The Innovative Features of the New Pre-Service Teacher Training Curriculum in Ukraine

The article gives a detailed description of the innovative
features of the joint project of the British Council Ukraine and the Ministry
of Education and Science Ukraine which is called “New Generation School
Teacher”. The project appeared as a response t
o recent changes and
developments in education and society. The author acquaints the readers with
the definition of the terms “innovation” and “pedagogical innovation”,
provides a rationale for the importance of the changes in the system of teacher
trainin
g in Ukraine. The article presents the results of the Baseline study. The
author highlights that innovative Methodology Curriculum intends to provide
students with important professional skills related to methodology, it also
gives scope for developing ess
ential life skills. A list of these skills is also
given in the article (communication skills, time management skills,
information literacy skills, etc.). Moreover, the article provides essential
information on the innovations, which characterize the Metho
dology
curriculum. The attention is also drawn to the fact that in this innovative
Curriculum the topics of the traditional Methodology course are revised and
substantially updated. The content of the discipline is complemented with
innovative topics that
must be taken into account in the process of learning
English. All units of the Curriculum can be split into 2 main groups:
Reconceptualized and New ones. There is also a detailed description of
School Experience, which is an essential part of the Methodol
ogy course,
because School Experience is aimed at linking methodology classes to
teaching at school.