Continuing Professional Education: Theory and Practice

MOTIVATION: DOES IT MAKE LANGUAGE LEARNING MORE EFFECTIVE?

2024-12-27T12:10:08+02:00

Proficiency in foreign languages is an indispensable skill for those living in the 21st century, as it enables individuals to engage in global communication, access diverse cultures, and adapt to an increasingly interconnected world. In today’s Ukraine, English is in great demand. However, despite the awareness of the importance of foreign languages for modern citizenship, the boom in learning English, and particular successes achieved, Ukrainian university students’ proficiency in English leaves much to be desired. To change the situation for the better, language teachers are looking for hidden reserves and resources to make their teaching and, thus, learning more effective. One of them is student motivation to learn languages. In the present article, the authors analyze motivation, its types and kinds, reflect on their experience of teaching English at Ukrainian universities, and focus on factors that boost student motivation. In order to understand what motivates their students and how well they, teachers, are informed about their students’ motivation factors to study foreign languages, an instrument was created and employed – a Questionnaire for students. The Questionnaire examines the factors that influence student motivation as well as the problems and difficulties that students face and experience in the process of learning. The Questionnaire and its results help reflect on and assess teaching, see what teachers may be proud of and what should be changed and improved, as well as what measures to be taken to raise student motivation. By reflecting on the results of the Questionnaire, insights into teaching practices can be gained, allowing for the identification of successful strategies and areas requiring improvement. This reflection informs targeted actions to enhance student motivation and create a more engaging and supportive learning environment.

DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ CREATIVITY IN THE PROCESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AT UNIVERSITY

2025-03-27T15:22:28+02:00

In today’s higher education creativity plays a central role in raising the effectiveness of foreign language teaching. This article explores the importance of a creative approach in teaching foreign languages at university, stressing on the importance of development of both teachers’ and students’ creativity. The article examines innovative teaching strategies, including interactive methods, gamification, project-based learning and digital tools, which contribute to engagement, motivation and deeper knowledge of a target language. The study highlights how teachers’ creativity influences students’ ability to think critically, solve problems and express themselves in a foreign language. The article also highlights the challenges teachers may face in implementing creative methodologies and their need for continuous professional development. It emphasizes the role of a supportive learning environment in encouraging students’ experimentation and active participation in learning. The results suggest that application of creative pedagogical techniques does not only increase a foreign language proficiency but also develops students’ communication skills, confidence, adaptability and satisfaction with learning outcomes. The study concludes that development of creativity in language teaching requires a change in traditional teaching patterns, where teachers are facilitators of dynamic and student-centered learning experiences. By application of creative methodologies, university teachers can prepare students for real-world communication, cultural awareness and lifelong learning in a rapidly changing global environment.

PRACTICAL TRAINING OF MASTER’S LEVEL HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS IN THE SPECIALTY 024 CHOREOGRAPHY: SPECIFICITY IN MARTIAL LAW

2025-03-27T15:45:18+02:00

Effective forms and approaches of practical training of applicants of the second (master's) level of higher education in the specialty 024 «Choreography» in the conditions of martial law are identified and theoretically substantiated in the article. The peculiarities of the remote form of practical training of recruiters as the most effective in wartime are considered. The peculiarities of the remote form of practical training of recruiters as the most effective in wartime are considered. Effective approaches in the practical training of masters have been identified: active, comprehensive, integrated, thorough development of normative documents and scientific and methodological support for practical training of applicants of the second (master's) level of higher education, a person-oriented approach. The experience of organizing and conducting scientific-pedagogical practice and pedagogical practice in institutions of professional pre-higher education by the Department of Choreography of Kharkiv National Pedagogical University named after H.S. Frying pans under martial law. It was found that in the course of the internship, the students of higher education developed professional and pedagogical skills and the skills of organizing the educational process at the Department of Choreography of the Kharkiv National Pedagogical University named after H.S. Pans using innovative and traditional methods and forms of training. The results of the theoretical material of the scientific article will enable teachers-choreographers of specialized institutions of higher and professional pre-higher education to develop and create educational, work programs, syllabi, educational and professional programs, educational and methodological complex of practical training of masters, taking into account the conditions of martial law.

CRITERIA AND INDICATORS FOR EVALUATING THE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS OF GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

2025-03-27T16:01:42+02:00

This study identifies criteria for evaluating the pedagogical activity of biology teachers in secondary education institutions: informational, subject-based, methodological, motivational, self-educational, learning effectiveness, and self-assessment ability. Indicators have been developed for each of them, which include the main essential features of the criterion. The results of a study of the attitude of biology teachers, as an object of evaluation, to the proposed criteria and evaluation indicators are highlighted. The data were collected using an online survey. It was found that teachers who participated in the survey preferred communicative, subject-based, and methodological criteria for evaluating pedagogical activity. Motivational and informational criteria were underestimated, which took the last two places in the rating of assessments. The results of the study made it possible to draw conclusions about the need to use an integrated approach to assessment when assessing pedagogical skills, when not only the result of pedagogical work is evaluated, but also the process of pedagogical activity itself. This explains the need for further research into the need to move from the practice of assessing general qualities to assessing the components of a teachers’ pedagogical skills when evaluating a teacher’s work.

UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY IN THE REGULATORY AND LEGAL ACTS OF EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

2025-03-27T16:22:09+02:00

The article is dedicated to analyzing regulatory and legal acts in Eastern European countries concerning university autonomy and academic freedom, which are often intertwined in legal documents. The study examines documents from Eastern European countries – Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic – which are geographically, historically, and culturally close to Ukraine and share a common totalitarian past. The analysis focuses on Constitutions as well as national Higher Education Laws. It is emphasized that enshrining university autonomy in the fundamental laws of a country does not automatically imply a high level of its actual development; however, it elevates it to the status of a fundamental value. The research findings indicate that only the Constitutions of two countries – Poland and Romania – contain precise wording on university autonomy. The national Higher Education Laws in all the analyzed countries, oriented toward the Europeanization of education and university autonomy as a core value and governance principle of the European Higher Education Area, fully regulate the distribution of powers between the state and universities in organizational, financial, personnel, and academic activities. Hungary represents a separate case, as its legislation formally restricts university autonomy in favor of state regulation of higher education, which has drawn criticism from both scholars and executive bodies of the European Union.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE SPHERE OF EDUCATION: EDUCOLOGICAL ASPECTS

2025-03-26T12:16:12+02:00

The article is devoted to the analysis of the positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence on the development of education, which is done with the help of educology and a synergistic approach. The author emphasizes that this methodology integrates knowledge about education and the educational sphere as a whole, and is an interdisciplinary direction of scientific development based on numerous methods borrowed from natural sciences, cybernetics, mathematical sciences, etc. The author notes that both educology and synergetic help to imagine the modern field of education as a synergistic system, that is, one that exists in interconnection and interaction with other open systems. Such a view changes the perception of manifestations of randomness and necessity in educational systems, the irreversibility of educational processes, and allows us to understand in a different way the nature and essence of chaotic processes in educational systems, using the example of modern information and communication technologies, and artificial intelligence in particular. The author proves that artificial intelligence is becoming a mega-fluctuation of society today, which will not only change the contours of the future, but also become a bifurcation point for humanity. The author analyzed the positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence on education, made a comparative table of these manifestations in the educational, scientific, communicative, ethical and social spheres. The author paid special attention to the social aspects of the negative impact of the use of artificial intelligence in education: control over the opinions of students and teachers, the creation and distribution of fakes; rewriting huge chunks of reality or hiding uncomfortable truths; inclination of students to «correct», standard thinking; promoting the destruction of certain types of specialties, etc. The author presents recommendations for mitigating the negative effects of artificial intelligence on education. According to the author, one of the main conditions for mitigating the negative effects of AI on the development of education is recognizаtion the need to study basic knowledge, facts, writing, calculations, etc. It is the task of educators to develop ways in which they can help students learn the facts and master the foundations of knowledge in more traditional curriculum subjects such as mathematics or English. The next recommendation expressed by the author is the involvement of students in the discussion of the negative consequences of the development of AI in education. It is necessary to ask students to analyze situations in which it is possible to use AI, and in which it prevents the development of necessary skills or creates injustice in the learning process. It is possible to involve students of various specialties in drawing up instructions on the use of AI in higher education. For this, students need to familiarize themselves with the articles of various scientists and working groups and commissions that consider the same issues. Not only will this turn AI into a learning component, but it will also help students feel responsible for following those instructions: students will be much more likely to follow instructions they help develop, rather than those imposed on them. In general, taking into account the numerous positive and negative effects of AI on the development of education, the author comes to the conclusion that adapting the best properties and ways of using artificial intelligence to traditional institutional and educational practices and developing strict ethical norms can create the best results of using artificial intelligence for students, teachers and education managers.

FEATURES OF THE ACTIVITIES OF STUDENT SERVICES IN U.S. UNIVERSITIES

2025-03-26T11:15:22+02:00

The article is devoted to the analysis of the types and specific features of student services in U.S. universities. It is shown that the development of higher education in the United States took place under conditions of constant growth in the student population and increasing demands for accessibility and quality of education. In response to these challenges, the field of student services (Student Services or Student Affairs) emerged – a complex of auxiliary programs, services, and activities aimed at supporting the academic, social, and personal development of students. These services include academic advising, financial aid, psychological support, career services, leadership development, support for international students, and the organization of sports activities. It has been found that, in their entirety, student services form a comprehensive institutional ecosystem that supports students academically, socially, and professionally. The historical foundations of the field of student affairs have been explored. It has been established that the basic principles of these services, outlined in the fundamental documents «The Student Personnel Point of View» (1937, 1949), provide for a holistic approach to the formation of students’ personalities. The functional diversity of student services in the U.S. and their impact on academic success, social integration, and professional preparation of students have been analyzed. Attention is drawn to the necessity of studying the mechanisms for integrating individual elements of the American model of student support (such as academic success centers, career centers, and financial aid) into the Ukrainian educational practice, considering national realities and student needs.

TRENDS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING OF MASTERS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND

2025-03-26T11:34:57+02:00

The article identifies and summarizes trends in entrepreneurial education of masters in the field of education in the Republic of Finland in the period 2010-2025 at pan-European, national and institutional levels. It is noted that the Republic of Finland is a leader in the implementation of entrepreneurship training initiatives in higher education institutions in the European Union, which determined the choice of this country for the study of trends in entrepreneurship training for masters of pedagogical specialties. The author analyzed and classified the trends of entrepreneurship education of masters of pedagogical specialties in the Republic of Finland, according to the defined criteria: strategic-target, organizational-content, result-prognostic. The main areas of strategic purpose in the Republic of Finland are defined as: launch of national entrepreneurship education strategies; development and implementation of state educational programs for entrepreneurship training; the strategic priority of entrepreneurship training at all levels of education; financing of entrepreneurship development projects at pan-European, national, regional, and local levels; partnership of the state, educational institutions and business institutions in the organization of entrepreneurship training at all levels of education. The trends of organizational and substantive purpose include: changing the concept of entrepreneurship education in the processes of professional training of specialists of various profiles in higher educational institutions; organizational measures aimed at increasing motivation to study entrepreneurship among students of higher education as one of the career options; modernization of educational programs for the professional training of specialists in the field of education in higher education institutions in order to include sustainable and social entrepreneurship in educational programs based on an interdisciplinary approach and the use of modern digital resources; involvement of leading experts in the entrepreneurial field in the teaching process (practitioners, entrepreneurs, graduates); expansion of strategic areas of entrepreneurial education by increasing partnership cooperation of universities at the level of the European Union. The main trends of the result-prognostic are determined: the spread of experience in teaching entrepreneurship of masters of pedagogical specialties; increasing the attractiveness of teaching entrepreneurial activities of teachers as one of the career options; expansion of strategic areas of entrepreneurial education by strengthening partnership cooperation of universities at the level of the European Union. The main trends of a productive and prognostic nature have been determined: the spread of the experience of teaching entrepreneurship of masters of pedagogical specialties; increasing the attractiveness of entrepreneurial activity of teachers as one of the career options. It noted that the experience of entrepreneurship education of masters of pedagogical specialties in the universities of the Republic of Finland can serve as a reference point for the modernization of educational programs of professional training of masters of pedagogical specialties in universities of Ukraine.