PROFILING TEACHER COMPETENCES

A wide range of higher education reforms have led to a reformulation of educational goals that refer less to what a teacher needs to do, and more to what a student can do after active participation in the teaching process. An increasing number of higher education teachers are faced with demands of formulating teaching goals in terms of competences and teaching outcomes. While conceiving appropriate teaching outcomes at the level of a teaching subject or period, teachers need to have firm support in precisely and clearly defined competences at the level of a study programme. These competences must also he in accordance with the subject-specific vocational competences integrated within the Croatian Qualifications Framework. Many important documents that define the competence profile of lower primary teachers are being constructed at the moment. The main aim of this paper is to present an overview of European and national policies in the area of teacher education, competences and qualifications in general, as well as the demands placed on teachers by the contemporary curriculum, giving examples of national guidelines and standards including teacher competences. Based on an analysis of all the mentioned elements, a proposal for a teacher competence profile is formulated This could serve as an impetus for deliberation on the content and structure of subject-specific teacher competences as well as for wider discussion on unique criteria of teacher education and competences at the level of teacher study programmes.