In the current Serbian educational framework, teaching competencies are defined as “the capacity of an individual manifested in the performance of complex activities in educational work. They represent a set of necessary knowledge, skills, and value-based attitudes of teachers and are defined in relation to learning objectives and outcomes, aiming to ensure professional standards regarding what constitutes successful learning” (Standardi kompetencija za profesiju nastavnika i njihovog profesionalnog razvoja, 2011). These competencies fall into four domains: subject area knowledge; subject methodics and didactics; teaching and learning; supporting students' personal development; and communication and collaboration. Aside from subject expertise, teachers are required to possess competencies in pedagogy, psychology, and methodics (PPM), as mandated by the umbrella education law (ZOSOV, 2023).

For primary school teachers and preschool educators, the mandatory level of PPM competencies can be acquired through their studies (Šimonji Černak & Beljanski, 2021). However, initial education for subject teachers (ITE) presents challenges. While the European average for ITE graduates is 91%, Serbia has the lowest proportion at 71.4% Additionally, Serbia is currently dealing with a lack of interest in teaching majors at faculties that offer them. Unlike many EU countries that have robust ITE programs with higher ECTS requirements for PPM subjects, Serbia's educational system offers limited options and has one of the lowest minimum ECTS requirements (Eurydice, 2015). Teachers can choose some PPM subjects during their primary education or pursue professional development later to meet competency standards. The Eurydice report (2015) highlights that many European countries, such as Spain and Italy, have mandatory induction phases for new teachers involving mentorship and evaluation. In contrast, Serbia's process is limited to basic mentoring with formal evaluation that is carried out at the earliest after one year of working in the institution.

This disparity in PPM competency training between early education and subject teacher programs affects student achievement in international assessments. For instance, fourth-grade students performed at or above the international average in certain math tasks (Radulović & Gundogan, 2019), while first-year secondary students scored significantly below average in mathematical literacy on the PISA (OECD, 2022).

A comparative analysis of PPM competency standards reveals that Serbia applies these standards to a lesser extent than reference countries, with minor differences in content (Teodorović et al., 2019). Notably, there is a significant overlap between Serbian teachers’ competencies for communication and collaboration and the OECD’s Conceptual Framework for Social and Emotional Skills (2019). Despite this alignment, implementation results and supervision of such competencies are limited in Serbia. Data on teachers' perceptions of PPM competencies suggest that those attending professional development seminars view these competencies as more significant than those who do not participate. Furthermore, perceptions vary based on school type, academic achievements, and internal evaluations within schools (Simonović, 2021). Earlier findings indicate that teachers self-assess their fulfillment of PPM competencies lower than evaluations from principals and professional associates (Kundačina & Marinković, 2012), suggesting a lack of confidence in competencies acquired through initial education or professional development.

Given the flexibility of PPM competency standards and the lack of institutionalized application in Serbia, it appears that this crucial area is largely dependent on individual teachers' attitudes toward these competencies and their self-evaluation. While professionalism and teacher autonomy are generally viewed as beneficial for educational quality (Marić Jurišin & Malčić, 2022), findings from the TALIS (Schleicher, 2020) suggest that unlimited autonomy may not be advisable. Instead, investments should focus on enhancing teachers’ understanding of educational practices to foster a more conscious approach to education. These insights underscore the importance of examining teachers' attitudes toward PPM competencies as key components in applying PPM competency standards.

This qualitative study aims to explore teachers' perceptions of PPM competencies and their role in teaching practices. A purposive sampling method will be employed to select 15 teachers from grammar schools in two Serbian cities: Belgrade and Valjevo. This sample size was chosen to capture diverse perspectives, allowing for an in-depth exploration of individual experiences while facilitating comparative analysis across participants. Data collection will be conducted through semi-structured interviews, which are particularly effective in qualitative research for allowing flexibility in questioning and eliciting rich, detailed responses (Ruslin et al., 2022). Each interview will last approximately one hour and will focus on four key themes: teachers' perceptions of PPM competencies, the role of these competencies in teaching, methods for acquiring competencies, and self-assessment of competency fulfilment. Within each theme, we have defined three subthemes (e.g., for the first theme: knowledge of competencies; application in the classroom; and personal values, attitudes, and teaching philosophy), resulting in a total of 12 subthemes and 36 questions. Each researcher will conduct an independent pilot interview with teachers to assess the quality of the questions. Interviews will be held at locations convenient for participants to foster a comfortable environment conducive to open dialogue. Audio recordings of the interviews will be made with participants' consent and transcribed verbatim for subsequent analysis. Informed consent will be obtained prior to participation, ensuring that participants understand the purpose of the study and their rights. Continuous consent will also be practiced during interviews by checking in with participants about their comfort levels throughout the discussion. Ethical approval will be sought from the ethics review committee to ensure compliance with research standards. Inductive thematic analysis will be utilized to interpret the interview transcripts, as this method is particularly well-suited for exploring how individuals conceptualize specific phenomena such as PPM competencies (Willig, 2013). By employing an inductive approach, we can identify patterns and themes within qualitative data, facilitating a nuanced understanding of teachers' perceptions. MAXQDA 2020 software will be used to analyse data. Initially, coding will be conducted independently by two researchers to enhance reliability before collaboratively aligning the coding scheme. Throughout the interviews and analysis process, we will maintain reflexive notes to document our thoughts and insights. This practice aims to enhance the rigor and depth of our qualitative analysis, ensuring that our findings are grounded in a nuanced understanding of participants' experiences.

Grounded in existing research and the educational policy framework in Serbia, we foresee several key outcomes regarding teachers' perceptions of PPM competencies: Teachers' perception of PPM competencies: We expect teachers to conceptualize PPM competencies differently from current legal frameworks, as existing regulations do not clearly distinguish these competencies from other teaching skills. Previous research indicates that normative standards often do not align with teachers’ perceptions (Bogunović & Stanišić, 2013), suggesting that teachers may define PPM competencies based on their personal values and educational philosophies. The role of PPM competencies in teaching: Since initial teacher education primarily emphasizes subject-matter knowledge over PPM competencies (Eurydice, 2015), we anticipate that teachers will express greater confidence in their subject-matter competencies. Evidence shows that teachers frequently voice concerns about their ability to manage situations requiring PPM competencies (Simić, 2015). Methods of acquiring competencies: We predict that teachers will rely more on personal teaching experience and professional development to acquire PPM competencies than on initial education. Participation in seminars, conferences, and webinars is the most common form of teacher training (Tančić, 2019), with programs that promote active learning and adaptability to specific contexts being deemed most effective (Pešikan et al., 2010). Self-assessment of competency fulfilment: Finally, we expect teachers to use informal self-evaluation methods, such as personal reflections and student feedback, rather than formal approaches like checklists or lesson recordings. We also anticipate that intrinsically motivated teachers will report higher-quality self-evaluations of their application of PPM competencies. Given the qualitative nature of our study on teachers' perceptions of pedagogical-psychological-methodical (PPM) competencies, we anticipate that our expectations may evolve as we conduct research and analyse the data, which will be collected by the end of April and preliminarily analysed by June.

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