D.1.1. Needs Analysis Universities and Educational System
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Developing teacher competences for a comprehensive VET system in Albania - TEAVET Working Package 1 Needs analysis on LLL for teachers Deliverable 1.1 Needs analysis: universities and educational system TEAVET PROJECT - DEVELOPING TEACHER COMPETENCIES FOR A COMPREHENSIVE VET SYSTEM IN ALBANIA Project No: 586300-EPP-1-2017-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-SP This project has been funded with support from the European Commission Contents Executive Summary 3 1. Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth 11 2. "Sports University of Tirana. Faculty of Movement Sciences” 29 3. “Aleksandër Moisiu” University of Durrës 49 4. University of Elbasan “Aleksander Xhuvani” 81 5. “Eqrem Çabej” University of Gjirokastër 127 6. "Fan S. Noli” University 141 7. University of Shkodra "Luigj Gurakuqi" 165 8. University College “Pavaresia Vlore” 189 9. University of Vlora “Ismail Qemali” 235 Annex 1. Questionnaire 261 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive Summary The Albanian education system has experienced various reforms and curriculum changes in recent years. To this situation, it be added the technological change and the new methodologies that make up a different educational model today. It is important that preuniversitary teachers not only have adequate education and vocational training during their initial training, but also have a high level of continuous professional development at all levels. Lifelong learning (LLL) thus becomes a necessity for Albanian teachers who need to adapt to these new changes. It is within this framework that the project "Developing Teacher Competences for a Comprehensive VET System in Albania" is situated. The main aim is to implement a High Quality Vocational Education and Training (VET) system for in-service teachers. This initiative situates universities as the main providers of this continuous professional development of teachers. The Institute for Educational Development (IZHA) from the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth has developed guidelines to be followed by the universities responsible for developing training courses. In this sense, it is essential to identify the training needs and demands of teachers and school administrators, as well as the most appropriate methodologies to carry out this training. It is also important to know what are the main motivations that teachers have to participate in the courses. All of this will help to understand which trainings are the most valuable to be offered during the development of the project. This report presents the results of the survey that aims to understand these needs and motivations. A questionnaire was used which was designed by professors from the University of Elbasan in direct collaboration with European partners from the University of Krems, Austria. The questionnaire is comprised of 8 different sections and each section of several question. Data was collected between December 2017 and January 2018. Two interest groups were considered in the survey: a) Pre-university sector: teachers, school leaders and teacher associations; and, b) University staff. The following table shows the number of responses received by each university according to both target groups: - 5 - Table 1: Number of responses for each stakeholder University Pre-university teachers, University staff school leaders and teacher associations Sports University of Tirana 84 44 University of Durrës 185 15 University of Elbasan 240 42 University of Gjirokastra 170 10 University of Korça 96 35 University of Shkodra 277 117 University College Pavaresia Vlora 177 9 University of Vlora 275 19 TOTAL 1504 291 The main results of the study are described below considering the responses of all the universities. The incorporation of ICTs in education is one of the most expressed needs. Teachers consider that they need to improve their digital skills, but do not know how to do it. This is a relevant demand given the multifaceted impact these tools have on teaching and learning. The demands arise both in general training on the use of these tools and in specific training on platforms or devices. Although many teachers have basic knowledge in this area, they consider that these ones are not sufficient to meet the needs of the classroom. The most used devices by pre-university teachers are the smartphone and the laptop/computer. The tablet is the least used device. As for social networks, the use of Facebook or Google+ stands out. Twitter or Linkedln are less used networks. Teachers point out that they would like to use social networks to share their professional experiences. Teachers' level of knowledge of online platforms is low. Although some platforms, such as Moodle, Prezi, Padlet, Google Forms or Google Classroom, are known by pre- university teaching staff, their use in the teaching is very reduced. Stakeholders state that there are other difficulties related to the use of ICT in learning situations. First, many teachers point out that they do not receive sufficient technical support to use ICT and also have not received equipment from their employers. In addition, few schools have a support person available to help use ICT at work. In the next paragraph, the needs of teacher training in terms of competences required by the labour market are presented. There have been no major differences between the - 6 - responses given by the two groups. Both pre-university teachers and university staff identified the next needs: the development of a training model including both pedagogical and technical components, and training according to good practice and in ways coherent with local contexts. From a methodological perspective, respondents expressed interest in designing gender-balanced and inclusive programmes, using flexible and learner-centred training methods. The development of pedagogical innovations that equip students with general and specific skills and prepare them for the knowledge society is seen as very important tool. The open-ended responses made it possible to identify other specific teaching needs, such as the fulfillment of portfolio tasks or the most precise and effective way of writing tests. Integrating entrepreneurship education into training or setting up close linkages between training and industry were considered less relevant, with the exception of the representatives of the University College Pavaresia Vlore and the University of Korça, which gave greater relevance to these aspects. The fact that there is a general and individual awareness of training needs can improve the provision of stable and long-term LLL structures. Teachers feel well prepared by their studies for the everyday work. In three of the universities (University of Durrës, University of Elbasan and University of Vlora), the percentages of satisfaction exceed 80%. However, in other universities, such as University of Shkodra or University College Pavaresia Vlora, these values are much more reduced. One of the most important shortcomings that were reported by the pre-university teachers is the lack of application of relevant educational theory in practice during university studies. It also appears as a significant deficit the limited capacity to match teacher ICT competencies with the tech-savvy of the new generation of learners. In addition, in four of the universities, lack of approaches to developing cross-occupational competencies has been identified as a very relevant. Competencies related to the labor market, such as the possibility to identify job demand or ability to identify what does the student need to learn to be effective in employment, have been considered shortcomings to a lesser extent. However, there are important differences depending on the context. Thus, those surveyed by the University of Sports express as the main lack the possibility to identify job demand. This one is also identified as very important by university - 7 - teachers. It seems that the link between education and labour market is more relevant for this second target group. One of the aims of the survey was to identify the main resources demanded by pre- university teachers for LLL. Most of the responses focused on economic aspects such as increasing spending on education or increasing salaries. Although, once again, the responses of both target groups are quite similar, it should be noted that the university staff of the University of Durrës (UAMD) or the University of Korça did not give so much importance to salaries. In addition, there are other demands like more professional training and development for teachers or an improvement in physical infrastructures. Other aspects such as the development of extracurricular activities, student-teacher ratio or the requirements to enter the teaching profession were considered less relevant. Improving career and self-awareness are, together with the need to create effective teaching and learning environments, the main reasons given by respondents to enroll in a course. Developing ICT teaching skills for the specific knowledge in everyday work and helping pupils to develop better their competences have also been considered relevant aspects, especially by pre-university teachers. Respondents gave less importance to other incentives such as the development of new and innovative solutions or training for learners to improve the management of their learning time. However, there are again some important differences between universities. In this way, the last of the incentives mentioned is indicated as very relevant by stakeholders of University of Gjirokastra. The following paragraph describes the situation