Prospective areas of professional development of university teachers: an expert analysis

Introduction. Modern educational environment demands that those working in higher education sphere should hone their professional skills throughout their careers. In the conditions of rapidly developing educational technology, traditional teaching practices oftentimes become obsolete and the role of further development of a teacher’s skills cannot be overestimated. The aim of our research is to identify the areas of professional development that teachers in higher education would like to follow. Methodology and methods: the survey we conducted covered 51 university teachers, the latter describing their intentions in this respect and demonstrating a variety of opinions. By interpreting the data obtained through the quantitative method, followed by the method of expert evaluation, we identified those ways of development in the profession that are most rel-evant for today's teachers of higher education. The results of the research: the majority of the survey participants emphasized particular importance of developing IT skills, while many teachers pointed to the significance of honing the knowledge of the English language. Also, the intention to develop communication and leadership skills was ex-pressed. In addition to this, pedagogical knowledge was mentioned among the possible directions of professional development. A number of teachers emphasized the necessity of having more profound knowledge of psychological and social characteristics of their learners. A small number of teachers felt that there was no need to further develop their professional skills. The data obtained throughout our study can be successfully used when determining the contents of professional development courses for university teachers which can contribute to better efficacy of such courses.