University teachers’ teaching competencies: Their importance for advancement in the Croatian context

Snježana Močinić and Lorena Lazarić and Ivana Paula Gortan Carlin

Summary:  The aim of this study was to analyse whether the quality of teaching and the pedagogical-didactic and psychological competencies are considered important to work at the university and to advance professionally. A descriptive and causal non-experimental method of pedagogical research was employed, using a survey with attitude scales and pedagogical documentation analysis. The research was conducted using a newly constructed questionnaire for which the reliability α = 0.804 was determined. This pilot research included the teaching staff of the University of Pula at all levels of the academic career. The participants encompassed by this pilot research agree that, to be employed at a university, a formal compulsory education in the area of pedagogy and psychology should be completed by teachers who did not have the opportunity to gain it earlier, because to conduct quality teaching at higher education institutions it is not enough to thoroughly know the subject content or to observe examples of good practice, and neither is it sufficient to occasionally enrol in targeted training.