DEMOCRATIC VALUES IN THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF FUTURE TEACHERS: THE EUROPEAN DIMENSION

Abstract

The article examines the issue of adherence to European educational values in the process of professional training of future teachers of preschool education institutions. The essence of the concept of «values» is revealed and various approaches to studying this term are presented. The definition of the concept of «professional training of preschool teachers» is clarified. Emphasis is placed on the main European documents that define the current values of the education system in European countries: the Declaration of Human Rights (1948); the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959); Convention on the Rights of the Child (1995); Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000); Bucharest Declaration on Ethical Values and Principles of Higher Education in Europe (2004); Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (2010), and others. The six fundamental democratic values that determine the development of European education are described: freedom, human dignity, justice, equality, respect for human rights, and solidarity. The conditions for the assimilation of European democratic values by future preschool education specialists are defined: substantive updating of educational components; studying European experience in the organization of education; organizing thematic trainings, workshops, round tables, and educational and methodological seminars for future educators in the educational process; use of interactive teaching methods (brainstorming, group discussions, case studies), project methods, role-playing games (simulation of real situations in the professional activity of a teacher), methods for developing critical and analytical thinking; informing students about international internship and academic mobility programs (in particular, Erasmus+); taking into account the results of informal education in the educational process; functioning of higher education institutions on the principles of democracy, equality, respect for human dignity, tolerance, and humanism.