Quality of teaching in Kosovo’s higher education institutions: Viewpoints of institutional leaders and lecturers1

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Due to the continuous shift being experienced in the higher education landscape, the quality of teaching had become an issue to be discussed from different perspectives by the concerned stakeholders. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the research on the quality of teaching and identify the characteristics and best practices on supporting, developing, and improving Kosovo’s higher educational system’s effectiveness by improving the quality of teaching. METHODS: The paper used qualitative paradigms in research. The study targeted professors at Kosovo universities from two public universities and two private Colleges where focus group interviews, individual interviews, and documentation content analysis were obtained. RESULTS: According to professors’ opinions, the research results show that the quality of teaching is related to the research of professors, and it depends on the experience of the teacher, knowledge transfer, technology use, and degree of professor qualification. Other key factors determining the teaching quality are communication, motivation, pedagogy, cooperation, and adequate implementation of planned activities. CONCLUSIONS: Kosovo should establish appropriate mechanisms and policies for evaluating professors’ performance and make their selection and re-election based on these performance indicators and not only based on formal documents.