The Minister Engel Fattakhov: 'We consider Kazan University to be a basic center of teacher training'.

On November, 30 there was the Coordination Council session on pedagogical education at KFU.

The Coordination Council includes representatives from the Tatarstan Republic Ministry of Education and Science and Kazan Federal University, its co-chairmen are KFU Rector Ilshat Gafurov and the Minister of the Education and Science of Tatarstan Republic Engel Fattakhov.

On November, 30 there was the first meeting of the Council. KFU Rector told that it was established due to the needs of pedagogical practice. With creation of Federal University teacher training was concentrated in Kazan University. The main customer for teaching staff on the territory of our Republic is the Ministry of Education and Science and it knows what specialists we need now and will need soon. “For this reason there occurred an idea of establishing such Council that will direct our work”, explained Ilshat Rafkatovich.

The first meeting was extended, except for the Council members there were invited Directors of the KFU Institutes and pedagogical colleges, the members of the scientific and pedagogical KFU cluster, Heads of institutions of basic education.

The first speaker was the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan Engel Fattakhov. He spoke about the problems of pedagogical education in Tatarstan, among which he mentioned the decline in the number of students enrolled in pedagogical subject area and a low level of training of specialists. Ignorance of teachers requirements documents in the field of education, lack of readiness to work with the school records and interactive tools, poor teaching methods, inability to use modern information technology in the educational process – all these points concern the Minister.

To solve these problems Fattakhov Engel suggested not only  professors and docents to teach students, but school teachers as well. According to his opinion, teaching practice should take place mainly in ordinary schools (not in lyceums and grammar schools). Graduates should master innovative technologies and programs, and the best graduates - foreign languages.

The minister underlined that in this question he mainly orientates on Kazan Federal University as a basic training center for teachers. "But this imposes special requirements on the University, here should  be accumulated the best practices of education, so we can reach better teacher  training," said Engel Fattakhov.

One of the complete systems of continuous pedagogical education: cycle of teachers support in their professional activities throughout life, is presented in the University due to the establishment of the Volga Interregional Center for Professional Development and Educators. Therefore Aidar Kalimullin proposed to consider the possibility of building in the Universiade Village a teaching and laboratory building for the Volga Interregional Center of Professional Development and Educators Retraining in cooperation with the IT-lyceum.

The coordinator of pedagogical education in KFU is the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, but the center responsible for field-oriented and meaningful preparation of future teachers are the relevant institutions.
Moreover, Aidar Kalimullin informed about KFU relations with basic schools and internship sites. In his speech he also presented the structure of the Coordination Council on Pedagogical Education and its main functions, such as psychological, pedagogical and methodological support of the educational process, the management of scientific and methodological work, the development of innovation and scientific and methodological work in education, new educational technologies and models of educational activities.

The next speaker was the Director of the Volga Interregional Center of Professional Development and Educators Retraining Rais Shaikhelislamov. In his opinion, KFU has the necessary human resources, information and methodological base for solving almost all problems in professional development training and professional retraining of teachers, principals and specialists of children's educational institutions.

In the end of the meeting there was a discussion of Coordination Council draft decision for Pedagogical Education.