Teachers’ professionalism: a comparative analysis of Latvia and Lithuania

The analysis of scientific literature revealed that concepts of teacher professionalism depend on social, cultural, economic and political context and the phenomenon is determined differently in different countries connecting it with the professional standards of respective profession. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the development of teacher education by comparing the Latvian and Lithuanian teacher professional standards in order to find out what can we learn from each other. The reason for selecting Latvia and Lithuania was their national strategic orientation into education, particularly to qualified teachers, their professional development, and initial teacher education. The resulting similarities and differences between the Latvian and Lithuanian teacher professional standards are reported, and suggestions for teacher education improvement are discussedVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŠvietimo akademij