PhD PROGRAMME IN PEDAGOGY AND CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL CULTURE

PhD PROGRAMME IN PEDAGOGY AND CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL CULTURE

The PhD programme in Pedagogy and Contemporary School Culture may be enrolled by students who have completed the Master level programme in Pedagogy (and related sciences) and thus gained 300 ECTS credits or students who have graduated from a four-year university study programme in Pedagogy (and related sciences) in the study system before 2005. The related sciences in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities are the following: philosophy, psychology, sociology, education and rehabilitation sciences, information and communication sciences and other scientific areas that are oriented towards teaching. The approval for enrolment and (possible) differential exams will be proposed (for each student separately) by the Committee of the PhD programme in Pedagogy and Contemporary School Culture, and accepted by the Council of the Department of Pedagogy. For students who graduated in the programme before 2005 or acquired their Master's Degree, the Committee of the PhD programme in Pedagogy and Contemporary School Culture will decide what to recognize and will determine the obligations for the doctoral studies.

The criteria and procedures for enrolling and selecting candidates are as following:

a) the GPA in graduate studies (or four-year university study programme before 2005) - at least 4.0
b) motivation for research in the field of Pedagogy
c) the letters of recommendation from two teachers from the previously completed graduate studies

3 years (6 semesters)

180

PhD

In accordance with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the Croatian Qualifications Framework (CQF), the PhD programme represents the highest level of education, and the graduates should acquire four fundamental features of learning outcomes: 1) the level, i.e. the complexity of the competencies that correspond to the 8th degree of the Qualifications Framework; 2) the volume, i.e. the total amount of competencies for the degree; 3) the professional profile; 4) the quality, the reliability and the credibility of the statement of the completed doctoral studies recognized in a public document.

This PhD programme, in all its components, is performed on the 8th level of the Qualifications Framework.

Learning outcomes:

• the ability to achieve and interpret new knowledge through original research and the publication of own research
• the ability of systematic understanding of own research field
• the ability of systematic understanding of the applied research field the student is active in
• the ability to apply knowledge to create concepts and to develop and implement projects that will generate new knowledge, application and understanding
• the ability of original contribution to the knowledge corpus verified through publications in nationally and internationally recognized journals
• the capacity for critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas
• the ability to make judgments on complex issues in the framework of relevant social, academic and ethical responsibility
• the ability to present conclusions and results of original research to the expert and general audience in a clear and effective manner
• the development of quality and generic skills for employment and self-employment.

On completion of the PhD programme in Pedagogy and Contemporary School Culture the doctoral candidates will have acquired the following competencies:

• apply different theoretical approaches and philosophical starting points to define the goal and tasks in the structuring of a contemporary curriculum as an optimal strategy of educational practice: apply the conceptual and categorical apparatus; research methodology and curriculum design; different scholarly interpretations and doubts about curricular issues; critical observation of the curriculum in education and school
• identify general and specific features of the phenomenon of education, the starting points and principles of education (and theories of education) through the training for critical questioning of pluralism in the framework of pedagogical science
• identify and critically analyse the various theoretical and methodological approaches to curricular standards within the school system as a whole
• functionally analyse the curricular and didactic models and understand the extent of the curriculum application
• plan and carry out the research in the area of creation, implementation and evaluation of the school curriculum and present respective research reports
• discuss the components of the, so-called, hidden curriculum, various unplanned educational influences: social environment, culture, family, peer groups, informal factors and social relations that exist between them
• apply the basic theoretical and methodological guidelines of the social and academic conditionality of the phenomena of alternative pedagogical ideas and schools in the educational practice as a form of the pedagogical pluralism and the freedom in education
• develop the ability for theoretical and methodological approach to integrative research of the different aspects of socialization in education and identify and analyse the main factors of socialization in formal, non-formal and informal educational and social communities
• plan and implement research in the field of phenomenology, etiology and the treatment of behavioural disorders and interpret and implement the results of the research
• identify and recognize different forms of behavioural disorders and know how to plan, implement and evaluate the prevention programmes and the implementation of research on behavioural disorders in school and other social environments
• develop diagnostic competencies important for participation in the process of internal and external evaluation at different levels of education and training
• introduce and improve the basic docimological norms and ways to assess and evaluate knowledge, preferences in the usage of instruments and methods of assessment by introducing the techniques of assessment and reviewing and the construction of various forms of monitoring the assessment and evaluation of students
• adopt and analyse the concepts and principles of the intercultural curriculum, as well as research approaches to the intercultural pedagogy through the adoption of a complete and systematized insight into the starting points, approach and ways of establishing/creating an intercultural curriculum
• know and be able to critically analyse multiculturalism and interculturalism as a social phenomenon: the appearance, incentives, influences, resistances and perspectives; especially knowing the mutual relations between interculturalism and education and the ways they transfer into the educational practice aiming to encourage the intercultural competencies of teachers and pedagogues
• understand the key concepts of the European policy in education for the active democratic citizenship and the complexity of the European approaches to the development policy and practice of education for the active democratic citizenship and develop skills and competencies for creating quality indicators and restructuring educational institutions for self-assessment and self-development
• master the skills of critical analysis and interpretation of the implementation strategies at the national and local level to ensure quality education for active democratic citizenship
• develop ideas for leading and managing various pedagogical processes in schools with the aim of organizing quality and effective school practice
• know the theoretical determinants and the diverse aspects of the approach to school management and school autonomy and adopt competencies for accomplishing management and development functions of the educational institutions through the research in the area of pedagogical management
• use and implement functions and advantages of new technologies with the aim of utilizing their educational benefits and opportunities.

Contemporary Pedagogical Science,  Pedagogical Research Methodology and Statistics,  School Curriculum Research Methodology, Curriculum Theories, Didactic Standards of Education and Teaching, School as Educational Institution, Teaching Practice in Contemporary School, Styles and Contents of Parent and School Cooperation, Research Activities, Preparation, submission and public defence of the doctoral thesis (synopsis), Preparation and public defence of the dissertation.