Directions of improving the quality of in-service teacher training in Serbia: The perspective of primary school teachers

Abstract

This paper presents one part of the findings of a research that deals with teachers' perceptions of educational reforms in Serbia. More specifically, the paper focuses on the segment of the research that was aimed at exploring teachers' views on the ways of improving the system and practice of in-service teacher training. Pursuing this topic is very important since the findings of recent studies have shown that this aspect of education system needs considerable improvement, while the authors who deal with educational change point to the importance of consulting the teachers in the development of the new system solutions. The questionnaire was used to collect the data from 326 teachers from 125 Serbian primary schools. The teachers provided answers to open-ended questions on what needs to be done in order to improve the quality of their in-service training. Content analysis was used to process the data - response categories were created inductively on the basis of teachers' answers, and then their frequency was established. The results indicate that, according to teachers, in-service teacher training has to be improved, primarily through increased funding, higher quality of programmes/seminars, diversification of types of training, as well as through creating a more encouraging system and school setting for in-service teacher training. These results are significant from the aspect of the in-service training system since they point to developmental priorities, as well as to the necessity of a more complex and comprehensive approach to the reform of this segment of education system.

U ovom radu biće predstavljen deo rezultata istraživanja u čijem su fokusu percepcije prosvetnih radnika o obrazovnim reformama u Srbiji. Konkretno, u radu će biti prikazan segment istraživanja čiji je cilj bio da se sagledaju mišljenja nastavnika o tome kako treba unaprediti sistem i praksu stručnog usavršavanja nastavnika. Bavljenje ovom temom je važno budući da nalazi novijih istraživanja ukazuju na to da je ovaj aspekt obrazovnog sistema potrebno značajno unaprediti, kao i da autori koji se bave obrazovnim promenama ističu značaj konsultovanja prosvetnih radnika prilikom donošenja novih sistemskih rešenja. Upitnikom su prikupljeni podaci od 326 nastavnika iz 125 osnovnih škola u Srbiji. Nastavnicima su postavljena pitanja otvorenog tipa o tome šta je potrebno učiniti da bi se unapredilo njihovo stručno usavršavanje. U obradi podataka korišćena je analiza sadržaja - na osnovu odgovora nastavnika induktivnim putem kreirane su kategorije odgovora, a zatim je utvrđena njihova zastupljenost. Rezultati pokazuju da nastavnici smatraju da je stručno usavršavanje potrebno unaprediti, pre svega, posredstvom boljeg finansiranja, povećanja kvaliteta programa/seminara, diverzifikacije oblika usavršavanja, kao i kreiranja povoljnijeg sistemskog i školskog ambijenta za stručno usavršavanje nastavnika. Ovi rezultati su značajni sa stanovišta sistema stručnog usavršavanja jer ukazuju na razvojne prioritete, ali i na nužnost kompleksnijeg i obuhvatnijeg pristupa reformi ovog segmenta obrazovnog sistema. PR Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47008: Predstave o obrazovnim promenama u Srbiji - refleksije o prošlosti, vizije budućnosti čiju realizaciju finansira Švajcarska agencija za razvoj i saradnju, Unapređivanje kvaliteta i dostupnosti obrazovanja u procesima modernizacije Srbije i br. 179034: Od podsticanja inicijative, saradnje i stvaralaštva u obrazovanju do novih uloga i identiteta u društvu.