“This is the best teacher in the whole world!”: The influence of the school teacher on professional self-determination of future teachers

Abstract

Introduction.The article analyzes the role of a particular teacher in the formation of professional identity for future teachers - students of a pedagogical university. Recent scientific studies showed that the idea of a “perfect teacher” formed at school is often stable and has negative impact on the professional development and separation of experience from the prospects of professional growth. However, most studies analyze the image of the abstract "ideal teacher" without reference to a particular person, who influenced the choice of profession and general professional guidelines of the future teacher.Materials and Methods.In the study, narratives of students of Mini University were decomposed. The narratives were completed over a questionnaire as a part of a professional competition "Best Teacher". The characteristics of the best teacher from the narratives were classified according to the system proposed in the monograph “Portrait of a teacher”.Results.The data obtained showed that for the most students important characteristics are personality characteristics that influence communication with students: emotional (43%) and communicative (23%). In second place is a group of teacher’s abilities related to the depth of his knowledge, the need to expand his knowledge and practical application in solving pedagogical problems (cognitive (12%) and practical (14%) abilities), and in the third - axiological abilities of a teacher (8% ) related to values and civic position. Summarizing all the characteristics of the best teachers identified in narratives, we can conclude that for students participating in the survey, an important role is played by emotional informal contact with the teacher: responsiveness and openness, willingness to help and answer questions, creating motivation for learning, self-education and finding solutions as well as dedication to their work, love for the subject and for children, enthusiasm and creativity in work, achievement by students of high results in final exams and various competitions, work experience.Discussion and Conclusions.The data from the narratives about the best teacher reflect a certain image of the ideal teacher, intuitively formed during school education when observing the situation “from the inside”. It is curious that these ideas fully correspond to the characteristics of successful teachers defined by J. Hattie in his meta-study. In the scientific work of the learning situation “from the outside”, J. Hattie found that the maximum success is achieved by teachers who differ in communicative, emotional and active abilities in the structure of pedagogical intelligence, first of all: 1) using a variety of methods and technologies in the classroom; 2) making high demands on students; 3) building a positive relationship between teacher and student. This allows us to determine the role of the school teacher in identifying the pedagogical giftedness of future teachers and in choosing of the teaching profession.