PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS AND MENTORS OF ENGINEERING AND NATURAL SCIENCE DUAL PROGRAMS

Abstract

Modern social, economic, technological transformations have a significant impact on the process of engineering and science training, learning environment, and students' needs. Under the current conditions, teachers of professional disciplines, mentors from companies participating in dual training of students should have the opportunity for additional professional training and improvement of universal competence within the framework of professional development and continuing education programs using various forms of networking between universities/colleges and enterprises, as well as by providing them with access to various sources of knowledge for self-study and self-development, conditions for cooperation and exchange of experience and ideas, opportunities for professional internships, creation of mechanisms to actualize the system of motivation and encouragement. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to analyze the main approaches to the development and implementation of professional development programs for teachers of professional disciplines and mentors from enterprises/companies involved in dual training of students, and to experimentally verify their effectiveness. To achieve this goal, the paper considers the components, essence, approaches to the development of universal competence and professional literacy of teachers of professional disciplines of universities/colleges and mentors of students from enterprises/companies, determines the factors affecting the quality of professional development programs and their attractiveness, analyzes the motivational aspects of the participation of teachers and mentors in professional development courses, determines the needs of teachers and mentors in the professional development of students from enterprises/companies, and identifies the needs of teachers and mentors in professional development.

The scientific and practical significance of the conducted research lies in the fact that its results made it possible to propose the structure of professional development programs aimed at improving the universal competence and professional literacy of teachers and mentors of dual programs of engineering and science profiles, to define and justify the requirements to the content of the main modules of the programs, to identify the indicators of effectiveness and attractiveness of professional development programs, as well as the most significant factors that ensured students' interest in the tested professional development programs, differentiate and clarify the basic skills and competencies required for both mentors and teachers of professional disciplines. The paper proposes universal criteria and approaches that make it possible to analyze and make necessary changes in the content of programs and organization of professional development courses, which provides their value when used in the system of additional education.