RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY TEACHER: SOCIOLOGICAL PORTRAIT AND PRIORITY ACTIVITIES

Olga Vdovina

The article is prepared on the materials of the monitoring activities of the Russian University teachers. It is dedicated to the problem of teaching staff training for higher educational institutions. The formation of professionally competent and pedagogically trained teaching staff is the most important task of universities, which solution ensures the quality of training of specialists with higher education. The aim of article is to identify priority activities of the University teachers and to determine the ways of development of their professional competences. The evolution of University teaching staff is concidered. Since 2010 the number of teachers of Russian higher educational institutions has been steadily decreasing, the number of graduates wishing to remain at teaching work in higher educational institutions every year becomes less, therefore, an average age of teachers also grows. Women make the main part of the teachers (2/3), one third – men; 85% of the teachers have an academic degree of doctor or candidate of science; as a rule, the educators have basic engineering, economic, law education, but have no special preparation for the pedagogical work. The motives of their choice of teaching activities are revealed. The main motives of the choice of teaching activity are the desire to teach and to be engaged in scientific work. The ways of pedagogical skills are suggested, as well as an assessment of opportunities of universities, faculties and departments in the development of professional competences of teaching staff. The exchange of experience with colleagues from other universities, the invitation of authoritative domestic and foreign experts for conducting educational seminars for the teachers, the use of special textbooks on teaching skills is also necessary.