A B S T R A C TThe text addresses the theme of teachers' professional development. The role of a teacher is defined by cultural and social events and the environment, and they influence the differences that occur in the concept of teacher roles within different cultures, societies, including the geographic environment. Thus, in the first part of the paper, based on an analysis of the literature, we identify factors that significantly influence teachers' perception of their role and consequently, determine their professional identity. In the second part, based on the results of the empirical research, we show that factors such as teachers' beliefs about their own qualifications, as well as years of work experience and subject area, statistically significantly influenced the development of the teachers' professional identity. The main findings of the study are that teachers with several years of service experience feel better qualified to perform their duties (tasks related to planning and teaching were rated the most highly) than teachers with less work experience, and that teachers with more work experience evaluated the claims related to their educational activity statistically significantly higher. An important finding is that teachers define their professional identity and consequently, their role through their personality traits, which shows that we must not ignore teachers' personality traits, as they play an important role in teachers' professional development and identity.

The purpose of this paper is to explore attitudes towards learning and perceptions of the learning environment. Our theoretical examination is based on the social-cognitive theory of motivation and research that emphasizes the connections between an individual's perceptions of the learning environment and his/her motivation, interest, attitudes and confidence. Recent theories that deal with 'powerful learning environments ' (Fraser, 2002) stress that the teacher should not look only at the physical aspects of the environment in which learning takes place, but also at the learner's perceptions and beliefs. The importance of multiple aspects of learning environments will be stressed and some recommendations for improving the effectiveness of these environments will be given. Additionally, some theoretical concepts of learning environments will be reviewed. We will examine empirically the differences and correlations that occur in adult learners' motivation and attitudes due to their psycho-social and physical learning environment. An international comparison between various post-socialist countries has also been carried out.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of the ?Competence-based didactic units? in vocational education on students? motivation and self-regulated learning. The sample consisted of 115 males and 133 females (n=250) who were attending secondary vocational or technical schools in Slovenia. The students were included in an experimental project that introduced a ?competence- based didactic unit? (CBDU) in vocational schools? curricula. In our study, the introduction of the CBDU was used to measure changes in the motivational, cognitive, and metacognitive aspects of self-regulated learning and to examine how they were subsequently related to other students characteristists, such as gender, school performance and time spent on school work. The results show the importance of CBDUs, on the one hand, on motivational factors such as intrinsic goal orientation, task value, and self-efficacy, and, on the other hand, differences in gender and grade level. The findings are discussed in terms of how teaching strategies in vocational education can contribute to the development of individuals? motivation.

This article dealt with the topic of practical training of students in teacher training programmes. Workplace learning represents an important contact between students and the world of work and can have several positive effects. In the text, we presented job shadowing as a possible learning activity that can complement other forms of practical training. The aim of the study was to identify the learning potential of this activity and how it should be structured to achieve this potential. Data were collected from 19 participants, and the qualitative analysis of the text (students' reflections) showed that students gain valuable experience through job shadowing, which helps them to overcome their fears and enables them to enter the workplace with more confidence. In addition to the results of the analysis, the text also provides practical guidance on how the activity should be planned so that students can learn through it.

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