 programs are classified according to their main theories of action, including the main idea that teachers need to learn, and a strategy to help teachers implement this idea within their own existing practices. Shahmohammadi (2015) presented the students’ points of view on the characteristics of a competent teacher of a foreign language. In his survey, the author identified five characteristics: knowledge of the subject, sociability, good conduct, management skills, and attractive appearance. According to the results of the survey, students put good conduct and knowledge of the subject in the first places. In other words, students are convinced that the teacher’s personality traits dominate the art of audience management. The work of the teacher is efficient if he/she is easy-going, active, friendly, and at the same time, serious and attentive to the students. Profound knowledge of the subject is also more important to students than the ability to control the audience. The remaining three characteristics are also important and efficient in the work of the teacher, but good conduct and knowledge of the subject are paramount.
Examination of academic literature allows us to state the insufficient coverage of the topic of our study. No one but the teachers educate the future generation, which will be involved in the most fast-growing sectors of the economy. The new generation of students is called Generation Z and is distinguished by the following features: “creativity, conscientiousness, readiness to learn continuously, audacity and agility of thinking, multitasking, pragmatism, and commitment to a healthy lifestyle. The weakness of the Generation Z representatives is the lack of motivation, inability to concentrate on one subject, animus toward reading (Vorobieva, 2018). The primary task of a modern teacher is to comply with the model of an innovative teacher who has all the competencies required to teach a new “Generation Z”. In this case, the teacher should rely on the strengths of the new generation, while eliminating the disadvantages.
In 2020, in Russia, according to estimates, IT specialists (programmers, experts in database or server equipment administration, web designers), engineers, marketing specialists, representatives of social professions (teachers, doctors), interpreters will be in demand. According to the State Employment Committee of Yakutia, in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), workers in the areas of mining, health care, construction, public administration, military security, and social security are most in demand.
There is another point of view that “new industrial culture will not replace people with machines, on the contrary, it is the competencies and abilities of people that become the key resource determining the competitive advantage of companies” (Kondratyuk, 2018, p. 7).
Purpose of the study is to model the personality of an innovative teacher, define competencies that meet current trends in the development of society, science, and the economy.
In the process of study, the following methods were used: theoretical (analysis; synthesis; generalization; modeling); diagnostic (questionnaire method; interviewing; method of challenges and tasks); empirical (study of the work experience of educational institutions, regulatory and educational documentation; lesson observation); experimental (summative and formative assessment, control experiment); mathematical statistics methods.
The M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University represented the experimental base of the study.
At the third stage, a survey of students was conducted with the aim of ascertaining the development of students’ competencies identified as the key ones at the first stage of the experiment.
– Determination of the initial level of development of professional competencies among students enrolled in the courses of “Education” and “Philology” at the Faculty of Philology and the Institute of Modern Languages and International Studies at M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University (Yakutsk) using surveys, lesson observations, statistical processing of research results.
100 students of the North-Eastern Federal University participated in the questionnaire survey and polls. After processing the questionnaires, we came to the following conclusions. A modern teacher is a person who is able to adapt to the challenges of a changing world and retain self-control in any situation. To become a good teacher, one must be honest, decent, and mobile, have a flexible mind, a broad outlook, and be able to think outside the box, be a good speaker, be master of information and communication technologies and implement them actively in the educational process. In addition to excellent knowledge of the subject, they need to have empathy abilities, love for the subject and the students, to possess extensive knowledge of works of art and cultural patterns. A modern teacher must be a good psychologist, adviser, and a sensitive friend for students. Teachers must be in a continuous process of self-actualization, learn from their students, and possess excellent organizational skills. Since the teacher is an example to follow, they should help the student to come of age. The teacher must possess such qualities as kindness, purposefulness, perseverance, industriousness, observation skills, artistry. Teachers are supposed to be tolerant and creative, to understand and support the students, to develop their potential and abilities. Due to active migration processes, the teacher should be able to involve competently the new students in the established team. In addition to personal qualities, the modern teacher shall possess professional qualities, for example, willingness to accept constructive criticism from colleagues.
The teacher must not only be an excellent professional, first of all but the teacher must be a good person. In addition, a modern teacher is one who is able to address effectively the professional challenges arising in teaching activities in specific real-world settings. The teacher should be able to conduct classes in the mode of dialogue and discussion creating an atmosphere where students would like to express their opinions, discussing not only among themselves but also with the teacher; use various forms of organization of students’ activities, taking into account their individual characteristics; look fashionable and attractive.
Cultural competence (28%).
Development of professional competencies of future teachers in an institution of higher education is a complex and multifaceted process, which is based on the unity of interests, the combined efforts of teachers and students, traditional approaches, innovative technologies, and the organization of various types of activities. At the same time, teachers, as the leading actors of this process, and students are required to have a positive motivation, high culture, mutual responsibility, and readiness for constructive cooperation. In the course of the formative experiment, we organized educational activities aimed at improving the universal and general professional competencies of future teachers.
Let us consider educational work through the example of the Faculty of Philology and the Institute of Modern Languages and International Studies of the M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University. Educational work is a part of the educational process of the university, aimed at the implementation of the tasks of developing a personal culture of highly qualified teachers. The main tasks of educational work include shaping students’ attitudes towards learning as a professional work; all-round development of future graduates’ professional and human qualities; encouraging creative activities feasible for students. The dean (director), deputy dean (director) for educational work, and mentors of student groups perform the educational work at the faculty and at the institute. The trade unions of students, the Career Center, the NEFU Center for Practical Psychology provide significant assistance to the dean’s office. The main goal of the work is to enhance the students’ activity in the academic, scientific, and social life of the faculty and institute, as well as to create conditions for inclusive development of students. This goal is achieved most effectively in study-free time, the main purpose of which is to develop professional, artistic, sports, and other abilities of students, to expand opportunities for cultural advance and self-enrichment.
In accordance with the components of a comprehensively developed teacher, it is possible to present the forms and results of work with students in a tabular form (Table 1 ).
At this stage of the experiment, in order to determine the level and identify the dynamics of the development of students’ competencies in the course of the experimental work, assessment of school students was performed using the same methods as at the ascertaining stage of the experiment. According to the analysis of the assessment, the modern teacher should not only be a good subject teacher but should also have a number of competencies required for the activities of the teacher today. The knowledge and skills that an innovative teacher provides shall comply with the Federal State Educational Standard. In addition, teachers must be interested in their profession. Students believe that excellent knowledge of their subject is insufficient. The main qualities of the teacher are a passion for their work, a creative approach to the course of study, high motivation and the desire for self-development. A modern teacher should identify the best qualities inherent to each child, encourage children to receive joy from acquired knowledge so that, after graduating from school, graduates are clearly aware of their place in society and are willing to participate in addressing current and future challenges. The motivation of the students depends on how much the teacher is interested in life, because the school is alive while the teacher is of interest for the child, and the teacher may only achieve this with the desire for knowledge.
Students are aware of the difficulties of the future profession and diagnose the lack of some competencies that we have identified in the ascertaining stage of the experiment. During the teaching internship, the students came to the following conclusions. First, a new generation of schoolchildren is significantly different from their own generation; despite the slight difference in age, modern schoolchildren have a different outlook and self-perception, they perceive the world through the eyes of other people: film directors, bloggers, Viners, coaches. Second, it is not enough just to be modern, interesting, and active. You need to be able to present your information so that it is interesting even to students with low academic performance and insufficient motivation. In addition, a good teacher