The Study Of Teachers’ Personal Resources In Multicultural Educational Environment

Abstract

In this work, the results of theoretical study of the necessary teachers’ personal resources in multicultural educational environment are reported. The relevance of the topic of the project «Multicultural preparation of teacher» is not in doubt. The development and support of teacher’s personal resources is one of the main problems in the project. Teachers’ lack of internal and external resources in the process of working with migrant children not only prevents the integration of pupils but increases the risk of the professional burnout syndrome. The identity of teachers who work with migrant children were used the object of the study. The aim of the given study is to determine psycho-pedagogical factors that promote the development of personal resources in multicultural educational environment. In the result of this theoretical study we revealed: 1.Internal and external factors as problematic areas for teachers who work with migrant children. 2.Personal and professionally significant characteristics, knowledge, skills and competencies required for teachers working with migrant children. 3.Psycho-pedagogical factors that promote the development of personal and professionally significant characteristics, knowledge, skills and competencies required for working with migrant children.

Keywords: Teachers’ personal resourcesmulticultural educational environmentmigrant children

Introduction

There have been many studies on migrant children’s adaptation in Russia and abroad. The role of the teacher and teacher’s personal resources in light of this issue in our view is not sufficiently identified because it is the essential part of migrant children’s adaptation.

Problem Statement

The problem of migrant children’s adaptation appeared in the 1990s in Russia, but lately it has acquired particular urgency. Globalization processes, military and social conflicts, low economic standards of living contribute to the influx of migrants to the largest mega-cities of our country.

Research Questions

• The need for the development of cutting-edge educational models for migrants is evident. The models must take into account the various cultural peculiarities of schoolchildren and level measurement of school readiness. It is also evident that the development of approaches for updating the training of teachers within a multicultural educational environment is needed.

Purpose of the Study

The present work provides psycho-pedagogical factors that promote the development of personal resources in multicultural educational environment.

The teachers’ lack of internal and external resources required for fruitful work with migrant children not only prevents the integration of pupils but increases the risk of the professional burnout syndrome.

Colleagues’ studies with Muslim migrants’ children as case studies show that even teachers who have worked with them lack relevant knowledge about the specific nature of the difficulties faced by these children in comprehensive school. Not all teachers realize the necessity of a special approach in the process of psychological and pedagogical support for migrant children (Gromova & Hayrutdinova, 2017).

In accordance with the «Professional standard for teachers», we can distinguish the following competencies for educators who work with children of diverse backgrounds:

• The use of special approaches in education in order to engage all students in the educational process: pupils with special educational needs, gifted pupils, pupils who are non-native speakers, pupils with disabilities and other pupils;

• Effective classroom management with a view to involve pupils in the process of education and upbringing, motivating training, and learning activities. Setting educational goals which contribute to pupils’ development regardless of their origin, abilities and character;

• Ability to communicate with children recognizing their human dignity, accepting and understanding them;

• Ability to build up educational activities considering the cultural diversities of children, their gender, age and individual peculiarities;

• Ability to analyze a real state of classroom affairs and maintain a friendly educational climate;

• Ability to protect pupils’ dignities and interests, to help children in conflict situation and/or in poor conditions.

Here are some teacher’s qualities which are necessary for the realization of the aforementioned competencies:

• specific pedagogical abilities, connected with research, that is a possession of teaching tools for data interpreting (competence analysis, explanation of facts), sociological research methods (survey, interview), psychological research methods (sociometer), pedagogical research methods (Absaliamova, 2015);

• capacity for adaptating the content and educational methods to the age of pupils and sociocultural educational conditions (Nikitina, 2015);

• teacher’s moral principles: deep knowledge of pupils, love and respect to them, justice, kindness, sociability, optimism, empathy and other qualities (Diyzhakova, 2013).

Intercultural competence is considered as one of the main qualities of teachers in countries where teachers have an extensive experience of migrant children’s adaptation. E. Kiel defines intercultural competence as the ability to behave and to be versed properly in intercultural situations (Kiel). Leenen and Grosh consider intercultural competence as sustainable success to deal with people of other cultures and it is obtained by means of intercultural training. According to Deardorff intercultural competence includes an action competence, a reflection competence and a set of relations and targets that allow to interact effectively in intercultural situations. Clapeyron considers a structure of intercultural competence and offers the following components:

• at the level of professional competence, it includes the knowledge of personal and cultural values; global interaction and interference;

• at the level of social competence, it refers to cultural identification; the awareness of own cultural values and norms;

• at the level of action competence; it refers to capacity to analyze one’s personal culture and other people’s culture (Ganushko, 2011).

If we consider multicultural environment in the context of the requirements to teachers at the present time (innovative transformations, emotional richness of professional activity, multidimensional cooperation within a limited time frame); we can see that it is often an additional burden and it creates a stressful professional situation for the teacher. It can be seen that there is a need for special teachers’ personal resources.

In this case, personal resources are factors that can help to form a specific «internal reliance» to create productive conditions for the implementation of teaching. Personal resources are coordinate system and vectors of growth. They shape the nature and productivity of supra-situational activity and help to work successfully in innovative professional environment.

In the present situation when there are innovative transformations in education we notice the growth of the teacher’s role as a carrier and translator of specific logical models of human interaction.

In this context, special attention is given to the teacher’s communicative recourse. It is considered not only as a dialog on technical level, but as an interaction model on a sense-bearing level, empowering it with the status of value.

An equally important area is the development of self-evaluation mechanisms, professional identity, and reflection. It helps teachers to see themselves as a carrier of certain resources and take the next level in building a professional behaviour.

In a dyad «teacher –pupil» the quality of educational effects not only includes the recognition of the exclusivity of children’s personality, but also the teachers’ ability to portray self-esteem, positive self-concept, constructive feelings about themselves. Mitina proves the existence of correlation between constructive feelings about one’s self and a strategy to overcome difficulties in pedagogical communication. Self-enactment, internal harmony, self-confidence, credibility, trust, are choices of constructive strategies in the resolution of pedagogical conflicts. Thus, the development of constructive feelings about one’s self can be regarded as a personal resource of modern teacher’s professional success.

Stress management provides successful self-realization, achievement of goals, and helps to maintain a professional development. Teachers’ psychological well-being, life satisfaction, rising personal development, and the capacity to function positively, create conditions for the formation of basic pupils’ personal abilities. In the positive professional performance of a teacher, it is important to evaluate their personal resources, understand content specificity of these resources and different ways of expanding them. (Ezhak, 2014).

Research Methods

In our study, we used the method of theoretical analysis.

Findings

Thus, we revealed the psycho-pedagogical factors that promote the development of personal resources in multicultural educational environment:

1.​ Internal and external factors as problematic areas for teachers working with migrant children.

2.​ Personal and professionally significant characteristics, knowledge, skills and competencies required for teachers working with migrant children.

3.​ Psycho-pedagogical factors promoting the development of personal and professionally significant characteristics, knowledge, skills and competencies required for working with migrant children.

Conclusion

To summarize, we must note that in modern multicultural environments, a teacher cannot work successfully without a solid psychological support. It is important to supplement traditional psychological disciplines with a module of practice-oriented courses, in training mode. Also, it is important to provide counselling work for as a requirement for entrance into the profession to form necessary teachers’ personal resources such as: communicative competence, positive feelings about themselves, and stress management. Furthermore, it is necessary to form intercultural competence and develop capacities to defuse international conflicts during teachers’ preparation for working in multicultural educational environment.

Acknowledgements

The work is performed according to the Russian Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University.

References

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