COLLABORATIVE AND COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE OF PRE-SERVICE STEM TEACHERS AS A RESOURCE FOR RESILIENT AND INNOVATIVE EDUCATION IN WARTIME

Abstract

The chapter examines the development of collaborative and communication competence of pre-service STEM teachers as a resource for resilience and innovation in education during the war in Ukraine. It demonstrates that the soft skills of cooperation and communication for a science and mathematics teacher are not a secondary add-on to professional training, but a prerequisite for organizing joint activities of learners, supporting their psychological resilience, and ensuring continuity of the educational process under conditions of danger and uncertainty. The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical justification and empirical verification of a model that combines the potential of non-formal STEM education (team-based intellectual competitions) with formal training of prospective teachers at a higher education institution, targeting the development of collaborative and communication competence. The empirical base consists of two components. The first covers an analysis of the dynamics of five groups of soft skills of participants in FEMMI competitions, with particular attention to the “Communication” and “Teamwork” indicators. The second is represented by a pedagogical experiment with prospective teachers of mathematics, physics, and computer science, in which a traditional model of training was compared with the STEM-oriented model focused on group projects, the use of digital tools, and reflective practices. The results showed a statistically significant increase in the levels of communication and teamwork among competition participants, as well as growth in the motivational, cognitive, praxeological, and reflective components of readiness to implement STEM education among learners in the experimental group. It is demonstrated that collaborative and communication competence are formed most effectively when team-based formats of activity are embedded in the goals, content, and assessment of educational programs, and when every episode of joint work is accompanied by reflection. An integrated model for developing soft skills of prospective STEM teachers is substantiated, which strengthens the resilience of educational communities under wartime conditions and can be used to modernize teacher education and in-service training programs.