PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS IN THE CONTEXT OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION

Abstract

Education plays a key role in the economic development, social cohesion and ecological stability. Therefore, improving the quality of education is high on the European Union agenda, and thus, in 2010 the indicators that are directly related to improving the quality of education process in schools were defined. The quality of the education cannot exceed the quality of its teachers, and many studies confirm that students’ achievement depends on the quality of the teachers and the teaching.
The teaching profession is subject to numerous changes, caused by various changes in society - political, cultural, socio-economic, scientific, technological and others. Such changes to education set much higher requirements and expectations. And the circumstances in which today are working the staff in education, are more complex (fast expansion in the volume of new knowledge, more and quick access to various sources of knowledge, new knowledge about the processes of learning and teaching, are more pronounced individual differences among students in their learning styles; social differences, multicultural differences, low motivation for learning, new knowledge in the field of teaching methods and strategies of learning, integration of students with special needs, etc.).
In addition, schools are often put in a situation to compare with each other - according to the same criteria of external exams, and under the influence of globalization and internationalization of education, and with other countries through international trials. All those are challenges that hinder the work of teachers and complicate their role. That implies a higher degree of professional competence for deeper understanding of the changes and challenges, their proper professional assessment and learning with rich and diverse repertoire of methods and strategies for searching and finding possible solutions to the problems they face in their work. Professional competence and professionalism of the holders of the educational activity is one of the basic conditions for their success in achieving their role. Improving the quality of education depends on the qualitative changes in the thinking pattern of the teachers. The first step in this direction is the increasing professionalization of all personnel in education, especially teachers.
As in any modern profession also the teachers are responsible constantly to expand the boundaries of their professional knowledge, because the best and the most quality undergraduate education cannot provide the necessary knowledge and skills they need to all their working life. It suggests a need for a system for professional development of teachers, who as a continuous process should be based on the real needs of teachers