Primary School Teacher Training

The learning objective is teacher training for the first stage of the primary school according to the requirements of the current curriculum for primary education. The study programme focuses on creating and developing subject and subject-didactic, educational and psychological, communicative and other personality cultivating competences for performing a profession of a primary school teacher at the first stage. The starting point is a personal development training model whose focal point is teacher propaedeutics consisting of subjects derived from pedagogical and psychological disciplines relevant to the teaching profession (e.g. School Education, Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, Inclusive Special Education, Social Education, Educational Communication, School and Class Management). It is designed regarding proportions of disciplines to ensure continuity, sequence and gradation of subjects and topics. It also includes integrated disciplines, such as Introduction to Education and Psychology and Pedagogical-psychological Diagnostics. An important part are topics fulfilling the principle of collective education connected to the acceptance and acquisition of the qualification for work with learners’ diversity.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• have knowledge (a broad range of general knowledge, subject knowledge in curriculum content, pedagogical-psychological and subject-didactic knowledge) and skills that enable them to meet the requirements of educational curriculum
• are able to reflect on their own teaching practice, attitudes and values; to explain and justify their own approach to teaching
• plan and facilitate their personal and professional development
• use knowledge of pedagogical-psychological diagnostics to get to know a child and its specificities
• differentiate and individualise teaching with respect to learners’ abilities and needs and develop their potential
• create favourable conditions for learning; motivate learners and stimulate their activity; create safe, stimulating and positive emotional and social climate in a classroom
• have developed theoretical knowledge in areas of Czech language and literature, foreign language, mathematics, natural science, national history and geography, physical education, fine arts, pedagogy and psychology, and can apply their knowledge
• are equipped with basic pedagogical and psycho-didactic competences for teaching and educating; are able to manage processes of a learner’s learning and use information sources and technologies appropriately
• communicate well and effectively in interactions with all participants of the educational process, i.e. with pupils, parents, colleagues, advisory services workers and other specialists and school partners

Knowledge, skills and attitudes gained during studies are the basis of professional competences of the elementary school teacher at the first stage. You can also work as an educational worker in school establishments (leisure time centres, environmental education centres, methodological centres, etc.).

• Teacher of the first level of primary school

An important part of studies is practical training that takes part in each semester. Five practical training courses take place in Brno schools and you can choose the other five at any elementary school. The content of practical training is arranged in parallel with the pedagogical-psychological and subject didactics subjects.

The goals of the master’s thesis should demonstrate knowledge and skills framed by a graduate’s profile. For this reason, the theses should be predominantly methodological. Intermediate goals of final thesis are: to demonstrate the ability to be knowledgeable in current issues of primary education; to frame the thesis topic in a clear and understandable way and describe state of the art, suggest methodological procedure; to work with adequate primary and secondary literary sources, cite them according to established standards and scholarly ethics, discuss and argue with authors, draw one’s own conclusions and recommendations; to interpret and draw conclusions from one’s own teaching practice in order to demonstrate reflective skills; to prove stylistic competence in writing one’s own text, compose scholarly text, keep logical structure of the thesis without grammatical mistakes; to demonstrate ability to ask relevant questions and solve problems in a creative way, and come up with new ideas and conclusions of one’s own work that bring at least partially new research findings and methodologies in the field of primary education.

Whether you would like to continue your academic studies or increase the level of your education, you can study further in a doctoral study programme.