This paper describes a blended approach to English as a Second Language teacher training that integrates live face-to-face and virtual students in the same physical/virtual classroom with the help of a Blended Synchronous Learning Environment (BSLE). The technical characteristics of this environment are presented, and its affordances and challenges are discussed in light of current research on blended instruction in higher education.

The author of the article expresses the opinion that teachers’ professional activity, their professional and personal development is an important multidimensional and multi-faceted problem that requires an in-depth analysis. One of effective ways of solving the problem would be to study the needs of teachertraining, since the gap between professional education received in higher educational institutions and the upgrade of qualifications which takes place every five years, as well as lack of motivation for professional development, fail to contribute to the overcoming of many negative phenomena (pedagogical crises, pedagogical burnout, professional stagnation). The article describes the categories of development (personal and professional) and educational needs (of modern teachers) and investigates the peculiarities of forming teachers’ educational needs. Research results among different age groups are presented. The purpose of this study was to find out the level of the demand for educational needs, to assess the quality of educational services which are provided, to identify the driving motives, as well as to determine the prospects for improving the effectiveness of educational activities within this category.

The purpose of the article is to present the results of testing the emotional intelligence of the future physicians who tend to hide professional mistakes. The article is based on the study involving 129 students who are studying in the specialties “Medical business”, “Medical psychology”, “Pediatrics”, “Dentistry” at the medical-psychological, dental and medical faculties of the O.O. Bohomolets National Medical University. During the study, the following methods were used: 1) The Error-Oriented Motivation Scale (EOMS) in order to measure a tendency to hide professional mistakes; 2) The Emotional Intelligence Scale in order to determine the level of emotional intelligence. Statistical processing of the study results was performed using 1) descriptive statistics (percentages, arithmetic means, standard deviations); 2) Student’s T-test to compare the emotional intelligence level in the groups of future physicians with different levels of propensity to hide professional mistakes. The study has found that a significant number of future physicians (53.5%) showed a tendency to hide their professional mistakes. The respondents in this group are characterized with low and medium levels of emotional intelligence compared to future physicians who strive to learn from their mistakes. This study has demonstrated that the vast majority of future physicians believe that professional errors should be hidden, which, in turn, does not contribute to their professional development; the future physicians who tend to hide professional mistakes have low levels of emotional awareness, ability to manage one’s emotions, self-motivation, empathy, ability to manage other people’s emotions. The development of emotional intelligence would apparently contribute to a more conscious attitude of future physicians to professional activities as well as more common-sense attitude to mistakes, and this poses new challenges for medical education to form emotional intelligence of future medical professionals.

The article deals with the problem of error-oriented motivation of Turkish students during the adaptation process to a foreign university (on an example of a Ukrainian university). Research was conducted on two samples of first year students: 45 Turkish and 61 Ukrainian students. An error-oriented motivation questionnaire and survey were used to identify strategies for student response to mistakes and the main problems of adaptation. It was determined that Turkish students are more likely to use a Learning from mistakes strategy and are more exposed to such adaptation problems as communication problems with the administration, difficulties in adapting to the new social environment, and emotional problems.

Childhood experiences and their significance in adulthood – a supplement to the studies among teachers from kindergartens and schools with Polish as the teaching language in Zaolzie in the Czech Republic

The article comprises a presentation of quantitative and qualitative studies, conducted among teachers working in kindergartens and schools with Polish as the teaching language in the territory of Zaolzie in the Czech Republic. Teachers’ experiences are analysed from the perspective of both the constructivist vision of a child, present in pedagogy, and Maria Tyszkowa’s concept of structuration and restructuration of experience (considered to be a part of the constructivist current). The undertaken reflections and the research results enable the recognition of the significance of childhood experiences for the professional development of beginners in teaching careers. Those reflections and outcomes can also enhance the development of teachers’ awareness and responsibility for providing children and youth with experiences that will be of crucial importance in their later life young.

In our article we outline the development of the specialized Health Pedagogy programme at the University of Silesia, and students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of educational experience. Our presentation employs quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Using the institution monograph method we present quantitative data on the content of the learning programme and learning outcomes in Health Pedagogy. Document analysis covers 12 years, beginning with 2001 when the specialization was introduced in the University of Silesia. Using content analysis we present the learning outcomes, including knowledge, skills and competencies acquired by graduates in the first and second cycle degree programmes, according to the Bologna process. To complete these findings we present individual cases, based on interviews, as examples of the occupational path of our graduates.

The paper describes qualitative research which studied six teachers from their professional beginnings to the present position of an experienced - expert - teacher. The research method used is life story, through which the teacher’s career is reconstructed. The key research question is: What strategies of work on identity did a teacher use to become an expert teacher? The most important motor of change and particularly of a teacher’s development was his/her decision and commitment to the development of his/her identity (Pittard, 2003). Snow and Anderson (1987) labelled this process as work on one’s identity. I will discuss only verbal and visual strategies, which the teacher uses to influence the environment at school in general (verbal distancing, gossip, and strategy of uniqueness). The paper concludes with a discussion of how necessary the verbal and visual strategies directed towards the school space are for the teacher’s professional identity. Had they no power, teachers could not influence decision-making processes.

Any nation that cares about its future should provide the young generation with a good education. In the 21st century, it is essential to provide them with the skills and knowledge they will need to be successful innovators in the 21st century. The article analyses the main aspects of a STEM learning strategy, which provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Both the advantageous and disadvantageous issues of this learning approach are revealed in the article. The peculiarities of STEAM learning have also been emphasised. The article notes the specific practices of applying STEM/ STEAM learning in the USA, European Union and Ukraine, specified by educational and professional training programmes. Special emphasis is put on the perspectives of these approaches to education. STEM educational programme focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The aim is to help better prepare students in these areas of learning and create practical applications for how these lessons apply to the real world. Lately, there has been a growing emphasis on STEAM that is a new educational discipline that engages students not only in the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math but also the Arts, which is the ability to think, discuss, dispute the problematic issues, to encourage and develop inquiry, curiosity, ability to find solutions to a problem, creativity in the finding of the necessary solutions, both practical skills and appreciation for collaborations. It is opposed to traditional teaching models and aims to bring the disciplines together. Modern STEM education promotes skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, higher-order thinking, and design and behavioural competencies such as perseverance, adaptability, cooperation, organisation, and responsibility.

The Conceptual Aspect of Exchange Programs as a Factor of Ukraine’s Integration into the World Scientific Space

The domestic system of higher education is undergoing a path of renewal, aimed at the internationalization of higher education and cultural integration of teachers from different countries, improving the quality of higher education according to international educational standards. The integration of Ukraine’s higher education into the world educational space and the consequent development of international human capital exchange need to be modernized, including the system of academic mobility in the higher education system. Every year academic mobility programs expand the number of participants, both at the expense of domestic and foreign higher education institutions. Academic mobility is one of the most important aspects of integrating Ukrainian higher education institutions into the international educational space and a factor in the personal and professional development of teachers, as it puts him in the analysis and solution of life situations from their own and other cultures. At the same time, academic mobility is important for the personal and professional development of the teacher, as it puts him in the conditions of analysis and solution of life situations from the standpoint of their own and other cultures. This promotes the development of the ability to think in a comparative aspect; the ability to choose ways of interaction taking into account the peculiarities of another culture; readiness for intercultural communication; deepens knowledge of another culture. Participation of teachers in academic mobility programs gives them the opportunity to improve their skills, constantly develop professionally, get acquainted with teaching methods at universities abroad, develop personal and professional potential. In Ukraine, the academic mobility of research and teaching staff is regulated by legislation and includes a corresponding update of state legislation on higher education (Law of Ukraine «On Higher Education», Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine «Regulations on the exercise of the right to academic mobility»).

Modeling of Professional Development of Pedagogical Employees in the System of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education

The article presents the developed and tested regional Model of individual trajectory of professional development of teachers, which allows teachers to plan their own professional development in the system of postgraduate pedagogical education on the basis of continuity and integrity. An analysis of the legal framework and current challenges of society that motivate teachers to improve professional skills as an important component of educational reform and identified key concepts: “professional development”, “individual trajectory of professional development”, “formal education”, “non-formal education”, “Informal education”, “methodical simulator”. The author has developed a regional Model of individual trajectory of professional development of teachers, which includes five vectors of professional skills that meet the labor functions of the Professional Standard for Professions “Primary School Teacher”, “Secondary School Teacher”, “Teacher of General Secondary Education”. primary education (with a diploma of junior specialist) “and four sections of the formation of general and professional competencies, as well as knowledge and skills in the main areas of teacher training. This Model makes it possible to build a trajectory of professional development of teachers in the intertest period, combining different types of activities in the main forms of adult education: formal, informal and informal, using the capabilities and resources of the Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education Chernivtsi region. On the basis of the survey of students of advanced training courses and pedagogical workers of different specialties and specialties, the analysis of realization and approbation of regional Model of individual trajectory of professional development of pedagogical workers in the practical activity is carried out and problems of its use are revealed. The opinion of the respondents encourages the improvement and adjustment of the methodological simulator and the organization of the educational process on the basis of the Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education of Chernivtsi region, which allows to adjust the planning system of their own professional growth.

This brief report presents preliminary findings of a qualitative investigation into five Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) academics’ professional attributes and identities in China. The findings revealed that the participants possessed diverse types of capital essential to CLIL, including human, social, psychological, cultural, identity, and agentic capital, though with mixed controls. The temporality of personal experiences and the social networks surrounding the participants were deemed influential in shaping and negotiating their professional identities. The study concluded with implications for institutional administrators and leaders, who should consider teachers’ development needs, especially their learning, social and psychological needs, to create an academically supportive, emotionally engaging and socially collaborative organisational climate.

In the article the authors intend to pinpoint a variety of notions of teachers professional education and growth. The abundance of ideas can be attributed to different social needs and expectations. Political, economic and cultural changes in Poland resulted in growing attention in the area of education and teachers’ social role. The authors try to outline the latest tendencies in pedeutology, particularly concentrated on the models of teachers education.