GENERAL DIDACTICS IN TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS

One of the basic disciplines of pedagogy in higher education institutions is general didactics. A study course with the same name was included in the teacher training programs during the time when in the 90s of the 20th century the accreditation process of study programs had been started in Latvia. Such inclusion of the study course in the study programs was influenced both by the development of general didactics as a branch of science in Latvia as a whole as well as by expert recommendations for all higher education institutions that implemented teacher training programs at the same time. The implementation of the European Union regulation "Europe 2020" has given possibility to review the content of the offered education programs. New study courses appear in them, existing ones have changed the emphasis from knowledge acquisition to competence based studies. At the same time the students' view of the general didactics as one of the basic disciplines of pedagogy is changed. The aim of the research is to help to understand the problems in modern teacher education and purposefully push further the development of education improving its quality. For analysis of the research data the following methods are employed: descriptive statistics and content analysis. Content analysis analyzes the provisions of Latvian laws and regulations regarding the establishment of study programs and their compliance with the requirements of the regulation "Europe 2020". Descriptive statistics are used to compile information on the bachelor's degree programs in education offered by Latvian universities and the qualifications to be obtained. The purpose of in-depth analysis of the offered study programs is to reveal the reflection of the main categories of didactics in the descriptions of study courses. The result of the study is the experience of Latvian universities in the development of study programs. Recommendations for reflecting general didactic basic issues in bachelor programs that prepare prospective teachers have been developed.