Challenges and Examples of Apparent Good Practice Developed in the PRO-VET Project in VET Teacher Education in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract Context: This study is part of an Erasmus+ KA2 CBHE project, „Professional Development of Vocational Education Teachers with European Practices/Pro-VET “, and it represents one of the final results of the conducted research and delivered courses among VET teachers in the Republic of Serbia. Approach: The research is based on three iterations of VOOC titled „Effective team working for VET teachers according to EU practice“developed during the project life and the evaluation results of that process. All participants, 192 in total, have had an opportunity to fill out the questionnaire about using group and team working in their everyday teaching activities and express their knowledge about these topics before the iteration starts. The results are summarised and presented through descriptive statistics, and logistic regression was used to measure the level of significance of the selected variables. Findings: Empirical research was conducted by collecting and analysing primary data using a survey method. To meet the needs of VET teachers in the Republic of Serbia, an online survey was designed, which referred to teachers’ attitudes on team working in VET institutions. The research results are based on the sample, which included 192 respondents. Statistical analyses of all collected data (descriptive statistics, linear correlation, logistic regression analysis) were used to draw conclusions about the relationships between the observed variables. Conclusion: Logistic regression analysis confirmed that the strongest and statistically significant predictor of the answer that teachers use teamwork is synergy. Other factors do not have a statistically significant effect on the use of teamwork. This research has shown several conclusions: communication in teams is open but not practical; despite adequate leadership, the roles in the teams are not clearly defined; and as a result, the team members do not have a strong sense of belonging to the team. It reduces the synergistic effect