The University of Zagreb (1669) is the oldest and biggest university in South-Eastern Europe.
As a comprehensive public Central European university, it offers education and research in all scientific fields (arts, biomedicine, biotechnology, engineering, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences) and a broad spectrum of courses at all study levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate programs. With 29 Faculties, 3 Art Academies and the University Centre for Croatian Studies it is the flagship educational institution in the country, a place where more than 7900 teachers and 72,480 students develop knowledge and acquire skills.
The University excels not only in teaching, but also in research, contributing to over 50 percent to the annual research output in Croatia and 80 percent of scientific productivity of all Croatian universities. The central strategic issue in the future development of the university is for it to become a research oriented institution with high quality teaching. The Faculty of Teacher Education of the University of Zagreb is the biggest institution for educating primary school and preschool teachers in the Republic of Croatia.
The Faculty operates at three locations, with the main branch in Zagreb and local branches in Petrinja and Čakovec, totalling approximately 3,000 students and around 200 academic staff members. The Faculty implements an integrated study for teachers in primary education, as well as undergraduate and graduate studies in early and preschool education. It is the only teacher education faculty in the country that offers a Ph.D. program for primary teachers. In collaboration with the Department of Pedagogy and Sociology of the University of Münster, the Faculty established a Centre for European Education of Teachers and for Comparative Analysis of Education and European Studies. The Faculty has been the coordinator of three Tempus projects and organizes a joint master programme in Management and Counselling in European Education.
The Faculty publishes “The Croatian Journal of Education” which aims to promote and improve the study of basic educational sciences, teaching methodologies and related fundamental sciences, and computer and communication science as well as the other sciences and arts. The Faculty development priorities include the promotion of evidence based research, the development of international co-operation and creativity in education.