Our questions were answered by the Dean-Director for Education of the Pedagogical Institute
The Year of Teacher and Mentor is taking place in Russia. In the Kirov region, a regional program has been adopted for three years and provides for a number of new measures to support teachers, including young ones.
2023 has become especially significant for the largest university in the region, the vector of development of which fully corresponds to the all-Russian trend. Admission of applicants for the direction of training "Pedagogical Education" is now carried out according to a new model developed jointly with all members of the professional community.
The Pedagogical Institute of Vyatka State University is ready to respond to the serious challenge of the time, to demonstrate the advantages of a new approach to the training of highly qualified personnel. Vyacheslav Utemov, Dean-Director for Education of the Pedagogical Institute of Vyatka State University, spoke about this and more.
Vyacheslav Utemov decided on the choice of his future profession, being a student of the cadet class of a secondary school. It was there that he felt a taste for various activities, successfully practiced sambo, had achievements in studying a number of subjects, primarily mathematics. In 2003, Vyacheslav Utemov, having firmly decided to become a teacher of mathematics and computer science, entered the university in the pedagogical direction of training.
Studying, he recalls, was interesting: mathematics was easy enough, there were good academic results. In his second year, Vyacheslav Utemov tried his hand at mentoring. He began to help other students, especially first-year students, in mastering the intricacies of a difficult science - this brought the young mentor experience in solving the first pedagogical problems.
A significant stage was the work in the all-Russian children's center "Eaglet", where the third-year student Vyacheslav Utemov was a counselor for six months. Vyacheslav Viktorovich said:
- This period gave me a clear understanding: life becomes brighter when you work with people, teach them something, share experience. At the same time, my colleague and I proposed an experiment - to form teams of different ages in one of the shifts. There was a very great desire to make sure that the interest group would provide new opportunities: after all, interest always unites. Such a change was organised.
About 40 people came to our detachment, aimed at engaging in scientific research: the youngest was seven years old, the oldest was almost seventeen. At first it was unusual, but by the end of the shift, no one wanted to leave. We have received so many thanks! The guys, who had previously visited different camps many times, said: nowhere was it so interesting. It was the main award, and in general, this experience gave me a lot for professional growth.
Real work with children, participation in subject scientific circles - this, in addition to lectures and practical classes, was full of Vyacheslav Utemov's student life. As a senior student, he began working at one of the Kirov colleges: he taught mathematics, computer science, and physics there. At the same time, he organized the work of subject circles at school, and was engaged in extracurricular activities in mathematics.
Real work with children, participation in subject scientific circles - this, in addition to lectures and practical classes, was full of Vyacheslav Utemov's student life. As a senior student, he began working at one of the Kirov colleges: he taught mathematics, computer science, and physics there. At the same time, he organized the work of subject circles at school, and was engaged in extracurricular activities in mathematics.
- My dissertation research is connected with the methods of scientific knowledge in teaching mathematics. Its basis was the task, but not simple, not traditional, when there are ready-made conditions or only one solution is provided. My interest, which grows from the methods of scientific creativity, is related to the fact that in three parameters - a condition, a solution, a method of solution - something can be blurred.
After all, in life much more often we get such tasks in which a set of parameters, it would seem, does not allow us to proceed to action. But we are forced to act - we reject some conditions when making decisions and, on the contrary, supplement others, finding the necessary information. The same with the solution: it can be based on more than one method, - explained V.V. Utemov.
In the process of teaching - I had to teach 8-9 disciplines every year - Vyacheslav Utemov tried to use open problems, understanding their expressed practical value.
Gradually, Vyacheslav Utemov became a significant member of the region's pedagogical community. Deputy director for educational and methodological work at the college, employee of Kirov universities, author of a number of innovative educational projects, for which, together with co-author Pavel Gorev, he later became a laureate of the Kirov Region Prize.
In 2016, Vyacheslav Viktorovich Utemov was invited to become the dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology of Vyatka State University. Having accepted this challenge, V.V. Utemov got another opportunity to test his ideas, including making a significant contribution to the new model of teacher training.
The interviewer gave an example:
- We believe that the student should be able to construct knowledge. Why? The modern norm of life for everyone is to be able to find a solution to a problem that has just surfaced and has not arisen before. This is one of the elements that we discussed in the expert community and found its application in the structure of teacher training. This element was tested in the practice of sophomore students, where they create their own projects, constructing the missing knowledge. The experiment confirmed: knowledge should be given at the optimal level, forming a concept, and then it is necessary to provide an opportunity to act with them, supplement them with others.
The speaker emphasized that the new model of teacher training contains parameters that have been collectively comprehended, tested, and recognized among specialists.
Students who will study at the Pedagogical Institute of Vyatka State University will receive a number of unique opportunities.
- For example, we offer the module "Interdisciplinary electives": in the senior years, students will try to master the methodology of related disciplines. This will enrich the teacher. Imagine a teacher who perfectly knows the methodology of teaching literature and at the same time understands the basics of teaching physics. It becomes especially interesting for schools where they study physics in depth, but at the same time, children also need to master literature. If the teacher understands the main interest of the child, he will present his subject in an appropriate way, making sure that it is not "the fifth wheel in the cart". Such specialists are very valuable.
Concluding the conversation, Vyacheslav Utemov noted that the university is 100% ready to implement a new model of teacher training.
Vyacheslav Viktorovich emphasized:
- There is a balance in the Pedagogical Institute of Vyatka State University, the competencies of different specialists are presented. These are connoisseurs of the regulatory framework - current experts of Rosobrnadzor, and practitioners of school life, and specialists in the field of methodology and didactics, and those who are well versed in education issues. All of them make up a holistic, experienced, well-coordinated team.
