Evaluation of teachers’ professional competence in Greece and Ukraine: problems and solutions

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Evaluation of teachers' professional competence in Greece and Ukraine: problems and solutions

Oksana Serniak

Ph. D (Pedagogy), Associate Professor TernopilVolodymyrHnatiuk National Pedagogical University,

2 MaksymKryvonis Str., Ternopil

GIANNIS GRIGORIOU

Graduate Student

TernopilVolodymyrHnatiuk National Pedagogical University

2 MaksymKryvonis Str., Ternopil

Professionalism of the teacher in educating modern generations of the society is considered as a number of the teacher's competences providing the efficiency of his professional performance. Being an integrated phenomenon consisting of a numerous aspects to be taken into consideration, the teacher's readiness to the professional activity must be objectively evaluated by school authorities, education executives, local councils, and finally the government. The article focuses on the peculiarities of evaluation of teachers ' professional performance in Greece and Ukraine. A key condition for the successful implementation of an evaluation system is the establishment of a relationship of trust between the state and teachers because without it any attempt is doomed to inactivity and in the end to be rejected. The evaluation system must clarify and prove that the purpose of the evaluation will be to improve the education provided to Greek citizens and will suggest the proposals for the successful implementation of the educational policy. It has been proved that the purpose of the evaluation is to improve the education provided to citizens and suggests the proposals for the successful implementation of the educational policy in both countries under consideration. There have been analyzed the teacher's professional portfolio as one of the effective ways of confirming the pedagogical professional qualification in Ukraine. It has been grounded that a key condition for the successful implementation of an evaluation system is the establishment of a relationship of trust between the state and teachers.

Keywords: professional performance, evaluation, professional portfolio, professional skills and qualities of the teacher, professional competence

ОКСАНА СЕРНЯК

кандидат педагогічних наук, доцент Тернопільський національний педагогічний університет

імені Володимира Гнатюка вул. Максима Кривоноса, 2, м.Тернопіль

ГІАННІС ГРІГОРІУ

аспірант

Тернопільський національний педагогічний університет

імені Володимира Гнатюка вул. Максима Кривоноса, 2, м.Тернопіль

ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ ПЕДАГОГА В ГРЕЦІЇ ТА УКРАЇНІ: ПРОБЛЕМИ ТА ЇХ ВИРІШЕННЯ

Професіоналізм учителя у вихованні сучасних поколінь суспільства розглядається як низка компетентностейучителя, які забезпечують ефективність його професійної діяльності. Будучи інтегрованим явищем, що складається з численних аспектів, які слід враховувати, готовність учителя до професійної діяльності повинна бути об'єктивно оцінена керівництвом шкіл, керівниками освітніх установ, місцевими радами та урядом. Метою статті є аналіз особливостей оцінювання професійної діяльності вчителів у Греції та Україні. Актуальність означеної проблеми випливає як із основного принципу необхідності атестації вчителя як інструменту зворотного зв'язку в рамках системи освіти з метою підвищення ефективності наданих освітніх послуг, так і покращення якості роботи вчителя шляхом надання заохочення до професійного зростання. У статті зосереджено увагу на тому, що ключовою умовою успішного впровадження системи атестації вчителів є встановлення довірливих стосунків між контролюючими органами і вчителями. Проаналізовано професійне портфоліо вчителя яке є одним із ефективних способів підтвердження педагогічної професійної кваліфікації в Україні. Професійне портфоліо передбачає фіксацію вчителем власних професійних досягнень в царині навчання, виховання та розвитку його учнів протягом певного періоду. Це - засіб самооцінки його основних професійних компетентностей, спосіб раціонального та прозорого просування вчителя на ринку праці, а також перспектива професійної, ділової та творчої взаємодії роботодавця з учителем. Обґрунтовано, що основною умовою успішного впровадження системи оцінювання є врахування ключових аспектів професійної діяльності педагога. Аргументовано, що використання портфоліо, демонструючи ключові компетентності вчителя різних предметів, сприятиме підвищенню професіоналізму та готовності до практичного використання педагогічних знань, психологічних, комунікативних та мотиваційних аспектів педагогічної професії. Процес оцінювання із використанням професійного портфоліо може бути ефективно інтегрований у шкільну навчальну програму за умови, що вчитель буде поставлений у центр процесу оцінювання, будучи заохоченим до співпраці з педагогічним колективом та керівництвом школи, до участі в педагогічній діяльності та прийняття ефективних рішень у царині освіти. Доведено, що метою атестації педагогічних працівників є успішна реалізація освітньої політики та підвищення рівня освіти, що надається громадянам країн, згаданих у статті.

Ключові слова: професійна діяльність, оцінювання, професійне портфоліо, професійні вміння та якості вчителя, професійна компетентність

ОКСАНА СЕРНЯК

кандидат педагогических наук, доцент

Тернопольский национальный педагогический университет

имени Владимира Гнатюка ул. Максима Кривоноса, 2, г. Тернополь

ГИАННИС ГРИГОРИУ

аспирант teacher greece ukraine educational policy

Тернопольский национальный педагогический университет

имени Владимира Гнатюка ул. Максима Кривоноса, 2, г. Тернополь

ПРОБЛЕМА ОЦЕНКИ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТИ ПЕДАГОГА В ГРЕЦИИ И УКРАИНЫ ПРОБЛЕМЫ И РЕШЕНИЯ

Профессионализм учителя в воспитании современных поколений общества рассматривается как ряд компетентностей учителя, обеспечивающих эффективность его профессиональной деятельности. Будучи интегрированным явлением, состоящим из многочисленных аспектов, которые следует учитывать, готовность учителя к профессиональной деятельности должна быть объективно оценена руководством школ, руководителями образовательных учреждений, местными советами и правительством. Внимание сосредоточено на особенностях оценки профессиональной деятельности учителей Греции и Украины. Ключевым условием успешного внедрения системы оценивания является установление доверительных отношений между государством и учителями, поскольку без этого любая попытка обречена на бездействие и, в конце концов, будет отклонена. Система оценки должна прояснить и доказать, что цель оценки будет состоять в улучшении образования, предоставляемого греческим гражданам, и предложит предложения для успешной реализации образовательной политики. Доказано, что целью аттестации является совершенствование образования, предоставляемого гражданам, и подаются предложения по успешной реализации образовательной политики в обеих странах, упомянутых в статье. Проанализировано содержание профессионального портфолио учителя как один из эффективных способов подтверждения педагогической профессиональной квалификации в Украине. Обосновано, что ключевым условием успешного внедрения системы аттестации учителей является учет ключевых аспектов профессиональной деятельности педагога.

Ключевые слова: профессиональная деятельность, оценивание, профессиональное портфолио, профессиональные умения и качества учителя, профессиональная компетентность

Research over the past twenty years has greatly increased our understanding of the importance of high level of professionalism of the teacher in educating modern generations of the society which is considered as a number of the teacher's competences providing the efficiency of his professional performance. The implementation of professional skills and qualities of the teacher is embodied in the term formulated as teacher's readiness for professional activity. In modern psychological and pedagogical science, readiness for a certain type of activity is defined as a purposeful expression of personality, which includes his/her beliefs, views, attitudes, motives, feelings, volitional and intellectual qualities, knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, moral, psychological, professional and physical training. This quality is the result of the personal development of the individual, taking into accounts the requirements and peculiarities of his/her professional activity [2, p.12].

Professional activities of the teacher aimed at developing students' motivation for educational achievements and intensification of student activities in the learning process have been the subject matter of different studies and research. Methodologists (T. Dee [5], P. Hallinger [6], N. Husiy[1], T, Keenan [12], E. Mone[14], M Penninckx [15], V. Pikelna [2]) have internationally contributed a lot to our knowledge of the aspects of professional competence of the teacher.

According to N. Husiy, readiness for professional activity of a teacher is an integrative quality of a teacher's personality, which determines his/her ability of developing students' motivation for the success of their academic achievements, finding ways to achieve this goal, control the process of achieving it; self-control over the implementation of their own actions and predicting ways and means to increase productivity in this direction. It should be noted that all types of professional activities are manifested in the work of a teacher of any subject [1, p. 34].

N. Johnson claims that readiness for teaching as well as professional stability in teaching is not innate: it is formed as a synthesis of properties and qualities of personality and its level grows alongwiththeteacher'sprofessionalcareer. This readiness is determined by the interaction of knowledge about the nature and specifics of the subject, instructional skills and abilities of practical use of the pedagogical knowledge, psychological, communicative, and motivational aspects of teaching profession [11, p. 38].

Being an integrated phenomenon consisting of a numerous aspects to be taken into consideration the teacher's readiness to the professional activity must be objectively evaluated by school authorities, education executives, local councils, and finally the government. In general there is a special concern around this issue in the European Union in general and in Greece and Ukraine in particular. The evaluation of the educational work has occupied the researchers of the educational evaluation nationally in Greece and Ukraine and internationally as well.

Thepurposeofthearticleis the analysis of the peculiarities of evaluation of teachers' professional performance in Greece and Ukraine.

According to F. Anastasiou, the interest to the problem under consideration stems both from the basic principle of the need for evaluation as a feedback tool for the education system as a whole in order to increase the efficiency of the educational services provided, improve the quality of the teacher's work by providing incentives for professional development [3, p. 65]. That's why the evaluation of educational work should be closely linked to all the functions of education as process of improving the quality of both educational work and the professional development of the teacher himself.

The evaluation of teachers' educational performance is perhaps one of the most important objects of discussion and debate in the field of Greek education in the last thirty years. A number of Greek scholars (P. Dalakoura [4], A. Hatziapostolou [7], Z. Lazaridou [13], A. Velissariou [19]) devoted their scientific investigations to the problem of evaluation of teachers' professional activities.

K. Witte generally observes that any reform of evaluation issues, like any reform within the education system, should be approached as a complex result of the action and conflict or strategic cooperation of specific interest groups. In addition, any reform should be seen as attempting to manage and regulate at the educational level a series of changes taking place in the general social base and in particular in the fields of culture, economy and technology, both nationally and internationally [21, p. 295].

The social character of the reactions against the evaluation can be seen from the results of various kinds of research that have been carried out regarding the educational evaluation in Greece. In none of these surveys do the majority of teachers surveyed appear to be generally opposed to assessment.

Even in the research where the largest percentage of those who take a negative position towards the evaluation was presented, this does not exceed 42.3% [18, p. 14].

In Greece, the institutionalization of educational evaluation has been carried out through the Presidential Decree for many years but still provokes various reactions and a large discussion on educational evaluation in the country. Under the evaluation system in Greece nowadays the school unit and the teacher as well as all the executives of education were evaluated hierarchically.

The sense of versatility in the collection of information becomes obvious, as well as the combination of internal and external evaluation. A centralized system of administration and evaluation acted through a hierarchical structure controlled by the central government, as the Regional Directors of Education and the heads carry out the control of the schools in their region [16, p. 39].

Strong criticism was leveled at the large concentration of power in the Center for Educational Research and the Pedagogical Institute, which are controlled by the Ministry, as well as the quantification of the evaluation with 17 indicators (based on the basic standards), which were considered to lead to the complete matching of education with the needs of the market [17, p. 250]. Under this law, evaluation was linked to tenure and salary and grade development. Criticism was leveled at the ambiguity of teachers' evaluation criteria. In general, the following three criteria were discussed: a) scientific training of the teacher, b) pedagogical & teaching ability, c) in-school and out- of-school behavior.

However, according to S. Johnsen, it was never clearly identified leaving some questions open concerning the definition of the so called model of the scientifically trained teacher and pedagogical and scientific currents under consideration [10, p. 49].

K. Izci also states that “another problematic question concerns the so called extracurricular behavior, a criterion treated very negatively during its application during the period of inspection” [9, p. 11].

Greek school units compile and submit annual self-assessment reports, but this does not automatically mean that teachers, students and parents are fUlly involved in the process. F. Anastasiou argues that through this whole process, the orientation of the educational community was aimed at the local school, and not in the general context on educational policy, or the economic, social, political and ideological factors that determine it. Moreover, through the piecemeal examination of the operation of each school unit, it is easy to transfer responsibilities from the administrative mechanism of education to the bodies of the educational community [3, p. 56].

The researcher points out that it is probably inapplicable for a school unit to be evaluated in all these ambiguous areas and to develop action plans for its improvement. In any case, the selfassessment would be carried out by working groups consisting of members of the teachers' association and in collaboration with the school counselor. The fact that students and parents would simply be informed of the results of the assessment but would not actually participate in it, demonstrates the biased nature of self-assessment.

A.Velissariou draws the attention to another disadvantage as there is no connection between self-evaluation and some form of external evaluation, despite the post-evaluation trends that have emerged internationally in recent years [19, p. 32].

Th. Hatziapostolou mentions the negative attitudes of the majority of Greek teachers towards external evaluation as a remnant of non-democratic society [7, p. 19].

More modern system of teachers' professional performance evaluation, the pyramidal evaluation system of the previous bills is maintained, since the one who belongs to a lower grade than another, is evaluated by someone who belongs to the immediately or almost immediately upper grade, when school counselors are evaluated by the heads of the departments of scientific and pedagogical guidance, school principals are evaluated by the school counselors, the deputy principals by the principals, and, finally, the teachers by the school counselors and the school principals.

The downside is that there is no mention of any procedure (feedback) utilization of the results of the evaluation. If it is taken for granted by the authors of the PD to be consulted that every evaluated person, once he / she receives the evaluation report, will read about his / her weaknesses and will try to cover them.

Here, however, the question arises as to whether it is possible for an assessor, to the extent that he wants his assessment to be as complete or at least as incomplete as possible, to follow the plethora of data concerning the educational environment, planning, planning, preparation and conduct of teaching, student evaluation, service consistency, competence, scientific and professional development of the teacher “at least once every three years for a continuous period not exceeding two months (bimonthly evaluationperiod)” [ 8, p. 13].

In modern system it is ignored that in Greece the classrooms do not present the same degree of uniformity or heterogeneity. What is neglected is that different teachers work in different conditions with students with different levels of knowledge of the Greek language and that is why need to adapt their teaching to a class.

A.Velissariou claims that the social and geographical inequalities that shape different conditions of students' education and consequently of teachers' evaluation are often ignored. The composition of the student population where the teacher works or the area where the school unit is located must be taken into consideration in a grade adjustment system [19, p. 14].

Regarding more individual issues such as how objectively one will be characterized as adequate or very good or excellent, Dalakoura (2015) points out that the criteria often differ substantially in description being indefinite and obscure when one point difference in the score is enough for someone to be considered sufficient (scored 60) and not very good (scored 61) [4, p. 67].

The Panhellenic Scientific Association of Primary School Principals also mentions that teachers' evaluation system in Greece has mainly a formative character and needs to be improved. The deficit of the link between evaluation and feedback is mentioned in the negative the reactions of trade unions towards this evaluation framework.

A key condition for the successful implementation of an evaluation system is the establishment of a relationship of trust between the state and teachers because without it any attempt is doomed to inactivity and in the end to be rejected. The evaluation system must clarify and prove that the purpose of the evaluation will be to improve the education provided to Greek citizens and will suggest the proposals for the successful implementation of the educational policy.

The following proposals for the evaluation of the educational performance of Greek teachers will help to provide more effective implementation of the above mentioned system: expansion and support, by the state, of the autonomy of the school unit in order to plan and evaluate the educational policy that it implements; upgrading the role of the teacher with his active participation and utilizing all the possibilities of the members of the school unit; promoting education of teachers in evaluation issues by continuous training with the purpose of developing an evaluation culture with the ultimate goal of accepting the evaluation process; continuous and organized feedback of the teacher, regarding the rules formed within the school unit with the purpose to determine the quality of the educational work; taking into account the particularities of the school unit, the general economic, social and cultural context of its operation and particular needs of teachers; the cooperation of the school unit with various bodies, such as the pedagogical departments of the universities.

The issue of the evaluation of the professional performance in education is a problem of special concern in other countries as well, including Ukraine. Ukrainian methodology considers the teacher as a professional instructional expert and classroom manager, motivator, communicator, psychologist and counselor, as well as an individual with personal qualities for teaching and aptitude and will for life- ling professional development.

Similarly, the success and effectiveness of teachers' professional performance largely depends on the assessment system and its objectivity. With the lack of objectivity, there arise many misunderstandings while the motivation for professional activity is being devalued to a great extent. Only the objective assessment of the professional performance can bring deep moral satisfaction and become a motivating factor for teachers. The Ukrainian Law on Higher Education (2014) provides for an annual assessment of the professional performance of teachers and regular publication of its results.

One of the effective ways of confirming the pedagogical professional qualification is the evaluation of the teacher's professional portfolio. By the latter we mean an individual folder in which the teacher records his/her professional achievements in the field of instruction, his/her results of training and education and development of students for a certain period of time. It is a means a way of self-assessment of his/her principal professional competencies, a way of rational and transparent promotion of teachers at the labor market, as well as prospect for professional, business and creative interaction of the employer with the teacher [20, p. 294].

The objectives of creating and using an assessment portfolio consist in description of the main competencies of the teacher, the development of the descriptors, the diagnostics and self-assessment of the key competences. Our intention is to share our experience in implementation of portfolio for evaluation of the teacher's professional performance - an effective method that may help teachers analyze and assess their professional competencies and assist the school executive in evaluating the professional performance of the teacher.

Let's proceed with the examples of some lists of self-assessment of the teacher's key competencies he/she can take into consideration to enhance their own professionalism of a teacher as instructional expert, classroom manager, motivator, psychologist and counselor (see Table 1).

Table 1