Professional Practices of Methodical Work in Higher Education

Abstract

Introduction. In the article the peculiarities of scientific and communication practices of the methodologists in interaction with the university teachers are considered on the material of the analysis of the ITMO.Expert methodological community activity.  Methodology and sources. The theoretical framework of the research is institutional and structural-functional approaches to the study of university activities. The method used for collecting empirical data presented in the article is a content analysis of the co-messages sent by the participants of the online intensive “Personalized Learning Technologies” on the Zoom-conference, which was held on August 23–27, 2021. The research hypotheses are the following: discussions of new pedagogical practices and new design formats initiated by university methodologists provoke teachers' skepticism, distrust, and resistance. Also teachers may demonstrate vulnerability in discussing new approaches in education.Results and discussion. Testing the hypothesis that discussing new pedagogical practices and approaches will cause skeptical attitudes and distrust on the part of teachers was not confirmed. The patterns of distrust accounted for less than 5 % of the total array of messages. The hypothesis of teachers (especially beginners) being vulnerable when discussing new approaches, a manifestation of which was their refusal to discuss their own pedagogical experience and the problems encountered, was partially confirmed. At the same time due to the organizational and communicative actions of the methodologistsorganizers of the intensive there was formed an atmosphere of trust and safety, so the participants had an opportunity to share their experience or ask questions without being judged by their colleagues. Conclusion. The activity of the pedagogical designer is both an educational activity, aimed at teaching and promoting new educational technologies in teaching, and an organizational and managerial activity, aimed at stimulating the activity of teachers in developing and modeling a variety of knowledge formats. Many researchers suggest characterizing pedagogical design as a sociocultural activity. When designing educational experience and new educational products, methodologists help develop pedagogical traditions and reconsider norms.