The Lifelong Education of the Teachers in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

Abstract This paper analyzes important issues related to the lifelong education of the teachers in the Republic of Macedonia. The goal of the research, which is a part of the project Permanent Education of the Teachers (the current situation and challenges), is to get an idea about the current situation and the need for permanent education of the elementary school teachers in the Republic of Macedonia. We analyzed the forms and content of the permanent education, and the need for this type of education while taking into consideration: the location of the school (urban or suburban area), work experience, type of initial education, gender and ethnicity. The sample of 288 teachers from 11 schools from Skopje (the city and the rural environment) was formed by stratified random sampling and an assessment sample, based on the goals of the research and the different characteristics of the respondents. The calculations in the research were made with the statistical package SPSS 17.0. The research was carried out in five planned stages from 2010 to 2012. The gathered data confirms the fact that the existing forms and content of the permanent education do not meet the needs of the elementary school teachers in full. This implies that we need a new concept of permanent professional and pedagogical training of the teachers based on their needs and modern scientific accomplishments.