Abstract:

New challenges face the present day system of Russian education: searching for novel ways of forming and assessing key professional skills of pre-service teachers which are to form a professionally strong school teacher. Researchers in education and foreign language teaching (Kodzhaspirova, Borikova & Bostandzhieva, 2000; Tchurkova, 2000; Khutorskoy, 2001; Rozhkov, 2001; Abazov, 2002; Bim-Bad, 2002; Slastenin, 2002, 2008; Halskova, 2003; Chepikov, 2004; Polonsky, 2004; Andreev, Asafova, Golovanova & Donetskaya, 2006; Tchukin, 2006; Milovanova, 2007; Kyrkunova & Kostyleva, 2011; Zhirkova, 2012; Fahrutdinova, Yarmakeev & Fakhrutdinov, 2014; Abdrafikova, Pimenova, 2015; Auhadeeva, Yarmakeev & Aukhadeev, 2015; Kozlova & Buslaeva, 2015) agree on the point that compulsory school teaching practice is aimed at helping and forming key professional skills, acquiring teaching experience and creating a personal style of teaching with the use of modern technologies and effective teaching methods. No investigation of the role of compulsory school teaching practice as a means of assessment of pre-service teachers’ key professional skills has been made, though. In this paper the authors examine the role of compulsory teaching practice in the development of key professional skills of pre-service teachers and state that it is also an accurate tool of assessing professional skills of pre-service teachers. Leo Tolstoy Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication of Kazan Federal University and two Kazan gymnasiums ranked among 100 best schools of Russia were selected as research sites. 84 university students doing bachelor program were observed. Instruments, research methods, teaching techniques of forming key professional skills of pre-service teachers and requirements for their assessment were investigated. The leading research method implemented in this study was the quantitative and qualitative analysis of pre-service teachers’ reports. Pre-service teachers’ reports’ analysis helped the authors to highlight the most preferable ways of foreign language teaching and lesson planning chosen by pre-service teachers, which contributed to the formation and assessment of their key professional skills. The data were analyzed and contrasted according to the three points described in teachers’ reports in a 20 lesson due time: research methods; teaching methods; classroom management. The authors in search for the answer to the question “What makes a teacher in Russia professionally strong?” offer an authentic technique of forming and assessing professional skills of pre-service teachers. The main requirements for compulsory school teaching practice of pre-service teachers and the methodological recommendations how to manage EFL classes are suggested. The findings of the research can be used in theoretical seminars and practical trainings that aim to form and assess key professional skills of pre-service teachers.

Keywords:

Classroom management, compulsory school teaching practice, formation and assessment of professional skills, key professional skills, pre-service teachers’ report.