Lecture 6

Theme:Professional mobility of a teacher

Questions to discuss:

1. How do you understand the professional mobility of a teacher?

2. What characteristic should have a professional teacher?

Generalizing results of theoretical researches, we came to a conclusion that professional mobility of the teacher is the integrative property of the personality uniting readiness and ability to adapt for commission of optimum actions for transformation of the educational sphere means of pedagogical activity according to the maintenance of a professional situation. Structural components of professional mobility are internal requirement to professional mobility, ability and a cognitive basis. Formations of need for professional mobility are the cornerstone development of motivation of self-education, formation of installation on self-updating and optimistic perception of reality, change of a profession, and also the self-awareness of the professional mobility by the personality created on the basis of a reflection of readiness for professional mobility. Abilities to professional mobility include the developed cognitive abilities, creativity, a divergent, criticality of thinking. The cognitive basis of professional mobility consists of general education, all-professional and professional knowledge, key qualifications and competences, ability to fast transfer of knowledge.

Sociologists allocate two main types of professional mobility – horizontal and vertical. Horizontal professional mobility is meant as transition of the individual, from one professional group in another, located at the same level in respect of payment and prestigious of a profession. Vertical professional mobility is meant as those relations which arise when moving the individual from one professional layer in another. In relation to pedagogical education vertical professional mobility is meant as readiness for advance on a career ladder from the teacher to the manager of any level in education: director of studies, director of educational institution, worker or chief of the department of education. And it is not about the careerism constructed only on unhealthy ambitions namely on continuous social and professional development of the expert when it naturally "grows" in the professional activity to its higher level, and all previous saved-up experience provides the strong base for further professional growth and development.

Horizontal professional mobility of the teacher assumes the movement on increase of professional skill (the teacher of the first category, the highest category, the winner of professional competition), and also its professional readiness to work in educational institutions of different type, state and non-state, in the conditions of the innovative and design organization of activity etc., and also, if necessary, to change of the professional sphere. The universal content of vocational training of the teacher demanded in modern society sets a task of formation of pedagogical mobility, ability to variable change of the course and the content of the pedagogical activity allowing to overcome flexibly difficulties and stamps in pedagogical situations, to carry out a choice of the most successful solution of the set pedagogical tasks, realizing thus professional experience.