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THE CONTINUOUS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES OF STUDENTS OF TEACHING IN THE UNITED STATES:
CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
T. Koshmanova
R. Zinser
The purpose of this report is to define the types of professional competencies of a teacher that help develop a sustainable need for continuous lifelong education and to identify possible ways for their development. The paper is based on a set of qualitative methods of research: analyzing literature, studying documents on educational reforms in the U.S. and other countries leading the field of teacher education, and summarizing the teaching experience of the authors.
Introduction. Recently, scholars have been increasingly seeing the conceptual and organizational model of teacher education as an open dynamic system. This necessitates studying not only the Russian experience in training teachers, but also that of international education systems, and helps identify new approaches to training teachers as a strategic area in the development of teacher education in the post-Soviet world. The system of professional education in Eastern Europe faces new challenges, and ways of solving them depend on the increased role of the teacher as a professional, and as a citizen who contributes to the improvement of the social, business and cultural life of society in the market economy. Modern teacher education should develop a teacher who is focused on continuous and sustainable professional development, and is capable of developing the personalities of their students through collaborative activity, instead of merely transferring to them a package of knowledge and skills defined by the syllabus. What is of interest to us in this context is the experience of American professionals in managing the professional training of students of teaching in the leading teacher training institutions in the United States. The main priorities of this training are traditionally focused on the active involvement of a person in the creation and design of knowledge, on a continuous learning process, on building a training process aimed at developing creative, critical and independent thinking in students, and also on solving problems with multiple alternative solutions, on combining personality-based and activity-based approaches to managing the training process, on the promotion of research in the course of training, and the introduction of forms of teaching that help master experience in teaching (cooperative training, discussions, debates, simulations, role games, procedural dramas, etc.).
The experience of managing teacher education in U.S. universities in the second half of the 20th century to the beginning of the new millennium is a valuable source for thoughtful reflection and critical borrowing in the context of European integration processes outlined by the Bologna Process and the development of the global educational space. This is especially important for updating the
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contemporary higher education system in post-Soviet countries and solving relevant issues of their present and future.
Global challenges of teacher education. In this study, we have placed a particular focus on the promising areas of development of teacher education in the United States which, in the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, have been implementing continuous reforms of teacher training, featuring dynamism, flexibility of search and selection of content, strategies and models of teaching and upbringing. This experience of experimenting, testing and treating critically the pedagogical reality was primarily driven by the socio-mobile and socio-productive functions of the market in the course of the social development of American society. In terms of social productivity, providers of education (education departments of states) apply pressure to ensure the appropriate training of teachers at a low cost. In terms of social mobility, consumers of education put on pressure seeking to transform it into a sort of consumer product that would be more productive both for achieving a higher social status and for developing teaching efficiency throughout their lives.
The specific features of the American pedagogical traditions have been to a great extent influenced by the market pragmatism of John Dewey, who organically integrated the ideals of protestant ethics in educating students with pragmatism, a business-like approach (Weber, 2002), and the ability to secure a safe and comfortable life. This trend vividly describes the development of teacher training in the United States over the last few decades, penetrating the educational ideology and thus placing a focus on pedagogical research. Students are seen as active subjects of their education, as equal partners of mentors who, in a sense, lose their previous authority (Koshmanova, 2007a). The new millennium has introduced new change to the essence of American capitalism, which has become more mobile, global and economically flexible. Things are complicated by global competition, which is growing increasingly aggressive. There is a trend for the domination of the individualistic goals of society over collective ones. Active attempts are made to privatize public education, reorganize it using a corporate approach, and organize training using business methods which involve both winners and losers. Tough reforms in education in recent years which are based on such an approach (NCLB, Race to the Top) are aimed at improving standardized test performances of students in mathematics and natural sciences, because the initiators of this line of reforms find these subjects to be crucial for the development of sustained intellectual curiosity and skills in managing economic progress. These reforms involve the liquidation of teachers' trade unions, tutorship and academic freedom of teachers. Special attention is paid to reporting and quantitative measures of teaching efficiency which is assessed based on the results of the standardized examination of students and, correspondingly, by the system of rewards and penalties for teachers. Such an approach creates difficulties in the development of intellectual curiosity, the need for continuous lifelong education of learners, and the traditional American focus on the self-development and creativity of students.
Today, solving social and scientific problems in the modern world is becoming increasingly complicated. In 2010, about 70% of jobs in the United States required specialized knowledge and skills as opposed to 5% at the beginning of the 20th century (Darling-Hammond, 2010). According to Richard
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Sennett (Sennett, 2006), these skills include the following: (1) skills in continuing education, design and management and assessment of the results of one's own work in order to renew and improve it on an ongoing basis throughout life; (2) solving problems using available resources; (3) strategic cooperation with people from different cultures; (4) efficient communication in multiple forms; and (5) defining, analyzing and using information. Moreover, it should be kept in mind that the nature of work will change even more rapidly. In the 20th century, most people changed their jobs two or three times during their life. According to the
U.S. Department of Labor, many modern young people will change their profession more than ten times before they will turn 40 years old (U.S. Department of Labor, 2006). Researchers note that ten of the most in-demand professions in 2010 did not exist in 2004 (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Therefore, today a new mission of schools is to prepare students for jobs that are still non-existent, develop new approaches to solving problems that are still to be identified, and use equipment that is still to be devised. Certainly, a standardized approach to teaching can hardly be regarded as an efficient one for solving the challenges facing the new century (Ravitch, 2010).
Prospects: professional competencies that facilitate the development of sustained intellectual curiosity in students. Today, the work of a teacher of teaching can no longer be described only by the abilities to organize a learning process and transfer the necessary knowledge and skills. What becomes increasingly important is the increased focus on value, world view and normative foundations which secure the moral qualities of the professional activity of future teachers. Despite the influence of the corporate model of teaching which currently predominates in the United States, teachers of teaching programs are expected, for example, not only to have professional skills, but also to be able to develop professional views in their students, be responsive to unusual pedagogical situations, develop positive emotional states in students, and create a favorable learning environment (Koshmanova, 2009; 2011). All these require a teacher to have well-developed psychic functions (empathic, regulatory and cognitive) and skills in overcoming stressful situations in their professional activities. Today, the training of teachers includes a range of psychological, educational, social, economic, informational and technological competencies. Certainly, the main competencies include the ability to develop a high level of sustained intellectual curiosity, skills in implementing professional knowledge in practice, critical thinking, analysis of the main arguments for national and local pedagogical problems in cooperation with students, and skills in conducting qualitative and quantitative studies. Teaching any course in a higher education institution involves not just declaring information and problem solving, but collaboration with students in which they solve these problems by themselves (Koshmanova, & Ravchyna, 2008; 2010). One of the major requirements of teachers' competencies is the following principle: "Teach less, know more". This means that the teacher should build the learning process around topical issues together with the students, and lead students to make their own conclusions by means of collaborative reflection to help them to "know more". This principle is also actively used by teachers of teaching in Finland, Canada, Singapore and Australia. In particular, in Finland, the key principle is that administrators trust teachers. Trust for school and university
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teachers contributes to the development of responsibility in teachers who began to work even better. In support of this principle, the Ministry of Education of Finland has abandoned inspections of schools and programs for teachers' training throughout the country, which has dramatically improved the performance of pupils and students, and enabled Finland to take and maintain for ten years the first place in the world under the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (Sahlberg, 2010).
A major professional competency of teachers is their ability to develop students as "citizens of humanity", i.e. to teach them perceive others according to the "golden rule" of ethics, "Treat others the way you would like them to treat you" (meaning the development of stable dispositions of multiculturalism). Respect for others begins with respect and trust for yourself, with the development of an inner core of being open to the world, respecting and accepting it. Each culture is unique, invaluable and full of interesting and enriching knowledge that is worth studying and borrowing (Koshmanova & Hapon, 2007). Very close to multiculturalism is altruism which should be developed in students for building their personal practical philosophy of being open to the world and continuously learning about it. Altruism is seen as a universal concept of cultures. This term is usually understood as interest in the well-being of others, and its essence is conveyed to students by means of service projects in communities, volunteering and fundraising. Moreover, altruism for the planet means positive attitudes to all cultures, societies, species and ecosystems. It should also be added that people should be responsible and unselfish with respect to the society of the future, which will certainly be influenced by many decisions that are made today (Zinser, 2013).
In summarizing the contemporary discourse on other problems of the professional competencies of teachers that contribute to the development of sustained intellectual curiosity in students, let us note that teachers of schools and universities should learn to think about the abilities of people in a different way. They should overcome the barrier of existing outdated thinking as purely academic or non-academic, abstract or theoretical thinking. We must admit that true learning, which is natural for humans, happens in groups, in collaboration with others, and this is the key to sustainable professional growth. An important prerequisite for success is the culture of an educational institution which trains teachers, with all its rules and habits of the people who work there and shape the necessary dispositions. The present day requires that the old paradigm be rethought in favor of divergent thinking of pupils and students (Robinson, 2009) and their ability to see a lot of possible options for interpreting a problem, using lateral or parallel thinking (Bono, 1967).
Competencies of graduates from schools and universities, that are in demand in the labor market. Tony Wagner (2010) has used numerous surveys among the leaders of leading Western corporations to develop a classification of seven types of professional skills that help young people to survive in the labor market. The first professional skill is critical thinking and knowledge of problems. It appears that from the perspective of the economy of knowledge, the ability to ask good questions is the most important indicator of critical thinking and the ability of employees to solve problems, use theoretical knowledge, and make decisions. Moreover, this quality is necessary for teamwork, the development of democracy in
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the team, and informal leadership. Another (second) survival skill is collaboration across networks and the ability to communicate with others, be the informal leader, lead people, and to create a positive working environment. According to the leaders of corporations, the key to success in modern production is building trust between people, even if they are in a global network in different parts of the world, and also the development of citizenship qualities, understanding and the acceptance of different cultures, races, nations and languages. Agility and adaptability represent the third professional competence of the modern professional. These qualities have been consistently mentioned by all the respondents in the surveys of business leaders. Today, there has been a profound shift in the psychology of perception of the authority of the boss, from the order "What should be done" toward team decision making in the spirit of "how it is best done". The intensification of change, rapidly changing information, and the complex nature of the problems faced by individuals and teams make these skills the key to successful work. The fourth type of professional competencies in modern business is initiative and entrepreneurship. Employees should not only be good team players but should also have initiative and entrepreneurial attitudes, proposing possible solutions and improvement strategies. The fifth professional survival skill is effective oral and written communication. The modern environment increasingly encompasses virtual offices. Employees have to communicate via email, answer calls on Skype, use a full range of modern facilities and technologies, explain their position in a clear and democratic way, and communicate constructively with representatives of different countries, which is one of the most important skills of a modern employee. The sixth type of competency is assessing and analyzing information. The modern world is filled with a continuous flow of new information, and the ability to receive, critically analyze and effectively use it is an extremely important quality of any worker. The seventh type of competency is curiosity and imagination. The word "curiosity" and "inquisitiveness" attracted vivid interest among participants of one survey, because according to corporate leaders they are not only related to the ability of an individual to solve problems, but also directly lead to creativity, innovation, and the development and improvement of products and services.
The meaning of entrepreneurship. Numerous studies around the world show that the development of entrepreneurship is the most important type of professional competence that leads to the successful solving of problems in the employment of young people (World Economic Forum, 2012; European Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education, 2010). In general, entrepreneurship is understood as the opportunity to start a business and make a profit. However, in modern global usage, this term has acquired a considerably broader meaning: "It is a process that results in creativity, innovation and growth. Innovative entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes; its benefits are not limited to startups, innovative ventures and new jobs. Entrepreneurship refers to an individual's ability to turn ideas into action and is therefore a key competency for all, helping young people to be more creative and self-confident in whatever they undertake" (World Economic Forum , 2009, p. 9). The modern world needs new entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin and Bill Gates, who are in great demand and admired by everyone. Speaking about such people, researchers identify another
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quality that relates to the definition of the term "entrepreneurship". It is "an entrepreneurial mindset - a critical mix of success-oriented attitudes of initiative, intelligent risk-taking, collaboration and opportunity recognition" (Aspen Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group, 2008).
Development of entrepreneurship. The first key to success in developing entrepreneurship is to develop responsibility in students based on cognitive interest, initiative and creativity, and to create a learning environment which is diverse in terms of the extent of complexity and is trust based and success oriented. The second success factor for the development of entrepreneurship in students is that they should acquire their own experience as subjects of learning, and develop skills in self-guided design of their own knowledge by the project-based and product-based methods and by arranging for problem-based teaching. One of the most effective methods of developing global professional competence is to acquire life experience as a foreigner in another country (short-term residence in a country with a different culture and language). Common ways of gaining a global experience in entrepreneurship development include internship, studying abroad, volunteering and teaching English in a foreign country.
Conclusions. Today, we are living in a single "flat" world (Friedman, 2005). The development of professional competencies for the continued learning of young people in the context of the global labor economy is becoming of paramount importance. A modern professional should be globally competent enough to be able to achieve success in the global labor market. These dispositions cannot be developed by means of standardized teaching, memorizing information and reproducing it. You cannot survive in the global labor market if you totally ignore its laws. In order to educate globally competent, creative and entrepreneurial professionals, teachers should themselves develop the skills of survival in the labor market and then shape and develop these competencies in students.
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Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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