Development of key competence of future professional education teachers while studying the course "Pedagogy of higher education"

The aim of the study is to outline the ways of developing core competencies of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) while studying the course on Higher Education Pedagogy.

The objective of the study is to analyze different approaches to defining the essence of the concept of «core competencies»; to determine the ways of developing core competencies of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) while studying the course on Higher Education Pedagogy.

Results. Under the conditions of knowledge and technologies promotion and economic and cultural globalization, education is mainly positioned as an effective tool for developing the individual who is able to adjust to dynamic changes. Simultaneously, large- scale social changes and education modernization cause new requirements for quality of professional training and qualification of future specialists, in particular, lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health).

Indeed, Ukraine's integration into the global community requires the national higher education to be modernized and the components of global education space to be gradually implemented in the context of competency-based approach. Competency-based approach is nowadays recognized as the driving force behind the education reform and is seen as the core of lifelong learning.

Since the mid-20th century, scholars all over the world have been actively involved in the studies on competency as a scientific phenomenon, its role in the individual's life, influence on effectiveness of professional performance as well as the search for ways to develop competency as one of the leading professionally relevant qualities of a modern highly qualified specialist.

Competency-based education (CBE) originated in the late 1960s - the early 1970s in the United States and has recently been used in Ukraine due to the changes in the global labour market. In the late 1980s, a new trend emerged in Ukrainian literature, namely, a competency-based approach in education, which under today's conditions is recognized as one of the ways to update the content of education. Under the notion of «competency-based approach» one understands an orientation of the education process towards building core (basic, primary) and subject specific competencies of the individual. The process is aimed at developing the individual's generic competency, which is a set of core competencies, an integrated personality trait, which should be formed during the learning process and contains knowledge, skills, attitudes, experience and behavioural models of personality [2, p. 64].

So, the education process organization in the context of competency-based approach is now determined by socioeconomic factors and reforming of higher education system in order to fully integrate it into the European Higher Education Area, adjust it to growing requirements of society for qualified graduates, the needs of young individuals to feel competitive, competent and mobile on the labour market. The transition of the national higher education to the principles of competency-based approach implies its reorientation towards learning outcomes rather tham the learning process.

Competences in modern psychological and pedagogical literature are defined as a dynamic combination of characteristics (related to knowledge and its application, abilities, skills, apptitudes, values and personality traits) that describe learning outcomes according to a degree programme, that is, what a gradute needs for effective professional activity, social activity and personal development, which they are obliged to master and demonstrate (V. Baidenko [1]). In accordance with the European educational context, competences include knowledge as an understanding (theoretical knowledge of academic area, the ability to know and understand), knowledge as an action (practical and operational application of knowledge to specific situations), knowledge as being (values as an integral part of perceiving and living with others in the social context) [1, p. 199].

Traditionally, competence (from Latin competentia; from Late Latin competere «strive in common, strive after something in company with or together»; in classical Latin «to meet or come together; agree or coincide; to be qualified») is regarded as the range of powers of any organization, institution or individual; a range of issues they are acquianted with or have experience in [4, p. 282]. Both in legal documents and individual researches, it is emphasized that the concept of «competency» is rather multifaceted. In particular, I. Zimnyaya defines competency as «an intellectually and personally determined socio-professional characteristics of the individual, their personality trait» 11]. O. Ovcharuk considers competency as «an evaluation category that characterizes the individual as the subject of professional activity, their ability to effectively realize their powers» [7, p. 68-75]. O. Pometun defines competency as «the individual's ability to perceive individual and social needs and respond to them, to be qualified in many areas, to perform certain tasks or work» [8, p. 65-69].

European Union experts define competency as «the ability to apply knowledge and skills, which ensures an active application of academic achievements to new situations» [10].

The developer of competency-based approach for the first generation standards A. Khutorskoy reveals competency as «the individual's relevant competency, which consists of both personal attitude to it and the subject of activity» [5].

Consequently, many scholars agree that competency implies those indicators that determine the graduate's readiness to live, develop personally and participate actively in society, since today it is imperative not only to be able to apply one's knowledge, abilities and skills, but also to be prepared to change and adapt to the new needs of the labour market, operate and manage information, act actively, take quick decisions and learn throughout life.

It must be noted that most researchers believe that the range of competences in education in general can be represented by a hierarchical system, which consists of such levels as core (the most generic, universal, «metasubject specific»), special and subject specific competences.

One of the main objectives for professional education is to build and develop core competencies needed for any professional activity. The Council of Europe experts indicate core competencies that modern graduates must acquire: social competency - to participate in joint decision making, to improve democratic institutions, to resolve conflicts by non-violent means; communication competency - tolerance, communication skills; intercultural competency - to understand diversity and other individuals, the ability to understand different languages and religions; information competency - computer literacy, the ability to apply new technologies to professional area; educational competency - the ability to learn throughout life, which is the basis of continuing professional education [5, p. 69].

A. Khutorskoy distinguishes such core competencies as values, content, cultural, cognitive, information, communication, social and personal competences [6, p. 72].

According to I. Zimnyaya, «core» competencies mean generalized competencies that ensure an independent existence of the individual in society and represent core competencies as a new paradigm of learning outcomes as an effective target basis of competency-based approach. The scholar distinguishes three classes of core competencies, namely, the competencies that characterize the individul's attitude towards themselves as both personality and the subject of vital activity; the competencies related to the interaction between the indivudals; the competencies related to human activities, which manifest themselves in all its types and forms [11, p. 34].

Thus, with regard to the list of core competencies corresponding to educational traditions and sociocultural context of modern Ukrainian society, one can conclude that the principle of their selection in accordance with social areas where the individual realizes themselves in professional activity is the most acceptable. Nowadays, the list of such competencies and their structure are under discussion. It will be universal and minimum necessary in terms of the individual's achieving effective self-actualization in social life.

The concept of core competencies is used to identify those competencies that enable the individuals to participate effectively in many social areas and contribute to developing quality of society and personal success that can be applied to many fields. Competencies imply a certain complex of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are acquired during proffesional training and allow the future specialist to understand, evaluate and solve various professional problems that may occur in professional activity.

Based on scholars' different views on interpretation of the concept of «core competencies», it has been concluded that core competencies of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) are considered as a system of socially recognized knowledge, abilities, skills, values and personality traits of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) that ensure effectiveness of their professional performance. The process of developing core competencies of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) is aimed at preparing a competent and competitive specialist with an active, responsible life position.

Foreign and Ukrainian scholars (V. Baydenko, A. Khutorskoy, A. Loshkina, O. Ovcharuk, O. Pometun, J. Raven, H. Selevko, I. Zimnyaya et al.) emphasize that core competencies are variable and mobile, depend on the priorities in society, the goals of education, specificity and opportunities for the individual's selfdetermination in society. Among the main features of core competencies, they distinguish multifunctionality, metasubjectivity, interdisciplinarity, multidimensionality, a broad scope for personality development. In our opinion, the unifying characteristics that reveal the peculiarities of core competencies are the following main components: multifunctionality, interconnection with all areas of human activities and correlation with the most advanced inttelectual activity.

Based on the scholars' insights on competency-based approach implementation (A. Khutorskoy, N. Kuzmina,

O. Pometun, A. Temnyatkina, E. Zeer, I. Zimnyaya et al.), the complex of key competencies for future lecturers in vocational education (occupational safety and health), which are related to the structure of professional competency have been indentified. It includes cognitive competency, which means the ability to perform intellectual activities, the ability to set goals and achieve them, solve problem situations, acquire knowledge from different information sources; cultural competency - the ability to analyze and evaluate the most important achievements in global science and culture, to navigate in modern cultural space; the ability to express oneself through native and foreign languages; information competency - the ability to find information and work with information technologies; communication competency - the ability to establish and maintain essential relationships with other people, apply verbal and nonverbal communication in order to ensure its effectiveness; health preserving competency - healthy lifestyle skills; social competency - the ability to navigate in ever-changing social conditions and effectively interact with social environment.

The identified core competencies perform the following functions within instruction: they serve as part of the content of various courses as metasubject elements of the education content, allow practical application of theoretical knowledge to solve specific problems, promote integrated application of the acquired knowledge, skills and abilities, integrally characterize quality of the students' professional training and allow conducting comprehensive monitoring of quality of professional training for future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health).

In our opinion, it is relevant to consider the process of developing core competencies of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety) while studying the course on Higher Education Pedagogy.

Higher education pedagogy is one of pedagogical branches, the science about education and learning of youth and adults. This is a science about the laws of teaching and learning, as well as the students' scientific and professional training as the specialists in accordance with state requirements.

Courses aim to provide master students with a holistic and logical system of knowledge of pedagogical principles of highly qualified specialists' training; to prepare the specialists willing to pursue self-education and self-development, who possess primary pedagogical knowledge and can successfully apply it in everyday and professional practice when solving pedagogical problems related to education and development.

The course on Higher Education Pedagogy implies practical training of future specialists within the following issues: intensification, expansion and integration of knowledge of higher education pedagogy, pedagogical mastery, modern teaching technologies, practical application of various forms of the education process organization in higher education institutions, development of those personality traits needed to become a teacher, lecturer or tutor; a striving for self-education and self-development.

In accordance with the National Qualifications Framework, learning outcomes comprise a set of competencies that express knowledge, understanding, skills, values and other personality traits that the student is to gain after completing a degree programme or its individual unit.

While studying the course on Higher Education Pedagogy, future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) acquire the following knowledge, abilities and skills: the main categories of higher education pedagogy, research methodology of higher education pedagogy, understanding of higher education organization in Ukraine and the trends in its development, the essence and specificity of the education process; types, trends, methods, student education forms, instruction organization forms, modern teaching technologies, understanding of age characteristics in the students' professional and personal development, leadership in higher education institutions, the concept of pedagogical mastery, the ability to analyze and explain psychological and pedagogical phenomena and processes in higher education institutions, conduct psychological and pedagogical researches, the ability to take into account the students' age characteristics when planning the education process; the ability to plan and conduct classes using modern teaching technologies; the ability to effectively apply pedagogical communication, interaction and influence.

As a result of studying the course on Higher Education Pedagogy, future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) should develop the following competencies: the basic concepts of psychology and pedagogy principles that contribute to developing the individual's culture and socialization, ethical values, understanding of causal relationships in society development, globalization processes; the ability to critically evaluate and predict political, economic, cultural and other events and phenomena based on the relevant knowledge; the ability to communicate effectively, including by means of information technologies; the ability to plan and implement certain measures into the management of socioeconomic systems; the ability to organize team work; the ability to secure business communication in professional activity, the knowledge of business communication principles, teamwork skills; the ability to discuss general and specific economic issues in the context of the economic system management; the ability to apply modern information and Internet technologies to researches, etc.

Thus, the process of mastering the course on Higher Education Pedagogy indicates that future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) acquire scientific knowledge of society, individual, their nature, possibilities of development and self-development, the place and the role of personality in society and influences the development of core competencies of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) such as cognitive, cultural, information, communication, health preserving and social ones.

In order to ensure quality of building and developing core competencies, one should apply those methods and technologies needed to enhance the students' cognitive activities. In particular, interactive teaching methods fully correspond to the essence of competency-based approach. This is due to the fact that interactive learning implies using and developing the models of various situations and phenomena, introducing business and role games that influence the development of value systems, knowledge, abilities and skills, as well as creation of the conditions for cooperation. The students achieve their communication goals through interactive activities (discussions, dialogues, simulations, improvisations, debates, conferences, etc.).

So, professional training of future lecturers in professional education (occupational safety and health) in higher education institutions with the use of interactive forms and methods of instruction necessitates their active inclusion into the situations of interactive professional and pedagogical interaction, increases interest in learning, improves decision making skills.