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RESEARCH COMPETENCES
OF A TEACHER: STRUCTURE, CONTENT,
LEVELS OF FORMATION
S. V. Dziubenko
This article discusses the notions of competences and competence as the basic ones in determining the structure and content of a teacher's research competences. The following blocks of research competences of a teacher are allocated: motivational-targeted, theoretical-substantive, organizational-activating.
Key words: competence, research competence of a teacher, research methodology, research skills.
Competency may be described as a level of intensity and demonstration of professional experience that a person has within the competence of a certain activity. In this context, we can define the research competences of a teacher as integral professional and personal characteristics, which determine the requirements of a teacher's abilities to realize the functions of their research activities: informational, analytical, predictive, planning, constructive, managerial, communicative, personal and reflexive function. In our opinion, the main function in a teacher's position as a researcher is reflexive function. It contributes to the implementation of not only the pedagogical goals by a teacher- to find a good solution to a problem, and to achieve positive result in activities, and make positive changes and improvements in the state of the students, but also research ones - to find a reason, to justify a solution of the problem, and to identify ways for positive changes in the state of students, methods and conditions to achieve this result (due to which this result was achieved).
On the basis of the component analysis of a teacher’s research competences proposed by different authors, we can distinguish three interdependent blocks of a teacher’s research competences: (1) motivational and goal-oriented, (2) theoretical and informative, (3) organizational and activitistic. Let us consider their content.
(1) The motivational and goal-oriented block of competences determines the personal semantic attitude of a teacher towards research activities, which is based on a set of motives and values for the involvement of a teacher in the research activities. Taking the classification of types of a teacher's professional motives, developed by L.N. Zakharova [2, p. 42], we distinguished four groups of motives, determining the research activities of teachers: external stimuli; motives of selfactualization; professional motives; personal self-realization motives. The character and specificity of the research of pedagogical activities of a teacher largely depend on the ratio of different motives, in which motive is the dominant one. Research activities of pedagogues, with the dominance of external motivation, are usually of a random episodic nature. The dominance of self-actualization motives of a teacher through external positive evaluation of others promotes the search for effective methods of work and involvement in research activities, but in such cases the subordination of research tasks to the goal of personal success, and not goals of science development and educational practice, is possible. Professional
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motivation is characterized by search for innovative forms and methods of work, an understanding of his/her own pedagogical activities, a focus on teacher's research activities in the investigation of pedagogical process, conditions, factors, and mechanisms of its effective realization. Teachers, whose self-actualization motives are dominant in the system of motives for research activities, are characterized by a high level of the receptiveness to innovations, a continuous search for a quest of her/himself in these innovations, and a need for the creation of a new vision of pedagogical processes and phenomena [1; 5; 6]. An important indicator of the subjective research position of a teacher is the specific features of the development of his/her emotional-volitional sphere. According to A. I. Savenkov, such features are: self-motivation and resistance to disappointments, control over emotional outbursts, regulation of emotions, and the ability not to allow emotions to empower ability to think, empathize and hope [5, p. 145]. The formation level of motivational and goal-oriented and emotional-volitional attitudes to research activities is expressed in the following competences: (a) commitment to values associated with carrying out research activities; (b) ability to act in accordance with the plan, purposes and set tasks; (c) motivational readiness to carry out research activities; (d) ability to mobilize mental and emotional abilities to resolve planned tasks; (e) ability to see problems and demonstrate determination in addressing the revealed problem; (f) ability to organize oneself, concentrate in unforeseen situations, and feel perspective.
(2) Theoretical and informative blocks act as the basis for a teacher's research competences. A teacher's possession of theoretical and methodological knowledge is the second criterion for the evaluation of the level of a teacher's research competency development. In our opinion, the theoretical and methodological knowledge necessary for a pedagogue-researcher includes: (а) the teacher's possession of fundamental notions in the structure of methodological and scientific knowledge: problem, hypothesis, model, method, fact, process, notion, rule, theory, principle, system and others; (b) knowledge of theoretical and empirical research methods; (c) possession of philosophical categories, such as the conceptual ground of pedagogical science; (d) knowledge of the basics of the systemic approach and system analysis, logic, and problems of the interaction and integration of sciences; (e) grounding and description of educational practice in the notion and terminological system of pedagogics; (f) knowledge in the field of innovative pedagogy. Not only fundamental scientific subject knowledge, but also integral knowledge of cognitive processes, about oneself as the subject of this process, and "awareness of lack of knowledge" seem important (problematic area of lack of knowledge) [3, p. 13]. A special place in the structure of methodological knowledge is provided for cognitive methods, because the search for truth is organized using these methods, and this contributes to producing more scientific knowledge. The level of theoretical training necessary for a teacher to carry out research activities, is demonstrated in the following competences: (a) possession of knowledge of methodology for scientific pedagogical research; (b) knowledge of modern psychological and pedagogical theories, innovative educational models; (c) knowledge of logic and procedure for carrying out pedagogical research, (d) ability for research based thinking.
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(3) The organizational and activitistic block of research competences is characterized by the criterion of acquiring of skills to organize research activities by a teacher. Mastering ways to carry out practical research activities by a teacher requires the ability to plan, organize and realize research activities. We classify such ways as: (a) goal-setting, which includes the setting of goals for research, closely related with the goals of education and upbringing; determination of pedagogical and research tasks; the planning of a new educational system, and its forecasting; (b) diagnostics, necessary for the realization of current educational work, obtaining scientific facts, monitoring the process and results of research activities; (c) communication which allows the establishment of emotional and psychological contact with students and colleagues; builds interaction with students during the educational and upbringing process based on cooperation, trust and goodwill in communication; (d) the process of decision taking is the process to select one variant from several possibilities. А. I. Savenkov proposes orienting towards the following skills for the evaluation of research behavior: to see problems, raise issues, make hypotheses, define notions, classify, observe, carry out experiments, draw conclusions and deductions, structure material, explain, prove and defend own ideas [5]. We can distinguish the following groups of a teacher's research activities: informational, analytical, predictive, projecting, constructive, managerial, communicative, and reflexive. A teacher's mastering of the research competences as defined by us, determines the research competence: the teacher's ability to plan, organize and realize research activities.
When determining the levels of development of a teacher's research competences, we associate ranking levels with the typology of pedagogical situations, resolved by a teacher in the process of research activities, and the level of compliance of a teacher's professional and personal characteristics with indicators of formation of research competences. As a result, four levels of development of teacher's research competences were determined: basic, empirical, productive and constructive levels.
At the basic level of a teacher’s mastering of research competences (level of mandatory mastering), the teacher uses certain diagnostic and analytical procedures, specific to the research, which serve as the basis for the functioning of his/her pedagogical activities, and ensures the reliability of getting the required result within normal limits. The teacher meets difficulties in determining the scientific tools for research, and projecting and conducting pedagogical research. This level is characterized by the partial formation of research competences.
The empirical level of the teacher’s mastering of research competences (level of local independent researches) involves research being carried out by a teacher, which is focused on the optimization of the educational process. The teacher is active in conducting independent investigative searches, is able to independently formulate a problem, partially knows empirical and theoretical research methods, but has difficulties with using scientific terms of the research. This level is characterized by a partial mastering of research competences by a teacher.
The productive level of a teacher’s mastering of research competences (level of modernization of own didactic system, tactical) means that a teacher is able to systematically generalize and describe their own pedagogical experience
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and the experience of colleagues, and is able to determine and define pedagogical problems, identify patterns which are common for the system of tasks, and determine the ways of modernization of their own didactic system. Research being carried out by a teacher, is distinguished by a criteria-based approach and consistency. A teacher knows pedagogical terms, and uses scientific tools for research. The system of the teacher's research competences is formed.
The constructive level of mastering research competences by a teacher (level of theoretical schematization, strategic), is characterized by the ability to independently define a problem, conciseness and theorization, and a level of complete mastering skills to plan and predict. There is a possession of fundamental notions in the structure of methodological and scientific knowledge, and the application of empirical and theoretical research methods in his/her activities. Theoretical knowledge of a teacher is characterized by consciousness, generality, and breadth of transfer. Processes of self-organization, self-regulation and communication are clearly demonstrated in research activities; a system of research competences is established.
Thus, the structure and content of a teacher's research competences are determined, the levels of their development dynamics are described, and such levels may be used to identify criteria to determine the efficiency of the development of a teacher's research competences.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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