This is the English language contents page for E&SD 13(2)
Nick Rushby
Editorial: Standing on the shoulders of giants 6
Helena Amaral da Fontoura
Narratives by initial teachers: stories about experiences and challenges 10
Milicia Krivokapic
Learning after a model: the position of a teacher in practice 19
Galya Mihaylova Kozhuharova
Educational clusters – the new opportunities for improving teacher training qualifications 31
Daniela Todorova Kozhuharova
A didactic model for managing the application of information and communications technologies for teacher training and qualifications in Bulgaria 38
N.L.Selivanova, P.V.Stepanov
Preparation of a future teacher as a social and moral educator: a theoretical underpinning 45
A.K. Tsenkova, L.K. Yordanova, G.G. Kiryakova,
Intercultural competencies for contemporary teacher 53
Notes for authors
“Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants,
so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any
sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high
and raised up by their giant size.” (John of Salisbury, 1159). This is particularly true of
the research that we carry out and then write about. It is most important that our readers
know how we got to where we are now, what others have written about the topic and the
gaps they have left that we are trying to fill.
Teachers now work in a global world and need to develop competences in intercultural communication.
This can be achieved through information and communication technologies (ICT) to create
and enrich their environment, leading to a reassessment of the role of technology in the field of
humanitarian knowledge. This article describes the application of a technological model – the wiki
encyclopedia – and its possibilities in understanding different cultural identities and the manifestation
of tolerance. It enhances the ability for the modern teacher to communicate with people from
other cultural communities and successfully carry out intercultural communication. As a result of
the research, it is proposed that the Wiki encyclopedia should be included in the curriculum of training
pedagogical specialists in higher education institutions.
This research focuses on the personality of teacher as a social and moral educator. Developments in
home social education bring some negative phenomena in the treatment and instruction received
by a child from its parents and teachers throughout its childhood and this is a complex issue to
address. Changes are needed to the definition of theoretical underpinning of future teachers in the
systematization of modern scientific knowledge about upbringing. The research explored comprehensive
conceptual descriptions of the relevant phenomena and examined the educational activities
of the teacher, using data from a variety of scientific disciplines. The study identified some key problems
in the preparation of student teachers, and examined the strengths and weaknesses of existing
software. It explored how student teachers approached activities to shape the image of the graduate
pedagogical higher educational institution (as demanded by the heads of Russian schools) and form
their view modern scientific knowledge in the field of theory and methodology of upbringing. The
results can help us develop a theoretical basis for the preparation of future teachers as social and
moral educators in general and non-formal education.
The rapid development of informational and communicational technologies (ICT) presents many
challenges and problems for education. It is necessary to adapt existing training models for use with
different technologies. It also creates the need for an adequate qualification of teachers for their effective
application.
The purpose of this inquiry is to present a comprehensive Didactic Model for classroom management
through the application of specialized software Mythware. The article summarizes the
outcomes from the application of this software for teacher training and qualification. The model
supports in-service teacher training and enables more effective work on the implementation of information
and communication technologies in the training process.
The contemporary reality of societal development poses new challenges for education. Education
must be synchronized with the needs of society and innovative development promotes the emergence
of new structures. Educational clusters are comparatively new and one of the less researched
phenomenon in pedagogical science. The goal of the current inquiry is to present the outcomes of a
practical experience with a functioning educational cluster related to the qualification of teachers in
Bulgaria. The article examines the formation of educational clusters as a catalyst for innovative policies
and practices in the education of teacher teachers. It looks at the types of educational clusters,
and suggests a structure of an educational cluster for continuing teacher training and qualification,
based on experience of the Department for Information and In-service Teacher Training at Trakia
University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.
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.
The present work focuses on narratives by initial teachers involved in a program called Pedagogical
Residence (PR), developed in a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to shed some light on the
main challenges that those teachers face. The main theoretical framework is Teachers Professional
Development (TPD) as developed by Garcia (1992, 2009) and by Day (2001). The data collection
took place during meetings held at the University as part of the PR program offered to new teachers
to embrace their cause and address their concerns and their will to leave teaching for lack of support.
The narratives of experiences were analyzed using thematization (Fontoura, 2011). The main
themes were the separation between theory and practice, the lack of self-esteem, and the need for
peer support. The findings are in line with the literature and the main recommendation is to develop
programs that address real life situations for initial teachers. This study highlights the need for continuous
education that supports teachers’ professional development.