The importance of comptences throughout the career: a study of educators from the North-Great Plain Region

Abstract

Teachers’ continuous professional development has become an important professional discourse during the last decade. Career models that define the professional development with development of competences are less complex in the field of institutional effects, development of professional identity or reflectivity than the academic dialogues. However, in-service teachers mainly meet the concept of competencies in those policy documents that affect their work. This research examines what competences the teachers in their early years consider important and how committed they are to the teaching profession. Results show that the competences of the Hungarian career model do not differ according to career stages, e. g. the development of problem-solving competence is considered important by all respondents, while the importance of reflectivity is low in each career stages.