Training Primary School Teachers – Issues and Trends Republic

AbstractTraining teachers of all school levels has been a long-term fundamental issue in the Czech Republic. Significant attention is paid to training primary school teachers as primary school has undergone a vast transformation recently. As a part of this transformation, training primary school teachers is being innovated in terms of current trends emerging in other European countries. Along with these innovative steps, a number of issues have come up, such as which form of teacher training for this level of the school system is the most appropriate. Among the most frequent issues belong the following: to what extent the training should be academic, what should be the ratio of practical training to theoretical training, whether this training should be provided by universities or individual institutes, what should be the length of the study and final graduation. Broad discussion is held on the content of the study programmes as such, on the extent of their variability leading to prospective teacher's personal development and a high level of competence. The paper will present the basic design of teacher training in the Czech Republic including the issues connected thereto. It will also show current trends in the European context. Central to this will be a presentation of the research carried out with graduates in primary school education and practising primary school teachers. The findings will be assessed and used for drawing conclusions and making recommendations for the innovation of teacher training of the target school level