Quality Assessment of Additional Education Teachers' Professional Activity: Formulation of the Problem
Introduction of the new professional standard “Teacher of additional education for children and adults” means that the reforms in the system of vocational training, advanced training and in the existing models of teaching staff certification are inevitable. There is no single plan for transition to the new standard for all organizations of additional education, and there cannot one. Additional education for children has always been distinguished by its distance from standards and standard models, which acted as a guarantee of its informality. Therefore, it is difficult to say what the scenarios for pedagogical staff of organizations' certification will be, but their development can come useful if organizations focus not on episodic certification preparation, but on the system of internal personnel quality management. The article outlines the approach to definition of the concept of “professional teacher activity” and understanding the essence of professional activities of an additional education teacher for children, as well as formulates problematic judgments regarding quality assessment of additional education teachers' professional activity associated with the introduction of a professional standard. The main goal of the article is not a presentation of a ready-made solution suitable for everyone, but an invitation to discuss the topic for the sake of preserving a unique specialist, that is “a teacher of additional education of children”, a professional in his/her sphere who is able to assume various roles, build relationships, constantly adapt and position him/herself in the changing world. Among the debatable ideas that we offer are: to consider professional and personal qualities of a teacher as the competitive advantages for organization of additional education for children; to distinguish between evaluation and quality assessment; to recognize the difference and internal dependence of the essential characteristics, interrelated and inseparable procedural cycles in a teacher's professional activities (objects of assessment); focus attention on assessing the quality of professional position of a teacher and his/her self-assessment activities; to develop internal systems for assessing the quality of teachers' professional activities.