Study Programme Evaluation Report
UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA
INSITUTE OF PEDAGOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY
Pre-school Pedagogue
1. The context of the curriculum and general remarks
The need for the programme is wholly justified: 27% of Latvian pre-school teachers who work in pre-school educational establishments have only secondary pedagogical education whilst the statements of the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science
(03.10.2000) require that pre-school teachers must have higher professional education. The Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology of the UL got a License from the Ministry to provide the courses at higher education level for the pre-school teachers who already have secondary pedagogical education or general secondary education plus practice in kindergartens.
The self-evaluation report is well structured and includes almost all the necessary information about the programme. Regrettably, this does not include the CV of the teaching staff and feedback information from students and employers. The situation at the regional level is somewhat unclear: the self-evaluation report says (p 7) that pedagogical practice takes place in Daugavpils, Riga, Valmiera and Jelgava, the possibilities to study regular courses outside of Riga are not described. From the previous visit (1999) I can confirm that the material resources for studying in these regions are not very good, though satisfactory. In case there had been a progress made during this time, it should have been described in the report. The difference between
A and B parts of programme could be described more clearly in 1.5. (p 4). There is no sufficient information about the arrangement of teaching and learning and process in the self-evaluation report.
2.
The curriculum goals and objectives
The goals and objectives (tasks) of the curriculum must be stated more definitely. The goals/aims from the viewpoint of society, teaching staff/Institute and the viewpoint of students could be more clearly differentiated, the objectives/tasks could be defined on the basis of the knowledge, skills and attitudes/value-orientations that the students must obtain during their studies. One of the tasks (p 4, the only one that describes the planned outcomes at the level of students) evokes some questions. It is said, that a task of the study programme is “To create a possibility for every future pre-school teacher to develop her activity (ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, physical) forming inner wish to study and acquire the experience of the teachers of previous generations”. (P.
4) This definition has a clearly conservative character and it is difficult to agree that the orientation to the past only is sufficient in the rapidly changing Latvian society.
3. The Curriculum Construction, Organisation, Sequencing and Learning Time
1) The programme is designed for two years with curriculum volume of 80 credits. I consider the optimal amount of the curriculum one of the strongest points of the programme: the Institute showed that it is client/student oriented and not institution/teachers oriented. Considering the fact that students pay for their studies

and a longer learning time would satisfy the short-term economic interests of the
UL it is laudable that the Institute had chosen its long-term interests as an institution which serves the students’ needs.
2) Some remarks on curriculum construction: a) there are too many short courses in the curriculum, I suggest to structure the curriculum on the basis of modules (each of them about 4-5 and even more credits): this compels the staff to construct the curriculum in accordance with the competencies needed by the graduates, to broaden their own professional competencies and to work in (modular) teams. b) the division of the curriculum into compulsory A- and optional B-part is reasonable, the space for the students’ free choices could be broader; c) a further discussion in the Institute on the length of pedagogical practice is necessary: perhaps the amount of practice should be larger (10 credits?) in spite of the fact that the students are already working as pre-school teachers: a reflexive practitioner could be one of the most important aims of their studies and a supervised practice with tight connection to research activities could be useful; d) I consider the length of learning time given to the students’ research (4 plus 8 credits) optimal, e) Arrangement of final examinations - state exam plus the defence of the diploma project – is rational.
4. The Curriculum Content
1) Content of the curriculum generally corresponds to the long-term traditions of the pre-school teachers’ education but it is valuable that some contemporary courses – computer science, psychology of communication, fundamentals of economics, neurobiology, pre-school management etc – are included. My subjective impression is that there is a danger of over-theorising at the cost of more practical approaches: why for example “The theory of handwork” or “Music pedagogy and educational theory”,
perhaps “The pedagogy/methods of handwork in pre-school education” or analogous courses would be more pragmatic?
2)
It is somewhat questionable to place “History of pedagogy in Latvia” into part A whilst a more general course “History of Pedagogy” is in part B.
3) Annotations of the courses could be more detailed and needed literature must be added.
5. The Process of Teaching and Learning
1) Information about organisation of learning experiences of students is obviously insufficient in the self-evaluation report.
2) Organisation and aims of pedagogical practice are good and well grounded.
6. Learning Resources
1) It is difficult to decide whether the learning resources of students are sufficient or not: we did not visit the regional centres. The number of books and periodicals in the Library of Latvian University and access to Internet resources are satisfactory to the professional studies of pre-school teachers.
7. Matriculation procedures and the students
1) The matriculation conditions are quite rational: competitive basis by means of interview for those with secondary pedagogical education or secondary education

plus required pedagogical experience in pre-school education of no less than two years.
2) Meeting with the students showed that they are satisfied with their studies and are certain to find work in pre-school establishments after graduation.
3) I think that paying tuition fees is not easy for many students and therefore the length of courses – only two years – is wholly justified.
4) More information about students – their amount, drop-outs and success – is necessary.
8. Staff, Quality Assurance and Enhancement
1) The staff of doctoral studies is quite qualified and is able to provide courses for pre-school teachers at the tertiary level of education.
2) Regrettably, the quality assurance procedures are not described in the selfevaluation report and we got no sufficient information on this topic on our site visit.
9. Conclusion
Considering the needs of the Latvian society for pre-school teachers with higher education diploma, the highly qualified staff of the Institute of Education and
Psychology of University of Latvia, rational learning time assigned to the studies and acceptable content of the curriculum I recommend to accredit the programme “Preschool pedagogue” of the Institute of Education and Psychology for six years.
17 11. 2001
Viive Ruus, professor of Tallinn Pedagogical University
Study Programme Evaluation Report
UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA
INSITUTE OF PEDAGOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY
Pre-school Pedagogue
Bonifacas Stundžia, Prof., Ph.D.
Dept of Baltic and General Linguistics, Univ. of Vilnius
24 January 2002
2. The context of the curriculum and general remarks
The need for the programme is justified: 27% of Latvian pre-school teachers who work in pre-school educational establishments have only secondary pedagogical

education. The statements of the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science require from pre-school teachers higher professional education. The Institute of Pedagogy and
Psychology of the UL has got a License to provide the courses at higher education level for the pre-school teachers who already have secondary pedagogical education or general secondary education plus practice in kindergartens.
The self-evaluation report is well structured and includes almost all the necessary information about the programme with the exception of CVs of the teaching staff and feedback information from students and employers. There is no sufficient information about the arrangement of teaching and learning process in the self-evaluation report.
2.
The curriculum goals and objectives
Not being a specialist in pedagogy I agree wit the evaluation of Prof. Viive Ruus, especially as far as the orientation to the past is concerned.
4. The Curriculum Construction and Organisation
The programme is designed for two years with curriculum volume of 80 credits.
Some remarks on curriculum construction: 1) I would think that the possibility for the students’ free choices could be broader; 2) a big amount of short courses is not a positive feature of curriculum.
5. The Curriculum Content
I would expect more detailed description of the courses including literature.
5. Learning Resources
It is difficult to decide whether the learning resources of students are sufficient or not: we did not visit the regional centres. The number of books and periodicals in the
Library of Latvian University and access to Internet resources are satisfactory to the professional studies of pre-school teachers.
6The students
5) Meeting with the students showed that they were very enthusiastic and satisfied with their studies, their teachers and were certain to find work in pre-school establishments after graduation;
6) Paying tuition fees is not easy for many students and therefore the length of courses is justified.
7. Staff, Quality Assurance and Enhancement
The staff is quite qualified and enthusiastic to provide courses for pre-school teachers.
Low salaries and overload of teachers is an extremely serious problem for the Faculty and University. The state has to make decisions in this area.
8. Conclusion
Considering the needs of the Latvian society for pre-school teachers with higher education diploma, the highly qualified staff of the Institute of Education and
Psychology of University of Latvia, rational learning time assigned to the studies and acceptable content of the curriculum I recommend to accredit the programme “Preschool pedagogue” of the Institute of Education and Psychology for six years.