IGIP Prototype Curriculum in Lifelong Professional Pedagogical Development of Technical Teachers

At present the need for constant updating engineering education determines the necessity of continuous acquiring new pedagogical competences by the teachers of engineering universities. The opportunity is provided by the systems of their lifelong professional pedagogical development. In the 1970s, based on the principles of Engineering Pedagogy IGIP worked out IGIP Prototype Curriculum for pedagogical development of technical teachers that since then has been updated several times. The goal of the paper is to identify the role and place of IGIP Prototype Curriculum in modern models of lifelong professional pedagogical development of technical teachers as well as their main characteristics. To achieve the goal, four models implemented in different countries were analyzed. The analysis concerned the aims, the structure, the content, the target audience and the total workload of the educational programs. The results of the analysis show that IGIP Prototype Curriculum has still a great influence on lifelong professional pedagogical development of technical teachers. It is either a relevant integrated component of the modern models or the models correspond to its aims and content, which makes possible for learners to apply for the title “International Engineering Educator Ing.Paed.IGIP”.