Postgraduate A.A. Ozerov¹
PhD, Associate Professor T.V. Tatyanina¹
PhD M.Y. Kulebyakina¹
E.N. Ivanova^1
1Mordovian State Pedagogical Institute named after M.E. Evsevyev, Saransk

Keywords: personality self-development competence, future teacher, health-centered physical education, practice-prioritizing approach

Background. Personality self-improvement competence of the future teachers is given a growing priority today with the growth of the social demand for healthy lifestyle addressed by the relevant national projects in the health and education systems supported by the Health Sector Development Program of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020. Analysis of the recent research data on the subject shows that the national student population is still in need of fully-fledged healthy values and motivations and still underestimating the role of healthy lifestyle, physical activity etc. for the individual progress. Awareness of the modern healthy lifestyle in the student communities is still mostly poor and the attitude to their own health is mostly indifferent. This means that the research community shall concentrate its efforts on the academic health motivations – and one of the potential solutions is the personality self-improvement competence that should be cultivated in the future teachers. Fundamentals for the present study were partially laid by the A.V. Khutorskoy’s theory with its analysis of the human nature and key competences and emphasis on the physical, spiritual and intellectual self-development, self-control and self-motivation methods and tools [6].

The new personality self-development competence building model tested by an experiment was designed basically on a practice-prioritizing approach that gives a special priority to the provisions to facilitate the knowledge, skills and experience accumulation via practical activity. The practice-prioritizing-approach-driven training process goes through theoretical learning tested in practice with the practical experience viewed as a prime didactic element complementing and finalizing the knowledge – skill – experience building process chain on a systemic basis [8]. Every activity within this frame is enriched by new meanings with well harmonized intellectual and practical efforts, and with every problem addressed by a ‘competence language’ and toolkit cultivating the abilities to select, analyze, synthesize and summarize the education material and accumulate precious individual experiences in the context of the professional personality values, needs and motivations [5].

Objective of the study was to identify and theoretically substantiate progress facilitating provisions and offer a new personality self-improvement competence formation model for future teachers within the frame of the academic health-centered physical education service.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was designed to bridge the gaps in the theoretical and practical provisions for the pedagogical education system; effectively form the personality self-improvement competence in the future teachers; offer harmonized educational provisions to facilitate the training process; cultivate healthy lifestyle in the student communities; and mobilize the academic physical education service resource for these purposes.

The theoretical and practical grounds analyzed by the study were designed to develop the notional apparatus and theoretical system for the research, with contributions from the operational (S.L. Rubinstein, L.S. Vygotsky, V.V. Davydov), competency building (A.V. Khutorskoy, I.A. Zimnyaya, V.A. Bolotov, V.V. Serikov) and personality sensitive (V.A. Slastenin, N.V. Kuzmina, A.K. Markova, I.S. Yakimanskaya) approaches; plus the academic professional education (by S.I. Arkhangelsky, E.A. Klimov, E.N. Shiyanov); and physical education and personality development (M.Y. Vilensky, L.I. Lubysheva) concepts. 

The key notions for the study were analyzed and systematized via the following chain of contextual meanings and definitions:

Personality self-improvement interpreted as the individually meaningful integrated process of a focused individual activity to persistently improve own self and facilitate own progress; prudently select the process mission, goals, ways and tools; and efficiently and effectively mobilize the individual experience for the self-fulfillment agenda in every target field of such activity;

Personality self-improvement of a future teacher interpreted as the professional progress in the personal and socializing domains facilitated by the focused individual physical, intellectual and ethical self-improvement efforts geared to secure the teaching mastery and reasonably set the process goals with the most effective methods and tools employed on the way by interpreting known professional tools and designing new ones for progress in the professional service;

And the personality self-improvement competence of a future teacher interpreted as the knowledgebase, toolkit and social cooperation methods and personality qualities needed for the persistent physical, intellectual and ethical self-development and mental self-control with the focused self-exploration efforts to effectively mobilize the available external resources, find solutions and attain the professional educational and individual progress goals.

The study gives a special priority to the academic physical education service potential for the professional progress of the future teachers – since it provides a sound institutional framework for the harmonized physical and intellectual progress to effectively integrate the trainees’ cognitive, operational and reflective experiences for the personality self-improvement competence building purposes.

The study has analyzed the following necessary educational provisions for the personality self-improvement competence building in future teachers being efficient: due motivations, values and priorities to facilitate progress in the physical education domain; individual physical education goals for the trainees to help accumulate the practical individual experiences; and the socializing education Health Teacher Project in the academic curriculum. These educational provisions were put in place for the new the personality self-improvement competence building model that was tested by an experiment in practical academic education service.

The first fact-finding stage of the experiment was designed to test the pre-experimental personality self-improvement competence in the future teachers by a set of test tools including a stationary monitoring method, questionnaire surveys and interviews. In addition, the students were tested by a few creativity-probing methods to profile their values ranging capacities; plus a clustering task ‘My understanding of a personality self-improvement competence’. It should be emphasized that only 27% of the sample mentioned in the clustering exercise the values related to physical progress and health and instead gave a special priority to determination, professional success, career, material wealth, cooperation and connections building abilities. The survey data obtained by the above tests were verified by the following test methods: L.N. Kabardina Professional Personality Priorities test; amended version of the M. Rokeach Value survey; M.S. Gutkina, T.I. Shalavina, S.N. Chistyakova Values and Priorities test method;  M.Y. Orlov Motivations and Needs test method etc.

The pre-experimental personality self-improvement competence of the sample was tested 50%, 29.3% and 17.74% low, average and high in the EG; and 51.6%, 32.26% and 19.36% low, average and high in the RG, respectively.

The new personality self-improvement competence building model was tested on the EG with the progress facilitated by the above educational provisions, and with a special priority to the group progress in the cognitive, operational and practical experience accumulation domains. The practice-prioritizing-approach-driven group education included a variety of health groups, lectures, sport festivals, actions, competitions, quests etc., with every EG trainee engaged in some health/ sport group and contributing to the socializing education Health Teacher Project [4] which core idea was to modify the trainees consciousness by cultivating the key values and priorities; and help master the personality core needs cultivation methods and technologies with the relevant intellectual, ethical and physical progress aspects. Every research goal was attained in the process by the relevant methods including the consciousness forming; operations design; progress stimulation; and control and self-control methods. The trainings were supported by the relevant audio- and video materials to facilitate progress in the physical education domain with the collective/ cooperation technologies and with clear functions for every team member, clearly understood joint goals and interactive practical progress technologies.

Results and discussion. The post-experimental tests of the personality self-improvement competence building sample found notable progress of the EG in the cognitive, operational and reflective experience accumulation aspects with account of the individual practical needs and experiences of the students. The customized practice-prioritizing trainings were designed to facilitate the solution-finding and effectively forecast and overcome difficulties in the academic physical education process – from the goal setting to deliverables and progress tests.

As a result of the personality self-improvement competence building model testing experiment, the EG produced the relevant research articles, reports and bids for student contests and materials for a variety of new socializing education projects including, e.g. the practice-prioritizing approach = Teaching Personnel Training Project within the frame of the ‘university – faculty – general education school’ innovative cooperation model; Volunteer Service master class; Bad Habits Prevention and Overcoming discussion group; GTO Standards for Schoolchildren information marathon etc. [7].

Conclusion. The new personality self-improvement competence building model was tested beneficial to demonstrate how important it is to harmonically mobilize the personality and professionally important values and motivations for the personality self-improvement competence formation within the frame of the academic physical education service. The study may have certain prognostic implications as well. Research vectors in the further studies may be shifted to focus on the local discipline-specific goals to effectively customize the model for specific goals and find the most efficient forms and tools to facilitate formation of the personality self-improvement competence in future teachers. 

The study was sponsored by the Russian Fundamental Research Foundation under Project #18-013-01084.

References

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Corresponding author: tatianina9@gmail.com

Abstract

The modern innovative processes in the national academic educational system are designed to effectively contribute to the social development goals. Presently the society makes a special emphasis on the individual creativity and practice (rather than popularity) prioritizing models to develop both the high academic competences and skills and due creativity, particularly in the personality self-development and trainees’ progress encouragement domains. The personality self-development competence with its complex, interdisciplinary, practice-prioritizing structure, health values and motivations implies due own commitment for the individual health agenda, whilst the health-centered physical education service will be dominated by the creativity-intensive practice-prioritizing mass sport formats. The article analyzes benefits of the personality self-development competence building model for future teachers tested by experiment.