Lower Secondary School Teacher Training in Physics

----------

Through studying for the Master’s degree graduates gain the necessary competences that allow them to critically apply the use of their pedagogical and psychological knowledge in practice as a teacher at a primary or secondary school. Graduates are fully qualified to pursue the profession of a teacher. They are ready to base their professional conduct on well-structured knowledge and skills from their fields of approbation (content knowledge). The effectiveness of their professional conduct is conditioned by their subject-didactic (pedagogical content knowledge) and broader pedagogical and psychological knowledge and skills (knowledge of the broader background of education, knowledge of educational practices, knowledge about people involved in education, etc.).

The degree develops students’ analytical and comparative skills, which enable them to understand the diverse pedagogical reality and to use subject-specific, pedagogical, and psychological publications in their work for planning, implementing and reflecting on educational activities. They develop communication skills important for communication and collaboration with pupils/clients, colleagues in the workplace, with parents of pupils/clients and with practitioners. An important benefit of the degree is the development of self-reflective skills that provide space for the development of attitudes towards one another, to educated individuals and to the profession: perception of the responsibility of the teaching profession, the acceptance of the moral obligations of a helping profession and its ethics.

The studies emphasise the principle of interdisciplinarity (interconnection of some pedagogical and psychological subjects) and the principle of sequence and gradation of themes and courses, from the more general to the more specific. The concept is also characterized by the interdependence of theory and practice. An important part of the concept is the reflective teaching practice. The principles of reflection on teaching practice and self-reflection are related both to practice and to other experience-oriented subjects. An important part of the concept is also the promotion of inclusion, which is perceived as a cross-curricular theme (also supported by a separate course).

Upon successful completion of the programme, the graduate is able to:

• apply comprehensive and systematic structured knowledge and skills in physics;
• apply fundamental knowledge and skills in Didactics of Physics;
• demonstrate sufficient skills to work as a physics teacher at a lower secondary school;
• plan, implement and reflect on their own teaching at the appropriate level of established professional competences;
• use basic professional terminology and information sources of pedagogical and school psychology in describing, analysing, interpreting and evaluating typical teaching situations, as well as describing the educational environment of the school;
• use basic methods and tools of pedagogical diagnostics in practice and obtain data available for individual support of the student / client and data for working with a group or class;
• explain and to reflect on the principles of inclusive education at the level of culture, politics and practice of the school in their educational activities;
• create an inclusive environment in the classroom, to apply at least some strategies of individualization and differentiation in teaching;
• describe and individually explain specific learning processes with a specific example from their portfolio;
• reflect on the experience of their own teaching practice in the professional community and to use reflection and self-reflection as a tool of professional learning:
• critically evaluate their own attitudes towards education and assess how they behave in the role of the teacher with regard to the stated educational objectives;
• recognise the strengths and weaknesses of their professional performance, and propose personal development goals and how to achieve them.

The aim of the study field Lower Secondary School Teacher Training in Physics is to prepare graduates for teaching Physics at lower and upper secondary schools including lower grades of grammar schools.

Moreover, they are qualified to work in extracurricular institutions.

• Teacher of the second level of primary school
• Secondary school teacher

The standard duration of studies is four semesters. For admittance to the final state examination students must obtain a total of 120 ECTS credits in required, selective and elective courses.

During the course of their studies students should follow the "Study catalogue" for their year of matriculation. They can access the "Study catalogues" through the faculty website.

The principles of checking and evaluating the study are set out in the Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University.

Reflected teaching practice is in accordance with the Framework concepts at PdF MU. The system of teaching practice is long term and systematically directed towards developing the professional skills of the student and preparing them for the role of teacher.

--------------

The teaching practice is conceived as a coherent and gradated system with an emphasis on interconnection with theory and reflection and self-reflection of the student as a teacher.

The aim of the teaching practice is to acquire the professional competences necessary in the daily work of the teacher, to become acquainted with the roles which the teacher enters into in their work, to realize their own professional needs and to gradually take responsibility for the planning, implementation and evaluation of lessons. Throughout the teaching practice, students get a real idea of what a teacher's everyday work involves.

The teaching practice forms a coherent system of consecutive subjects. In the follow-up master's programmes, these are the subjects Teaching Practice 1 (1st semester), Teaching Practice 2 (2nd semester) and Teaching Practice 3 (3rd semester). In total, this makes up 280 hours (double-subject programme), followed by Seminar on Teaching Practice. Students enrol in the Seminar on Teaching Practice 1 twice during their studies (in the first and second semesters). The aim of the reflection is to provide students with a space for sharing and reflecting on experiences from their own teaching practice and helping them to deepen their reflective and self-reflective skills.

The system of teaching practice is regularly evaluated both through open and closed questions, both by students and the mentor teachers. The reflective seminars are also evaluated.

After completion of the Master's studies, it is possible to continue in further studies in the doctoral degree programme in School and Social Education (after satisfying the admission requirements).