The assessment of the lecturers’ professional work in the highereducational institutions in Ukraine and the USA

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THE ASSESSMENT OF THE LECTURERS' PROFESSIONAL WORK IN THE HIGHEREDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN UKRAINE AND THE USA

Iryna Zvarych, Doctor of Science (Pedagogy), Leading Researcher of the Scientific Research Center

The article is focused on the theoretical foundations of evaluation of the USA teachers' pedagogical competence; the methodological foundations of its diagnosis are found out; the determinations of theoretical and methodological foundations of the teachers' pedagogical competence are formulated; the comparative analysis of evaluation of the teachers' pedagogical competence in Ukraine and the USA is presented.

It's very important that the research period from the second half of the 20-th century - the beginning of the 21-st is divided into three periods (parts). The first, called "the critical and creative” (from the fifties to the eighties of the last century) focuses on the development of the pedagogical tests of evaluation of teachers' professional work. The second, called "the stability and settlement” (from the eighties to the end of the 20th century) highlights the development of the pedagogical monitoring of evaluation of the teachers professional work. The final period, called "the dynamics and advancements” (from the end of the twentieth century to the first part of the twenty first century, that is untill 2014) provides the research of the development ofpedagogical standards of assessment of teachers' professional work.

Keywords: standards, requirements, criteria, teachers ' the level of knowledge, an American experience, the teachers ' assessment, objectivity, a quality, the Higher Educational Institutions of the USA, the pedagogical activity.

Ірина Зварич, доктор педагогічних наук, провідний науковий співробітник науково-дослідного центру Національнальної академії Служби безпеки України, м. Київ

ОЦІНКА ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ РОБОТИ ЛЕКТОРІВ У ВИЩИХ НАВЧАЛЬНИХЗАКЛАДІВ УКРАЇНИ ТА США

Стаття присвячена теоретичним засадам оцінки педагогічної компетентності викладачів США, а також методичним основам їх діагностики. Автор визначає теоретико-методологічні основи формування педагогічної компетентності викладачів та представляє порівняльний аналіз оцінки педагогічної компетенції викладачів в Україні та США. Дуже важливо, що період досліджень з другої половини ХХ-го століття - початок ХІ-го століття ділиться на три періоди (частини). Перший, названий "критичним і творчим” (п'ятдесяті - вісімдесяті роки минулого століття) зосереджується на розробці педагогічних тестів оцінки професійної роботи вчителів. Другий період, "стабільність та врегулювання ”, (вісімдесяті - кінець ХХ століття) підкреслює розвиток педагогічного моніторингу оцінки професійної роботи викладачів. Останній період, "динаміки та успіху” (кінець ХХ століття - перша половина ХІ століття, тобто до 2014 року) вивчає розвиток педагогічних стандартів оцінки професійної роботи викладачів.

Ирина Зварич, доктор педагогических наук, ведущий научный сотрудник научно-исследовательского центра Национальнальной академии Службы безопасности Украины, г. Киев

ОЦЕНКА ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ ЛЕКТОРОВ В ВЫСШИХ УЧЕБНЫХ ЗАВЕДЕНИЯХ УКРАИНЫ И США

Статья посвящена теоретическим основам оценки педагогической компетентности преподавателей США, а также методическим основам их диагностики. Автор определяет теоретико-методологические основы формирования педагогической компетентности преподавателей и представляет сравнительный анализ оценки педагогической компетенции преподавателей в Украине и США. Очень важно, что период исследований со второй половины ХХ века - начало XI-го века делится на три периода (части). Первый, названный "критическим и творческим” (пятидесятые - восьмидесятые годы прошлого века) сосредотачивается на разработке педагогических тестов оценки профессиональной деятельности учителей. Второй период, "стабильность и урегулирования”, (восьмидесятые - конец ХХ века) подчеркивает развитие педагогического мониторинга оценки профессиональной деятельности преподавателей. Последний период, "динамики и успеха” (конец ХХ века - первой половине XI века, то есть до 2014 года) изучает развитие педагогических стандартов оценки профессиональной деятельности преподавателей.

Ключевые слова: стандарты, требования, критерии, уровень знаний преподавателей, американский опыт, оценка учителей, объективность, качество, высшие учебные заведения США, педагогическая деятельность.I

Education is a basis of the state development, which always represents interests of society and performs its social order on the put tasks, forms public demands on knowledge and prospects. It is valuable for any system of education to have the benefit of being open to new ideas, other ideas which will lead to discussion, assessment and hopefully to the adaptation of ideas which will make a given educational system stronger, more resilient, and more successful in its purpose.

Fortunately the research information is now available to teaching staff, junior and senior graduate students, specialists of educational organizations and institutions, and all those who are working towards reforming the Ukrainian system of education. The goal of this process of getting the information is to make the system more transparent, more productive, and more respective to today's world as Ukraine integrates more fully into global community. It also serves to reinforce the importance of the role of the Ukrainian teacher in the educational process in ensuring a continuing assessment to identify both strengths and weakness and to able to build on these strengths and address the weaknesses, thus turning them into positives. Education is a basis of the state development, which always represents interests of society and performs its social order on the put tasks, forms public demands on knowledge and prospects.

The main part. The USA highly development system of education has a lot of Institutions of getting knowledge at schools (private and state) and Universities. Each of the 50 states has its own laws regulating education. States play a strong central role in the election of learning material for their students and programs of evaluating the teachers' pedagogical competence. Some bills, acts and programs of Higher Education were adopted in the USA.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was legislation signed into United States on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. The law was intended “to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education.”

It increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships, gave low-interest loans for students, and established a National Teachers Corps. The Higher Education Act of 1965 was reauthorized in 1968, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2008. Current authorization for the programs in the Higher Education Act expires at the end of 2013. Before each reauthorization, Congress amends additional programs, changes the language and policies of existing programs, or makes other changes [1].

The considerable work of the National Center for Education Statistics in the USA and Canada is introduction the program “Definition and Selection of Competence. Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations” or with a short title “DeSeCo”. The experts of this program are representatives of education, business, labor, health. They determine, competence as person's ability to satisfy the individual and social necessities successfully, to fulfill the put tasks underlining that every competence is based on combination of cognitive relations and practical skills, values, emotions, knowledge and abilities, all that it is possible to mobilize for an active action [2].

This program DeSeCo was initiated at the end of 1997 and managed by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office with major support from the United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

Important considerations underlying the DeSeCo Program are: a broad scope defining key competencies as encompassing participation not only in the labor market but also in the different arenas of contemporary democratic societies; the assumption that it is possible to identify a limited number of extremely relevant competencies that go beyond the subject-bound curriculum offered by schools; the existence of different conceptual and disciplinary approaches to the definition of competencies; and the need to negotiate and balance priorities linked to the selection of key competencies (which will be applied in the work place, in social relations, in democratic processes, etc.) among policy makers [2].

The originality of education at the Institutions of Higher Learning in the USA consists in its many-sided nature and branching, in division the universities on state and private, in their difference on quality and quantity of degrees which are appropriated to teachers who have the systems of test units, features of work at the faculty and ratings of pedagogical competence.

Evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence at Higher Learning Institution in Ukraine is a desirable process to modernize educational establishments and reform higher education potentially; to promote quality of teaching the education subjects and increase the quality of educational process itself; to become better professional, scientific, ethics qualities of teachers to perfect the skilled providing of educational process; to improve an evaluation method, taking into account the opinion of external users of educational services. These positive indexes of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence will be instrumental in the subsequent image of higher educational establishments at the market of educational and scientific services of Ukraine in the context of globalization and euro integration.

Pedagogical competence as being a harmonious combination of all professionalfeatures of the teacher or lecturer, his/her experience, knowledge, skills and aptitudes that are fully applied in the educational, organizational, methodological, scholarly and cultural component activities or the educational process, and which are based on high moral and democratic principles of educating and training students, a beneficial culture of communication, a creative scientific pursuit, availability of basis for new progressive ideas and implementation of new educational technologies, personal responsibility for the quality of the educational process and implementation of the authority to define the qualitative level of the students' knowledge and that of the professional level of the teaching professional staff at institutions of higher education [3]. From this, one can see that the pedagogical performance of teachers is the cumulative effect of all the personal teacher's characteristics, which take place in the educational, organizational, methodological, scientific and cultural activities through corresponding educational professional activities and which are based on principles engaged in the youth education.

The evaluation of teachers' pedagogical competence in the USA - is one of important factor of improvement the quality of education process at the Institutions of Higher Learning. The process of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence is realized at scientifically and methodical higher level which began to study and to take root at the Institutions of Higher Learning in Ukraine and many countries of the world.

After having studied the laws in the sphere of education, it's necessary to concentrate attention to theoretical and methodical foundations in the process of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence, especially to their proficiency, skills and scientific character.

Theoretical foundations of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence is the adopted laws, the documentary requirements, the established standards of evaluation and scientifically well- founded representation of methodology of diagnosing, in the pedagogical and methodical literature concerning vocational training of teachers, their professionalism, scientific character and competence, in the process of pedagogical activity.

Methodical foundations of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence at the Institutions of Higher Learning is considered: in methods and approaches of diagnosing the quality level of teachers' knowledge, principles and standards. Methodical foundations of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence is practically application of methods, approaches, principles of diagnosing the quality level of teachers' knowledge and definition of their rating in the process of pedagogical activity, in the standard laws, documentary requirements, standards of evaluation and the protected scientific researches in the methodology, which are fixed in pedagogical and methodical literature, concerning the teachers' vocational training.

On the basis of the accepted laws, acts and decisions of Education Department, to theoretical foundations of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence in USA can be suggested: it is accordance of requirements the higher education in forming the teachers 'pedagogical competence; it is the presence theoretical base of knowledge for professional preparation the teachers; it is actuality the informative environment in preparation the teachers and increasing the pedagogical competence.

The evaluation of teachers' pedagogical competence in Ukraine mainly takes place after the students' end-point progress in groups where they have the teaching process of educational discipline by the proper pedagogical tests of diagnosing the teachers' knowledge level of high-quality, questionnaire of students and colleagues, represents the experts' opinion and administration at the Institutions of Higher Learning. However, these criteria of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence don't fully specify on all constituents of the diagnosing. That's why the evaluation of teachers' pedagogical competence after the students' end-point progress isn't objective, because determination the students' knowledge level can be biased. However, such approach is assumed in the process of diagnosing and searching the objective criteria of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence and pedagogical activity. Sometimes, there is the formal approach of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence in the process of practical activity. Teachers can give high marks to students in the process of assessment their knowledge level for reserving higher pedagogical ratings. But, in this case, the results of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence and assessment the students' knowledge level won't be objective. For this reason, it is very important, the teachers should realize that the process of assessment the students' knowledge level must be objective, systematic, independent of determination their pedagogical competence ratings.

Testing the teachers' pedagogical competence also has failings in the process of evaluation because the personal descriptions and psychological mood of students are not taken into account in the process of determination the lecturers ratings. As a rule, the questions of different contents are included to the test tasks, which sometimes are differs from those which were examined in the process of studying the educational discipline. There are quite little creative tasks and plenty of questions which expose purpose and aims of pedagogical test.

It is very important to underline, that students have a different level of capabilities, skills and abilities, that's why the large number of individual peculiarities and reproaches to gain deep knowledge are used. In the process of teaching discipline the lecturer tries to highlight the educational material for all students, such as for talented ones and for those, who take the necessary information slower. If a teacher from own initiative will organize the extra classes for students who perceive educational material slower, then he/ she will have the possibility to explain the educational material once more, and students will find out own initiative, to meet with their teacher in an order to find out blanks of studying material in extracurricular time. That's why, to depend upon the end-point of students' knowledge for taking high marks in the process of their assessment to define the teachers' pedagogical competence is not appropriately, as students have different physiology capacities to study the educational material and gain knowledge.

The main point of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence is improving the existent criteria of diagnosing constantly, as they have failings in determination the teachers' ratings and don't fully expose the requirements of objectivity, that's why they need their substantial revision. It is necessary to account all aspects of teachers' pedagogical activity in the process of evaluation such as: their ability to teach the students and take part in the process of diagnosing.

For example, in Ukraine, there is an approach to distribute the students into groups according to approximately identical level of knowledge in the process of studying the foreign language only. This method is often named the English loan-word “stream” it means that students may be have the same level of knowledge and possibilities to study the material. There are many different opinions to the distribution students to such groups in the process of studying.

Teachers who work in the groups of the gifted students have a stimulus to increase their knowledge level rapidly; because students have the capability to gain knowledge very easy and they try to obtain information from different sources. However, teachers who work in groups where students need the additional attention and lecturers use the pedagogical capabilities persistently to highlight the material for studying, but during the process of assessment the students' endpoint level of progress is far below than in the groups of gifted young people. That's why the teachers' persistence can't be the basic criteria of measurement the pedagogical competence.

Thus, the evaluation of teachers' pedagogical competence, estimate their rating, must be carried out on the basis of comprehensive approach to determinate the level of qualification, then to save its stimulant role. The purposes of assessment and its reproaches must be included to the process of teachers' evaluation and the members of administration should be objective.

Nowadays, educational systems should be opened for new ideas, approaches, and technological innovations, that will best help the department (professors and lecturers) in increasing their professional level and in better serving the country's present and future. It is important not only for the lecturers, who have just started their pedagogical careers, but also for the qualified professors, who feel the needs to improve or even change their approaches to the teaching methods, and their target to improve the level of their students' knowledge. In doing that the faculty should not only upgrade the qualification levels if it's teaching staff, but also enrich the lives of the faculty professors through their additional and on-going self-education. The idea of the life-long learning is an important concept in the USA, as well as in many other Western countries and, therefore, one can obtain invaluable experience from their existing practices. However, the foreign experience only cannot be considered fit as a replacement to the available national practices.

Our study is a profound survey of the main problems of the department pedagogical skills assessment at the Higher Educational Establishments of Ukraine and the USA. Education is the first key point towards opening the doors into the future of any country. The social and economic development is based and relies upon the available educational system. Thus, assessment of the pedagogical activities of the professors and their lecturers as a feedback on the quality of teaching methods being used is an essential element in improving the teaching process, as well as that of the students' knowledge and the entire educational system as it is.

The main task of our study was to compare different approaches to the assessment of the pedagogical skills at the Higher Institutions of Ukraine and the USA, and to select the main and progressive approaches which have withstood the time testing and proved to be really efficient. We have analyzed a substantial amount of pedagogical literature - separate scientific articles, field studies, and study papers - published by the Ukrainian and American scholars. Although certain practices can definitely be borrowed, we also wish to emphasize that there is a common weak principle about each of those i.e. they disregard the possibility of and need interchange of opinions in the course of discussing the results of the above said feedback with the students. It is known that it is impossible to obtain deep knowledge in any subject without deliberations, discussions or exchange of the opinions. Many lecturers in Ukraine consider it to be ethically wrong to ask for the students' opinion of their personal professional skills. Their reasoning in favour of such a position is that the students are not sufficiently objective and qualified to pass on their own judgments. It is claimed that the students' assessment is motivated by rather their emotional attitudes, than is based on the professional standards of the faculty or on the actual level of the subject by a certain lecturer or professor. Despite the existence of such sometime quite categorical positions, we still maintain that an anonymous assessment by the students, with all relevant amendments to the teaching process to follow, should be practiced as a reliable means of establishing the actual quality of the teaching and mastering of the program material by the students. It is also a good method for obtaining an unbiased opinion on the quality, feasibility and efficiency of the teaching methods being used, that of instructors' integrity, consistency and wholeness of the studying process, as well as a means of measuring the reimbursement of the teacher's qualification level.

In our study the INTASC, NCATE and NBPTS standards relevant to the pedagogical activities of the USA teachers and professors have been thoroughly considered, requirements to awarding the Master's Degree for the teachers and professors of the higher educational establishments have been analyzed, and the directing guidelines for improvement of the teachers' and professors' pedagogical competence have been highlighted. The essential points of the five principal proposals in regard of awarding the Master's Degree for the right of teaching a subject at a higher educational establishment have been considered. These proposals were worked out by a National Council and highlighted in the NBPTS standards [4]. They include the provisions he the teachers an professors shall be aware of, as well as how those should act in the process of pedagogical activities. The suggested proposals are directed at improvement of the pedagogical competence: lecturers shall teach their students well, the former shall have deep knowledge of the subject being taught and the teaching methods to be used in teaching the subject, systematically analyze the pedagogical activities and achievements as well as the leading experience of their colleagues, constantly improve the individual knowledge and competence, bear responsibility for the organization and assessment of the students' progress in the subject learning or studying. pedagogical lecturer institution educational

The students of the USA can independently elect courses which will help them to become highly skilled and professional specialists in future. But the students of Ukraine haven't got such possibility to choose courses for future professional activity, as it is not foreseen of the program at Institutions of Higher Learning. As a rule, the students of Ukraine don't want to take part in the process of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence, because they understand that they won't be able to influence on planning and organization the learning subjects. The results of students questioning and filling the anonymous tests can be marked on rating of teachers' pedagogical activity, but not to have an influence on organization the educational services at Institutions of Higher Learning. It is necessary to interest students for taking part in the process of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence actively and determine the teachers' knowledge level with application and objectively. For this reason, it costs to foresee flexibility in the curricula for Institutions of Higher Learning, the results of teachers' pedagogical rating have be opened and accessible for students, because they should know them and use for electing the future specialty and scientific leader for bachelor or master's degree research.

Our research work is a study of the problem of the theoretical and methodological basics of assessment the lecturers' pedagogical activity at the Higher Educational Institutions not only in the USA, but also in Ukraine for the period between the second half of the XX-th - beginning of the XXI-st century.

Based on the scientific material stated above, let'smake the conclusions. Evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence is carried out to professional development the lecturers and uses the results to identify their individual characteristics for improving proficiency. Therefore, this process should exercise not only by comparing the results obtained with the standards, the relevant results, but also by comparing the results with previous diagnosis, to determine the possibility of teachers' individual self-perfection approaches.

Evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence at Higher Learning Institution in Ukraine is a desirable process to modernize educational establishments and reform higher education potentially; to promote quality of teaching the education subjects and increase the quality of educational process itself; to become better professional, scientific, ethics qualities of teachers to perfect the skilled providing of educational process; to improve an evaluation method, taking into account the opinion of external users of educational services. These positive indexes of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence will be instrumental in the subsequent image of higher educational establishments at the market of educational and scientific services of Ukraine in the context of globalization and euro integration.

The process of evaluation the teachers' pedagogical competence and determination their rating mustn't be only for their attestation, it should be continuous and engulf all lecturers at Higher Learning Institution with purpose to increase the quality of educational process at higher establishment, its popularization and image.

References

1. Higher Education Act of1965 was reauthorized in 1968, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2008.

2. Definition and Selection of Competence. Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations (DeSeCo). Strategy Paper on Key Competencies. An Overarching Frame of reference for an Assessment and Research Program, OECD (Draft), p.1.

3. Zvarych, I.M. (2012). Theoretical and Methodological Foundations of Evaluating the USA Teachers' Pedagogical Competence: Educational accessory. Kyiv: Fenics, 148 p.

4. Isenberg, J.P. (2003). Using National Board Standards to Redesigns Master's Degrees for Teachers: A Guide for Institutions of Higher Education. -- Adapted from: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. February, 65 p.

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