The Role of Unplugged Coding Activity in Developing Computational Thinking in Ages 6-11

Coding is a spreading teaching methodology that is involving more students and teachers all over the world. But how can the practice of coding affect the development of computational thinking strategies in early years? The author, a primary school teacher, will investigate the Italian experience, believing that it may constitute an excellent field of study on the matter thanks to the enormous enthusiasm with which coding was received by the teachers, capable of renewing their teaching practices, particularly in primary school. This is a movement born from below, from the spontaneous participation of teachers, and which, in many cases, has been substantiated in what can be defined as unplugged activities, without the use of electronic technological tools.

INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WRITING SENSITIVITY AND WRITING ACHIEVEMENT

This study aimed to reveal the relationship between primary school teacher candidates’ writing sensitivity and writing achievement. This quantitative study conducted with the relational survey model consisted of 575 teacher candidates of two public universities. The data about primary school teacher candidates’ writing achievement were collected via Rubric for Written Texts (RWT) with the help of written texts produced by them and the Writing Sensitivity Scale (WSS). According to the findings obtained, primary school teacher candidates had moderate writing sensitivity and writing achievement and there was a statistically significant relationship between writing sensitivity and writing achievement. It can be argued that writing sensitivity and writing achievement significantly differ according to gender, while writing sensitivity does not significantly differ based on year, writing achievement does.

Village Institutes of Turkey

In the 1930s, the primary schooling rate in Turkey was significantly low compared to the European states. Ninety percent of the population lived in villages without any schools and teachers. Therefore, promoting primary education was addressed as an issue concerning villages in Turkey. The seeds of the intellectual infrastructure in the emergence of institutes were sown at the beginning of the 20th century, during the Ottoman rule. To train teachers for villages, Village Teacher Training School [Köy Muallim Mektebi] was founded in 1927 and Village Instructor Training Course [Köy Eğitmen Kursu] in 1936. However, these initiatives were not sufficient in terms of quality and quantity. Village teacher training experiences, new education, and work school trends of Europe were analyzed by Turkish educators, opinions of foreign and Turkish experts were received, and the Village Institutes [Köy Enstitüleri] project was carried into effect based on the realities of Turkey. The first Village Institutes opened in 1937. They were established in a restricted area, with a limited budget, and a non-common curriculum until the Village Institute Law was promulgated in 1940. On April 17, 1940, the law prescribing their establishment was approved by the parliament. The number of the Village Institutes, which spread over the Turkish geography evenly, reached 21 by 1949. The period between 1940 and 1947 was when the Village Institutes were most productive. Learning by doing and principles of productive work were embraced at the Village Institutes. The curriculum consisted of three components: general culture, agriculture, and technical courses. In addition to their teaching duties, the primary school teachers that graduated from the Village Institutes undertook the mission of guiding villagers in agricultural and technical issues and having them adopt the nation-state ideology in villages. World balances changing after the Second World War also affected the Village Institutes. In 1946, the founding committee of the Village Institutes were accused of leftism and had to leave their offices for political reasons. After the founding committee stepped aside, the Village Institutes started to be criticized by being subjected to the conflict between left-wing and right-wing. Following the government changeover in 1950, radical changes regarding the curricula, students, and teachers of the institutes were made. Making the Village Institutes unique, the production- and work-oriented aspects were eliminated, and the institutes were closed down in 1954 and converted into Primary School Teacher Training Schools. Although the Village Institutes existed only between 1937 and 1954, their social, economic, and political effects were felt for a long time through the teachers, health officers, and inspectors they trained.

PEDAGOGICAL CREATIVITY AS A SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT IN THE PROCESS OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF THE FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER

The main components that make up the professional activity of a teacher are professional knowledge and skills, didactic, communicative, organizational, research and creative abilities. Among the mentioned components of the pedagogical activity, one of the most significant is creative, because today society needs a specialist who has not only a functional readiness for professional activity but also develops as a creative person with clear goals. The new Ukrainian school needs a primary school teacher, who is creative in his work with junior schoolchildren. The effectiveness of the activities largely depends on how creative their pedagogical position will be, the formation of which takes place in the higher education environment of the university. The article analyses pedagogical creativity as a significant component in the process of professional training of future primary school teachers. The concept of “creativity”, “pedagogical creativity” in the context of professional training of future primary school teachers of higher education institutions is considered. The paper reveals that the formation of pedagogical creativity is facilitated by the introduction of technological elements of personality-oriented learning in lectures, seminars and practical classes. The author emphasized that the foundation for the formation of pedagogical creativity of future primary school teachers is pedagogical interaction, in which the teacher and the applicant are subjects of the educational environment of the pedagogical institution of higher education, the formation of cognitive interests and needs of students, control and self-control. It was found that pedagogical creativity is a significant component in the professional activity of primary school teachers, and hence in the training of future primary school teachers in higher education, as it is a necessary condition for the educational process, which gives teachers the opportunity to act original and creative in different situations that optimizes the learning process of junior students. Keywords: creativity; pedagogical creativity; future primary school teacher; professional training; educational environment; higher education institution; professional competencies; junior schoolchildren; pedagogical interaction.

SOFT SKILLS FORMATION IN FUTURE TEACHERS IN THE PROCESS OF TEACHING THE COURSE “COACHING TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION”

the article reveals the meaning of the concept of soft skills, their role and significance for professional development and career growth. Based on the analysis of the Professional Standard for the professions “Primary school teacher”, “General secondary school teacher”, “Primary school teacher” (with a diploma of junior specialist) (identified a list of flexible skills that must have a modern teacher. Emphasis is placed on the importance of developing soft skills in applicants for higher pedagogical education at the stage of their professional training. Based on the study of educational programs for higher education at the bachelor’s level in specialties 013 Primary education, 014 Secondary education (by subject specialization) the ways of their formation in the educational process are determined. The curriculum of the elective discipline of the general cycle of training “Coaching technologies in education” has been developed and tested as an additional resource for the formation of future teachers’ communication skills, leadership competencies, self-management skills, intellectual skills.

Adjusting 1st year students' teaching practice to the online environment

The current study aimed to collect relevant feedback on teaching practice effectiveness in relation to the tutors, students’ engagement in teaching practice, as well as self-reflection regarding necessary competences for a primary school teacher. Pedagogical activities within the teaching practice have considered: students’ online attendance to the classes held by the primary teacher, filling in an observation form regarding the lessons taught, mentorship session for analyzing the lessons along with the teachers, drafting a psycho-pedagogical record for a pupil, filling a form on reviewing the student’s performance and implication in the teaching practice. Having concluded the study’s results, we can now state that the teaching practice’s way of planning in the second school semester has proven efficient. The mentor-student / inter-student interaction has contributed to developing competences that a primary school teacher does require, through the feedback provided by the observation forms, as well as by involving students directly in the didactic activities, encouraging initiative and self-reflection. Objective analysis of results, suggestions, proposals, as well as difficulties encountered has made it possible to build a solid reference for future teaching practice – both online and in the classroom – and working towards improving it and all its partakers.

HISTORYOGRAPHY OF THE OF DEVELOPMENT THE CONTINUOUS PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER TRAINING TO WORK IN THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION CONDITIONS IN THE UKRAINE (END OF THE XX – START OF THE XXI CENT.)

The article analyzes the views of scientists on the specified problem of study. It is specified that the problem of continuous primary school teacher training to work in the conditions of inclusive education that we studied is a certain chronological sequence of transformations of different visions and it is relevant to the sphere of scientific and pedagogical search. We made a scientific analysis of the studies and clarified the definition of some concepts. It is specified, that we understand the historiography of development the continuous primary school teacher training to work in a conditions of inclusive education as a totality of research scientific and pedagogical works directed on the study of the specified problem from the time of its actualization due to today and the main its task we see in the objective coverage of the history of the issue of continuous primary school teacher preparation to work in conditions of inclusive education with taking into account the transformation of the ideas and views on the problem, studied by us. We generalized the sources processed by us on the basis of the analysis in the historiographical dimension into the two groups: continuous primary school teacher training from the end of XX cent. due to today; The history of inclusive education in the Ukraine from the end of XX cent. due to today.

Symmetrical Polyarthropathy and Hepatosplenomegaly as a Manifestation of Parvovirus B-19: A Case Report

This case was of a 35-years old Egyptian lady, who works as a primary school teacher, who presented to the OPD with complaints of persistent high fever for two days. Along with this fever, she also had severe pain in multiple joints of both hands, wrists, knees, and ankles. In addition, the woman also complained of having developed a rash on both her legs, which was so painful that she was unable to stand without pain. The pain was agonizing and it prevented her from performing her usual jobs as normal. But that was the extent of her symptoms. She did not complain of a cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, back pain, abdominal pain, or any other pain for that matter. In a summary, none of the factors and symptoms that could have pointed towards the patient suffering from a case of COVID19 were present. Moreover, there was no recent history of travel. She also had not contracted any gastrointestinal or genitourinary infections in the preceding few days. The clinical examination of the patient revealed no abnormalities at all. The only thing worth noting was remarkable swelling and tenderness over the metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints. The following series of events are discussed in detail in the subsequent section, and it was concluded that the woman might be suffering from the parvovirus B19 infection. She had several favorable causative factors that pointed toward this diagnosis, with the most important one being her in close contact with primary school children, who are most the likely age group, between five and twenty years, to carry this infection and also contract it. Adults can contract the infection from children, but the range of symptoms varies from person to person. In this case of the woman, further evaluations and investigations were needed to confirm the diagnosis, which was likely due to the obvious risk factors present in this case.