INTERNSHIP AS A MEANS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATORS IN THE FIELD OF ‘FORESTRY’

Abstract

The article reveals the problems and relevance of the professional development of educators in modern conditions. Certain difficulties in the professional activity of teaching and academic staff are identified. Domestic and international internships are proven necessary as a factor of professional growth, further deepening, and integration into the European Education Area. The main tasks and directions of foreign internships are defined: gradual integration into the international educational and scientific space, the study of areas of scientific activity, establishment of sustainable ties with the possibility of further cooperation, study of the education system, and experience in organising educational, organisational, methodological, scientific, and educational activities. The article uses National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine as an example of forestry to review its positive experience of cooperation and internships in Germany, a country with modern technologies, legislation, and long-standing traditions in this field.

The study aims to prove the relevance of internships for educators in general and foreign ones in particular, as they are an important and necessary factor in their professional growth.

Methodology. Systematisation and study of scientific publications, analysis of scientific and educational literature, Internet sources, disclosure of the main definitions of the problem under study, generalisation and conclusions.

Scientific novelty. It consists in identifying the contradictions in the modern pedagogical environment regarding their professional growth and hindering professional development and simultaneously identifying ways to resolve them, particularly through internships.

Conclusions. The need to introduce the latest pedagogical technologies into the educational process and to create new methods and forms of teaching is not possible without constant self-improvement of the teacher, who must constantly update his/her competences in the personal and professional sphere (subject area, latest pedagogical technologies, personal qualities). A powerful tool for this is an internship, particularly an internship abroad.