94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1523826
Evaluation of the Fundamentals of Pedagogical Activity Professional Development Programme for Teachers (2016–2023)
Provisionally accepted- University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
The Latvian education system is facing a severe teacher shortage due to causes such as an ageing teaching workforce, high workloads, inadequate salaries and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. To help address the lack of trained teachers, a specialised professional development programme of 72 academic hours, Fundamentals of Pedagogical Activity, has been implemented. The initiative aims to provide individuals with professional skills the chance to engage in teaching activities across general, vocational, and interest-based education sectors. This study, conducted from 2016 to 2023, sought to evaluate the programme’s effect on participants’ development of professional skills and their motivation to pursue a career in teaching. The research uses a descriptive method approach with questionnaires and focus group discussions explores participants’ motivations for enrolling in the programme and the effect on their professional development. Fundamentals of Pedagogical Activity participants expressed strong interest in improving teaching skills and obtaining a teaching certificate in order to pursue significant career progress and continued professional growth after finishing the programme.
Keywords: Teacher Education, alternative teacher education programmes, foundations of pedagogical activity, Further education, teacher shortage
Received: 06 Nov 2024; Accepted: 21 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Margevica Grinberga, Kiris, Lanka and Abele. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ieva Margevica Grinberga, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.