THE TEACHER QUALIFICATION SCHEME: A CASE OF ALBANIA

The study aims to analyse the results of “Teacher Qualification Exam” in Albania, and to link these results with teacher preparation curricula taught in public universities. The methodology of research includes desk research on the literature about curricula and teacher continuous professional development, elaboration of the results of the testing of 3064 teachers, analysis of the university teacher preparation curricula in terms of skills development, the elaboration of the results of questionnaires developed by novice teachers, and in depth interviews with students graduating from the education departments. As a result, the research shows the relationships amongst the curricula developed in the teacher preparation faculties in Albania, the poor results of novice teachers involved in the induction scheme, and the comparatively low results of teachers pertaining to the third category of the Qualification Scheme (novice teachers having no more than 5 years of teaching experience) in Albania. It is advisable to adopt a better professional development scheme.