The study of pedagogy in the Republic of Macedonia: development and contemporary challenges

Dr. Suzana Miovska-Spaseva

Summary:  This article gives an overview of almost a hundred years of development in the study of pedagogy in Macedonia and examines the current situation regarding the organisation and realisation of the programmes for initial education and professional development of pedagogues. Historical aspects of the studies are elaborated in the framework of the development of higher education in Macedonia, in which several stages are identified and discussed. The analysis of the contemporary situation focusses mainly on the degree structure changes that were made through implementation of the Bologna Reform. Each of the three cycles of studies is discussed through the presentation of the study programme, a comparison with the situation before the Reform was implemented, and initiatives that were undertaken to improve the quality of education at a certain level. The analysis is based on the original faculties’ documents, their internal statistical data, as well as legal documents that regulate higher education in the Republic of Macedonia. At the end, the importance of two issues are discussed as challenges for the future development of the studies of pedagogy: changes in the language of pedagogy and education that reflect the process of globalisation and the free market approach in education, and consequences of the implementing the Bologna Reform that call for it to be reconsidered and revised.