University Teachers’ Opinions about Higher Education Pedagogical Training Courses in Slovenia

Abstract

Pedagogical training courses (PTCs) for university teachers have often been discussed and have become a widespread trend in recent years in many countries. Many university teachers consider pedagogical training (PT) as a valuable tool in their teaching practice. In Slovenia, however, there is little evidence of teachers’ opinions and beliefs regarding PTCs.2Many authors consider the effect of PTCs in higher education (HE) on teaching questionable, but there is also evidence of the positive impact of PTCs on university teaching. The results of the present survey show that there are statistically significant differences in teachers’ opinions on initial and sustained PTCs. Formal education for teaching in primary and/or secondary schools is often considered as appropriate for teaching in HE. The respondents with higher titles attributed the lowest importance to sustained PTCs. Those involved in (short) PTCs attributed less importance to PT, as well as to the certificate of participation in PT in comparison to the respondents who were not involved in PTCs. On the other hand, the respondents with the highest participation in PT (51 hours and more) are more in favour of PTCs, which confirms the preliminary findings that courses of longer duration provide more opportunities to affect teachers’ pedagogical thinking and conceptions of teaching and learning in comparison to shorter courses.