Professor of Primary Education (Tenure Track Associate Professor)

Professor of Primary Education (Tenure Track Associate Professor)

Tallinn University has announced a public competition for the position of Professor of Primary Education. The elected candidate commences work on the first career level of the position (associate professor) with the aim of supporting their development into a leader of the relevant study and research field in Tallinn University, and moves to the second career level of the position (professor) by way of evaluation.

Position: Associate Professor of Primary Education (career level I of Tenure Track Professorship)
Academic unit: School of Educational Sciences
Study area: Teacher Education and Educational Sciences
The position will be filled from 1st September 2021

Description of the field of academic work: The focus of academic work of the Professor of Primary Education is on studies related to learning and teaching of primary school children. Academic work involves strategic development of research in the field, steering studies related to the learning and teaching of primary school children and the development of the study programme of Primary School Teacher. 

Strategic importance of the position
Relevance of the field to the development priorities of TU, Estonia and Europe: Teacher education is the main area of responsibility for Tallinn University and its development is directly related to the TU focus field of educational innovation. The quality of the basic skills of students create foundation for their later progress in studies, competent and professional primary school teachers have a key role in that. 

Strategic importance of the position within the school and how it relates to the other planned tenure and non-tenure positions: Primary Education is an important field and area of teacher education. Primary education is a substantial area of research within the broader field of education at the School of Educational Sciences, therefore knowledge and research in this domain is fundamental for understanding individual development and learning throughout the lifespan. Together the Professor of Primary Education, Professor of Teacher Education and Professor of Didactical Innovation cover the development of teacher education on all educational levels. 

Teaching and research in this field of tenure is closely linked to the research areas of professors of inclusive education and educational psychology to enable the transfer of recently acquired knowledge in the field of neuro- and learning psychology and evidence-based resolutions for the modernisation of the learning process in the context of inclusive education. 

Requirements for the candidate (incl. professional experience)

Candidates for the tenure system position shall meet at least the requirements of career level I of tenure system professor (associate professor), which are stipulated in Annex 2 and respectively in Annex 9 and 10 to the Employment Relations Rules, incl.:

• The candidate must have a doctoral degree or equivalent qualification;
• If the candidate has worked as a professor for at least five years immediately prior to applying for the position of a professor at the University (except when applying for the position of a professor in the field of arts), at least one doctoral thesis must have been defended under their (co)supervision during the last five years. 

The most important requirements inherent in the specific nature of the field on the given position:

• strong research and publication track record in the field of primary education;  
• experience in coordinating research projects, organising international conferences and workshops;
• active membership in international professional and/or research organisations, expert groups, journal editorial boards, programme committees of international conferences;
• substantial pedagogical experience in teaching and supervising in the field of primary education;
• experience in developing and running curricula in the field of primary education;
• previous experience in teaching on the level of primary education. 

Leadership aspects of the role: experience in leading and developing programme or curricula, good skills in team building, communication, cooperation and strategic management.

Job responsibilities
In accordance with Annexes 1, 2 and 10 to the Employment Relations Rules.
The duties are approximately divided as follows: research (55%), teaching (25%) and social and institutional activity (20%).
Development of the study programme of Primary School Teacher 

Activities related to studies:

• Teaching Master level courses on the study programmes of Primary School Teacher and doctoral level courses on the study programme of Educational Sciences to a substantial extent and level; 
• Planning courses and creating study materials for study programmes of Primary School Teacher, systematic contribution to the development of study programmes;
• Successful supervision of research papers of students in the field of primary school teacher and of doctoral students in the field of educational sciences.

Research and development and other creative activity:

• Promotion of the research field of primary education by way of publishing scientific articles, presentations at national as well as international conferences and other academic events;
• Participation in research and development projects of the field of primary education and of related fields which receive competition-based financing, application for research and development projects; 
• Supervision of lecturers and researchers involved in the activities of the research group. 

Social and institutional activity:

• Participation in civic activities associated with primary education and related fields; 
• Participation on national level in organisational activities associated with education and research in primary education and related fields, and/or coordination thereof;
• Involvement and active participation in national and international professional networks associated with primary education and related fields, including by way of research and development projects. 

The aim of the first level of tenure track, that of the associate professor, is planning research in the field, formation of a research group and application for research projects in addition to the above-mentioned tasks.

Language skills:

• English on the level necessary for conducting teaching and research work;
• An employee who does not speak Estonian is expected to start acquiring proficiency in Estonian upon starting work and achieve language proficiency level B1 within three years and a level comparable to level B2 within five years in order to be able to perform tasks related to institutional development and administrative work in Estonian.

Working load: 1,0 (40 hours a week).

Remuneration: In accordance with TLU Remuneration Regulation and by negotiations with the director of the School where the position shall be. In addition to remuneration, a limited allowance is foreseen to the tenure professor, which can be used to cover the costs of research and development expenditure, members of the research team etc related to the position.

Location: Professor is expected to live in Tallinn and work at the premises of Tallinn University.

Required application documents shall be submitted by 20th January 2021 (incl) to Personnel Office of Tallinn University.

Additional information: Please address your administrative questions to konkurss@tlu.ee, and questions on the content to the Administrative Head of the School of Educational Sciences Marit Meeksa, marit.meeksa@tlu.ee   
Time-schedule of the competition and the selection procedure