Creative Competence As A Forming Condition Of The New Type Of Teacher

Abstract

The relevance of the research is due to the active processes of modernization. The major factor of these processes is a person which targeted on innovational activity, capable to self-improvement and self-development. Another factor is the society’s needs in the generation of the new type of teachers, which are ready to the work within the ideology of new educational paradigm, can understand the value of teacher’s creativity, and can develop the creativity in their students. The present article represents the methodical interpretation of the definition “teacher-philologist’s creative competence”. The author describes the component composition, structure, and essential characteristics of this term as a methodical category. This category, in turn, can expand the scientific image of the value-semantic, creative component of personal culture, and the creativity in the context of professional practice of teacher-philologist. It has been proved, that the development of teacher-philologist’s creative competence as an integrative multi-factor quality of personality can stimulate the effective self-realization of the teacher in professional creative activity. Creative competence is the key to development of artistic and literary abilities of the students, and their own creative abilities. Teacher-philologist’ creative competence is an independent personal complex which has complexity dialectical connections with professional competence suggesting the possibility of coincidence and divergence with it. According to the level of creativity, there were determined the next types of teachers: repeater, interpretator, improvisator, researcher. The validity of the present research is provided by sufficient duration of the experiment, its repeated reproduction with stable recurrency of the results, confirmed by mathematical and statistical methods of their processing.

Keywords: Components of creative competencestructure of creative competenceteacher-philologist’ creative competencetypes of teachers according to the level of creativity

Introduction

The relevance of the problem of creative competence formation is caused by the changes in the teacher’s status. It also includes the increasing the creative competence in teacher’s professional practice and in possibility to organize educational process in the school with creative way. These problems always were in priority. In our 2010 thesis we offered particular ways for solving these problems in higher teacher training connected with forming of creative competence of philologists’ students – the future teachers of Russian language and literature ( Bryakova, 2010).

Problem Statement

Society is demanding a new type of teacher which should comply the next criteria: innovative thinking, professional competence, creativity, professional self-realisation; ability to create a motivation for studying discipline, expand student’s knowledge, and implement their creativity. But practice shows, that teachers, focused on their tasks within the system of Unified State Exam, cannot or do not want to set a goals of improving students creativity skills within these system. Or they can work with it occasionally, and for this reason, as a rule, the results of development of these skills are low.

Research Questions

According to Bordovskiy, Nesterov, and Trapitsin ( 2001), the new type of teacher should have different competences, actual for today and tomorrow. One of them, the most significant competence is the teacher-philologist’s creative competence. It provides his or her creative development, self-development, professional mobility, studying of special methods for developing students’ creative abilities, and it also helps to learn how to act effectively in uncertain situations. We define the term “ teacher-philologist’s creative competence ” as an integral multifactor personal quality, which can help in the development of students’ and teacher’s own literary and artistic skills. We describe teacher’s creative competence as new independent formation in complex dialectical connections with professional competence. Let’s take a closer look at the term “professional competence”. In the narrow sense, this definition includes knowledge, skills, personal qualities, and methods of its realization in the work. In the broad sense, professional competence defines the level of success in person’s integration with working environment. There are also two pedagogical definitions – “pedagogical mastery” and “pedagogical creativity”, it was proved by T. Brazhe, V. Kan-Kalik, N. Nikandrov, and M. Potashnik that these terms are not identical ( as cited in Brazhe, 2006). Another point is that teacher can be professionally competent but have different level of pedagogical creativity (including teacher’s own creativity), and willingness to develop these skills among the students. This point is a critical part of our understanding of creative competency. According to Brazhe ( 2006), Kudryavtseva ( 2006) and others, teacher’s creative competence can be defined not only by basic knowledge and skills. It also includes teacher’s value orientations, motivation, his or her world-view, relations with colleagues, culture, and abilities for developing his or her creativity ( Brazhe, 2006; Kudryavtseva, 2006). The formed field of teacher’s professional competence is wider than creative competence. However, creative competence has complex dialectical connections with professional competence, and on the one level, there are possible some coincidences, or collaborations. But by formation of teacher’s creative competence we mean another more effective quality of pedagogic work.

“Creative competence” is a systematic and multi-component definition in the structure of teacher-philologist’ creative competence. Let us consider the next components of this phenomenon more closely.

According to Table 1 , these creative components reflect the essence of the definition “teacher-philologist’s creative competence”. This is the personal quality which determines the development of literary and artistic skills among the students and the teacher.

Purpose of the Study

We suppose that identifying components, main criteria, and formative stages of creative competence will help to detect, form, and develop this phenomenon in future ( Bryakova, 2010). Our point of view was confirmed in the works of Bono ( 2015), Torrance, Renzulli, and Sternberg ( 1998), who argue that creative abilities of any person can be “stimulated and improved” with the help of special classes and creative environment. According to Spencer and Spencer ( 2005), competence is determined by behaviour, which also can be measured by certain criteria.

From the point of ontological approach to the question of the relation of potential and actual in the pair “competency – competence”, Subetto ( 2006) describes competency as a complex of potential characteristics, or as a sub-characteristics in the system of potential trait of individual. From the researcher’s point of view, the competency acts as a new formation in the structure of student’s quality. We agree with this point, and with idea of possibility to “stimulate” and improve the effect of creative competence. Subetto ( 2006) also describes competency as an actualization measure of some competencies in the process of their development, connected with individual’s self-actualization in the relevant activities.

In order to activate the creative component in the formation of personality, it is necessary to determine the structure of teacher-philologist’s creative competence. We already discussed the components of the teacher-philologist’s creative competence. Our argumentation was based on the point, that a teacher of the Russian language and literature can integrate the knowledge of philological and special disciplines in his/her work. This kind of competence is based on a number of competencies, that are not limited only by knowledge and skills, but they also can determine the properties of a person to make links between knowledge and the situation, to form a procedure for solving the problem. We consider the knowledge, skills, and practices as base of forming the successfully creative activity, and the experience of emotional-valuable relations.

Let us consider in details the competencies, which are the parts of teacher-philologist’s creative competence:

Philological competency (it also includes the literary, language, and linguistic competencies).

Culturological competency.

Psychological and pedagogical competency.

Methodical competency.

In the context of our research, the philological competency as a part of creative competence assumes the ability of the teacher to build valuable dialogical relations with the text of culture, to create the original literary or publicistic texts, different variants of text interpretation. Also, it includes the ability to metaphorization and metonymization during the process of creating the original text, with the saving of value and entirety of the language.

Culturological competency provides the teacher-philologist with the opportunity of correct interpretation and text stylization in the context of culture, and ability to see the text of previous epochs in the primary text, and, if necessary, to recognize and create intertext.

Psychological and pedagogical competency as a part of creative competence can be considered as teacher’s duties, ability of creative self-actualization, which involves his or her own creativity. It also includes the ability to build relationships with students on the basis of value orientations, and experience in creative activity.

The teacher-philologist’s methodical competency is the most important component, because it supposes the knowledge of methods of development students’ literary and creative abilities, the way its forming and development, and the ability to share the experience of creative activity to the students.

In the present research we pointed out the concept of “creative competence” and its key components, now we focus on a new type of specialist – “self-actualizing person” ( Maslow, 1999). We have defined the criteria for the formation of teacher-philologist’s creative competence ( Bryakova, 2010). The text was used as a main definition, and as a creative product of verbal and behavioral teacher’s communication. The characteristics of each criterion were defined, and the creative competence formation stages (reproductive, activating, integrative, creative) described.

According to psychologists, Druzhinin ( 1994), Sternberg ( 1998), Trifonova ( 2001), the creative teacher can successfully develop the student’s creative abilities. However, the question of teacher’s ability to influence student’s creativity, which does not have pronounced creative abilities, is still open.

Research Methods

We carried out an experimental work to solve the following problem: how creative working teacher can develop student’s creative abilities, and whether a teacher, who does not have enough creativity, can develop it.

We also defined the diagnostics and research methods , which include: questionnairing and interviewing of teachers, drawing up of teacher’s creative portrait; diagnostics of student’s creativity R. Johnson's express method (self-esteem of student’s creative abilities) ( as cited in Tunik, 1997); Renzulli’s method (self-esteem of creative abilities); diagnostic of student’s creative abilities on the J. Gilford’s test ( adapted by Barysheva, 2004)); test of associations by S. Mednik; author’s methods “Writing the text”, “Completion the plot”, “A problem statement” ( as cited in Bryakova, 2010).

Findings

According to the results of the questionnaire and interview of teachers, we have come to the following conclusions:

100% of teachers accept the problem of individual’s creative skills development as important and significant in the forming of student’s life strategy.

There are creativity elements in the work of teachers, but only 58% of them can realize this at the level of the creative component of their professional competence

Teachers who are inclined to independent creativity use a variety of methods for student’s creative skills development, they are also have good potential creative opportunities.

67% of creatively working teachers use the methods of student’s visual imagination development.

There is the lack of theoretical training of the main aspects creative process’ theory, and on some pedagogical and methodological questions for the effective development of student’s creative skills.

Theoretical self-education on aspects to develop individual’s creativity is not in priority for teachers due to the lack of time, and the habit of using the experience of colleagues – the complete samples of creative activity. Teachers also do not have enough methodological training on the question of student’s creative skills development.

The Student’s addiction to a certain type of creativity depends on the teacher’s interest to this type of creative activity.

However, the data collected by the methods of interviewing and questioning, was not enough to solve the problem, so we decided to use the method of biographical research.

The biographical method of research confirmed our hypothesis that teachers who have a tendency to independent artistic creativity, and who know the techniques and methods of literary and creative skills development, can use a lot of techniques for the development of these skills among the students, and also have a good potential creative opportunities. The Student’s addiction to a certain type of creativity depends on the teacher’s interest to this type of creative activity.

Conclusion

The research led to the following findings confirming our suggestion of the necessity of forming teacher-philologist’s creative competence. A teacher without any experience of personal creative activity in the field of artistic creativity will successfully develop those kinds of skills among the students under the following psychological and pedagogical conditions .

The problem of creative skills development is actualized in the teacher's mind.

The teacher considers this problem as significant and important.

The teacher is also tended to self-education in this area.

Teacher can learn the methods of student’s literary-creative skills development.

There are organized the certain activity, which will give the possibility to move to “potential” student’s creativity to the “actual”.

Teacher is “an authoritative adult” for the students.

The phenomenon of resonance is also taken into account: the interaction of macro- and microenvironment (the external factor), and particularly the teacher's personality does not need to have creative skills to firm the "actual" creativity of the student, it will be enough to have a systematic and purposeful impact on the “correct and symmetrical” student.

The teacher will go into a reflexive position and plan the correction of his or her further actions.

During the research, we determined the typology of teachers by the level of creativity (where n = 100): “ repeaters ” which are at the 29 reproductive stage of the creative competence formation, “ interpretators ” which are at the 39 reproductive stage of the creative competence formation, “ improvisers ” which are at the 14 reproductive stage of the creative competence formation, “ researchers ” which are at the 18 reproductive stage of the creative competence formation. The main criteria basis of these typology is the teacher’s knowledge of the methodology of student’s creative skills development , and teacher’s ability to create his own literary, publicistic, or critical text.

Teacher with the creative skills can successfully organize his or her work of creation of these skills among the students. Teachers-interpretators (average level of creativity) show the successful results, because they know the methods of developing literary and creative skills among the students (it was mentioned above). 100 teachers and 1000 students of schools of Orenburg and Kirov had taken part in this experiment. The result of the extensive analysis of educational practice showed the dependence between the teacher’s creativity level, types of their activities, and its results. The new holistic concept of forming teacher-philologist’s creative competence was developed, it reflects the relationship between their personal and professional development. On the one hand, this is the teacher's focus on self-education, and self-actualization in pedagogical activities, the teaching of the methods of developing literary and creative skills among the students. On the other hand, this is focused on the realization of student’s potential creative abilities, and their artistic skills.

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