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The Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Applied Sciences achieved great success with the INSPIRE 2 project submitted to the call of the Operational Programme for the Support of Pre-graduate Training of Future Teachers. The evaluation of the three-year project by the commission was positive, as it received the highest number of points among all submissions and full support amounting to 42 million CZK without any reduction.

INSPIRE 2 provides an impetus for change for both faculties educating teachers, thanks to the systemic integration of their preparation with the Competence Framework for Teacher Graduates approved by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports at the end of 2023. It will deepen the close professional collaboration between the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Applied Sciences with experts from other universities in the preparation of subject-specific competence frameworks and innovate all relevant study programs in line with them. New study materials and evaluation tools will be created to support the formative work of students and educators with the competence framework, and the collaboration of academic staff from all departments involved in preparing future teachers will increase. Acquiring competencies defined by the Competence Framework for Teacher Graduates will positively impact the pedagogical work of graduates (beginning teachers) when they enter practice.

Furthermore, within the project, there will be a deepening of cooperation and interaction with practicing teachers and other education professionals, including the implementation of paired teaching, collaboration with mentoring teachers, and research cooperation. Attention will be paid to key topics of contemporary education (including inclusion, including Roma integration, artificial intelligence in education, and others) during workshops with experts for academic staff and when inviting experts to teach future teachers.

Dean Pavel Mentlík emphasized that the project is a great opportunity to establish professional contacts and collaboration across faculties educating teachers. University staff will contribute to the creation of competence frameworks for teacher graduates in various fields. Moreover, the Faculty of Education guarantees the preparation of the competence framework for the geography teacher graduate for the entire Czech Republic.

Similar to the previous INSPIRE project, didactic internships will be organized in various types of schools and educational institutions in Europe, which will be attended by students, teachers, and educators from cooperating preschools, primary schools, and secondary schools. A total of 17-week didactic internships will be conducted for 170 individuals. Didactic internships are of great importance for inspiring teachers and students and increasing their interest in innovations.