, county or in international
level (Horvat and Lapat, 2012). These activities are necessary for teach-
ers to be familiarized with current professional demands and also to nur-
ture their willingness to increase their own competence. Hill (2009) pos-
its that attendance at training does not mean good results and that new
modern forms of professional development does not immediately mean
quality or effectiveness. The usual short forms of teacher training almost
always position teachers as passive and inactive receivers of information.
But without the mechanism of participant’s feed-back or continuous sup-
port to teachers, these forms stay on the superficial level and do not have
long-lasting effects6. But if professional development is seen as the instru-
ment of the system for fostering development of its teachers, and conse-
quently, the development of the system itself, this instrument needs to be
monitored and advanced. Every year, in every country, a large amount of
5 The responsible agency is Teacher Training Agency (www.azoo.hr), and for the vocation-
al secondary schools teachers, it is the Agency for Vocational Education and Training
and Adult Education (www.asoo.hr). In the present reform, a substantial part of teacher
training is provided by the Ministry of Science and Education itself and another agency
CARNet – Croatian Academic and Research Network, due to the many themes being
dedicated to the ICT in education.
6 Some research (Powell, Diamond, Burchinal and Koehler; Garet et al., 2008 and 2011;
O’Dwyer et al., 2010; Powell et al., 2010) shows under-expected results or effects of tra-
ditional forms of professional development on the improvement of their knowledge and
instructional practice, as well as on the student achievement.
19
