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SPECIAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPING
ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS
(BY THE EXAMPLE OF THE THEATER ART COLLEGE)
O. I. Volpyanskaya
Updating and modifying the core programs for secondary vocational education and additional professional programs (APPs) for additional professional education in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) on an annual basis play an important role in the formation and development of an innovative educational environment in the Moscow Theater Art and Technology College (the College). APPs for secondary vocational and higher education are aimed at the continuous improvement of professional knowledge and skills of individuals throughout their lives, including meeting their educational and professional needs, ensuring that they are constantly adapted to the changing conditions in the professional world and social environment, improving their professional qualifications, and preparing them for new professional activities on the basis of secondary vocational and higher education.
In order to use the FSES for secondary vocational education and introduce a new model of continuing professional education, the College had to revise its approaches to the development of educational programs for additional professional education. Given the introduction of the FSES, flexible, short-term programs of additional professional education are currently becoming a major component of a system for the continuous updating of knowledge and competencies of modern theater art workers.
In order to ensure the continuity of educational programs following the logic of the FSES, and due to increasing demands for updating professional knowledge and skills from social partners, employers and consumers of educational services in the field of theater arts, the College has worked to improve its techniques for the development of APPs, with a view to ensuring that consistent terminology and the module-competency-based approach are used in building the content of professional education at all levels, taking into account the needs and prospects of the labor market, and changes in the legal status of additional professional programs.
The technique devised for the development of APPs includes several stages, each of which has its own content (Table).
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APP development stages and their content
Table
Stage Content
Analytical The vocational education institution works to identify the demands of the regional labor market and satisfy them on the market of educational services
Preparatory Solves issues related to the processing of an application for the development of an APP and deciding on the possibility of its implementation
Content development Clarifies requirements for learning outcomes. Develops the content of APPs
Instructional Implements the module- and competency-based approach and creates additional elements of the educational and socio-cultural environments
Organizational Organizes an educational process for APPs; organizes skills improvement for teachers (if necessary); monitors the success of APPs; assesses the results of programs mastering; defines improvement areas for the next academic year
The analytical stage involves the continuous work of a vocational education institution to identify the demands of the regional labor market and satisfy them on the market of educational services. The purpose of the analytical stage is to define the innovative development vectors in the industry, and identify changes in the legal framework. In addition, this stage assesses current educational programs for their ability to meet the needs of the regional industry-specific labor market and individual employers, by way of annual questionnaire-based surveys. The preparation for a survey includes defining a range of respondents, tools and methods of the survey, making up a questionnaire, and clarifying methods for the processing and analysis of the survey data. The main groups of employers selected for the survey are companies offering internship and/or employment opportunities to graduates; companies of different sizes; and companies that are competitive in the labor market and are focused on their innovative development. The survey includes a skills needs analysis (SNA), with the main method being interviews with and without tailor-made questionnaires. Each section of the questionnaire is designed to find out a specific piece of data necessary to identify the qualification requirements for employees at a particular job, taking into account regional characteristics. The SNA outcomes are compiled into a report, with conclusions on each section of the questionnaire. The results of the analytical stage, which is carried out on an annual basis, are used to make decisions regarding the adjustment of the development strategy of the vocational education institution, and define a package of programs to be updated and/or developed. Thus, the analytical stage gives an impetus for the creation of new APPs. At the same time, the main customers of the APP development service are employers looking for training, because according to Article 196 of the Russian Labor Code, the need for professional retraining and skills improvement is determined by the employer.
The preparatory stage in the development of APPs involves solving issues related to the analysis of the possibility and conditions for the satisfaction of an application for the development of an APP, and defining whether it is in line with
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the development goals of the vocational education institution. A decision is made based on the analysis of the composition of the student body, their professional education background and work experience; the availability of the necessary physical infrastructure and teachers of relevant qualification; the profitability of a new APP; and possible forms of training (full-time, distance learning or combined). The relevance of the physical infrastructure to the requirements of APPs is determined by the availability of rooms, computers and other equipment, reference guides, instructional materials, and industry-specific and other regulations. The outcomes of the preparatory stage are a development team (the customer and teachers) with the team leader, and their work schedule.
The content development stage in the formation of APPs is currently carried out in accordance with the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation”, and other Russian laws and regulations. According to the above Federal Law, the content of an APP is determined by the educational program, and developed and approved by the organization to meet the needs of a person or organization initiating the development of the APP. The structure of a skills improvement program should include a list and descriptions of professional competencies comprising the existing qualification that will undergo a qualitative change as a result of the training. According to the Procedure for Organization and Implementation of APP-based Educational Activities approved by the Order of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science No. 499, dated July 01, 2013, the content of an APP should be geared to achieve the objectives and expected outcomes of the program. The content of APPs should take into account professional standards, qualification requirements as defined in job evaluation manuals on relevant positions, professions and specialties, or qualification requirements for professional knowledge and skills necessary for the performance of job duties that are set in accordance with federal laws and other regulations of the Russian Federation. The content development stage involves analyzing to what degree the credit- and module-based presentation of the content of additional professional education offered by an educational institution is complete. If necessary, the professional modules of the APP are developed to ensure that students will master additional competencies.
The instructional stage is aimed at the implementation of the module- and competency-based approach and includes the creation of learning and teaching packages in individual disciplines and modules, tools for final assessment, and a set of teaching techniques to be used for the implementation of the APP. In addition, this stage involves the development of additional elements of the educational environment designed to motivate students, to ensure the deployment of new teaching techniques, to allow for the use of active learning methods and rating assessment systems, to encourage the administration to implement the principles of effective educational management, as well as additional elements of the socio-cultural environment of the educational institution that allow for the development of general competencies, carry out educational work, etc.
The organizational stage involves the deployment of the newly developed APPs in the educational process and is aimed to organize an educational process for APPs; organize skills improvement for teachers (if necessary); monitor the
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success of APPs; assess the results of programs mastering; and define improvement areas for the next academic year.
The implementation of APPs at the Moscow Theater Art and Technology College as part of the continuing professional education model following the logic of the FSES and provisions of the new Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” ensures that individual programs are geared to student-specific educational paths and skilled workers are trained in the framework of the module-and competency-based approach according to requests of particular employers by incorporating necessary additional professional competencies and related modules into the programs. The main task of the educational institution in developing and testing techniques for the development of APPs was to create the program content appropriate to the development of theater arts, taking into account the needs of customers, such as employers, prospective students and regional authorities engaged in management of culture and education.
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