DOI: https://doi.org/10.62204/2336-498X-2023-2-15

KEY COMPETENCIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION

TEACHERS IN BILINGUAL EDUCATION CONTEXT

Oleksandr Khomenko,

Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences,

Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages

 Kyiv National Linguistic University, Ukraine,

oleksandr.khomenko@knlu.edu.ua; ORCID: 0000-0003-2539-837X

Annotation. This article presents the findings of a study aimed at systematically identifying and specifying the essential competencies required by instructors in higher education institutions to carry out their roles in interdisciplinary bilingual education effectively.

Keywords: Bilingual education, socio-pedagogical competence, autopsychological competence, professional competence.

Introduction. Educational objectives have evolved significantly in today’s rapidly globalizing world and amidst the transformative changes in Ukrainian society. These evolving objectives necessitate continuously auguring knowledge, skills, and capabilities among future specialists. This includes the development of professional foreign language communicative competence and the introduction of bilingual-based interdisciplinary integrative education. Consequently, the demands on teachers have also escalated. In professional education, teachers are not just transmitters of knowledge; they play a pivotal role in shaping future professionals’ skill sets and abilities. Furthermore, they serve as role models, instilling a passion for their subjects and cultivating a value-driven and motivationally enriched perception of knowledge among their students.

One pressing concern is the imperative to construct a competency model for teachers engaged in collaborative professional endeavors actively participating in the bilingual education paradigm. This issue is of paramount importance and warrants special attention. Thus far, there needs to be more clearly defined criteria delineating the professionalism of such educators. Specifically, there need to be more systematic guidelines outlining the requisite level of proficiency in professional skills and abilities for foreign language instructors within non-linguistic universities operating within the framework of interdisciplinary cooperation, implementing bilingual-based interdisciplinary integration.

The urgency to establish a solid theoretical and methodological foundation, particularly concerning the expectations for educators’ personal and professional conduct, underscores the relevance of the research presented herein.

Literature Review. It is essential to acknowledge that foreign scholarly literature has devoted significant attention to the characteristics of educators engaged in interdisciplinary, integrative education, mainly focusing on their personal and professional attributes. Notably, it has been emphasized that foreign language instructors must possess linguistic proficiency and professional competence in their respective academic disciplines (Pavón & Ellison, 2013, p. 65). The methodologies for fostering collaboration among foreign language and professional subject instructors, such as cooperation, collaboration, and team teaching, have been extensively discussed in works by T. Hutchinson, A. Waters, and T. Dudley-Evans (Hutchinson, 1987; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 2010).

Within the realm of interdepartmental cooperation, the concept of team teaching, introduced by Davis, deserves special consideration. According to Davis (1997), complex interdisciplinary courses created and taught by a team of instructors are ideal for students’ and educators’ professional and personal development. Another pedagogical approach, Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), which involves simultaneously studying a professional discipline and a foreign language, has gained widespread popularity worldwide (Marsh, 2012).

In the domestic literature, there remains a limited number of scholarly works directly addressing the professional and personal qualities of educators engaged in integrative education. For instance, Sinyatkivska S.M. (2019) developed a model for the bilingual professional training of future specialists in the social sphere, delving into the professional attributes of the teacher’s personality. Recent publications have outlined the competencies that educators should possess when designing a bilingual career-oriented curriculum. Considering the significance of interdisciplinary, integrative education in a bilingual context, the Department of Foreign Languages at Kyiv Linguistic University developed a pedagogical concept for integrative education within the context of interdepartmental cooperation in 2023. This concept highlights the advantages of professional collaboration and outlines the roles and functions of subject matter instructors and the Department of Foreign Languages (Khomenko et al., 2023).

Consequently, the contours of the personal and professional components required for a future competency model for educators working in bilingual education settings are emerging. Nevertheless, comprehensive and systematic studies addressing this issue still need to be completed.

The purpose of the article. The effectiveness of simultaneously mastering a profession through a foreign language and mastering a foreign language through a profession significantly hinges on the personal and professional attributes of both subject matter instructors and foreign language educators. Their ability to adeptly orchestrate the educational process is pivotal in this equation. Consequently, we assert the pressing need to develop and systematize criteria encompassing both professional and personal dimensions to prepare future specialists for careers in integrative bilingual education within the framework of interdepartmental collaboration.

The primary purpose of this article is to outline a comprehensive catalog of competencies, including personal-professional, social, psychological-pedagogical, and professional competencies. These competencies are indispensable for higher education instructors in fulfilling their responsibilities, encompassing interdisciplinary integration in a bilingual context and cultivating professional foreign language communicative competence among future specialists.

Results and discussion. In the context of our research, we define bilingual education

as an educational approach centered around the interdisciplinary integration of professional disciplines and a foreign language. This approach is designed to foster the development of foreign language professional communicative competence, which forms an integral component of professional competence. It is crafted with due consideration to the interests and needs of students, which are determined by the specific requirements of their future professions. This approach emphasizes collaborative, student-teacher interaction, and subject-subject cooperation (Khomenko, 2023, p. 250). The success of bilingual education hinges primarily on educators’ moral and professional authority. To fulfill this role effectively, they must possess specific competencies.

To define and categorize the competencies relevant to bilingual education, we analyzed research and publications from reputable domestic and international sources. Our study delved into various facets, including but not limited to:

The cultivation of a teacher’s creative individuality and the pedagogy of individuality (Zabolotska, Otych).

The development of foreign language professional competence among students majoring in non-language disciplines (Mykytenko, Nikolayeva, Secret).

The fostering of intercultural communication skills (Hryshkova, Demydenko, Chekun).

The exploration of theories related to interdisciplinary integration as a means of enhancing the effectiveness of higher education in Ukraine (Avsyukevich, Grishkova, Drab, Lychko, Mykytenko, Secret, Ponomarenko, Tarnopolskyi).

Integrating foreign language instruction with specialized and psychologicalpedagogical training (Gapon, Dancheva, Maksymchuk, Poyasok).

The examination of bilingualism-related challenges (Mykytenko, Kolyadenko, Sytnyakivska, Seiko).

The multifaceted nature of professional competence as a concept (Kolodko, Maslyuk, Ovcharuk, Romashina, Rudenko).

The significance of competence in the context of modern society (Hutmacher, Mansfield, Spencer-Oatey, Sternberg).

Competency in foreign language learning (Canal).

The development of intercultural competence (Brown, Byram, Lustig, Koester, Rathje, Rey).

Special attention was directed towards examining documents from the Council of Europe, which delineate fundamental competencies that hold particular significance in training future specialists in a bilingual environment (Eurydice, 2002; DG EAC, 2003; OECD, 2002; OECD, 2018). These documents highlight a range of competencies, including social competencies related to the ability to take collective responsibility and make decisions collectively. Additionally, they emphasize competencies essential for proficient foreign language communication, particularly pertinent in professional engagement within a multicultural and globalized society. These competencies also extend to abilities associated with navigating the information society and the inclination and aptitude for lifelong learning, both within a professional context and on a personal level.

The analytical work, encompassing the literature above and other specialized sources about competence development among foreign language and subject matter instructors, enabled the identification of competencies uniquely relevant to the dynamics of bilingual education. These competencies are precisely aligned with the organizational structure of bilingual education and the distinctive educational objectives set for future specialists.

Within the scope of this article, we will provide a concise overview of these competencies. To begin, interdisciplinary integrative education in a bilingual setting is inherently grounded in collaborative efforts and the cooperation of professional subject instructors and foreign language educators. In this setting, classes may be conducted in two languages, necessitating the capacity to listen to and understand one another, collaborate in decision-making, share responsibilities, and exchange teaching methodologies and learning strategies. This requires proficiency in collaborative professional engagement within the social sphere. Effective teamwork requires a mutual understanding among team members, consistent communication, and cooperation among individuals with diverse personal characteristics and cognitive perspectives— factors closely associated with social competence. Teachers working in teams confront the challenge of constructively addressing professional and personal issues, calling for a harmonious blend of psychological factors.

Furthermore, effective teamwork entails the willingness and ability of teachers to adapt personal qualities and behavior and the capacity to create positive dynamics by altering their internal states, demonstrating the ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances, and more. This capacity to continually engage in deliberate selftransformation is encapsulated within the term “auto-competence,” as recognized in modern psychology. It is essential to highlight that auto-competence encompasses acquiring new knowledge, self-regulation, and an unwavering commitment to achieving significant outcomes. Given the interconnection between the psychological aspects of personal adaptation to novel social environments (in this case, the adaptation of teachers from various disciplines working collaboratively), we underscore the pivotal importance of social-psychological and autopsychological competencies in the teacher’s profile.

Teachers responsible for implementing interdisciplinary integrative education in a bilingual context, encompassing both professional disciplines and a foreign language, must comprehensively understand the professional landscape and its demands. They are expected to collaboratively establish the ultimate course goals and objectives, along with practical strategies for achieving them. This entails crafting a repertoire of communicative assignments with a distinct professional focus, creating specialized educational materials and textbooks, and devising unique assessment methods that align with the course’s goals while remaining consistent with the evaluation criteria established in relevant specialized methodologies. These responsibilities demand a high level of professional competence.

We define professional competence as a holistic capacity amalgamating professional expertise and pedagogical competence. It encompasses a profound knowledge of the professional subject and the ability to apply it in practical settings effectively. In the context of bilingual education, pedagogical competence can be further subdivided into:

1. Didactic competence. This fusion of general educational, psychological-

pedagogical, and social knowledge, together with specialized professional-pedagogical skills, involves the creation of innovative teaching methodologies, mastering problemsolving tools (mainly methodological ones), and constructing logical educational processes. It also encompasses the design of non-standard and spontaneous educational scenarios within an intercultural professional milieu, nurturing the capacity to make informed decisions and promote effective behavior in challenging or competitive environments, among other skills.

1. Personal competence. This entails possessing a high level of general knowledge, a proclivity for innovative thinking, the ability to generate original ideas, and a willingness to engage in self-assessment to identify and rectify deficiencies in one’s teaching approach. It also encompasses a readiness for professional growth, a strong motivation for one’s profession, and a commitment to creative pedagogical practices, among other qualities.
2. Professional foreign language communicative competence, as an integral component of professional competence: This multifaceted and integrated formation reflects the acquired ability of future specialists to apply their professional knowledge through a foreign language, encompassing vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. It also contains effective foreign language communication skills, per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), while incorporating developed professional and personal attributes. These attributes include overcoming psychological barriers during foreign language communication, tolerance, effective communicativeness, mastery of speech etiquette, and a wealth of experience in foreign language professional communication. This comprehensive competence empowers individuals to creatively tackle professional challenges within an intercultural professional sphere (Khomenko, 2014, pp. 209-210).

For future specialists, learning a foreign language takes on a pragmatic significance inseparable from mastering their respective professions, and it adapts in response to the evolving professional context. This professional context, in turn, undergoes transformations influenced by economic conditions, labor market dynamics, social changes, and other factors. These shifts affect the specific demands placed on future specialists, leading to adjustments in their professional foreign language communicative competence.

It is worth noting that professional foreign language communicative competence development occurs within the broader framework of intercultural competence, which also encompasses professional intercultural competence. Challenges often arise at these levels due to insufficient knowledge of the socio-cultural background or its absence. Therefore, we consider intercultural and industrial intercultural competence integral to professional foreign language communicative competence. These competencies necessitate teachers to understand professional culture and appropriate behavior and possess sociolinguistic, linguistic, and regional knowledge. This also includes familiarity with the national and cultural characteristics of the countries whose language is being studied. This holistic approach encompasses mastery of foreign language business communication, business rhetoric, and the cultural preparation of future specialists. It involves reducing ethnocentrism, fostering tolerance for cultural differences, and more. In essence, future specialists must possess a comprehensive and integrated capability to engage effectively in a foreign-language professional subculture, considering its culturally specific values and behavioral norms.

Hence, the proposed structure of pedagogical competence, consisting of interconnected and mutually reinforcing components such as didactic, personal, professional foreign language communicative, intercultural, and cross-cultural professional competencies, aligns well with the specific demands of teachers of specialized disciplines and foreign language working collaboratively.

In bilingual education, linguistic and professional training of future specialists cooccur with equal emphasis. This means that teachers of foreign languages essentially grasp the fundamentals of specialized disciplines. This understanding allows them to tailor the educational process in alignment with the real professional context of foreign language communication and the actual needs of students. Consequently, they can establish clear educational objectives and more. Teachers of specialized disciplines, on the other hand, gain an opportunity to enhance their foreign language proficiency. They use it as a tool to acquaint themselves with specialized publications in foreign scientific sources and consistently augment their professional knowledge.

This dual emphasis gives rise to another facet of teachers’ professional competence: interdisciplinary competence. Proficiency in this competence empowers educators to collaboratively create a personalized learning environment that fosters students’ personal and professional development through research, design, and communication activities. This approach bolsters the study and practical aspects of specialist training and enhances the work of academic and pedagogical staff. Additionally, both teachers and students, as equal participants in the educational process, gain the capacity to monitor innovations in relevant fields of science and promptly integrate them into integrated programs. This adaptability extends to responding to innovative changes in the professional landscape, encompassing economics, management, and foreign language teaching methods.

The formation of professional competence is profoundly influenced by the characteristics of the information society in which we currently reside. In this context, the role of the teacher as the sole source of knowledge for students has evolved significantly. Today, the primary competitors to contemporary educators include the internet, AI chatbots (such as Chat GPT), and other technologies. Consequently, teachers and students interact within an information-rich environment with its technologies, tools, and language.

Information technology competency is pivotal in enhancing a teacher’s ability to effectively harness modern communication technologies for interpersonal interactions and the organization of educational processes. It involves the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the realm of innovative technologies. This proficiency equips educators with the capacity to adapt to new literacies essential for navigating the information age.

It is important to emphasize that competencies are not static attributes of an individual; they are dynamic and ever evolving. They require continuous development and adaptation, integration with other competencies, and alignment with the education system’s evolving needs and societal expectations. Additionally, the practice of bilingual education will inevitably unveil the demand for new competencies that will complement the list presented in this article. These emerging competencies will be shaped by the evolving landscape of bilingual education, including changes in value orientations and the demands of contemporary society.

Conclusions. Synthesizing the points above, we underscore that bilingual education, characterized by the simultaneous and equal emphasis on linguistic and professional training for future specialists (learning a profession through language and languages through a profession), necessitates specific competencies in teachers of specialized disciplines and foreign languages. These competencies have been identified and systematically organized in this article, drawing upon the research of both Ukrainian and international scholars, as well as the experiences and insights gleaned from the Department of Foreign Languages at Kyiv Linguistic University.

We delineate the following key competency categories:

1. Socio-psychological and autopsychological competence.
2. Professional competence, which encompasses professional/professional subject

knowledge and pedagogical proficiency.

1. Pedagogical competence, tailored to the unique demands of bilingual education,

is further subdivided into the following dimensions:

• Didactic competence.
• Personal competence.
• Professional foreign language communicative competence serving as an integral component of professional competence.
• Intercultural and professional intercultural competence.
• Interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary competence.
• Information technology competence.

Our research’s novelty and theoretical significance lie in the precise specification and systematic arrangement of teacher competencies in the nascent field of bilingual education in higher education institutions in Ukraine.

Future research prospects involve the development of theoretical and methodological foundations for such training, as well as the creation of a comprehensive system for interdisciplinary integrative education within a bilingual framework.

The outcomes of this research can prove invaluable for educators in designing specialized courses, developing methodological and didactic materials, crafting educational and methodological complexes, and formulating integrated curricula. This, in turn, will enhance the quality and effectiveness of their teaching efforts, fostering the cultivation of key competencies, self-development, and self-improvement. For students, familiarity with the research findings will contribute to a holistic understanding of their future professional roles, motivating them to diligently develop the requisite skills and qualities needed for their careers while boosting their motivation to excel in foreign language study. Thus, the practical utility of our work is evident.

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