A Short History of the Centre for Teacher Education (CTE)
Pedagogical, psychological, and methodological education of students – future teachers – has a long tradition at the Faculty of Philosophy. The Department of Gymnasium Pedagogy was founded as early as 1892, when Professor Vojislav Bakić was appointed its first professor, though the beginnings of pedagogical, psychological, and methodological training at the Faculty date even earlier.
As an independent teaching unit of the Faculty of Philosophy, the Centre for Pedagogical, Psychological and Methodological Education of Students was established in 1971. In 2008, the Centre changed its name to become the Centre for Teacher Education (CTE).
Since its founding as a separate unit of the Faculty, the heads of the Centre have been: Nikola Potkonjak, PhD; Vera Smiljanić, PhD; Aleksandra Marjanović, PhD; Lidija Vučić, PhD; Vladeta Tešić, PhD; Nenad Havelka, PhD; Živorad Cvetković, PhD; Ksenija Radoš, PhD; Ljubomir Kocić, PhD; Sulejman Hrnjica, PhD; Mirjana Pešić, PhD; Vera Rajović, PhD; and Lidija Radulović, PhD.
CON Today
The Centre for Teacher Education provides various opportunities for the development of teaching competences: through elective courses at undergraduate and master studies of different study groups at the Faculty of Philosophy, through a comprehensive master’s program for teacher education in subject teaching, and through lifelong learning programs.
These programs include courses in pedagogy, psychology, methodology, and school practice, enabling the initial education of teachers in line with the legal requirements for future teachers in Serbia.
In developing the programs, we have been guided by contemporary theoretical and research insights into the teaching profession and teacher education, by knowledge about teacher education in the European context, and by understanding of the characteristics of the educational context in Serbia.
The programs nurture an interdisciplinary approach to teacher education and aim to develop competent teachers, ready to perform their work independently, while also being capable of reflecting on and improving educational practice.
The programs organized by the Centre are implemented by teachers from the Departments of Pedagogy and Andragogy and Psychology, as well as by teachers from other departments of the Faculty of Philosophy and other faculties of the University of Belgrade – including the Faculty of Architecture, Faculty of Medicine, and Faculty of Forestry.
The current head of the Teacher Education Centre is Milan Stančić, PhD, Associate Professor.
You can get to know CTE and its people, ideas, values, and moments through a short exhibition or through an informal webpage:
Vision for the Development of CTE
We strive to organize various initial teacher education programs for subject teaching that allow flexible pathways toward the development of competent teachers. The programs of CTE are developed based on theoretical and research knowledge, needs arising from educational practice, and continuous evaluation of the programs we already implement.
A key role in this process is played by discussions about the intentions and values that guide us, and by the critical examination of the concepts on which the programs are built.
We take into account various voices in this dialogue: teachers and associates, students and alumni, school representatives from practice, and members of relevant educational bodies.
Our goal is to create an environment in which all participants feel safe to express their opinions and dilemmas, identify problems, and work on solving them.
We see this as a way for our students – future teachers – to develop as critical and reflective practitioners who will, in the future, contribute to the development of schools as learning communities.
We also aim to develop new programs for teacher education in the future – programs for continuous professional development and for the education of a wider range of subject teachers, which will also require an expansion of the teaching staff and associates engaged in the Centre’s work.
Teachers and associates of the Centre, in collaboration with scientific institutions and other national and international organizations working in the field of education, strive to research problems related to the teaching profession and teacher education, contribute to the development of teacher education as a research field and practice, and promote the social significance of the teaching profession and teacher education.
Through continuous dialogue and reflection, we aim to build CTE as a community guided by the belief that teacher education can contribute to the development of better quality and more equitable education, and thus to the development of society as a whole.