CC BY
31
SELF-EDUCATION OF THE TEACHER IN A SYSTEM LIFELONG PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION
G. B. Turtkaraeva,
A. B. Akhmetova
University education is only the first step to becoming a professional teacher. A huge role in shaping the teacher is played by self-education. In psychology, self-education is considered within the framework of a personal approach. In the opinion of G. S. Sukhobskaya and Yu. N. Kulyutkin, selfeducation constitutes self-regulating and self-managing activities in which the management and monitoring functions are merged together. According to K. A. Abulkhanovaya-Slavska, there are three levels of self-regulation: on the first, a person coordinates their particularities with rules of conduct; on the second, the person improves the quality of work through optimization of one’s capabilities; on the third, a person as the agent of his or her work generates an independent direction of behavior and displays creative character.
Stimulating interest in lifelong improvement of qualifications is the fundamental problem of postgraduate education. In the cumulative experience of many countries, it is possible to see the following means for its solution:
(a) differentiation in payment for teaching work dependent on education level. This difference in pay is very significant in that it encourages teachers in a number of countries to return to institutions of higher education and pay tuition to obtain a higher degree (Master’s, Specialist in Education, Doctor of Science);
(b) the introduction of “professional gradation” in the form of various
categories: “teacher-master”, “teacher-professional”, “teacher-
methodologist”, etc., for the assignment of which is considered not only the professionalism of teachers, but also their amount of postgraduate education (courses, seminars, independent work);
(c) providing a teacher a diploma with a temporary status and requiring that it be regularly confirmed (for example, every five years), for which a teacher should gain at least 75-100 balls over the course of five years as evaluated by various paid and free programs, courses, seminars, creative workshops, and other forms of education;
358
(d) concluding employment contracts with teachers for a certain period (from one to five years) and including a certain amount of upgrading of qualifications as a clause along with other provisions;
(e) instilling professional duty and a sense of pride in their profession among teachers. Most of the teachers of the world belong to various professional associations (the Association of Teachers of History, the Association of Teachers of Primary Schools, etc.), and upon joining them, they sign an oath for the lifelong improvement of their level of professionalism. Having powerful incentives, teachers take part in various forms of postgraduate education with desire and passion;
(f) a flexibility and variety of forms (state, public, and private educational institutions) and types (both formal and informal) of postgraduate self-education. Variation allows the personal interests, needs, living and working conditions and other circumstances of a particular teacher to be taken into account.
New education creates virtually unlimited opportunities for teachers’ self-education. There are hundreds of professionally designed programs for self-education. Research and pilot programs for teachers in the field of education, including self-education, are strongly encouraged by the state. Contests on the work of teachers are organized on the regional and national levels. Teachers are given funds for research work and are sent abroad to study the teaching experience of foreign schools. In the U.S., for example, charter schools are encouraged, which have independent ideas and implement them effectively. The government allocates 500 million dollars annually to encourage 10,000 such schools. The 50 thousand dollars received is spent on equipment, improved working conditions for teachers, and continuation of research projects.
Whatever form of methodical work the teacher chooses, its effectiveness is ultimately determined by the measure of his or her independent work and his or her self-education. The idea of lifelong pedagogical education is realized not only in the process of transition from one form of training to another, but also in periods of intense intellectual work in the intervals between training. Self-education is based on a high level of consciousness, the need for self-improvement, and creative selfrealization. Pedagogical self-education of a teacher assumes independent mastery of a set of pedagogical values and techniques, and its contents form a common culture of pedagogical work. In order to provide real assistance to the teacher in organization of self-education, it is necessary to know the individual’s needs, demands, and interests in the sphere of his or her professional work. Self-education covers a wide range of issues, but
359
the focus of pedagogical self-education should be oriented towards the study of issues that the teacher did not study during his or her time at pedagogical training institutions, but which are now relevant. Among such issues that make up the basis of pedagogical self-education, there can be those of pedagogical communication, individualization and differentiation of education, development of education, modular training, and training in educational institutions of new type. A group of issues that is considered important are those associated with the formation of a scientific outlook among teachers, their spiritual culture, citizenship, etc.
References
1. Сухобская Г. С. Понятие «зрелость социально-
психологического развития человека» в контексте андрагогики // Новые знания, 2002 № 4, с. 17-20.
2. Кулюткин Ю. Н. Исследование познавательной деятельности
учащихся вечерней школы. Самоорганизация познавательной
активности личности как основа готовности к самообразованию / Кулюткин Ю. Н., Сухобская Г. С. - М.: Педагогика, 1977. - 151 с.
3. Абульханова-Славская К. А. Стратегия жизни. - М: Мысль,
1991.
360
