What kind of educators do we need today?

Drahomanov National Pedagogic University recently marked the 175th anniversary of its foundation. Our University has been implementing pedagogic techniques for some time now, allowing for a new type of teacher to be shaped, a teacher for Ukraine and United Europe in the 21st century.

Our society cannot pride itself in the adequate treatment of its teachers. Some try to avoid this institution altogether, relying heavily on a private tutors, educators, or governesses. Others (typically, the wealthier class) send their children to international boarding schools. Others still reinforce school education with private tuition or work with their children on their own. There is a tendency to mistrust schools. People take teachers, as well as schooling on the secondary level in general, with a pinch of skepticism.

In times when crisis paralyzes the economy, social and political institutions and systems, it is the elite of the nation that has to assume responsibility for the future of the individual and society. First and foremost, this should be done by the nation’s spiritual elite: the representatives of the clergy and school, the Church and university, the confessors and the educators.

THE TEACHER AS A PARAGON OF SPIRITUAL CULTURE

In spite of the social, cultural, political, and ideological setting in which schools operate, history does not know of teachers, schools, or universities calling for confrontation or violence. They do not sow the seeds of evil and injustice. Throughout human history, these institutions were oriented towards age-old civilizational values, such as truth and goodness, order and justice, humanity, democracy, and freedom. That is why I believe that priority should be given towards the unification of European nations through universities, schools, and teachers, rather than through politicians or administrators. While training a teacher, we shape the foundations of an individual’s spiritual development. This leads to the formation of a new world view, global understanding and vision. It is the basis for world transformation, particularly for the hundreds of millions of children who represent the various nations of the world.

Universities possess a unique role in the consolidation of European nations. They develop strategic programs, explain their meaning, and stimulate the efforts of the state and the public. They preside over their application and secure progressive transformations.

At the core of scholarly, academic, and educational activity lies specialist training. This means creating individuals with top-notch professional skills, who are active, creative, passionate, and capable of assuming socially responsible roles. This begins with the training of a new kind of teacher: a professional mentor and educator of the generations to come. Such ‘new’ forms of teachers are responsible for raising awareness of the importance of progressive changes rooted in the principles of humanism and democracy, and for promoting unity and peace in the world.

This historic mission calls for a radical change in the social status of educational institutions, and the teacher’s role in general (including their academic and educational activities). An important aspect in this process is to ensure that the universities train teachers based on a set of values which are universally understandable and acceptable. School curricula should include educational and humanistic values (scientific, political, moral, aesthetic, etc.), which are shared by the various European nations. Teachers should convey them to each and every one of their students, providing for the continuity of an individual’s spiritual development according to practical needs.

I focused on this in my report for the admissions hearing of the European Rectors Club. The report emphasized that training of new teachers requires the creation of a consortium of European teacher-training universities, with a bias towards Pedagogy and a uniform scale of values that should provide a common ground for the educational process in Europe. I was amazed at the response I got from other university presidents and their representatives. Concerned with the future of Europe, each of them demonstrated support and, even more importantly, showed readiness to launch the changes.

Mykhailo Drahomanov National Pedagogic University undertook the obligation to settle organizational questions. Ukraine boasts of a powerful national pedagogic tradition, which is a subject of primary importance in the course of teacher training in many countries, such as Italy, Canada, Germany, Japan, and China. We take pride in renowned talented educators, true innovators in their field. Powerful scientific and pedagogical schools enable us to train future teachers not only in domestic, but also European and worldwide educational context.

PRESERVING NATIONAL FEATURES

One of the main issues to be considered in the course of the development of a uniform system of teacher training in the EU countries, concerns relation between national and universal features. Some fear that introducing EU standards would destroy the national character of education. Other point to the present situation in the EU, where national traditions manage to coexist with other priorities. Of course a problem related to this issue is possible, but the threat is only theoretical.

As we know, our common European home is composed of a variety of cultures, nations, and traditions. It may be extremely challenging to reduce them all to a common spiritual denominator. However, this is feasible, if only one is willing to objectively study the culture and history of the European nations, their social experien­ce, mentality, mode of thinking and acting, as well as their levels of tolerance. It is tolerance that allows individuals to perceive each other as subjects with the right to their own identity and to be free from des­potism. Consequently, tolerance does not endanger the individual. The “new” tea­cher in the European context has to be a tole­rant person.

For this, he or she must possess at least four main qualities:

1) a moderate attitude towards various views and practices, as long as they conform with universal human norms;

2) respect for the others, even if they do not understand or have any form of contact with them;

3) tolerance for the others’ weaknesses (and strengths);

4) expansion of one’s own experience and critical dialog, based on the dialectic nature of the mind. It is the university’s responsibility to bring these qualities out in future teachers, and how to pass them on to students.

It is a challenging experience to accept and understand the culture of another nation. The main gap to bridge in this respect will always be the language, the knowledge or ignorance of which draws a dividing line between individuals and blocks their access to other cultures. The 21st century teacher is supposed to have a command of at least one foreign language. Language unites nations and brings cultures together, thus enabling them to share their cultural treasures. Language itself becomes one of the major values to be cherished, indispensable for effective training of a future teacher in the European Union.

A similar asset for a teacher is an advanced level of computer literacy, allowing him or her to be able to use modern technologies and understand their role in modern life. The 21st century European teacher must have a deep scholarly training. He or she should be able to independently identify personality types, applying the most adequate methods, forms, and technologies of teaching and education. Moreover, the solutions chosen by a teacher should be in harmony with their predispositions. An emphasis should be placed on dialectic techniques, which enable the intellect to move from subject to subject and allow for intellectual enrichment.

The entrenchment of democratic traditions in the European context requires an adequate level of training, and an ability to live and work on democratic principles. An emphasis should be placed on the formation of an individual’s democratic culture. Again, this is a task that teachers are entrusted with. A European teacher has to be a convinced democrat, bearer of democratic consciousness and culture. Moreover, he or she must be able to foster democratic values in students.

Last but not the least, a “new” European teacher must become a champion of humanism and high spirituality. His or her chief task is the germination of man’s spiritual greatness in every person. The teacher’s fundamental values should be such universal humanistic priorities as Good, Justice, Honor, Dignity, etc.; his chief values Faith, Hope, and Love. Such teachers proceed from the rational foundations and aspire to the ultimate truth; their activity is intertwined with sensuality and strives to sublimate it to sympathy. It is a personification of human will, aimed at the individual’s self-realization.

Europe is uniting. Its global humanitarian role in the world is increasing, too. The teacher, a top-notch professional, is the first and foremost bearer of this role of patriot and citizen of his or her home country, and of the world; the bearer of high pedagogic technologies, democracy, and tolerance; the champion of peace, ecological safety, high culture; a fighter against international terrorism and a paragon of a healthy lifestyle. Training such a teacher – the universities’ historic mission – is stipulated by the needs of today, but even more, by the call of tomorrow.