Future-Teacher Soft Skills Development in the Context of Ukraine’s Integration into the European Higher Education Area

Abstract

The aim of this research was to study future-teacher soft skills development in the context of Ukraine’s entry into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The development of soft skills is categorized as a separate direction of adaptation to the modern globalized professional environment. The main research question related to how to organize the educational process advantageously for the development of both soft and hard skills, as the former are often ignored in higher education institutions (HEIs). The research objectives were achieved using content analysis, Stapel scale and open-ended surveys, in-depth interviewing, computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), “conferences of ideas”, and “collective notebooks”. The results of the experiment show that a 0% indicator for unsatisfactory level of soft skills development was achieved. Instead, the statistically and qualitatively achieved level of soft skills shifted, compared to the results of detailed primary diagnostics, towards satisfactory (10.7%), good (42.9%), high (32.2%), and advanced (14.2%) levels. Data confirm the effectiveness of the combination of the standalone subject model and embedded model algorithm for teacher soft skills development. Empirical research demonstrated the possibility of the dynamic development of soft skills in a relatively short (three-year) period as a result of targeted influence on a number of specific skills within the general concept. The guarantor of success in the soft skills development program is the conscious and cohesive work of the teaching staff, as well as an environment of cooperation with motivated students. Expanded employment opportunities are the main motivation driving force in this case.