Society demands higher education teachers with new professional skills. Satisfying this demand
requires socio-cultural and scientific research to discover ways to develop such qualities in student
teachers. This article was written as part of the author’s doctoral dissertation research: Student
teachers’ professional reliability formation. The purpose of this study was to identify the psychological
mechanisms of student teachers’ professional reliability training.
Methodology. The following research methods were used: psychological testing, expert evaluation and
pedagogical experiment. Additional methods included: Method of Identity Diagnostics (Schneider,
2007), Method of Reflexivity Diagnostics (Karpov, 2003), Diagnostic Map of Professional Reliability
of Student teachers (Osadchuk, 2007). The study carried out at Omsk State Pedagogical University
(Russia) involved 75 students and 4 teachers. The educational experiment was carried out in the
natural conditions that were familiar to students, and the natural course of the educational process
was not interrupted.
Novelty. The author developed and pilot-tested a range of new educational tools to actualize the
psychological mechanisms to train professional reliability of student teachers. These tools included
different types of unsupervised activities, motivation training, teaching methods, and pedagogical
support strategies.
Results. The article presents experimental data showing the correlation between indicators of
professional reliability, identity, and reflexivity of student teachers. It contains a diagnostic map of
professional reliability for student teachers developed by the author, which can serve as one of the
tools for monitoring the education quality in teacher training courses. The findings can be used in
educational program development, organizational and methodological documentation, as well as
educational and extra-curricular activities related to higher teaching education goals and syllabi.
Keyword(s) : identification
Imitative Learning: the Teacher as a Role Model
The knowledge required for teaching can be divided into three groups: knowledge needed for practice,
knowledge used in practice, and knowledge about practice. Knowledge needed for practice is
acquired during academic education. As soon as this process is completed and a person acquires
desired knowledge, he/she proceeds to the next step. The stage titled ‘knowledge used in practice’
promotes professional development of teachers. This process is an integral part of the teacher’s profession.
During this process, it is crucial to constantly acquire subject-specific knowledge, master
skills, develop personal competences, and take part in research activities.
Modern technologies lead to rapid changes in the world in every field. New trends in the development
of the world require schools to follow them. Education requires reorganization and adaptation
to new changes. Consequently, the role of teachers in the education system is changing. The teacher
remains a role model, setting an example for all pupils.
The social role of teachers is crucial when it comes to the development of the pupil’s individually and
the development of the society as a whole. Parents are the most important role models in the earliest
period of childhood development but teachers and peers are becoming increasingly important in the
later stages of children’s lives.
Pupils’ imitation of the teacher’s behaviour is one of the most important forms of learning according
to the opinion of American psychologist Alberto Bandura. The pupil imitates behavior patterns,
social values, attitudes, skills or modifies traditional ways of behavior. Imitative learning has a
great potential, greater than other ways of learning. The emotional connection between a pupil and
teacher is very important in imitative learning.
There are three variations of imitative learning: identification, imitation, and role learning. Identification
is an unconscious mimicking of other people’s behavior patterns. Children usually mimic
parents, teachers, cartoon characters, accept their attitudes and moral norms, and change their behavioral
patterns. Identification implies the adoption of internal characteristics, system of moral
values, personality traits.
The teacher as a role model influences the formation of social identity and personality of children. It
is well known that pupils are eager to learn only when they like a teacher.
According to G. Tarde, the process of imitation presupposes that certain images are created in the
mind of the imitator on the basis of observation.
In order to examine the role of teachers in shaping pupils’ behavior, we conducted a survey among
elementary school teachers and pupils in Belgrade.
Learning after a model: the position of a teacher in practice
After the influence of the parents in the earliest period of childhood development, the social role
of teachers is crucial when it comes to the growth of each of the students individually and when it
comes to the development of the society as a whole. The lifetime learning and competent teacher is
the important figure in teaching process. Consequently, the role of teachers in the education system
is changing (according to the changes in lifestyle, technology and by other social changes), but it is
always an important factor in education and upbringing. The teacher remains a model – an example
for his/her students. That model is changing with the social context, and it is understandable that
there are many points of view in building up a teacher as a model: in theory, in imaginary of the students,
and in opinion of the teachers themselves. In the paper, we are going to consider all of them.
There are three forms of learning after a model: identification, imitation, and role learning. The
teacher is a model that carries a lot of importance to the formation of social identity and has a great
responsibility in developing the personality of the child.
In order to more effectively examine the role of teachers and emphasize the importance of the teachers’
model, we conducted a survey among elementary schools in Belgrade. In the survey participated
253 students (aged from 13 to 15) and 13 pedagogues, in order to encompass different viewing angles
to the position of teacher. We came to the conclusion that when students like a professor, they
learn their subject with more attention, so the most desirable virtues of the teacher are emphazed.
Also, we can see in the results that the personality of the teacher and his/hers personal skills and
competencies are very important for students and could be crucial in the quality of the teaching
process. Teacher is not only one sided subject who has obligation to transfer knowledge, he is also
important model of behaving and learning.