Quality pedagogical tradition of Central European countries, in which the Croatian school system existed and evolved, helped in the establishment of the Department of Methodology of Teaching (in several disciplines) at the University of Zagreb and other Croatian universities (Split, Rijeka and Osijek). Unfortunately, it was not too long ago that Croatian physicists were still deeming teaching physics to be a profession that offers nothing for research. However, over the past twenty years or so, significant changes have been made in this field thanks to the hard work and the engagement of some researchers and groups. Here we will present the historical roots of Physics Education Research (PER), the results of PER trends and raising need of educating physics teachers in Croatia today.