prof. F.A.

Agayeva Quality assurance and development in teaching Having established their own national independent state in their own land, the Turkmen people have achieved their aim to be free and at peace forever. The countrys position has been greatly consolidated since the achievement of independence and the state of permanent neutrality. Turkmenistan is transforming itself into a significant center of political and economic integration not only in Central Asia but also on the entire Asian continent. Independence ensured our confidence in our people, our fatherland and justice and the unity and cooperation of the 24 tribes of our ancestor Oguz. We are sure that the prosperity of the nation depends mostly on the wishes and efforts of the Turkmen people to retain their own cultural uniqueness and to engage with other nations on a daily basis in the spheres of politics, economics and areas of common interest. Its the way to ensure security and stability in the world. Turkmenistan has a rich cultural heritage which is being encouraged. This will not be at the expense of learning about other cultures and this too is education and no education is ever wasted. The Turkmen people should play a full part in their transition to build a prosperous, peaceful and democratic future for Turkmenistan. The established attribute of the state system, the peaceful, wise and humane foreign and domestic policy of our Honourable President promote the increase of the countrys international prestige all over the world. We are determined to follow this policy of constructive engagement to ensure the next generation doesnt find itself facing problems which should have been solved by us. Turkmenistan needs to consider carefully what its future role will be in the international community. The future is never far away and is subject to unexpected changes. The international community, so often now called the Global Community, is developing quickly. Turkmenistan is home for over 30 ethnic communities. This cultural diversity is the result of Turkmenistans historic connections in the world. Its also an economic advantage in a world in which the prosperity of a nation depends increasingly on the health of its trade and investments with other nations. The progressive nations will be those who are outward looking, those who are building international partnerships and who respect people from different ethnic identities. The nations that succeed will be those that recognize that national security requires an international view and that domestic prosperity requires the pursuit of external economic cooperation. Those nations will be the ones that welcome foreign contact as enriching, not as threatening. The key area to consider is crucially to deepen bilateral and multilateral relations with other nations in the fields of culture, politics and education, leading to meaningful relationships. The European Union is closely involved in building links with Turkmenistan. There are promising signs of progress but much more needs to be done. The links between countries are improving as quickly as they should, much more should and could be done. For this to happen we need to work together more

closely than we have done up to now. The stronger the links binding us together, the greater the possibility of a strong and meaningful relationship. The young people should contribute greatly to the process of transition in Turkmenistan during the next few years. We are witnessing exciting and interesting times in the history of our young country, and we feel especially privileged to be able to see these positive changes taking effect. Most exciting to us in particular are the changes in the educational system. We believe they are just what are needed to give the Turkmen youth the knowledge and expertise needed to complete on the global stage, as well as to build our own future here at home. I would like to command our Honourable Presidents efforts in this regard. In all his speeches our Esteemed President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov underlines that Turkmenistan is open to all world for a wide-ranging partnership in all areas and as an indication of Turkmenistans foreign policy and cooperation in education and science this partnership will be a strong positive force in resolving the problems our country faces. During his visit to Columbia University in New York City our Honourable President focused his speech on Education and Science as fundamental principles of his nations policy and reforms. It was here that Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov emphasized that it is the people of Turkmenistan, not its gas, who are his countrys greatest asset. Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov also proposed a Turkmen-American University or branches of some American University to be opened here in Turkmenistan that would provide needed specialties in education and it will continue warm and mutually productive relations between our countries in the future. The way we see teacher education is that the teaching profession needs people who are constantly examining their work and experimenting with small scale improvements, people who are thinking about their own and their colleagues practice and publicity discussing the results of their thinking. There are some approaches teachers can use to gain awareness of their teaching: 1) extensive reading 2) observation of teachers teaching 3) self-observation 4) action research 5) taking up projects Teachers should take up project work because: 1) It makes them more professional in their attitude: develops their knowledge in subject, sharpens their attitude to their work, develops self-monitoring skills, makes them more aware of the problems of learning and promotes cooperative learning 2) It provides a sense of achievement: motivates them to take a keener interest in the subject, sustains their interest in the subject and work, provides more job satisfaction and promotes healthy competition

3) The experiential knowledge acts as a springboard for the betterment of

teaching competence: makes them anticipate problems in learning, allows them to take a more sympathetic attitude to the learners, helps in preparing learners to meet the demands of the world. High rates of growth of the age of the New Revival create splendid opportunities for continuous improvement and further development of the university teachings. The headline hasnt been given to the article by chance as in his speeches our Esteemed President always underlines the importance of quality assurance, assessment and controlling not only for today but for future as well. Scientists have been carrying out multilateral scientific research work for a long time. As the result of the researches carried out here many ways improving quality assurance have been discovered. Development of the Bologna process for harmonization of the European educational system, on the one hand and many long discussions, concepts and procedures of quality assurance itself, on the other hand, must be taken up to appropriate position and in the context of the internal task of universities according to the European standards this means development of the concept and corresponding procedures to secure quality and standards of their programmes and degrees. Quality development is always a work in progress. Quality for a course of study, subject or department must be defined specifically under consideration of special requirements and subject cultures. Every course of studies or subject must determine for itself what it defines as teaching quality. After having defined the term of quality, the next step must be determination of how quality of teaching and studies can be observed, what criteria and indicators for quality in teaching and studies should be used, of how it would be possible to tell that teaching quality is great, average or less than perfect and determination of what is claimed to be measured and the standards used for assessment being justified. The object of quality assurance and development can be combined in the core performance to be rendered by the university as a whole in the area of teaching and studies. This core performance means responsible warranty of a working study process for all matriculated students. The study process comprises the core element of teaching and learning and reflecting skills which are targeted at dealing with, questioning, discovering, understanding, developing, criticizing, differentiating what is important for what is not. Responsible processing of study contents on ones own, appropriate form and criteria for access and adequate equipment are of great importance for quality assurance. This applies for learning sites, such as libraries, lab rooms, digital teaching and learning platforms and free spaces for self-organized student group and individual work. In the scope of quality assurance and development the libraries and other working platforms from the area of new media are of central importance and must be evaluated from an institutional point of view that exceeds the individual user view in the sense of private studies. A working study process must comply with different claims and this also includes

appropriate connection of teaching and research depending on subject and department which are to contribute to scientific quality and also teach in a practiceoriented fashion. Working study practice is based on a subject or self-understanding that was coordinated by the teachers of the subject. Understanding of the subject mainly includes continuous communication of wishes, standards, joint features and differences. Working study practice is to be recorded, documented, communicated, assessed and developed in the scope of regular monitoring. One of the characteristics of working study practice is that lectures and sections of the course of studies are based on each other and complement each other sensibly. Connection capability of the study sector to the area of research also must be considered, i.e. students should be given the possibility to participate in research as much as possible. The understanding of working study practice must comply with the different cultures of the subjects, subject groups and courses of study. Criteria for success of studies and teaching can be oriented and weighted differently depending on the subject. To warrant working study practice in this sense the teachers side also requires continuous professional exchange or corresponding education options which are very important in particular regarding young scientists. Quality assurance and development also means to openly target problems and developmental requirements in teaching. Its needful and important for quality development to verify the already established methods and instruments and to develop and implement new procedures according to context, in particular regarding the competence basis demanded by the Bologna process. Quality appears in different facets at different weight, thats why there is no single quality criterion. The procedure for quality assurance and development is based on the principles: 1. It should be aligned with controlling 2. The departments are primarily responsible for quality assurance and development 3. Definition of quality facets and their weight is the result of a discourse led within each subject or department 4. Quality assurance and development are based on empirically informed dialogues. 5. The empirical information of the departments requires an efficient and effective support structure. The method centre supports the department to collect, prepare and integrate quality-relevant data. 6. The persons responsible in the departments should commit to taking the required controlling measures to achieve defined quality standards. 7. Quality-relevant data should be of 2 types: 1) data of general, nonsubject-specific interest for the problem of quality of teaching; 2) data of specific interest for the question of quality of teaching.

The university management assumes overall responsibility for quality assurance and quality development. It supports the departments of the university and central facilities in provision, collection and assessment of the required data and information. The departments and central facilities are responsible for concepts and performance of quality assurance and development in the courses of studies they are responsible for in the form of empirically-informed quality development dialogues. The departments suggest the internal committees on the methods of data collection, the criteria for assessing them and on the workload surveys offered by the method centre. In the scope of quality assurance the method centre acts as a scientific service office and complies with development and maintenance of the instruments for surveys, organization and administration of surveys and assessment of the results of the data for achieving and deletion of the data and participation in the development of the guidelines on quality assurance and development in coordination with the departments and university management. The higher education in Turkmenistan evolves around the three major dimensions: teaching and learning, research and development and services to society. The purpose of the higher education in our country is to propose a quality assurance framework that best meets the needs of the country and those of our universities as well. The best approach to quality assurance our universities is quality enhancement that interacts with quality control aiming at checking the status of performance. The key quality assurance mechanism in higher educational institutions is audit together with assessment aiming at quality enhancement. At our universities there are internal (Institute scientific Council, Institute Educational method council, subject method sections, Faculty Scientific student and scientific groups) and external (Ministry of Education) bodies which are responsible for quality assurance aiming at quality control, quality assessment, quality enhancement and providing trainings for the universities and providing reliable data higher education system. In order to achieve the best results and to promote excellence in education university internal bodies set missions and aim at deeper changes at teaching and learning level. The best definition of quality for Turkmenistan is setting a mission and working towards meeting the goals. The following factors as production of highly qualified human resources, training for a research career, effective management of teaching provision and promotion of quality and social justice make higher education higher. Quality can be assured by self-evaluation, review by a panel of experts, analysis of statistical information, surveys of students, graduates, staff, professional bodies, testing skills, knowledge and competence of students, guidelines for internal quality assurance (within the higher educational institution), strategy, policy and procedures, approval, monitoring, and periodic review of programmes, assessment of students, quality assurance of teaching staff, learning resources and student support and information system. The aims of quality assessment are to provide consumer protection for student and employer, to ensure quality development, to improve the status of teaching, to improve and evaluate education quality and conditions in which

courses are taught, to provide laboratories with adequate equipment, to conform curricula to education standards, to elaborate the system of questionnaires for students, graduates and for class observations for evaluating teachers and in the process of promoting teachers to higher posts and to promote excellence in education and the regulations for examination procedures and dissertations. The Faculty Board has in agenda education quality problems and assessment report every month. There is an article on the improvement of qualification and retraining of the human resources in The Law on education in Turkmenistan: 1) on the contrast system 2) sociological questionnaire 3) when hired a teacher is interviewed and becomes acquainted with the requirements and duties 4) attestation of the teaching staff (every 5 years by the Ministry of Education and annually by the Institute). Here questionnaires for students should be taken into account 5) teachers go through period of training at the Institute of Education. Teachers at the higher educational institutions must participate at the university scientific practical, inter-university and international conferences and seminars. Besides they should take an active part in working out the international educational programmes. Annual approval, monitoring and periodic review of curricula and programmes (educational and working) before the beginning of an academic year should be held. Quality of teaching staff can be assured by: class observations, lesson synopses, attestation including personal interview, tests, research, participating in international conferences, publications, compiling textbooks, manuals, methodological recommendations and instructions, involving into public and social life training courses. To provide teaching and learning quality one of the objectives of the university quality assurance departments in Turkmenistan is to sum up the results achieved and to exchange views on the current issues.