ASSESSING FOREIGN PEDAGOGICAL EXPERIENCE: IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC FACTORS

The article explores the concept of foreign pedagogical experience, viewing it as such experience that originated and developed in different from domestic socio-cultural environs, is conditioned by them and reflects the socio-cultural experience of the country of its origin: its traditions, stereotypes of activity and thinking, mentality, etc., and characterizes the established educational practice. It is viewed as a means of enhancing and up-dating the quality of professional training of would-be teachers of foreign languages. Lack of research in field of assessing foreign pedagogic experience together with a number of examples of negative pedagogical borrowing bring about the need of exploring the problem. The identification of the specific nature of the phenomenon of foreign pedagogical experience makes it possible to introduce a number of extra factors to be taken into consideration when assessing samples of foreign pedagogical experience. They are educational and cultural values, cultural identity, traditions and educational conceptions (paradigms). The detailed appraisal of these factors confirms the belief that this identification could complement the existent approaches towards assessing progressive pedagogical experience through the consideration of socio-cultural aspects of education.