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CONTINUING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OF TEACHERS: POSTGRADUATE LEVEL
V. V. Ushmarova
In the modern globalized world, which is experiencing a civilized “macroshift” (E. Laszlo), the issues of improving the competence of specialists, additional education, and retraining have become relevant and resonant in a new way. The rapid and irreversible technological transformations have led to faster moral and actual devaluation and obsolescence of specialist knowledge and skills. In this connection, training, retraining and renewal of knowledge and skills have become a key to competitiveness of an individual, the country and the nation as a whole. Naturally, the transformation of human capital into a main resource for the development of society and new requirements for its quality in line with cultural, spiritual, social, economic and technological transformations lead to higher requirements of the system of training and skills upgrading of research and academic teaching staff. As L. Pukhovskaya put it, “the world community has realized that teaching is not just a ‘variable’ that is necessary for successful reforming educational systems, but also ‘the most outstanding carrier of change’ in the implementation of reforms” [6].
The system of postgraduate education of teachers (hereinafter PGET) in Ukraine should find a new definition of itself in the surrounding world, including its place, role, position, content and ways of existence. Under the influence of factors that determine its development trends, the modern system of postgraduate education of teachers in Ukraine has found itself in a state of “profound transformation” [4]. The results of the roundtable entitled “Professional Development of a Teacher in the 21st Century and Realities of Postgraduate Education of Teachers in Ukraine” (2014) confirm that the existing PGET system in Ukraine has exhausted itself. The conclusions drawn by the discussion participants can be summarized as follows: (a) the PGET system is characterized by formalism, conservatism, lack of competition, etc.; (b) its effectiveness is not assessed by independent experts; (c) the research and learning processes are not integrated, and the development of innovative products for school education is not promoted;
(d) teaching staff of many institutions of postgraduate professional education tend to be “repetitive” and have a narrow circle of scientific and professional interests;
(e) there should be a new system of postgraduate education based on the principles of freedom of choice and responsibility for one’s own choice of an individual professional development path [5].
In the context of social transformations, postgraduate education of teachers is the most promising area in social and professional protection of teachers, enabling them to critically evaluate their existing experience, adapt to change, make out-of-the-box decisions, and find opportunities for further development and self-realization.
The Concept of Development of Continuing Education of Teachers (2013) states that “the purpose of development of continuing education of teachers is to recreate human capital and intellect to ensure sustainable development of the
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country by means of high-quality training of teachers” . As part of the system of continuing education, the PGET system is designed to prepare working teachers for to implement new values and functions in their professional activity: to promote high quality education and develop flexible, mobile, self-reliant, responsible and creative people who are able to develop their capabilities and ensure sustainable functioning of society throughout their lives.
The transition to the post-industrial stage of development of society sets brand new requirements for professional training of specialists. The age of high technology, profound change in working conditions, and a variety of ways in the development of professional careers require that people learn and improve their professional competencies throughout their lives. One of the characteristics of lifelong learning is the unity and interrelation between formal, non-formal and informal learning, which makes training flexible in time and space, and facilitates combining training, professional activity and private life [1]. Non-formal and informal learning is most frequently mentioned in research publications along with formal education in the context of upgrading skills and doing postgraduate education. Scholars argue that the “redistribution of upgrading skills functions from formal to more flexible non-formal and informal institutions not only preserves the PGET system as such, but also transforms it into a more stable, effective and appropriate one in the modern context” [3]. According to V. Oleinik, the harmonious combination of formal and non-formal learning changes the nature of activities of PGET institutions. These institutions act to provide tutorship support to educational programs for working teachers, and ensure the integrity of the system of personal and professional development of teachers [4].
In recent years, a few of initiatives have been adopted at different levels in Europe to support the development of new approaches to the validation of nonformal and informal learning. In particular, the European Commission project “Adult Education: It’s never too late to learn” (2006) defines the development of social systems that enable acknowledgement and validation of non-formal and informal learning as the main task of member states1 2. For example, the American Council on Education's College Credit Recommendation Service has recommended college credit for five courses on Coursera. There are also other mechanisms under development for confirming non-formal learning results which may be recognized by the academic community in the future. Of particular interest is the Degreed project, which is aimed at creating a single digital lifelong diploma which will be updated to reflect personal achievements of learners [2].
Currently, the system of postgraduate education of teachers in Ukraine is undergoing modernization in connection with integration into the global educational space and the emergence of unprecedented opportunities for human development and different ways of professional career development and professional improvement throughout one’s life.
1 Галузева Концеп^я розвитку неперервноТ педагопчноТ осв1ти. [electronic resource]. -available at: http://www.mon.gov.ua
2 European Inventory - Validation of non-formal and informal learning. 2004. [electronic resource]. - available at : http://www.ecotec.com/europeaninventory
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References
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Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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