PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SELF-ASSESSMENT OF PARTICIPANTS OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT “TEACHING FORCE” IN THE CONTEXT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS

Abstract

The socio-economic and technological changes taking place in society lead to changes in the education system, that is why new outcomes of the educational process and performance criteria for students and teachers are defined. The European Union also emphasizes the need to implement competency-based education, defining competencies whose development ensures individual well-being and sustainable development for the whole society. Literacy, multilingualism, digital skills, active citizenship, entrepreneurial skills etc. are considered to be the key competences for lifelong learning.In Latvia during the school year 2019/2020 the transition to competency-based curriculum has begun, defining new learning outcomes in all subject areas and emphasizing transversal skills such as critical thinking, creativity and entrepreneurial skills, which will be developed for students across all subjects. Consequently, changes in the outcomes for students' performance determine the needs for teachers' continuous professional development because they are the key element for a success of educational reform in Latvia.Teachers need to become skilled leaders of their own and students' learning, defining their learning needs and goals, learning from their own and other colleagues' experiences, mobilizing diverse professional resources inside and outside the school, and experimenting and learning from mistakes. This means that not only students but also teachers need to demonstrate entrepreneurial skills by expressing specific attitudes and taking practical action in the context of their professional development.In order to address the shortage of teachers in Latvian schools, an educational project “Teaching Force” (“Mācītspēks”) has been launched since 2020, within the framework of which professionals with higher education obtained in other fields are attracted to work in schools. Within 2 years, while doing the pedagogical work at the school, the project participants acquire the 2nd level professional higher education study program in education. This means that within the project “Teaching Force” professionals from the private, public and non-governmental sectors who have different previous work experiences enter schools as new teachers. The goal of this study is to find out what attitudes towards their professional development have participants of the educational project “Teacher Force”, looking at in-service teacher training in the context of entrepreneurial skills. Within the framework of the research, a survey of the participants of the educational project “Teacher Force”, has been conducted, obtaining and analysing quantitative data on their self-assessment in different aspects of professional development: personal motivation, self-assessment, communication and mobilization of human resources, creativity, initiative, planning, learning from experience, etc.