Bilingual Educational Programs In Professional Development Of University Teachers

Professional development of university teachers remains one of the universal mechanisms for advanced staff training at a university. In Russia, this area is presently experiencing serious difficulties caused by the lack of teaching staff, insufficient mechanisms for the design of up-to-date professional development programs, and low motivation of a certain category of academic staff to improve their qualifications. The most serious problems could be identified in the regional HEIs, which have lower level of financial and human resources than HEIs in large cities. Professional development at Novgorod State University (Russia) is aimed at the educational needs of various segments and age groups of the population of Veliky Novgorod and the Novgorod region. University teachers are mostly offered professional development programs of mass formats to fulfill the state requirements for providing advanced training in the field of ICT, inclusive education, and project-oriented activities. One of the ways to tailor professional development to the needs of university teachers could be offered with bilingual education programs based on the competence approach. The article dwells on a bilingual module program aimed at intensive professional development for the teaching staff in accordance with the most relevant core competences. Each module integrates development of knowledge and skills included in the structure of a certain competence, ensuring the implementation of a specific function that is part of the professional standard.