Marjan Ninčević

graduate

• Correlation Practicum in the Methodology of Teaching (201262) - Lecturer in charge
• Didactics (96487) - Lecturer in charge
• Practical Exercises in the Methodology of Teaching [Philosophy] (144734) - Lecturer in charge

Dr. Marjan Ninčević, PhD, Associate Professor, was born on 22 February 1974 in Zadar, Croatia. He completed primary school in Gorica near Zadar and attended the Classical Gymnasium at the Archdiocesan Seminary “Zmajević” in Zadar, graduating in the 1991/1992 school year. After secondary school, he enrolled in Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus in Zagreb and graduated in 1994. In the same year, he entered the Jesuit Faculty of Theology, affiliated with the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, completing and graduating from the programme in 1998. At the Catholic Faculty of Theology of the University of Zagreb, he earned an MSc in Theology. He received his PhD in 2012 from the Department of Pedagogy at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. His doctoral dissertation, Self-Assessment of Pedagogical Competencies of Secondary-School Religious Education Teachers, was supervised by Professor Dubravka Maleš, PhD, and defended before a committee consisting of Professor Ana Sekulić-Majurec, PhD, Professor Dubravka Maleš, PhD, and Professor Ivica Pažin, PhD. In the same year, he was elected to the research rank of Research Associate in the scientific area of Social Sciences, field of Pedagogy.

In 2013, at the Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, he was appointed to the research and teaching rank of Assistant Professor. At the same institution, he served as the Commissioner for Teaching and Student Affairs (equivalent to Vice-Dean) and as Head of the Department of Educational Sciences and Teacher Education. He was elected to the research rank of Senior Research Associate on 4 October 2017. On 23 February 2026, he was appointed to the position of Associate Professor at the Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb.

His research interests focus primarily on general and school pedagogy, with an emphasis on contemporary challenges in education systems, the quality of educational processes, and the professionalisation and development of the teaching profession. A central focus of his work is the competency-based approach: researching and conceptualising the competency profile of the contemporary teacher (social and communication competencies, professional identity and motivation, self-regulation and self-efficacy, and competencies for inclusive and intercultural practice), as well as evaluating key components of initial teacher education—particularly teaching practice and its contribution to professional socialisation and quality assurance in study programmes. His work also systematically addresses transformations of learning and teaching in digitally mediated environments (Generation Z learning, digital habits and risks, digital well-being), the pedagogical and ethical dilemmas of introducing technology and artificial intelligence into education, and the future of education under conditions of accelerated technological development. Within this framework, he develops and promotes an interdisciplinary approach grounded in cognitive cybernetics as a theoretical and methodological lens for understanding learning, self-regulation, motivation, and the design of educational environments in the context of intelligent technologies.

A distinct line of his research concerns intercultural education and the education of migrant children in Croatia, empirically and theoretically linking intercultural values with the conditions of implementation in schools (institutional support, language integration, teachers’ and professional associates’ competencies, and curricular adaptation). His scholarly work also encompasses religious pedagogy, approached as an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of theology and pedagogy/educational sciences—especially in the domains of values education, education for responsibility, education for social justice, and the education of marginalised groups—consistently integrated with general pedagogical concepts (competencies, curriculum, teachers’ professional development, inclusiveness, dialogue, and critical pedagogy).