Professional growth is an internal developmental need of a person. The intrinsic motivator of a person for whom the resource of personal freedom opens up in the sphere of his objective activity. The concept in the field of pedagogy acquires special meaning. Since it is a professionally held teacher who is able to "hook" the personal beginning of the child in the best way, to help him taste the joy of the development process.
Professional growth - internal need and external need
There is a system of professional development of a specialist. Attitude to her can be different. Often, continuing education courses are perceived as an external necessity, which is imposed by the plan, either by industry standards, or by the whim of superiors. In this case, the process is accepted as an external necessity. It often happens that the time provided for professional development becomes lost. Sometimes this time is used with pleasure and for other purposes.
In order for the process to benefit, it is necessary that professional growth becomes the need of a specialist. And the matter is not only in material incentive. This is more a bonus than a goal for professional (in the true sense of the word) development.
How to increase qualification into a living development process?
In order for the external need to coincide with the internal need of a person, several fundamental conditions must be met:
- It is important that professional growth allows expanding the boundaries of a person’s personal experience.
- When forming a training plan, it is advisable to proceed from the requests of a specialist and correlate them with the interests of the organization.
- The results of the qualification increase course are implemented in practical application, in the form of a product. It is he who serves as the basis for assessing professional growth.
How to measure professional growth results
At what point in everyday activity and planned development can we say with confidence that this is what happened? And is such an assessment possible in principle?
There is a great postulate of personal development, which states that a person develops in comparison with himself, at different time intervals of his personal history. According to the results of continuing education courses, it is possible and, moreover, it is necessary to evaluate his professional growth. For this, methods already exist, for example, self-analysis of activity. The development of a methodological manual can be introduced as other forms of "personal credit", and the development of an experimental method in the interests of the institution as a practical application of the theoretical course obtained as part of advanced training.
Teaching a teacher means motivating a student
In the pedagogical environment, a certain professional pathology is often observed: always learn and be right. This is the worst form of pedagogical extremism. The surest way is to remain a living person, able to constantly learn. And first of all - in children. Exactly. Nobody canceled the Socratic method. The principle of "let's say you're right" is the absolute acceptance of a mistake. And at the next stage of the process - a joint search with the student for the path to truth.
Professional growth - broadening the horizons for finding a true solution together with students, and not the process of technical transfer of information from different media. The result can be evaluated by the quality of students' motivation in the process of finding the answer, and not in an attempt to "guess" what the teacher requires of him. The professional growth of the teacher is measured by the results of the student. The rule has been known since antiquity.
The student must surpass the teacher
The teacher’s professional growth as a result manifests itself in the student’s motivation to learn. And if the student is arguing with the teacher in an attempt to prove that he is right, you can be happy - the goal is achieved, and it is worth rejoicing at the result! This is the best result of teacher professionalism. Alas, in our traditional school with a conservative director and a standard system, not every teacher is ready to hear this, much less accept this position. Therefore, when the question arises about the "modern generation", with its ability to think in pictures and comics, the question should be asked to teachers: "Who are they?"
Personal and professional growth in the pedagogy system is the main principle of development. This sphere does not tolerate formalism and static. It is necessary to start changing society by educating a new generation of teachers who are able to replace the dull monologue with a lively dialogue with the student. The ability to build such a quality of communication lurks in the abilities and degree of spiritual openness of a teacher. This quality is inherent in people capable of continuous self-improvement. Breaking standards and flexibility is the way of the Master.