Developing project skills in future prımary school teachers within the university-based initial teacher education

Abstract

Introduction. The authors investigate the problem of developing programme-specific competencies in future primary school teachers using project methodology in the process of initial teacher education. The purpose of the study is to assess the level of project skills in future primary school teachers and analyze the obtained empirical data. Materials and Methods. The research was conducted using the method of psychological and educational experiment. The empirical data included students’ essays and questionnaires. The sample consisted of students of Karaganda university named after academician E. A. Buketov and Pavlodar pedagogical university. The obtained data were interpreted and subjected to statistical analysis using the Student's t-test. Results. The authors have developed criteria and indicators for evaluating future teachers’ project skills in order to experimentally interpret their project activities. The identification of students' priorities for the choice of certain types of project activities determined the validity of the questionnaire. Frequency and percentage analyses revealed the insufficient level of project skills in future primary school teachers related to the following components: (1) the motivational component of programme-specific competencies; (2) the cognitive component; (2) the reflexive component. Conclusions. The results of the research showed that students demonstrated a low level of project skills, which can significantly complicate the process of improving the quality of initial teacher training for a new type of primary schools. Keywords Project activity of students; Formation of design skills; Special competence; Future primary school teachers; Initial teacher education; Modernization of education.