Одделенска настава,

Elementary education

About the Program of Study

The Faculty of Pedagogy “St. Kliment Ohridski” in Skopje is an institution with a tradition of 70 years in training teaching staff in the Republic of Macedonia. It started working in the distant 1947 when the Vocational School of Pedagogy was founded in Skopje and it is still working to this very day, as theFaculty of Pedagogy – “St. Kliment Ohridski”, which is a unit of the University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje. This high education institution trained most of the teaching staff that spread the education in the Republic of Macedonia, while coping with all the changes that were imposed by time. This trend, to always keep up with the changes in the area of education, is the driving force of the Faculty of Pedagogy “St. Kliment Ohridski”. To keep up, we changed the syllabus five times because we strive to innovate and develop programs of study with the goal to make them more flexible and adaptable to the global trends in the frames of the European education, according to the principles of the Bologna Declaration.

Our program of study for the first cycle of studies for Elementary education abides to the European Credit-Transfer System (ECTS) and lasts 4 years, i.e. 8 semesters, during which the students need to acquire 240 credits – 30 credits in each semester.

The program of study for the first cycle of studies for Elementary education includes 60% mandatory subjects and 30% elective subjects in the frames of the Faculty, whereas 10% are free elective subjects which the students can choose from the list of the University. More specifically, there are 47 subjects, 32 of which are mandatory and need to be attended and completed with an exam (34 for the instruction in Albanian and Turkish) and 15 elective subjects from the list of 39 that are offered in the frames of the program of study for Elementary education, as well as 5 subjects from the free list of elective subjects of the University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”.

The instruction of this program of study is carried out in Macedonian, Albanian and Turkish.

The syllabus is carried out in a modern manner, and it covers the modern knowledge from all scientific areas that are subject of study at the Institute of Elementary Education. During instruction, the professors and the collaborators use different methods and instructional forms, such as: interactive lectures, learning by solving problems, practical exercises, individual work, group work, consultations and other modern forms. In order to successfully realize all these forms, we strive to continuously improve the work conditions. The Faculty has modern amphitheaters, lecture rooms, cabinets, two fully equipped information laboratories, a media library, a library with a rich fund of domestic and foreign literature, free Wi-Fi Internet access for all students, etc. Our future goal is to continuously provide modern didactic-methodological means and procure modern equipment that will be at disposal to our students so they will be able to learn the material as better as possible, and use it in the instructional process.

Thisprogramof study pays special attention to the practical training of the students. Our objective is to produce trained and competent teachers who will be ready to successfully join the educational process in the schools, and the other educational institutions. For this reason, we planned three mandatory forms of practical training in this program of study:

• Pedagogical practice 1, 2, 3
• Hospitations (didactic-methodological)
• Pedagogical internship (during the 8^th semester)

This practical training of the students is carried out in many partner schools that collaborate with us. The experienced mentors who work there are completely at our disposal, and they share the secrets of this profession with the future teachers. We are continuously communicating with schools that are potential partners for the realization of any of the forms for practical training with the goal to expand our network in the other cities in the Republic of Macedonia, where our students come from. Apart from the schools, we have other partners in our noble mission, including: The Ministry of Education and Science, The Bureau for Education Development, other competent institutions, the non-governmental sector, etc. We make efforts to include our students in various projects and trainings so they can acquire knowledge which is not included in the syllabus, but can be useful in the development of the profile of a competent elementary education teacher. Many of these projects and trainings award the students with certificates of participation.

The Study regimen is regulated by a Decision concerning the conditions, criteria and rules for attending the first cycle of studies at the Faculty of Pedagogy “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Skopje. It is included in a shortened form in the Elementary Education Information Booklet, as a Manual for the students.

Dear students, you are future academic citizens! By choosing to join the course for Elementary Education at the Faculty of Pedagogy “St. Kliment Ohridski”, you chose a noble profession. You are going to work with the students in the first, most important cycle of their perennial education. By sharing your knowledge and experience, by teaching them the moral values and principles, you justify the trust given to you by society – that you help your students become wise and honorable people who will always rely on their own knowledge, people who will strive to increase their knowledge and reach new horizons in the world of science, technology, and art. Perhaps you will discover the new Einstein, Dostoevsky, or Van Gogh, which is in fact bound to happen. You need to motivate and encourage your students to constantly learn and research, to be true to themselves, creative and original builders of their own well-being and the well-being of the society. You need to guide your students to the real values in life, to the real way to success.  All of the potential and capacities of the Faculty of Pedagogy “St. Kliment Ohridski” through its teaching and associate staff involved in the program of study for Elementary education are at your disposal.

Prof. Ljuljzim Ademi, PhD

Head of the Institute of Elementary Education

 

1. • Professional title

The candidate receives the title bachelor of elementary education after defending the bachelor thesis.

• General descriptors of the qualifications

Knowledge and understanding	– Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural dimension of the educational / cultural-educational institution. – Knows, understands and distinguishes educational and functional objectives in the realization of the activities of the educational / cultural-educational institution.
Use of the knowledge and understanding	– Is trained to do academic reading and writing and applies the standards for orthography and orthoepy. – Can use the functional language literacy and recognize the different language styles and is the carrier of the language standard at all language levels. – Has basic mathematical literacy (at different skill levels for different components of the mathematical literacy as defined in internationally recognized documents). -Can use research methods, techniques and instruments and has skills to join action researches.
Ability for evaluation	– Recognizes, distinguishes and respects the different ethical norms and can choose and use content and activities to encourage the ethical experiences and values. Recognizes, accepts and selects strategies to support the multicultural values, multicultural and religious tolerance and language and confessional pluralism. – Can choose and use content and activities that encourage creativity, positive feelings towards the artistic work and the aesthetic evaluation.
Communication skills	– Can communicate in the standard language norm of the national (Macedonian) language and in his/her mother tongue. – Recognizes and uses the terminology that is characteristic for the profession. – Can choose content and activities that develop the ecological awareness and culture, as a form of communication between man and nature. – Knows the basic characteristics and advantages of teamwork and can use the modern cooperative techniques for participation and coordination of the team activities. – Knows the advantages and selects modern techniques of collaboration with related institutions and the local community. – Knows and understands the principles for creating a stimulating learning environment and uses strategies to encourage a positive socio-emotional climate in the institution/group.
Learning skill	– Knows, understands and accepts theprofessional role in the modern society, knows the competencies thathe/she needs to be in command of, and understands the need of continuous professional development. – Can find, process, use and share professional and scientific information from the area. – Can use information-computer technology in sharing professional information and can select and use information in the interest of modernization of the educational process.

 

• Specific descriptors of the qualifications

Knowledge and understanding	– Has knowledge from the areas of pedagogy, school pedagogy, and sociology of the education, psychology, and didactics. – Knows and understands the concept and structural positioning of the primary education in our country and the modern trends in the development of the primary education in our country and the world. – Knows and understands the modern educational systems and concepts, their historical, sociological and philosophical grounds and their institutional positioning. – Knows the objectives of education, understands their influence and functionality, distinguishes between educational and functional objectives and supports their interdependence in the realization of the educational content. – Knows the principles and strategies to involve the community and the families in the life and work in the school, and understands the need for their joint educational engagement.
Use of the knowledge and understanding	– Knows the developmental laws and characteristics of the students and can use educational and instructional strategies adequate to the individual potentials and abilities of the students. – Knows and understands the content of the subjects thathe/she teaches (the content of the subjects that follow in the nine year-long primary education) and has skills for their use. -Has basic artistic literacy. -Is able to plan, register, carry out and assess instruction by using information-computer technology. – Uses the didactic-methodological components (forms, methods, principles and means) to realize instruction and shows skill in their adaptation to the needs of the students and the instruction. – Is able to integrate and connect inter-disciplinary the educational content from different subject areas. – Can use modern concepts for planning, organizing and carrying out a lesson. – Can use modern educational technology in the school educational process. – Has skills for locating potential educational issues and uses adequate pedagogical strategies to solve them. – Can use sociological knowledge to solve educational issues. – Can encourage and organize research and other active learning methods for the children and uses pedagogical strategies for training the students for independent work and learning. – Is acquainted with the techniques for promoting psychophysical health of the students of school age and uses methods to support healthy life habits. – Can use strategies to identify gifted students and work with them.
Ability for evaluation	– Has knowledge ofthe standards and activities for monitoring, evaluating and registering the accomplishments of the students. -Can use methods, techniques and instruments to monitor and evaluate the instructional processes and uses techniques for self-assessment. -Can select content and methodological activities adequate to the individual needs of the students.
Communication skills	–Can use pedagogical activities for cooperative and interactive communication in instruction and uses them to develop the social and communication skills of the students (cooperation, taking initiative, support, etc.) -Can use modern strategies for developing respect of the differences among the students and models for encouraging their mutual acceptance and tolerance. -Can develop collaborative learning (group work) and collaboration among the students, understands them and can promote and utilize the advantages, forms and principles of the partnership and educational relationship between the school and the family. -Distinguishes differences in the educational climate of the families of the children/students and uses cooperative techniques for their support. -Uses communication activities and techniques for positive orientation of the social behavior of the students, recognizes destructive communication and uses strategies for monitoring and development of the cooperative skills of the students. -Knows and uses methods and principles of the educational work, as well as modern models, skills and techniques for managing the class.
Learning skill	-Knows, understands and accepts the role of the teacher in the modern school, knows the competencies thathe/she needs to be in command of and understands the need of continuous professional development.

 

• Legal-normative regulation of the concept and founding of the program of study

With the Decision No. … of the Board for Accreditation and Evaluation, the program of study for Elementary education is re-accredited according to the existing Law for High Education and the relevant subordinate legislation. The program of study successfully implements the essential recommendation of the Concept for nine year-long primary education, as well as the basic guidelines of the National program for development of the education 2005/2015 along with the associated program documents. As a member of the University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje, the Faculty and the Institute of Elementary Education, as its organization unit, work according to the Statute and other acts of the University.

• Employment opportunities, joining a higher cycle of studies, and mobility

The graduation diploma allows employment as an elementary teacher in primary education, as well as a wide spectrum of engagement in the area of education and educational administration.

The acquisition of 240 credits from the first cycle of studies allow joining studies from the second cycle for Elementary education, which are successfully organized and carried out at the Faculty since the academic year 2010/11, as well as joining second cycle of studies at other programs of study at the high education institutions in the Republic of Macedonia and other countries.

Great mobility is provided between the programs of studyof the Faculty through equivalence of the subjects, which is increased by an adequate choice of subjects from the University list of free elective subjects. According to ECTS, mobility of the students from the study group of the Faculty towards related study group of the University and other universities in the county and abroad is provided.

• Academic and associate staff

Academic workers and assistants from the respective area are engaged in the realization of the instruction (of one or more subject programs), which is the basis for an interdisciplinary approach in the base education of the future elementary teacher.