The competence approach to education convinces us in necessity to analyze critically and to estimate the gained experience in pedagogical activity of the teacher. Only the teacher can create for pupils conditions for success, self-determination and self-realization. In our opinion, the motivation of the teacher, his personal and professional opportunities is the main conditions for introduction of the competence approach.
On the one hand, the pedagogical activity appears as one of kinds of the activity, which is expressed in a purposeful development of the learner, in mastering of culture´s bases and in an all-around development of his abilities. On the other hand, the joint activity assumes «the subject - subject attitudes», the teacher and the learner act as equivalent subjects of the pedagogical process.
Knowledge, skills, abilities and personal qualities of the teacher under certain conditions can be considered from the point of view of professional competence.
Competence represents the personal characteristic, it assumes, that the individual is not simply informed and is able to apply this information, but also uses it as a basis for own decisions acceptance.
Professional competence of the teacher is defined by experience and individual abilities of the person, his motivate aspiration to self-education, self-improvement and to the creative attitude to business. Professional competence of the modern teacher is characterized by the following: the first, the task of the teacher does not consist of knowledge transfer, but it must support new kinds of the pupil´s behaviour (activity). It is necessary to consider the competence of each pupil and to organize cooperation of pupils and the teacher for an effective use of experience of all learners and for training of new ways of thinking. And the second, teachers always have got one task set: to take possession of new pedagogical and information technologies.
The base components which form teacher´s professional competence, in our opinion, are: the project and the research competence, the information and the personal-humanistic competence.
The project competence is a leading component of professional competence of the teacher. A modern and successful teacher should be competent in the following technologies: planning of the own activity; projection of the educational process and the individual development of pupils; projection of the innovative curriculum, the plan of the training course, etc.
Mastering of the research competences is command of the time. The teacher is an explorer of changes in educational sphere and works in conditions of changes: increase of volume of the scientific-methodical and the research components in structure of pedagogical activity.
The process of development of the research competences is long and also demands regular tracking of the productivity.
The research competence of the teacher can be defined as an ability and a readiness of the person independently and effectively to carry out the research activity, to predict its results and to put them into practice.
The research activity which forms the research competence, is a component of the teacher´s professional work. The research competence can exist as an independent ability of the teacher, or can be shown as the special kind of the professional competence of the teacher.
The research activity allows expanding the set of necessary skills in professional work, that it is means of development of intellectual skills which, in their turn, provide success of any activity, in particular, the professional pedagogical activity.
Thus, the formation of the research competence is necessary, because it can be a universal way of the of any problem solving in the professional pedagogical activity. Besides, the innovative potential of the teacher is defined in the given conditions by a degree of its readiness for the research activity, which depends not only on its creativity, but also on a level of the following components formation : the motivational aspiration and the requirement to carry out the innovative activity; the methodological possession of the conceptual and theoretical bases of the research activity, the orientation in modern approaches to the decision of pedagogical problems, presence of own pedagogical position; the technological skill for carrying out a choice of an innovative problem and a subject of research, the skill to make the program of experimental work, the possession of a technique of development of author´s programs, various ways of introduction of innovations in the pedagogical process and the ability to introspection of the activity and the pedagogical problems.
There is a representation in pedagogical studies that only this person can effectively influence pupils of any age who possesses certain set of «teacher´s features». And when oftener the educational process is considered as art, then the greater accent is done on personal qualities of the teacher, especially at the decision of problems of educational process´s optimization because the teacher passes its personal values to the pupils; the teacher reinterprets the purposes of their training and education on the basis of the analysis of the pupils´ features; personal factors define style of pedagogical activity which renders the specific influence on pupils.
The modern training is the means of expansion of opportunities for cooperation of the teacher and the learners and the creation of absolutely new culture of training. Introduction of new educational technologies in educational process puts forward essentially new requirements to teachers: skill to create the special psychological climate, which is constructed on coauthorship and cooperation; mastering of the new pedagogical technologies; using of subject´s knowledge for the more effective education of the person; development of computer techniques; ability to vital self-determination and an active creative position.
The pedagogical creativity is a basis that determines the professional competence. The teacher participates in the creative act - becoming of the new person, hence, the creativity is the most essential side of the teacher´s activity. First of all, teacher´s creativity is the faith in potential and opportunities of the child, the skill to see the social role in success of the learners, their moral becoming.
The professional experience is the essential factor that determines the attitude of teachers to problems of perfection of their skill. The professional experience includes set of knowledge, skills, ways of activity and valuable orientations. The professional experience is reflected in style of activity which is shown in character of the forwarding purposes, problems and results of education, in the use of various methods and means of education, in breadth and depth of spiritual contacts to pupils.
Thus, one of the factors that influences improvement of the education´s quality is the professional competence of the teacher which is reached by the optimum productive organization of the methodical preparation at municipal and regional levels.
The work is submitted to the International Scientific Conference «Science and education pressing questions», Moscow, 18-20th April, 2011, came to the editorial office оn 29.04.2011.