The teaching profession: where to study in the Czech Republic, how to apply and what to prepare for

The teaching profession is one of the most sought-after professions in the Czech Republic. Every year, thousands of applicants apply to pedagogical faculties of various Czech universities. For example, every year Charles University alone receives about 8,000 "invitations" to specialties that are in one way or another related to teaching or educational activities. Such interest is caused, first of all, by the great demand of European schools and gymnasiums for highly qualified teachers, lecturers and educators. Unlike most CIS countries, in the Czech Republic the teaching profession is treated very respectfully.

About where future teachers are trained and what is necessary for admission to the Faculty of Education, we will tell you in our review.

Main areas of training

You may be surprised, but pedagogical faculties train not only teachers. Here also receive education social workers, kindergarten teachers, teaching assistants, speech therapists and teachers of additional education. The future profession directly depends on the specialty chosen by the student.

If the applicant chooses such educational programs as "Pedagogy" or "Special Pedagogy", he will not be able to be a teacher, but he will be able to work in children's leisure centers or specialized educational institutions for children with special developmental needs.

In the direction of "School Management" or, as it is also called, "Management in the education system" prepares management personnel for schools, gymnasiums and lyceums. You will not be able to teach any subject, instead you will have to organize the educational process, select teaching staff and solve financial issues of the school.

Bachelor's degree programs "Educational Work" and "Teaching in Kindergartens" allow you to work in preschool educational institutions.

A completed master's degree in Elementary Teacher or Subject Teacher already enables graduates to teach in elementary or secondary schools.

"A teacher is a person who can make difficult things easy." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ranking of the best teaching faculties in the Czech Republic

In 2016, the renowned Czech marketing agency SC&C presented to public attention its own ranking of the country's best universities teaching the disciplines of pedagogy and teaching.

The final list included only 9 pedagogical faculties from 8 public and 1 private university in the Czech Republic.

• The first place went to the oldest university in the Czech Republic - Charles University
• The second place went to the Palacky University in Olomouc.
• The bronze medal went to the University of Ostrava.
• The fourth place went to Masaryk University.
• In fifth place was the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň.
• In sixth position was the University of Hradec Králové.
• Jan Evangelista Purkine University in Usti nad Labem was ranked seventh in terms of the quality of education provided.
• Eighth place went to the only private university on the list, Jan Komenský University in Prague.
• The ninth position went to the Technical University of Liberec.

Conditions of admission to pedagogical faculties in the Czech Republic

All pedagogical faculties of Czech universities are based on quite similar curricula. This is primarily due to the introduction of the Bologna system of education in all European universities, which is designed to harmonize higher education in the EU countries and allow students to study at different European universities without losing years and knowledge.

Main subjects: Introduction to Psychology, Pedagogy, Fundamentals of Sociology, Psychology of Adolescence, Social Pedagogy, etc.

Education at the faculties of pedagogy is conducted through undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs. In order to become a full-fledged teacher and have the right to teach in schools or gymnasiums, it is important to obtain a master's degree, a bachelor's degree alone will not be enough.

General conditions of admission

The conditions of admission to pedagogical faculties are identical, there are slight differences only in the deadline dates for admission of applications and their cost. In general, in order to become a student of "ped" is necessary:

• Timely submit the electronic version of the application on the official website of the selected university
• Timely pay the fee for the "invitation card"
• Show a nostrified secondary school certificate or a confirmed bachelor's diploma
• Provide a certificate of Czech language proficiency at least at level B2.

*For some specialties it is also important to have, for example, a doctor's certificate of general health.

Entrance examinations

The number of subjects for the entrance examinations and the form of the examinations vary depending on the specialty to which the applicant is applying.

Often, future students are asked to write tests for prerequisites to study and any one major. If the student plans to work with pre-school children, he or she will also need to take a creative exam.

A test on prerequisites for learning. It may be called differently: OSP or TSP, but its essence does not change at all. The purpose of this test is to check how well the student has developed the skills necessary for studying at university.

The test itself consists of 4 parts: verbal, logical, technical and cultural. A strictly limited amount of time is allotted for each part. Unfortunately, it is impossible to skip a question that causes difficulties and return to it later. For each correct answer the applicant gets 1 point, for each wrong answer the point is deducted.

Tests on specialized subjects. Most often tests on profile subjects have to pass the entrants to the specialty "Subject Teacher". Depending on the chosen direction, school knowledge in one or another discipline is tested.

It is interesting that in the Czech Republic it is impossible to choose a particular subject, which the graduate of the faculty will teach later, it is important that it was at least 2 subjects. For example, if an applicant wants to become a foreign language teacher, he/she must choose 2 languages and it is them that he/she will pass at the entrance exams.

Interview. One of the stages of entrance examinations at the pedagogical faculty can be an oral interview with the admission committee, consisting of teachers of the department in which the applicant's further education is planned.

At the interview, most often, the list of profile literature read earlier is discussed and the reasons why the student chose this particular specialty are clarified.

Creative Examination. As already described above, the creative exam is taken by students who enter the specialties related to work in kindergartens, social and leisure centers. The exam includes several different kinds of tasks, for example, to play the piano or perform a song, pass the minimum in acrobatic gymnastics, swimming or running for 1000 meters.

Training programs

One should not even hope that the pedagogical faculty of one of the Czech universities will become a kind of "wand" or a backup "plan B" in case of failure to enter more preferable programs. As you can see, the entrance exams for the directions "Pedagogy" and "Teaching" by the degree of complexity are practically no inferior to the majority of other demanded specialties, which means that the preparation for admission should be as thorough and focused as possible.

All Prague Education Center programs are designed according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which allows students to achieve incredible results in just one semester. To prepare for the Faculty of Education, it is worth considering our programs.

Prague Education Center's consultants can tell you more about PEC's language courses and help you find the best training program to suit your preferences and wishes, all you have to do is apply.

Employment of graduates of the Faculty of Education in the Czech Republic

Most often students find a future job while they are still studying at the university thanks to the annual internship, which is a mandatory part of the educational process. The average salary for a young specialist is approximately CZK 25,000. The level of salary depends largely on whether the teacher teaches in a private or public school and in which city of the Czech Republic the school is located.

For those who are still weighing the pros and cons of teaching, here is a list of 4 positive aspects of working in a school. It was compiled especially for the Czech student publication "StudentMag" by graduates of pedagogical faculties.

1. Vacations

Unlike other professions, teachers can count on a much longer vacation than 20 days a year. The summer vacation alone stretches for 2 months.

2. Independent work

You decide how you work with children and how you structure your lessons.

3. Prestige

In the lists of the most respected professions, a teacher is on a par with a doctor.

4. Working hours

A teacher has no more than 21 hours a week to teach, which means that on average a teacher has 3-4 lessons a day. But do not forget that this should also include the hours spent on preparing lessons and checking homework.