Why the teachers for the vocational institutions should be prepared at the technical universities and what the prospects in this direction has the Lviv Polytechnic, says the professor of theDepartment of Psychology, Pedagogics and Social Management of Lviv Polytechnic, Liliia Sushentseva, who for a long time has been theoretically and practically dealing with this issue.
- The round table "The problems of the preparation of the pedagogues for a vocational education" has taken place in the Polytechnic recently. Why is this topic important for a higher technical school?
- In general, very little attention is paid to psycho-pedagogical training in technical universities. And we often have to convince that it is useful. In a master's degree, as you know, the psycho-pedagogical disciplines are reduced to the only - "Pedagogy and Psychology of high school", although there is actually need for Psychology of higher education, and Pedagogy of high school, and the methodology for teaching in the high schools and a scientific-pedagogical practice, because the masters are the future teachers and pedagogical workers. The discussion today is created by a perception that the masters gain a pedagogical training in a postgraduate education. But it is wrong, because, firstly, not all graduates with a Master's degree undergo a postgraduate education and, secondly, there should be the scientific and pedagogical re-training courses. The time has gone when the teacher was admitted to the educational process without special psychologically-educational and methodical preparation. The right of the graduates with a Master's degree to hold a teaching post in the vocational and higher education institutions becomes urgent.
The pedagogue of a vocational education (or a pedagogue-engineer) has a dual function of a teacher of the special disciplines and master of industrial training: the first and the second are based on the technical knowledge and skills in a particular profession. Of course, an educational institution cannot provide such a specialist with a profound technical training. When we studied the curricula of training of a pedagogue-engineer in the pedagogical universities, we have found that there the much of the disciplines are pedagogical and less – are technical, so in this way the graduate is therefore not acquainted with the peculiarities of production and technological processes. He can gain such a base only in a technical university. However, we do not talk about an auto combining of engineering and psychologically-educational components at the same time: it is important not only to give a pedagogue-engineer the knowledge of the specialty and form the appropriate skills, but also teach how to effectively transfer the knowledge and skills to the others. It is also important his readiness to quickly change the environment, himself and his attitudes to certain aspects, to learn a new techniques and the technologies.
- What is the preparation of a pedagogue-engineer in the technical higher education institutions today? And what do you think needs to be changed?
- As our analysis has showed, in Ukraine only a small part of the technical universities train vocational pedagogues. In the eastern region this direction was taken under custody by the Ukrainian Engineering and Pedagogical Academy (Kharkiv), but it cannot prepare the specialists in all specializations. There are many professions in Polytechnic that are closely related to workforce training, so it is the best place to prepare the vocational pedagogues.
What concerns staffing, the method of vocational training should be taught by the specialists with a psychologically-pedagogical base. In our department I have the qualification of an international pedagogue-engineer and I can teach special subjects of certain technical direction, some colleagues have a qualification of a pedagogue-engineer in a construction field. If this methodology will be given to the technical department, it will have no effect: the teacher without psycho-pedagogical training will not give the future pedagogue-engineers exactly what that need. In some technical departments there are an opinion that we can take their part of the load, but in fact their students will still be theirs, and those who understand that in the future they want to teach (and mostly adults) will go to us. So we, on the contrary, would remove the additional load of departments.
- During the roundtable you voiced a number of proposals of the Department of Psychology, Pedagogics and Social Management.
- Since October we have worked out an educational bachelor and master programs of vocational training in eight specialties; we are ready to submit them for licensing. On the basis of the Polytechnic there are possible the advanced training courses for pedagogues-engineers: the specialists of the technical departments could give them a technical component, and our department - methodology, pedagogy, psychology.
Since the higher education institution is not focused on the formation of workers' qualifications (this is a prerogative of a college, technical school, etc.), then, of course, in the Polytechnic we cannot train a master of technical education, who is now so required in the vocational institutions. And we propose to create on the basis of the University the Educational- research complex for training the workforce, who after receiving a vocational training want to get the profession of vocational education teacher at an akin specialty. It would be great to enroll them by an interview and to develop an integrated curriculum. At the time, I implemented the similar project between the National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine and the vocational institutions of Kryvorizhzhya. This system produce the pedagogue-engineer who, first, has a qualification level, second, knows a methodology of forming professional knowledge and skills.