Teachers' Activities That Best Encourage Learning among Students of Preschool Teachers' Training College in Kikinda

Due to numerous reforms, modern teaching now asks for the role of the teacher to be redefined as well. One of the teacher's many tasks is to master the competencies which would enable them to encourage and stimulate their learners. In this article, authors report on a research conducted at Preschool Teachers' Training College in Kikinda, which aimed to contribute to a reflexive analysis of the role of the teacher in the context of contemporary teaching process. The goal of the research was to answer the question of which teachers' activities and strategies students at Preschool Teachers' Training College in Kikinda think best encourage the learning process. This question is also th research problem. Purposive and convenience sampling was used, and the sample consisted of students of Preschool Teachers' Training College (N=133). The instrument used in the research was the Excellent Faculty Member questionnaire by Jenrette and Napoli, 1994 (in Suzic, 2005, p. 861). The results obtained, frequency distribution and the mean of respondents' estimates reveal high scores on all the items. The highest rated items indicate that respondents have a high opinion on teachers' mastery of subject matter (M=3.857) and teachers' organization (M=3.857), but also on teachers giving feedback (M=3.805), listening to them carefully (M=3.789), respecting them (M=3.782) and maintaining high professional standards (M=3.767). The lowest rated item is related to teachers setting themselves challenging goals (M=3.436). Conclusions indicate that students find it motivating for learning when teachers exhibit mastery of subject matter, when their work organization is good, when they provide students with feedback, acknowledge and respect them while keeping in mind the students' abilities, skills, and previous knowledge, as well as when they are well prepared for the class and when they innovate the teaching contents. The students emphasized the importance of a positive emotional climate in the classroom to which humour, teacher-student relationship and challenging tasks and goals greatly contribute. [Paper presented at "Contemporary Education 2022" (Online, Apr 2, 2022).]