The essence and content of professional self-perfection of Humanities` teachers are revealed in the article. The acmeological and axiological approaches are considered as a methodological tool, a unique set of the conceptual ideas, the aim of which is to provide a solid, fundamental, holistic understanding of professional self-improvement, its structure and the procedures of its implementation.
Keywords:self-perfection, professional self-cultivation of Humanities` teachers, acmeological and axiological approaches.
Phenomenon’s complexity of self-improvement stimulates for its consideration from the different perspectives, using the above-mentioned approaches to its study. The search of the essence, attributes, characteristics of self-improvement of Humanities` teachers, using the different approaches, provides a comprehensive description of this phenomenon and the source material for synthesis and characteristics of the subject as a multifaceted and systemic phenomenon. It should be mentioned that the phenomenon of self-cultivation is in the area (the plane) of the notion of the “Self”, “identification”, therefore, it has a multidimensional strong set of shades, reflections, for example: self-creation, self-fulfillment, self-realization, self-development, self-determination, self-transcendence.
The importance of the above-mentioned palette of the concepts confirms the fundamental researches, devoted to the development of the personality of the specialists in the context of the personality-oriented education (G. Bal, I. Bekh, O. Bondarevska, S. Podmasin, V. Rybalko, D. Chobitko). Development and self-improvement of teacher`s personality were studied by V. Kan-Kalik, N. Nikitina, O. Pikhota, M. Patashnik, S. Sysoeva, V. Slastyonin, L. Khomich.
Problem’s setting lies in the formulation of the common methodological principles on the basis of the axiological and acmeological approaches, the definition of the essence of professional self-cultivation of Humanities` teachers.
The acmeological and axiological methodological approaches will be considered as a methodological tool, as a unique set of the conceptual ideas, aimed at ensuring a profound, fundamental, holistic understanding of self-improvement, its structure, and procedures of its implementation.
Results. The purpose of self-improvement in terms of acmeological approach is to achieve the acme (peaks) in man’s development and self-development (G. Rybalko, G. Danilova). The main thing is not to determine a final height of person, but the correlation of the peaks as an achieved maximum for the given period of life and has not yet used opportunities of the person [3]. In general, self-improvement is a process, which should be considered in the dynamics of its development. Moreover, the researchers [8] pay attention to the neoplasms (mental and social changes), which are integrated into the process of self-development and human development.
For example, it can be developed self-consciousness, self-knowledge, needs, motives of self-improvement, which allow to correct, guide the process of self-improvement in the corresponding direction. In this context, self-improvement should be seen as a dynamic, self-developmental process, which can enrich themselves, contributing to the achievement of the acme. “The nature of novelty in the sense of the inner world of an individual is determined by the integral transformation of the images (associative combinations). They act as a sort of synthesis, complexes prints of the outside world... The integral dynamic images: they constantly interfere, partially transforme to the new combinations” [6]. This fact is fully reflected in the dynamics of self-improvement.
The acmeological approach reveals the possibilities to assess the level of professionalism, as one of the indicators of the effective self-improvement and a fundamental category of acmeology. It should be noted that a personal-professional development is determined by the researchers (A. Derkach, V. Zazykina) as the process of development of a personality, oriented for a high level of professionalism and professional achievements through training and self-development in the process of professional activity and professional interaction [5]. It should be taken into account that self-improvement of a specialist occurs under the influence of professional activity and together with the individuality and the uniqueness of the personality can influence on the process and outcome of especially pedagogical activity.
The specific feature of self-improvement of a high school teacher is that the formation of professional maturity of the specialist is based on the awareness of himself as a professional one, the definition of the individual ways of his professional development, the creation of self-improvement programs, development of individual characteristics (needs, motives, values orientation, especially of the brain). On the other hand, pedagogical reality, activities can positively or negatively affect self-development of the specialist. For our research the priority lies in the enhancement in the course of self-improvement of the internal pedagogical potential that can be characterized by the following features: increase of a level of self-consciousness and intensive self-knowledge, and the dominance of development, needs, self-cultivation, self-conscious holding of techniques to self-education and self-upbringing. So, the indicator of self-improvement is performed in his professional development, professionalism, professional skills.
Based on the analysis of this work [8] we define the essential features of professionalism as significant category of acmeology:
- a qualitative description of the subject of the work;
- the measure of perfection in the pedagogical activity, a high degree of pedagogical skills;
- a high level of development of professionally important and personally practical and acmeological invariants of professionalism (the ability of foresight and forecasting, self-regulation, decision-making);
- a high level of creativity;
- a developed system of organization of self-consciousness, the individual mental qualities of a man, i. e. the internal potential, that is focused on the achievement of acme;
- the positive orientation to professional activity;
- a certain level of success of the implementation of professional activity.
Referring to the personality factors of development of the professional activity of teacher’s self-cultivation, we emphasize that the most important role is played by the internal mental processes, occurring within the personality: finding a sense of activity; forming meaningful kernel personality, the agitation, the creation of an “internal locus of assessment, capacity and needs in personal self-development and so on” [10].
One of the main domestic regulators and improvement of teacher’s professionalism is the ability to self-assessment. From the point of view of the acmeological approach, they use the notion of the «productive self-esteem». The level and the fundamental achievements of professional acme, intensity and quality of self-improvement depend on teacher’s “Self-concept”.
The Self-concept of a high school teacher we understand as the property of a personality, obtained in the course of professional activities, as a clear picture of yourself, a unique system of the personal and professional qualities. The image of the teacher is a position, an installation on self-improvement, self-knowledge, self-image, self-reflection, self-identification, self-determination, self-restriction. The researchers perform the movement to perfection [11, p. 49] as the vector from the Self-potential to the Self-actual, that “confirms the coverage of self-developmental influences and the most deep substructures, such as creativity, nature, the axiological and conceptual core of a person, which, according to their essence specificity, require not just forming, but the actual impact on man’s own development”.
Teacher’s self-cultivation can be regarded as a psychological mechanism of the overcoming of the contradictions between the Self-actual and the Self-potential, the Self-real and the Self-ideal, creating the harmony between them (N. Kuzmina, S. Podzarsky, T. Shestakova, V. Rybalko). The performance of the Self-concept of a high school teacher in our understanding is the constant need for self-study of the inner world, conscious management for the development of the Self, self-improvement as the ultimate goal, which entails the creation of the professional Self.
Self-perfection of a high school teacher depends on teacher’s awareness of changes that happen to him, namely the level of self-regulation, the ability to control his emotional, mental status, self-control, self-evaluation on the grounds of the conscious reflection. So, the Self-professional «has to do with himself in the continuity of the qualities, skills, and experiences. This is the meaning of self-consciousness as “I am in action” [1, p. 7]. It is through self-observation (introspection) when the teacher monitors the content of his own consciousness, professional actions and reflexes them (analyzes the actions, thoughts, actions, thoughts about yourself), the teacher predicts his professional behavior, finds the path to self-improvement and constantly walks to achieve the professional acme.
Thus, from the standpoint of the acmeological approach self-improvement of a high school teacher can be regarded as the achievement of the professional acme of the teacher, namely: increasing the level of self-consciousness and intensive self-knowledge, conscious mastery of self-education and self-upbringing on the grounds of the productive positive “Self-concept”, which is characterized by the movement from the Self-real to the Self-ideal and the conscious moving to the development of the Self on the basis of self-observation, reflection, self-regulation. At the same time, the result of self-improvement performs as a conscious and professional development that is reflected in the growing level of professionalism as a high-quality characteristic of the subject of work and in the achievement of a high level of the acmeological invariants of professionalism.
A new dimension to the understanding of self-cultivation is revealed by the axiological approach, in the centre of which lies the concept of an interdependent, interacting world. Humanistic value orientations are the “axiological springs” [7], which provide the activity of the entire value-semantic field of a personality, that is the “alpha and omega of understanding of man’s essence, the human image in a man, which reflects the content of the inner world, the philosophical convictions, the availability of spiritual values, life-affirming ideals” [7. p. 28].
From the positions of the axiological approach the goal of self-improvement lies in “the aspiration to the Supreme goal, i.e. the endless self-distance, which entails the creation of the Self, this development is possible only with the constant nearness of his personality to a spiritual perspective [1, p. 8]. In the axiological dimension the sense of self-improvement is the opposition to the ego (І. Bekh), self-determination and self-restraint on the basis of self-regulation [4]. But life's realities show, that it’s very difficult to live and to act professionally in the strictly moral principles (V. Ordzekhovska), it’s almost impossible. However, the slight of the lack of spirituality, immorality of life and profession leads to regress, degradation, deformation of the individual, i.e. the processes, which are opposite to self-improvement. And the lack of Holy in man’s soul leads to a split on the separate elements of his own nature and service to them.
In terms of axiology, the highest stage of self-development is the availability of the ideals and the service to them. “We may speak about the true philosophy of life, when people think about their own self-perception and self-determination in the world, when they make their intellectual and spiritual forces to achieve higher spiritual values” [1, p.16]. At the same time, the ideals are also significant values of a man [9]. A determined person purposefully makes a personal choice of profession, predicts the prospects for the personal growth, and receives some moral pleasure and spiritual inspiration. This thesis is very important for the pedagogical activity. Because the decisive, comprehensive strength of the professional pedagogical success depends on moral-value side of this activity.
So, a high school teacher acquires his content in dealing with the world of values, he reveals in the need to serve to the pedagogical ideals. Exactly the presence of these ideals, the eternal aspiration to «height», which is reside for human nature, is a determining factor of formation of conscious self-improvement. The opposite processes are the loss of Holy in man’s soul, which leads to self-destruction.
The pedagogical values in pedagogical axiology are the rules, governing pedagogical activity and acting as a cognitive-effective system, which is served indirectly for linking in the field of education and activity of a teacher [7]. These values are formed historically and recorded in pedagogical science as a form of public consciousness as well as representations and images. Mastering the pedagogical values are possible in the process of teaching. Subjectivation of the pedagogical values occurs during this process, i.e. assignment or objection. We can conclude that the level of subjectivation of the pedagogical values is an indicator of self-improvement of the teacher. S. Rubenstein, emphasizing the role of the values in the regulation of behavior, noted that the result of the dialectics of life is the reassessment of the values. So, the actualization of some professional values and the rejection of others is the evidence of the evolution of a value-semantic sphere and professional self-improvement of the specialist. This statement provides the conceptual basis of our research. For a high school teacher the profession is a value, which is filled by the meaning of life, the condition of self-improvement, self-assertion and self-realization.
We interpret self-improvement from the positions of the axiological approach, the decisive role plays the personal-pedagogic values of the teacher, in which we can observe the objectives, motivations, ideals, installation, that together constitute the system of the value orientations of a personality.
If self-improvement will be seen in relation to axiological “Self” [7], the latter consists of the cognitive, emotional-purposeful components. The socio-pedagogical and professional-collective values are assimilated in it.
The researchers [7] among all the diversity of values single out the sufficient values — values — objectives — which are the basis of self-improvement of the teachers and students. Value-goals can be considered as the foundation of development and improvement of the teacher, because they are based on the meaning of the pedagogical activity. The purpose of pedagogical activity is determined by the needs, motives of self-development, self-realization, self-cultivation should be closely linked with the «Student’s personality» and «I am a professional».
The instrumental values — the values — the tools, to which belongs a set of values–attitudes, values–qualities, values–knowledge.
Value-relationships are expressed in the relation to the professional activity, which does not remain unchanged, but is in dynamic movement, depending on the professional successes or failures and the satisfaction of the professional and personal needs. The attitudes of the teacher to the students, to himself as a professional are reflected in these relation-values. Exactly in these values are displayed dialectics of the “Self-real”, the “Self-retrospective”, the “Self-ideal”, the “Self-reflexive», “I'm a professional” [10]. The level of self-improvement as a measure of personal and professional development of a teacher is determined by the dynamics of the Self-images. More precisely the purposeful movement of the “Self-real” to the “Self-perfect”.
Values-quality are diverse and related parties of the status-role and professional activity of quality, which are derived from the abilities (perceptually-reflective, emphatic, creative etc).
Only the value-attitudes and values-quality do not provide with a proper level of existence of the pedagogical activity and effective self-improvement. There are yet the values-knowledge, which reflects the system of certain skills and knowledge that is presented in the form of the pedagogical theories and the principles of creating the educational process.
Therefore, the values, the value-orientations, the meanings are the constitutive definitions in the process of self-improvement of a high school teacher and the research, the selection of the effective value-orientations is a strategic direction of the formation of the professionalism of a high school teacher.
The considered pedagogic values create the axiological option of teacher’s self-cultivation.
Self-perfection of a teacher from the axiological point of view will be seen as an extension of his subjective space (through a conscious work), the professional and moral value-meaning enrichment, and the orientation on a permanent dynamic choice of the spiritual and professional ideals. The axiological wealth of a teacher will be realized as the selection of the effective methods and means of self-improvement.
Conclusions. Therefore, from the positions of acmeological approach the essence of the professional growth of Humanities` teachers is the achievement of the acmeological invariants of professionalism, a high level of the anticipation is the ability to predict, a high level of self-regulation is the ability to make decisions; creativity is the ability to creatively solve professional problems; a high and an adequate achievement of motivation.
The axiological approach allows to realize the professional pedagogical self-improvement as a constant approximation to the spiritual and professional prospects, the opposition of his ego on the basis of self-restriction, the axiological wealth of a teacher, which is based on a syncretic model, where the values-purpose determine the values-products, value-attitudes, depend on the values, goals and values of qualities. The figure of the effective self-perfection is the actualization of professionally significant and spiritually moral values and the rejection of the opposite antivalues.
So, accumulating the methodological approaches to the concept of «self-improvement», we come to the conclusion that the latter phenomenon is the most appropriate form of human self-development, that is revealed in self-actualization and self-realization of an individual, the dynamic structure that takes out the identity to a new qualitative level of understanding the world, the perception of the world. Professional pedagogical self-improvement of Humanities` teachers is the process of the achievement of the pedagogical professional heights on a conscious axiological basis.
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