4Cs Model in Initial Teacher Education: Fostering and Developing 4Cs Competencies in Higher Education Teaching

This study examines the key competencies required of teachers in contemporary education and their role in preparing future generations. These competencies are widely recognized as foundational to societal development across multiple domains. In this context, the 4Cs model in initial teacher education was developed to establish conceptual and pedagogical preconditions for integrating critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication competencies into teacher education programs. The study investigated the perceptions of students enrolled in teacher education programs at the University of Sarajevo regarding instructional activities through which university teachers foster and develop 4Cs competencies in higher education teaching. The findings indicate that, from the students’ perspective, instructional activities most strongly support the development of communication competency, followed by critical thinking and collaboration, whereas creativity is the least consistently fostered. This finding suggests that the integration of 4Cs competencies in higher education remains predominantly declarative rather than transformative, revealing a gap between curricular expectations and pedagogical practice. Furthermore, the results indicate a highly significant correlation between instructional activities fostering critical thinking and creativity. Significant correlations were also observed among the other competency scales, indicating that these competencies are interrelated and mutually reinforcing rather than developed in isolation. These findings highlight practical implications for teacher education programs.