Teachers, Teacher Education, and Professional Development
In accordance with the professional standards of the teacher, approved in 2013 by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, primary school teachers must have completed higher education or secondary professional education in education and pedagogy. Teachers can obtain bachelor’s and then master’s degrees in pedagogical education with the specialization of primary education. The length of a four year bachelor program is 8,540 hours and includes theoretical, practical, and research work; teaching in school takes 10 percent to 15 percent of instructional time. Pedagogical colleges offer a two year program following graduation from secondary school or a four year program following graduation from basic school.
In recent years, earning a diploma from a higher education institution has become more popular among primary teacher candidates. Even those who received their primary teacher qualification from a pedagogical college typically will continue their training in a higher education institution. To receive a higher education diploma, a student must complete the program of study specified in the curriculum, prepare and defend his or her graduate qualification work, and pass the state examination. The teacher training curriculum for each higher education institution is developed on the basis of the Federal State Education Standards for higher professional education and includes the study plan, programs of study for all subjects and courses, and programs for teaching practice in school. The curriculum includes federal, regional or institutional, and student components. The federal component, covering 70 percent of training time, ensures that all students across the country studying the same specialization at higher education institutions will have 70 percent of the content of education in common. The distribution of time between the institutional and student components is decided by the individual institutions.
There are four cycles in training. The first includes general humanitarian and social-economic subjects and is relatively the same for all higher education institutions, regardless of the specialization. The following subjects, only four of which are compulsory for all higher education institutions, are included in the first cycle: foreign language, physical education, history of the fatherland, philosophy, culture, politics, jurisprudence, Russian language and the culture of speech, sociology, philosophy, and economics. The second cycle consists of general mathematics and general science subjects. The third cycle comprises general professional subjects for primary education and includes psychology, pedagogy, age anatomy, physiology and hygiene, and the basics of medicine. Finally, the professional cycle accounts for the largest block of time and includes Russian language, children’s literature, introduction to the history of literature, methodology and instruction in teaching Russian language and literature, mathematics, science, technology, fine arts, and music. Elective courses represent the smallest proportion in the curriculum.
New professional standards for teachers will be introduced in 2017.
Teacher Education Specific to Reading
There is no specialization in teaching reading. Training in the teaching of reading is included in methodology and instruction in teaching Russian language and literature.
Requirements for Ongoing Professional Development In Reading for Teachers
There is no specific requirement for ongoing professional development in reading. Primary teachers take part in in-service training every three years, but this is no longer compulsory and is in the process of changing its orientation to align with the new goals of education. Retraining of teachers is conducted at the regional level. Regional systems of training for primary school teachers include express courses and long term courses. Teachers explore active forms of organization of educational process; a variety of ways and means of obtaining, storing, and processing information; the semantic strategies of reading; and the basics of professional speech culture. The emphasis has switched from subject content to student development, so teachers will receive more training in active learning strategies and child development. According to the state education policy, teachers’ work will be evaluated not by knowledge level but by the main developmental indicators of their students. Accordingly, some in-service training focuses on new ways of assessing student achievement and development. The results of regional independent assessments, including reading literacy, are taken into account when the training programs are developed. Primary school teachers’ certification includes assessments of professional competence in developing interdisciplinary skills (reading literacy, logic skills, and abilities to solve problems).