Abstract:

The article introduces a multilevel development model of multicultural professional competence of a teacher. The study was conducted for 5 years using the observation method, integrative analysis and experiment at the teacher professional re-training center and two multicultural schools. Pilot testing covered school teachers and students. Over 500 school teachers and 1,920 school students of multi-ethnic classes were involved in various kinds of experiment. A conceptual basis of the article is a culturological view of teacher’s professional competence which is manifested in the ethnocultural competence of a professional. This provision returns the focus on integration of anthropological, culturological, and specialized knowledge of a teacher. Educational environment of a multicultural school organizes professional activities of a teacher, influences and forms specific features of this activity and promotes development of teaching strategies. The authors consider the multicultural education as the process of ethnical, nation-wide and world culture acquisition for the purposes of intellectual enrichment, development of the planet-wide consciousness, and formation of the readiness and ability to live in the multicultural environment. The fundamentals of multicultural education are culture, development of peacefulness and globalism, integrative processes in education, educational and regional ethnic culture of the nation, respect to every ethnic group with its specific mentality. The multicultural education aims to form a personality capable of active life in multinational and multicultural community, who is able to live in peace and quiet with people of various ethnic origins and religious confessions. The primary objectives of the multicultural education involve improvement of academic performance of various ethnic group representatives, intercultural collaboration and communication, mutual cultural enrichment, formation of student’s awareness of interethnic tolerance values. The article introduces the educational multicultural environment through description of multi-ethnic school with student body and its functioning. The issues of efficient teacher training at a multicultural school are solved at the level of postgraduate training, and the authors suggest several stages of consulting and modeling activities. The first stage stipulates a joint educational activity of a trainer from the professional training center and a school teacher, which involves content-related, procedure-related and diagnostic elements. The second stage involves building of a model of professional competence development for a multicultural school teacher. The third stage stipulates pilot introduction, distribution and implementation of new adaptive educational materials for multicultural school students in educational practice. The final stage involves analytical and forecasting activities, as well as efficiency analysis of methods of joint learning in the multicultural educational environment. Following the study results the authors collected qualitative data including teacher’s questionnaires, student’s recitations, observations, and samples of oral and written papers of school students.

Keywords:

Multicultural education, professional competence, intercultural communication, postgraduate training for teachers.