World trends in the professional training of subject teachers

Abstract

The article offers a comparative analysis of subject teacher preparation in four countries: England, the Republic of Poland, Israel, and the Republic of Korea. The study is driven by the global shortage of subject teachers and the need to modernize Ukraine’s system of initial teacher education in light of the New Ukrainian School reform.
The aim of the article is to identify and substantiate international trends in the subject teacher training based on the examples of the four selected programs, as well as to outline promising pathways for adapting international experience to the Ukrainian system of teacher education. The methodological framework is grounded in qualitative comparative education and Bray’s cube. Empirical data were collected through the analysis of legislation, teacher training curricula, professional standards, and materials provided by the University of Warwick (England) and the School of Education at the University of Warsaw (Poland).
The research identifies five key trends: the standardization of teacher competency requirements; diversification of teacher education pathways; introduction of post-graduate programs for individuals without prior pedagogical training; technologization of teacher preparation; and strengthening of university–school partnerships.
Prospective directions for integrating international experience into Ukraine’s teacher training system include standardizing requirements for subject teacher preparation; piloting one-year retraining programs; updating curricula to incorporate modern pedagogical technologies; implementing a mentorship model for student teachers and novice educators inspired by the Polish experience; and creating a catalogue of evidence-based practices based on the English model. Implementing these initiatives may help mitigate the shortage of subject teachers and improve the quality of their initial preparation.