Podniesienie jakości kształcenia i doskonalenia zawodowego nauczycieli w wybranych krajach członkowskich, w kontekście wspólnych celów systemów edukacji w Unii Europejskiej do 2010 roku

Abstract

Teachers and trainers are the most essential actors in the overall strategy towards a knowledge society and a knowledge-based economy. Europe needs to improve the ways in which teachers are prepared for, and supported in, their profoundly changing role in the knowledge society. In this article, special attention is paid to the following crucial points: • identifying the skills that teachers should possess, given their changing roles in a knowledge society: knowledge of information and communication technologies, management/ administration skills, knowledge of special needs education, ability to work with multicultural groups of pupils, training in behaviour management and school discipline; • providing the conditions which adequately support teachers and trainers in their response to the challenges of the knowledge society, e.g. through initial and in-service training, in the perspective of lifelong learning (the status of in-service teacher training, organization and allocation of time for teacher training); • securing a sufficient level of entry to the teaching profession, across all subjects and levels – selection criteria for the access to initial teacher training: –– performance criteria: performance at the upper-secondary level for the access to general training; a tertiary education entrance examination performance for the access to general training; attainment in the course of the ‘general education’ phase; an entrance examination for the ‘professional training’ or final ‘on-the-job’ qualifying phases; candidates interviews; –– additional criteria: other kinds of training or qualifications (professional experience, knowledge of foreign languages); –– administrative criteria: place of residence, age of the candidates, date of application.