FUTURE EDUCATORS’ LEARNING TRENDS AT THE UNIVERSITY: HOW IMPORTANT AND SIGNIFICANT THE LEARNER’S EXPERIENCE IS?

The structure and content of studies at a higher education institution, educating specialists in the field of education studies, are more oriented to subject-centred rather than pedagogical preparation; insufficient attention is paid to students’ practical training, where through self-reflection and reflection students’ sensations turn into experience. The problematicity lies in the fact that often students’ practical experience is limited only to technical skills applied in concrete situations; the basis is mechanical learning, when the focus is on theoretical knowledge gained at the university, which is not integrated with the students’ experience outlived earlier or during practice. On the other hand, theoretical knowledge is often not related to the practical activity. The results of the quantitative research disclose future educators’ teaching and learning trends at the university by analyzing, assessing and linking learners’ outlived experience with a specific learning context.