MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN STUDENTS OF TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULA

According to the Estonian State Integration Programme the system of education is considered to be one of the main areas of implementing the state integration policy. The main task of schools in Estonia is to support the feeling of belonging for permanent residents of the Estonian society by sharing common values and knowledge of the official language, and to create possibilities for understanding other cultures and establishing methods for cross-cultural communication with various ethnic groups. The purpose of the research is to study multicultural competence which is considered to be a key component of professional teacher education, as it is of interdisciplinary nature and comprises various aspects which contribute to the development of cognition, personality and professional activities. The research, conducted among students into the level of development of their multicultural competence, has revealed that Narva College students have a positive ethnic identity and quite a high degree of tolerance, which testifies to the positive attitude to their own and other cultures and students' readiness for intercultural communication. To support the development of multicultural competence in students there has been devised a programme based on such educational components as the comprehensive knowledge of research methods and practices in multicultural education; formation of positive respectful attitude towards native and other cultures; development of skills to support culture-centred education and effective cross-cultural communication; and with inclusion of professional pedagogical activities being based on the humanistic approach and efficient pedagogical interaction. The research covers key points of how the principles of multilingual and multicultural education are realised in everyday teaching practices to achieve corresponding learning outcomes.