Teacher's Professional Skills

Job description: Students in groups develop a metaphorical explanation of the concept of learning to be an educator and present it by choosing a freely chosen form of expression, such as story, essay, drawing, collage, 3-D model, dramatization, video, digital visualization or other creative solution. The presentation shall justify the metaphor chosen, its relation to the professional identity of the educator and the suitability of the chosen expression form. The use of metaphor as a reflection technique contributes to the awareness of professional identity, reflexive thinking and the development of collaborative, communication and argumentative skills relevant to professional activity.

Fulfilment conditions: 3 students in the group; oral presentation using any presentation, except the “classical” presentation.

Evaluation criteria: relevance of metaphor to theme; theoretical justification; quality of reasoning; collaboration within group; creative approach and quality of presentation.

Rating scale: 1-10-point

rating weight: 10%

Job description: The student handwrites a letter to himself or herself as a prospective educator reflecting on his or her motivation to choose the profession of educator, professional values, strengths, areas to be developed and the professional objectives of the future. At the end of the letter, the student formulates a commitment to his or her professional development during future studies. The letter is placed in an envelope and kept until the end of the studies, when it opens to reflect on the professional development process.

Fulfillment conditions: individual work. The letter is written by hand (1-2 A4 pages), after examining the lecturer, it is placed in an envelope bearing the student’s given name, surname and date. The content of the work is not publicly presented.

Evaluation criteria: the correspondence of the letter with the purpose of the task; reflection depth; the quality of the wording of the objectives of professional identity and professional development; the merits of the reasoning; work design.

Job description: students in the group analyse the professional identity of a teacher of their choice using a self-found and lecturer-approved source of information (e.g. videos, interviews, publications, documentaries or other publicly available material). The analysis shall identify the professional values, communication style, cooperation skills, expression of leadership and characteristics of professional identity of the educator. Using a selected reflection model, students formulate conclusions on the professional qualities that the prospective educator needs to improve. The work promotes professional identity awareness, reflexive thinking and the ability to justify professional choices.

Fulfilment conditions: in the group (3 students). Students independently select an educator whose professional activity inspires them or prompts a professional discussion and choose an appropriate source of information for analysis. Students should reasonably justify the choice of educator and source of information. The choice must be agreed in advance with the lecturer. The work results in a professional identity analysis (2-3 pages) and a 10-minute oral presentation.

Evaluation criteria: justification for the choice of the chosen educator and source of information; quality of professional identity analysis; the validity of identifying the characteristics of professional values, skills and professional identity; use of the reflection model; the reasoning of the conclusions; teamwork and presentation quality.

Job description: Students in pairs conduct a semi-structured interview with a practitioner in order to dissolve the formation of their professional identity, professional values, major professional skills, career development and experience in overcoming professional challenges. Based on the results of the interview, the student prepares a reflective analysis comparing the teacher’s experience with his or her understanding of the teaching profession and professional development. The interview promotes awareness of the diversity of the teaching profession, the development of professional identity and the importance of professional development.

Fulfillment conditions: pairs’ work. Students develop interview questions, conduct an interview with a practitioner (30-60 min.), prepare a reflective analysis (2-3 pp.) and a short oral presentation (5-7 min.), emphasizing the most relevant professional knowledge and conclusions.

Evaluation criteria: quality of interview questions; quality of professional experience analysis; depth of reflection; reasoning of conclusions; design of work and quality of presentation.

The student participates in a simulated job interview to the position of educator, in which the lecturer fulfils the role of head of the educational institution or representative of the recruitment board. During the interview, the student demonstrates the knowledge, skills and competences acquired in the study course, presenting himself or herself as a prospective educator, justifying his or her motivation to choose the profession of educator, describing his or her professional values, strengths and fields to be developed, as well as formulating the objectives of professional development. The purpose of the examination is to assess the student’s ability to reflect on his or her professional identity, to express his or her opinion in a reasoned manner and to communicate professionally in an authentic situation.

Conditions of execution: individual examination. Duration of the job interview – 5-7 minutes. The student prepares a short professional self-presentation and during the interview answers the questions asked by the lecturer regarding:

• motivation to become an educator;
• professional values of the educator;
• their professional strengths and areas to be developed;
• professional identity;
• professional development and career development plans.

Evaluation criteria: quality of professional self-presentation; reasoned reasons for motivation and professional values; understanding of the professional identity and professional competences of the educator; the reasoning of the answers and the quality of the reflection; professional communication, language culture and conduct during interviews.