"Forming Teachers` Moral And Ethical Competences: Standpoint Of Hermeneutic Pedagogy And Psychology"

Abstract

The relevance of the problem is due to the need for implementation of the process of forming teachers’ moral and ethical competencies from the standpoint of hermeneutics and insufficient development of theoretical, content-technological and scientific-methodological aspects of the formation concerning a new type of teacher in the process of teaching. The purpose of the article is to develop a model of the process of forming of moral and ethical competencies from standpoint of hermeneutics in the context of competence, hermeneutic, axiological and systemic approaches and its approbation. The main method of studying this problem is modeling, which makes it possible to consider the problem as a process of purposeful and conscious formation of moral and ethical competencies in the process of educational activities. The article presents a model of formation from the standpoint of hermeneutics, consisting of interrelated and interdependent structural value-semantic (axiological), meaningful and effective components; their features are identified; pedagogical conditions for the formation of moral and ethical competencies, an algorithm for the implementation of this model in the educational process of educational organizations is developed. The model is focused on the awareness and reconsidering of the conceptual values and priorities of pedagogic education, training a new type of teacher able to be competitive in the modern pedagogical market, possessing new professional competencies and high self-organization of professional development is developed.

Keywords: Competent teacherhermeneutic pedagogy and psychologymoral and ethical competencesmodel

Introduction

Economic changes in the XXI century have revealed serious problems in many spheres of life, including education, of many traditional postulates have been subjected to mental reassessment in society. Clearly there is a need for awareness and rethinking of the conceptual values and priorities of pedagogical education, training a new type of teacher able be competitive and capable in the modern pedagogical market, with new professional competencies (Mitrofanov, 2002).

As a result of socio-economic processes, the formation of new moral values, a different ideological susceptibility of society, generations moved away from each other to the polar distance, throwing into the background "the need for cultural and emotional communication of generations and preparing children for life" (Akutina, Begantsova, & Markeeva, 2012, p. 2). The value of a teacher received a new mark, becoming not a socially important profession, but only an accessible diploma of higher education, a teacher is perceived by modern children not as a source from which they previously received knowledge, skills and gained valuable life experience, but as a kind of indirect transmitter of information, without which they can do succeed, just drawing information.

Problem Statement

In connection with modern problems in education, the importance of a new scientific and pedagogical basis of competence paradigm in the implementation of the Federal State Education Standard implicitly laid down in the Bologna Declaration (2009), including the competence of different content: political and social character; competence related to life in a multicultural society; possession of oral and written communication with the increasing computerization of education; the ability to learn throughout life as a basis for continuous learning in self-education mode (Hutmacher, 1996) and as added by Zimniaia (2016) the ability to learn throughout life as the basis of lifelong learning in the context of both personal professional and social life. The analysis of works on the problem of competences makes it possible to conclude that at present there is no clear understanding of the definition of "competence. Efremova (2003), adhering to the synergetic approach, defines competence as generalized and deep formed qualities of an individual, its ability to use and apply the knowledge and skills; a set of knowledge and skills that allow the subject to adapt to changing conditions, ... the ability to act and survive in these conditions.

Research Questions

In modern educational space the challenge of training competent teachers in an innovative format, based on "competence moral-humanistic approach" understanding of Pedagogy (Dilthey, Gadamer, Ricoeur, Habermas, Heidegger, Belyaeva, Volumes, Kovalevsky, Sulima, Tulchinsky, Schurkova). Hermeneutic approach in didactics is directly addressed to the problem of development of personal meanings and values of pedagogical activity. The logic of moral and ethical competencies formation and development allows the teacher to apply knowledge and experience in teaching, while being available for philosophic reflection concerning ways of understanding reality, reflection of the role and place of cultural tradition and spiritual and moral guidelines, owning new technologies (Filonov, 2008).

The basis of the understanding (hermeneutic) pedagogy and psychology on the principles, making it possible to increase the efficiency of modern educational process: a reflexive analysis of the conditions of understanding; a multi-level system of intersubject relations; the dialog method of knowledge of the subject; a specific solution to the problem of truth and validity of knowledge; the priority of understanding over knowledge; the organization of the comfortable educational environment for the training and education process.

Proceeding from modern requirements to education, from our point of view, the teacher of a new type should have moral and ethical competencies, involving the ability to communicate, transmit communicative and emotional-value experience to the younger generation, new moral norms that still need to be understood and instilled in them firstly , in the information society, the ability to work in a multitasking environment, the ability to create a personality "social situation of development", to reconstruct knowledge.

Purpose of the Study

As many teachers (Gershunsky, Karakovsky, Malenkova, Nikandrov, Shchurkova et al.) note training of the future teacher in modern society has its own specific features associated with the reorientation of the spiritual and moral paradigm of youth. There is a need for a fundamental change of approaches to the organization of the entire educational process at the University, focused on the forming the personality of the future specialist of a new type, which is the dominant subject of crystallization of practical social and cultural innovations and intercultural interaction (Bystrai, 2006).

Pedagogical conditions of forming moral and ethical competences. The complex of pedagogical conditions providing effective forming moral and ethical competences for future teachers includes the following aspects: development of the valuable attitude to the chosen profession; implementation of psychological and pedagogical integration, subject and methodical knowledge; inclusion of the future teacher in active creative interaction in the system "teacher-student"; social partnership among teachers, parents and pupils of educational institutions; a variety of social and cultural space, expanding the "field of understanding" of the chosen profession; methodically competent management of the educational process of training future teachers.

Research Methods

The purpose of the study: development, scientific substantiation and approbation of the model of forming teachers’ moral and ethical competences from the standpoint of hermeneutic pedagogy.

Research methodology: the provisions of the competence approach, as well as the ideas of hermeneutic, axiological and systemic approaches in pedagogy.

Research methods and techniques: theoretical (analysis; synthesis; concretization; generalization; modeling); diagnostic (questionnaires; testing); empirical (study of educational and methodical documentation to the problem of research; pedagogical observation); experimental (ascertaining, forming, control experiments); methods of mathematical statistics and graphical representation of the results.

We used the following: testing, questioning, conversation, method of expert assessment. In particular, such research methods as: diagnosis motivational orientations in interpersonal communication (questionnaire "assessment of the professional orientation of the personality of the teacher"; the technique of studying of motivation to success; questionnaire DUMAUP diagnostics of level of moral and ethical responsibility of the individual (scales: reflection on moral and ethical situations (moral reflection or reflection actualized in situations involving moral and ethical conflicts and conflicts; intuition in the moral and ethical sphere (moral intuition); existential aspect of responsibility; altruistic emotions; moral and ethical values; methods of group assessment of communicative competence (Lukyanova); determination of the dominant motives questionnaire; Methods "Psychological portrait of the teacher"; "Adaptability" multilevel personal questionnaire (block moral normativity); methods of value orientations.

The use of psychological and pedagogic diagnostics of personality development in the educational process of the University makes it possible to to effectively study and analyze the forming value orientations of an individual, the competence of teachers, the level of responsibility and development in a continuously given modern educational process (Shchelina, Akutina, Begantsova, Ageeva, & Shchelina, 2017).

The experimental base of the research

The experimental base of the research was the Federal State Budget Educational Institution of Higher Education “Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky”, Arzamas branch.

Stages:

The study of the problem was carried out in three stages:

- at the first stage, a theoretical and methodological study of philosophic, pedagogic, psychological scientific literature, dissertations on the problem, formulated the problem, purpose, subject, research methods, a plan of experimental research;

- at the second stage, the study of moral and ethical competences of teachers (ascertaining stage of the experiment), implemented in practice the model of forming moral and ethical competences (forming stage of the experiment), determined the effectiveness of the developed model (control stage of the experiment);

- at the third stage, a static analysis of the results of the experimental study was carried out, conclusions were formulated, and prospects for scientific research were outlined.

Findings

Based on scientific research in the context of understanding, it is possible to consider the formation of moral and ethical competence of teachers through interpersonal interaction from the standpoint of moral hermeneutics and understand this scientific category as a process of subject-subject relations in a joint value-oriented and spiritual-moral activities based on constructive dialogue, expanding the "motivated understanding" of the subjects of the educational process and leading to qualitative changes in an individual. The activity of the pedagogical community at the same time acquires the highest status, being saturated with creativity and moral energy.

Analysis of scientific literature (Busygin, Weslowski, Isaev, Lifshitz, Nechaev, Suhovskaya, etc.) indicate that in the development of pedagogical activities most of the teachers observed negative trends:

- weak setting of the teacher to reflect on the possibilities of the subject activities to achieve goals and mental reconstruction of this activity appears;

- the system of value orientations is dominated by the installation of the pragmatic aspect of professional activity;

- ignorance and disregard of the internal conditions of development of the child's personality;

- sometimes lack of understanding of the deep meaning of pedagogical activity;

- teachers' lack of pupils’ moral education mechanisms, the mechanisms of forming moral ideas, feelings, habits, norms and, accordingly, the practice of moral behavior in particular. All this, in turn, is associated with the cognitive, motivational, relational (social feelings), behavioral components of the moral culture of an individual.

In these conditions, the problem of personal and professional development of the teacher, the initiation of the teacher's internal mechanisms of personal and professional development and forming moral and ethical competencies is of particular importance.

The development of moral and ethical competencies was the subject of research by Zeer, Markova, Mitina, Slastenin and others; summarizing the scientists’ conclusions, we can state that the moral and ethical competence of the teacher is an active qualitative transformation of his inner world, leading to a fundamentally new way of life – creative self-realization in the profession. The development of the teacher as a person with high moral standards and values goes through constant enrichment, transformation of subjective experience as an important source of personal development and "appearance in the human psyche of his new professional qualities" (Plenkina & Lenkova 2011, p. 54).

In this regard, it is necessary to develop a model for the forming moral and ethical competencies of a new type of teacher. On the basis of competence, hermeneutic, axiological and systemic approaches, a model of the process of moral and ethical competencies forming was developed, including value-semantic, meaningful, effective structural components.

The value-semantic (axiological) component of the formation model provides for the formation of integral personal characteristics of the teacher, which act as direct indicators of professional development of a person associated with the value attitude of the personality of the teacher to the moral and ethical principles of their professional activity, manifested in the formed professional competencies in relation to himself and all subjects of the educational process, and at the level of personal characteristics reflected in the personal orientation, motivation to achieve success in the organization of the process of students’ moral development.

The content component of the model is associated with the creation of a set of pedagogical conditions that provide the teacher not only the opportunity to navigate in moral values, but also contribute to the development of motivation for the teacher to broadcast them to all participants of the educational process, at the level of their own moral and ethical competencies, ensuring the development of value attitude to the chosen profession; the integration of psychological and pedagogic, subject and methodological knowledge; inclusion of the future teacher in the active creative interaction in the system "teacher-student"; social partnership with teachers, parents and students of educational institutions; diversity of social and cultural space, expanding the "field of understanding" of the chosen profession; methodically competent management of the educational process of training future teachers.

The resultative component of the model is aimed at forming readiness for personal initiative, value attitude to the profession, willingness to work in a team, value attitude to people, to yourself, to the world as a whole and further professional growth.

Stages of implementation of the model

The implementation of this model involved the following stages of experimental work:

- determination of the primary level of formation of moral and ethical competences of teachers using methods of testing, questioning, pedagogical observation and self-observation of teachers, statistical processing of research results.

- creation of psychological and pedagogical conditions for the formation of moral and ethical competences of teachers, including value and semantic development to the chosen teaching profession; implementation of the integration of psychological and pedagogical, subject and methodological knowledge; inclusion of teachers in active creative interaction in the "teacher-student"; social partnership with teachers, parents and students of educational institutions; methodically competent management of the educational process of training future teachers.

- determination of the results of the formation of moral and ethical competences of teachers from the standpoint of hermeneutic pedagogy, capable of self-development throughout life.

The ascertaining phase (the study of moral and ethical competences of a teacher).

In total, the study covered 356 teachers of educational organizations. The percentage distribution of teachers on the primary level of formation of moral and ethical competencies of teachers is shown in figure 1 of teachers is shown in Figure 1 .

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The analysis of the results of the diagnostic survey on the above methods led to the conclusion that among teachers mainly have the primary (40% of teachers of the experimental and 38% of teachers of the control groups, respectively) and the average (54% in the experimental and control groups, respectively) level of the formation, while only 6% of teachers of the experimental group and 8% of teachers of the control group have the sufficient level.

Forming stage

Realization of pedagogical conditions in the process of the forming experiment required the involving teachers in the subject-subject interaction in the course of scientific and methodical work. As part of the refresher courses with teachers, a content component connected with the development of moral and ethical competencies of the teacher and the possibility of broadcasting them to children was worked out. In particular, the means and methods of their formation within the framework of artistic means (fiction, fine arts, music, cinema, nature, etc.) were considered; also opportunities among the activities in the framework of the game, work, studying, creative activity, communication. In the process of interaction, teachers got acquainted with the organization of monitoring their activities in this direction (the study of the children’s moral advancement, the effectiveness of their pedagogical efforts).

Control stage

At this stage of the experiment, in order to determine the level and identify the dynamics of moral and ethical competences formation in the course of experimental work, diagnostic sections on the same techniques as at the ascertaining stage of the experiment, were carried out.

The percentage distribution of teachers in accordance with the level of moral and ethical competences formation according to the results of re-diagnosis is shown in Figure 2 .

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Comparing the results of primary and repeated diagnostics to analyze dynamics of forming teachers’ moral and ethical competences. Quantitative data as a percentage are presented in Table 1 .

The dynamics of the research results presented in Table 1 shows sufficient changes in the distribution of levels of moral and ethical competences formation of teachers of the experimental group. The number of teachers demonstrating the primary level of formation decreased by 30%. The number of teachers who demonstrated the average level of formation decreased by 2%, while the number of teachers who demonstrated a sufficient level increased by 32%.

Comparative analysis of level indicators is carried out as follows:

+ + ,

V1 is the primary indicator of the number of teachers, characterized by the primary level of formation; V2 –average; V3-sufficient. Accordingly, P1 is an indicator of the number of teachers (in percentage), characterized at the control stage by the primary level of formation; P2 is average; P3 is sufficient.

Numerical χ2-criterion indicator convincingly proves that in the experimental group there are significant changes in the level indicators with an error of 0.0001, while in the control group χ2-criterion is significantly lower.

According to the results of the experiment, it can be concluded that the data of primary and repeated diagnostics in the experimental and control groups prove the effectiveness of the model of forming moral and ethical competencies the standpoint of hermeneutics, consisting of interrelated and interdependent structural value-semantic, meaningful and effective components.

Thus, the main features of professional competence of specialists are: general social and personal importance of the formed knowledge, skills, qualities and ways of productive activity; clear definition of the purposes of professional and personal improvement expressed in behavioral and evaluative terms; identification of certain competences which are also the purposes of development of the personality; formation of competences as set of the semantic orientations based on comprehension of national and universal culture; the presence of a clear system of measurement criteria that can be processed by statistical methods; providing pedagogical support to the emerging personality and the creation of a "zone of success" for it; individualization of the program of choice of strategy to achieve the goal; creating situations for a comprehensive test of the skills of practical use of knowledge and the acquisition of valuable life experience; integrative characteristics of the manifestations of the personality associated with its ability to improve existing knowledge, skills and methods of activity as socialization and life experience accumulation.

Conclusion

It is established that the formation of moral and ethical competence of the teacher of a new type through interpersonal interaction from the standpoint of moral hermeneutics determines the possibility of its active inclusion in the updated educational and social space, actually determining its professional and social adaptation and development in an innovative society.

References

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