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DOI: 10.12731/2218-7405-2013-8-46
THE ROLE OF THE SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCES
OF AN ART TEACHER
Sokolova E.N.
The factors affecting the modern educational milieu were defined as well as the factors influencing its establishment. A model and tested forms of student interaction with the sociocultural environment were proposed. The capabilities of the sociocultural environment for establishing professional educational competences were discovered.
Keywords: sociocultural environment, professional educational competences, forms of active interaction.
РОЛЬ СОЦИОКУЛЬТУРНОЙ СРЕДЫ В ФОРМИРОВАНИИ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНЫХ КОМПЕТЕНЦИЙ БУДУЩЕГО ПЕДАГОГА-ХУДОЖНИКА
Соколова Е.Н.
Определены особенности современной образовательной среды и факторы, влияющие на ее формирование. Предлагается модель и апробированные формы взаимодействия обучающихся с социокультурной средой. Выявлены возможности социокультурной среды в формировании профессиональных педагогических компетенций.
Ключевые слова: социокультурная среда, профессиональные педагогические компетенции, формы активного взаимодействия.
Changes associated with the modernization of education in general, the introduction into educational institutions of new, third generation Federal State Educational Standards, and society's demands in relation to a modern teacher result in reconsideration of the content, methods, educational technologies and the role of teachers and students in the learning process.
The innovative search is also done during the professional training of an art teacher. This is due to the transparency of education, which requires correlation between the curriculum content and the modern processes of the sociocultural environment, art, and culture. Consequently, the sociocultural environment should still be introduced into the learning environment of an educational institution; and tools for the purposes of interaction between students and the learning environment should be developed. The purpose of the article is to recognize forms of active interaction between students and the sociocultural environment at educational institutions.
The studies in relation to professional art teacher training (by Baklanova, T.I., Ignatyev, S.E., Komarova, T.S., Kuzin, V.S., Rostovtsev, N.N., Savenkova, L.G., Sokolnikova, N.M., Yershova, L.V., & Yusov, B.P.), instructional training (by Bannikov, V.N., Berezhnaya, M.S., Nikolskaya, E.E., Shorokhov, E.V., Shpilakova, T.Y., & Telysheva, N.N.), and the influence of innovations related to the Bologna Declaration (by Anchukov, S.V.), indicate that professional art teacher training does not comply with the modern requirements for art teacher education. Graduates face a situation where they are unable to perform a number of actions in the rapidly changing conditions of high school education. A new school requires a new generation teacher [1]. That is why it is important, not only to manifest, but also to search for new and effective methods and ways of working with students and to create an educational environment where a new teacher may be "born".
As national research data shows, the main updates of professional education in the modern world are about finding ways to develop students' active and efficient attitude towards the learning process, which "facilitates the establishment of a general
comprehensive perception of a professional activity, actions therein, and resolution of new matters and tasks" [2, p. 8]. The establishment of efficient actions during a learning process is possible if the sociocultural environment is being particularly considered, and this provides great opportunities for gaining and developing professional teaching competences.
The abilities of the sociocultural environment were recognized for the purpose of establishing professional teaching competences of a future art teacher and as instruments for the learning environment update; a benchmark study was conducted in relation to the research in that area; and a five-year assessment of active forms of interaction of students with the sociocultural environment was carried out at the art department of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia.
Becoming a professional, along with internal factors, is mainly determined by the abilities embedded in external and environmental conditions, which are able to receive a positive response in a personality as well as boost their productivity and development. That is exactly why studies on the educational potential of the learning environment and the ability to use it in a process of socialization, including the professional side thereof, catches scientists' attention (Bondarevskaya, E.V., Gafaurova, N.O., Lerner, I.Y., Redko, L.L., Slobodchikov, V.I., Yakimanskaya, I.S., & others).
The researchers define the educational and instructional potential of the environment in different ways:
- environment is a way of converting external relations into the internal structure of a personality (Bocharova, V.G., & Mudrik, A.V.);
- environment should be filled with moral and aesthetic values that have power and influence; it also should be a way of ensuring development and personal growth (Bibler, V.S., Korneva, M.I., Redko, L.I., & Yusov, B.P.);
- environment is a whole sociocultural system that facilitates the distribution of new cultural values and encourages group interests (Meng, T.V., Polikarpov, V.S., & Volkov, Y.G.);
- environment forms the attitude toward basic values and enables the understanding of the social experience and gaining of features necessary for a person in daily life (Bueva, L.P., & Guseva, N.V.);
- environment benefits the development of talents (Gafaurova, N.O.), the fulfillment of a student's need to learn different types and forms of activities and to gain emotional experience, a conscientious attitude towards the world and to acquire experience of communication and interaction (Yakimanskaya, I.S.);
- environment is a set of conditions where the educational process is being formed and the interaction of participants in the educational process takes place (Katunova, M.P.);
- environment influences personality directly in the process of apprehension of values embedded therein (Maynulova, Y.S.).
When talking about the establishment of an education environment (Slobodchikov's concept), it is important for its potential to use educational resources (environment fulfillment) separating them into the following categories: similarity, it is when the nature of connections and relations is being described by the same entity depending on a purpose set; and variations, when different resources are consolidated during the designing of general curriculums that enable a student's development resulting in an array of courses thereof.
Based on studies of different approaches, the modern learning environment may be categorized as follows. The learning environment must be based on fundamental ethics, inspire the distribution of cultural values and the formation of self-motivation, encourage gaining social experience and an emotional and conscientious attitude towards the world during the process of understanding, communicating and learning, and result in teamwork to improve the environment. It also must ensure the variety of courses of development.
Specific factors influence the creation of the learning environment. One of them is the development of a particular learning area; and in this case it is the development of a new independent area of teaching science: Art Teaching [3]. The
Art Teaching ideas gradually started crystallizing in the mid-1980s. It embraced the core features, deep conscientious attitudes, and historical aspects of Russian Art Teaching Education that have been forming for hundreds of years. The most efficient development of Art Teaching, including high school education, started in the beginning of the twentieth century by Bakushinsky, A.V., Labuskaya, G.V., Nemesky, B.M., Savenkova, L.G., Fomina, N.N., Flerina, E.A., and Yusov, B.P. Currently, the following areas are being updated: concepts, methodological approaches, curriculum of modern art education for children and youth, principles of art teaching and their extension to the general teaching and professional education systems [4]. Major science schools of Art Teaching and their development become the conceptual basis for teaching innovations in the art education field. Profound changes are also associated with standardization. The introduction of new concepts, a new generation of student books and workbooks demonstrate a set art teaching system organized to a specific author's logic which drastically changes the status of art lessons at high schools. The stated aspects of the rapid development of the sociocultural environment of the educational area called 'Art' should definitely reflect on the creation of the learning environment of art departments at colleges of education.
Predicated upon standards and determined by the learning practice, professional competences are factors that influence the creation of the learning environment. The professional competences of a future art teacher are not only about the basics of creative activity in all the general types of visual arts and the presence of a high level of knowledge of art history, but as studies show [5, p.7] the following aspects are very important as well: willingness to resolve professional matters considering the variability of modern education, focus on a child's development by means of the subject, ability to work as a team, and motivation for self-development. A teacher's special attention must be paid to the matters of students acquiring the artistic and ethical values of art teaching education, changing a student's mind in relation to the understanding of the responsibility of every person regarding the
consequences of their actions, and to forming a vision for the future. The following competences are required for the purposes of professional growth: creativity, critical thinking seen from the ability to analyze and evaluate information, ability to act in different situations, understanding the features of the sociocultural environment and the ability to use them for teaching purposes, organization and implementation of personal projects, ability to use new tools interactively to achieve personal objectives, and active interaction with others.
An art teacher's mission is unique; it is not limited by the area of expertise of a teacher. The art teacher, together with the student, balance between the spiritual and the material world. When establishing a conscientious attitude towards art, a teacher is encouraged to explain one of the basic missions of art to children, which is to teach how to care for others and inspire a sense of conscientiousness.
Special aspects of art teaching include the understanding of the fact that art is not only about learning, it embraces creativity and values. A teacher must understand special aspects of the epoch the flow and organization of the creative process, which is based on emotions along with compassion and a conscientious attitude towards the world [6]. The fundamental characteristic of an art teacher's professional activity is sensitivity to the "birth" of a personal view.
Ethics activities are special forms associated with the transfer of a point and values (Bakhtin, M.M.). A work of art introduced to a social environment creates an "art dialog" between artist and viewer. However, in the modern sociocultural environment, an artist is required to make efforts in order to arrange such dialog and be able to attract viewers. Creative activity is about interpretation of a created work of art, comparison thereof with other works of art, and an evaluation of the emotions. As a result of reflection, appreciation of art is being formed and self-enrichment takes place. Special aspects of an art teacher's activities are the following: formation of a need to interact with art, development of a taste in art, high aesthetical demand, and independent thinking. These aspects are necessary to develop specific qualities of a future teacher.
Special requirements in relation to the organization of creative and artistic students' activities are accompanied by the demands of modern society in relation to all future teachers. One of these requirements is a willingness to do constant research; results of this research are expressed through knowledge fulfillment and an update of the purposes of improvement of professional teaching practice in accordance with the present requirements.
Obviously, the leading approach to the organization of students' interaction with the sociocultural environment is a person-oriented approach well connected with the student's personality and with the student himself as an active participant in a learning process. The core feature of the person-oriented education is the understanding of a curriculum by means of conversation; which creates a special environment where subject objectivity, reflection and self-fulfillment are being introduced.
Based on the highlighted factors that influence the creation of the learning environment, modern demands of an art teacher's practice as well as the better traditions formed at the art department of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, a conclusion may be drawn as follows: the realization of the role of the sociocultural environment when becoming an art teacher results in the creation of its new image, modern principles for the creation of a learning environment, search for new forms of students' interaction with the environment, alteration of a student's role in the understanding thereof and the teacher's role in its creation.
The environment's role in the daily activities of a student may be different. In the present educational model, cultural values must not be introduced as "frozen" knowledge. In order for it to become a part of a personality, it is important for a person to rise up to the cultural values; that is why the following model of interaction with the sociocultural and learning environment was used in educational practice.
A student gets acquainted with an environment in a number of stages.
At the first stage, students find their places in the environment; their professional interests get recognized; reasonable forms and methods of learning
activities are chosen; and self-esteem is established.
At the second stage students get acquainted with the environment, use it for the purposes of self-development and recognition of personal potential, and develop the skills of establishing individual learning guidelines.
At the third stage, the nature of the environment gets more difficult, the students are transforming the environment.
Different active forms of students' interaction with the sociocultural environment were originated and approved at the art department of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia. A student's activities may be focused on the creation of resource potential which is environment enrichment or on the structure of the existing ones under the set learning environment. Types of students' activities include creation and processing of content, its verification and design, and fusion of electronic and verbal communication.
Especially interesting for the students is the creation of multimedia presentations and tutorials for the teachers' training with the use of modern information and communication technologies. Such activities are introduced to the learning process at seminars by means of lecturer's assistance; it is especially efficient when used together with a point-based system of evaluation of learning results and assignment of projects and research. The result of information resources update is the creation of a virtual tutorial room under the following principles:
- Integrated organization of the information environment, which provides opportunities for personal growth and considers professional and individual student factors;
- Variability interactions, which create a satisfaction of learning needs, use the obtained knowledge and formed skills for self-establishment and the formation of interests and motives, and assist a person in reaching their goals; and
- Creative interaction with the sociocultural environment, which includes a student in different types of activities the most through interpersonal
interaction and a number of individually valuable stimulations and types of activities in accordance with particularities of a student, Active learning of art development specifics is possible under the condition of inclusion of students in organizing and conducting conferences and discussions. During a conference, students became witnesses and active participants not only in the innovative search for teachers of art departments of Russian educational institutions, but also other educational facilities: colleges, schools, vocational schools, St. Petersburg Academy of Higher Pedagogical Education, Institute of Continuous Art Education, and Institute of Art Education under the Russian Academy of Education in Moscow. The department was one of the first to use a two-tiered education system for the purposes of training professionals in art education. The Russian conferences under the same name: "Modern problems in art teaching education" [7, 8, 9, 10], had a specific focus every year. The first conferences were associated with teachers' training in accordance with the Bologna declaration and establishing teaching strategies. The area of interest of the education society moved to the discussion of the art education curriculum due to the conversion to the third generation Federal State Educational Standards, matters of technological innovations in Russian and foreign art teaching in higher education institutions, and development tendencies of high schools and art schools for children.
The goals for the first stage of integration of the European education society found new but long-awaited issues of higher education: for how long can our national art teaching education maintain and implement national achievements in new conditions; and what is the level of responsibility for the maintenance of values of art teaching education? What is the correlation between the existing values and positive modern research The understanding of the rich national experience in art teaching education and the role of the Russian teaching schools in history and today were under the spotlight at the next conferences. Attention was also paid to the matters associated with the role of art in the formation of a child's attitude towards the world, generalization of progressive teaching technique, latest learning technologies,
features of the modern information environment, and creation of learning and creative environment as a result of a student-teacher interaction.
The special atmosphere associated with discussions of contemporary issues of art education at different levels together with students and the conduct of research definitely influence formation of professional teaching thinking.
The especially interesting activity for the students doing their bachelor's was the arrangement and carrying out of discussions on the following topic: "Contemporary Art Teacher. Who should he be?" [11]. The students' activity was about conducting research, comparing the views of experienced and young teachers, supervisors, school principals, scientists, parents, children, and university lectures and students. Research results became the basis for the creation of a "portrait" of a modern art teacher.
One of the active forms of students' interaction with the sociocultural environment is holding contests. The MA students developed the idea of a competition for the BA students called "The Palette of Methodical Ideas". The competition's purpose: creation of the conditions for discovering the creative potential in students for the development of artistic activities. Formation of an active professional view, involvement of students in the activity of development of efficient educational techniques and new organizational forms of art education, and creation of an innovative environment are the goals of the competition. The priority of the evaluation of student projects is focusing on a resolution of contemporary issues of art education and a "tool" that would be ready for introduction into educational practice. Such an activity gives an opportunity to demonstrate informative and communicative competence, show the ability to organize and be responsible, and the ability to work as a team. The judges are not only the faculty members, but also teachers of complementary sciences, school principals and teachers, supervisors, postgraduates, and MA students. The growth of the projects presented is realized in terms of social value, the system of educational structure, knowledge of information technologies, and desire to work as a team. The winners are recommended to
participate in an inter-universities competition called "My Initiative in Education" and at a scientific student conference called "Herzen Educational Readings".
BA Students' works on teaching projects influence the formation of reasonable self-esteem, self-growth, development of personal potential, and learning of cultural self-criticism. When working on their projects, students not only efficiently use, but also create the sociocultural environment. MA students obtain organizational experience, experience in evaluation, consultation, and group interaction.
One of the interesting forms of activity for all the participants of the learning process is the organization by the students of a children's art exhibition at the department. These exhibitions became widespread; they move the viewers. From the teaching point of view, it is important to focus a future teacher's attention on a child's personality and be able to see it in the learning process. The exhibitions allow not only the children's art to be judged, but also the professional skills of a teacher and his creative teaching technique [10, p. 302-313]. Acquaintance with different teaching experiences and learning of different forms of working with children's art benefit the formation of teaching culture in art students.
Students' activities at children's art exhibition include:
- master class by professors;
- presentation of experience in organizing children's art exhibitions, for instance, organization of the Russian Travelling Exhibitions of Children and Youth Art [12]; and
- execution of specific tasks individually and in groups (writing essays describing the influence of the exhibition; conducting benchmark studies in relation to the art based on personally defined criteria, writing texts for promotional material, articles, and speeches at parents and teachers' meetings, doing statistical reports, composition of the exhibition's concept, and acting as judge).
Exhibitions benefit from the display of commitment to the understanding of the sociocultural environment, help recognize the level of qualification required for the teaching activity and the correct examination to follow the education accordingly.
Forms of active learning and creating of the sociocultural environment must be in agreement with the level and goals of education. Thus, such forms as organization of educational events at different educational institutions were introduced into the Master's program. Students independently connect their activities with the contemporary issue of art education outside the department, independently search for the facilities for their educational activities and based on the studies of teaching reality define the content. Thus, a series of seminars were conducted for art teachers at the St. Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate Teaching Education on the matters of the tolerance and educational activity of an art teacher and the use of modern information technologies. Another form of activity is master classes for the teachers in schools, universities, and kindergartens, and for parents, and students with disabilities.
Based on the research, a conclusion may be drawn that tested forms of interaction of future art teachers with the sociocultural environment benefit the following areas:
- satisfaction of different educational needs;
- establishment of a professional view and obtaining values of the future occupation under the condition of active involvement of students in the creation of the sociocultural environment;
- development of a student's personality, i.e. cognitive interests, constructive, algorithmic and creative thinking, communicative features as a result of teamwork, and reasonable self-esteem;
- creation of personal space for learning and developing, determination of direction for personal growth and personal way of entering into the art teaching environment;
- formation of required professional competences, inner motivation for the
learning process, and a sense of responsibility for the work results; - preparation for independent and efficient work in educational society, encouragement of organized work, making own prognosis, and having the ability to see the big picture.
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DATA ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sokolova Elena Nikolaevna, associate professor of art education and museum education Faculty of Fine Arts, Ph.D.
Russian State Pedagogical University
72, Bukharestskaya Str., St. Petersburg, 192238, Russia
e-mail: rgpusokolova@yandex.ru
ДАННЫЕ ОБ АВТОРЕ
Соколова Елена Николаевна, доцент кафедры художественного образования и музейной педагогики факультета изобразительного искусства, кандидат искусствоведения
Российский государственный педагогический университет им. А.И. Герцена ул. Бухарестская д. 72, г. Санкт-Петербург, 192238, Россия e-mail: rgpusokolova@yandex.ru
