Abstract
Kazakhstani higher education institutions have been facing the reformation of the education system since the country gained independence in 1991. The transition from the former Soviet education system to the Bologna process parameters required the reconciliation of a new education paradigm. This has changed faculty members' role from transmitting knowledge to facilitating the learning process. There are 124 higher education institutions in Kazakhstan, and six of them are medical schools. The latter lacked joint pedagogical competencies for faculty members in the medical field. With the support of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan and with the agreement of the leaders of the medical schools, a pilot project on faculty development was launched at Karaganda State Medical University in 2017. In June 2017, from September to November 2017, and from April to June 2018, over 416 faculty members were provided training courses on pedagogical skills. Instead of undergoing testing to assess of outcomes, faculty members responded to open-ended questions at the end of each course. In order to serve as a trainer at their home institutions, faculty members needed to score 85 or higher. According to the results, only 28 (11%) of 250 in the 2017 cohort achieved the status of trainer, and 19 persons (11%) of 166 in the 2018 cohort achieved the status of trainer. This article explores faculty perceptions of faculty development courses based on survey results, the challenges and opportunities of launching this project, and the experience of medical schools in Kazakhstan in shaping a unique model for the framework of faculty development.
Highlights
The First President and the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan have been setting high political and economic goals for the development of the country
This section explores the perception of faculty members concerning faculty development courses
According to the survey results in 2017, most participants were satisfied (Diagram 1): 83% of respondents described the learning environment as comfortable; 73% of respondents considered the content of the courses as reliable for faculty development requirements; 92% of respondents confirmed that the program was designed clearly and well; 86% of respondents mentioned that trainers employed different active methods of teaching; 94% of respondents found the presentations accurate and clear; 94% felt that all participants were involved in the learning process; 93% mentioned that they were asked for feedback; and 84% of respondents were ready to share at their home institutions the experiences they gained
Summary
The First President and the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan have been setting high political and economic goals for the development of the country. In order to move forward with great reforms, the country needs well-educated and highly qualified people, in other words solid human capital. This relies on the responsibility and preparedness of school teachers and faculty members at universities. Faculty training remains significant due to the necessities of responding to social and economic changes and the diversification of learners’ backgrounds (Niehaus and Williams, 2016; Rigney, 2017; ten Cate and Simonia, 2018). Faculty training courses require the modification and revision of training approaches in order to respond to changes
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