Teacher (self)education, professional development, and digital transformation

In order to strengthen the prestige of the pedagogical profession, the relevance of scientific discussions about the experience, change and perspectives of pedagogical (self)education is emerging. New challenges for teachers presuppose the need for their continuous learning, leadership and competence development. It is becoming important to analyse the expression of teachers’ professional growth and the factors that promote their well-being. In the context of rapid societal change, it is important to discuss trends in teacher (self)education that enable the development of educational processes grounded in interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning organization, while fostering collaboration and co-creation among all participants involved in the educational process. It is also relevant to analyse how AI tools can be integrated into teacher education and professional practice, as well as the ethical, pedagogical, and epistemological dilemmas they raise. Discussion is also needed on teachers’ digital literacy, the critical evaluation of technologies, opportunities for personalized learning, data-driven education, and the transformation of the teacher’s role in the digital age. Questions related to academic integrity, the reliability of assessment, and the authenticity of learning should also be examined.

Challenges for the implementation of inclusive education for the training of teachers and educational support professionals

The education system in Lithuania is based on the principle of inclusion, when conditions are created for each person to self-educate, develop their powers and abilities, receive the necessary help, experience success while learning in social, cultural and/or other activities and not be discriminated due to the diversity of educational needs and/or education assistance needs. With increasing student diversity and achieving the goals of quality education for each learner, it is important to analyse the competences needed for teachers and educators in the context of inclusive education, collaborating and providing personalized support focused on each learner’s success and meaningful participation in the learning process.

Competences of teacher educators and their (self)improvement

The professionalism of teacher educators is recognized as the most important factor in ensuring the quality of the teacher community, so it is important to analyse the values of teacher educators, strategies for working with students, assessment methods, etc. It is useful to share good practice on research-based studies, discuss how the personalization of the study programme content is ensured, how the students’ age, life experience, social, cultural or linguistic environment or disability is taken into account. Therefore, in order to assess students’ existing competences and predict in which areas they need to improve, teacher educators themselves need to have up-to-date competences and professional development.

Subject didactics and teachers’ decision-making in the classroom

Recent research in teacher education increasingly focuses on how teachers make real-time didactic decisions in the classroom, guided by the logic of subject content, their understanding of students’ thinking, and monitoring of learning processes. It is important to analyse the role of subject didactics in developing teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, professional vision, and adaptive teaching skills. It is important to discuss the processes of effective teaching across different subject areas: how teachers recognize students’ understanding and errors, formulate questions, provide feedback, select representations, and adapt the course of teaching according to classroom learning dynamic. This topic invites reflection on how research-based subject didactics can strengthen teacher education and support the development of a meaningful, deep learning process that fosters and sustains each student’s (self)education.