The entry profile of a pre-service physics teachers and the development of their professional competences

In the paper, we reflect on various factors of motivation of pre-service physics teacher. Based on the data obtained from the entrance questionnaires of incoming students for the previous four years and a structured interview with current students studying in all grades, we create a professional entry profile of a future physics teacher student. Based on international standards, current trends, current and future needs of school practice, we characterize the professional competences of a physics teacher graduate. In the conditions of the Slovak educational space, we are looking for a breakthrough with the updated description of the field of study teaching and pedagogical sciences and standards for study programs. We present the goals and key elements of the university training of future physics teachers, educational methods, educational content and links to pedagogical practice.


Introduction
We associate physics as a teaching subject with professional concepts, definitions, description of phenomena, solving numerical problems, conducting trials and experiments, and measurements.The educational content tries to reflect the system of scientific knowledge, skills and abilities used in physics research.We associate physics education with a lecture, a teacher's explanation, peer discussion, work in groups, laboratory measurements, but also a thematic excursion or a physics competition.From the point of view of goals, in physics we strive to know technical terms, understand their meaning, clarify physics phenomena, apply the acquired knowledge in solving new tasks, build a positive relationship to science and scientific knowledge.In order to achieve the stated goals, it is necessary to use adequate teaching methods and strategies of the teacher's work with the active involvement of students in learning.We immediately connect the evaluation of the educational results achieved with the classification, while we dominantly classify the acquired knowledge.Formal physics education places high demands on all involved participants.We live in a world known as VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity).The VUCA approach generally warns that our world is becoming increasingly difficult to predict and manage [1].In the 21st century, we are aware of the interconnected instability of the global economy, which is related to rapidly changing key industries, new technologies, culture, demographics, etc.Today, each of us faces this very complex, rapidly changing world that affects our lives also at the local level [2].We are only visionary trying to predict the needs and challenges we will face in 20 years.The knowledge and skills of the individual, as well as the work professions of the future, are tied to them.Today, however, we need to prepare students for jobs and technologies that do not yet exist, so that they are able to solve problems that we do not even know about yet.The World Economic Forum [3], in a report dated 22.01.2020 on the occupations of the future, maps the opportunities for the new economy, where it predicts the expected skills and the most in-demand professions.Professional designations in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, shared computing, green economy, marketing, cyber security and many others are gradually gaining ground.
Among the most sought-after skills are those related to data storage, retrieval and analysis, application development, machine learning, neural networks, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, human resources, social media and marketing, customer behavior analysis.On the other hand, we need to seriously reconsider today's training for professions that are easily replaceable and not promising from the point of view of Industry 4.0.The study OECD Skills Strategy 2019: Skills to Shape a Better Future [4] points to the fact that while the skills acquired at school lasted 26 years for previous generations, it is currently only 4.5 years.About 65% of children entering elementary school today will have jobs that do not yet exist.Based on the identification of many factors, sociologists point to the specifics of today's children, children of the alpha generation (born 2010-2025).A characteristic feature of this generation [5] is orientation to today, current experience and reducing the importance of dealing with tomorrow, as many variables can significantly change it.Students of the alpha generation are already sitting in school desks.Pupils with high intelligence and with an emphasis on emotional intelligence, with better relationships with parents, a strong sense of morality, freedom and the possibility of their own choice, poor distinction between the real and virtual world, low concentration and quick decision-making, living to a great age, pupils who will be the most educated and the richest generation, in whose lives technology plays an important role and who will be the main progressive force of society.Education for the future therefore needs to start today.The dominant features of education are already becoming: • diverse time and place where education takes place, • personalized education reflecting the specifics of the individual student, • the choice of one's own path to knowledge as well as the different depth and breadth of the scope of education, • project education aimed at solving real and age-appropriate challenges, • deeper connection to experience gained in practice, • more emphasis on the ability to interpret the obtained data, • evaluation of educational results and adjustment of educational procedures based on data, • pupils are co-creators of educational content, • mentorship as a form of self-development of the student, but also of the teacher.The enormous availability of information processed for various target groups in a visual and interactive form, together with the growing potential of artificial intelligence and the possibilities of its use in education, pose legitimate questions about the position and tasks of the teacher in the near future.The readiness of future teachers to cope with challenges in education and their motivation for performing this demanding profession will play one of the key roles in physics education.The education of teachers is commonly considered a crucial factor for securing the quality of science education [6].

Theoretical background
Based on Shulman`s [7], [8] seven areas in which teachers need professional knowledge in order to be adequately prepared for the challenges of teaching, many researchers have built on this work [9].Three of the originally proposed areas of knowledge have emerged as the key components of professional knowledge: content knowledge (CK), general pedagogic knowledge (PK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).It is widely recognized that teachers need profound PCK to effectively plan, teach, and reflect on instruction [10], [11], [12].The Next Generation Science Standards [13] and the redesigned Advanced Placement Physics test point to a different role for a physics teacher.The two different metaphors for learning are learning as acquisition of knowledge and learning as participation in practice [14].Therefore, if we wish to prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) to productively apply their knowledge and skills in real classrooms, paying attention to their dispositions is paramount [15].Studies of physics teacher preparations programs offer numerous suggestions concerning the elements of teacher preparation [16], [17].
We consider the main points around three ideas of preservice teachers preparation: dispositions, knowledge, and skills: • attending to preservice teachers' dispositions, • providing sufficient duration and coherence with compelling vision, • developing knowledge, • providing opportunities for teaching experience, • shaping a community, • preparing for life-long learning.
These PSTs program characteristics include the following [18]: (1) a prolonged and intensive focus on active-learning, guided-inquiry instruction, (2) use of research-based, physics-specific pedagogy, coupled with thorough study and practice of that pedagogy by prospective teachers, (3) extensive early teaching experiences guided by physics education specialists.
The very important component of teacher preparation is the formation of habits.John Dewey, considered habits as playing a central role in human thought and behavior [19] and we can consider teaching as a habitual activity.We propose, that a teacher's habits have their roots in her dispositions, knowledge, and skills-three established concepts in the teacher education literature [20], [21] general and physics specific [22].One of the goals of a teacher preparation program is to affect PSTs' habits, programs need to set up conditions that will allow for the emergence of productive and phasing out of unproductive habits.This is not an easy task.Below, we outline the specific habits of mind and habits of practice that need to be developed by a prospective physics teacher.a teacher of any (every) discipline needs to have those three types of habits developed in relation to the discipline one teaches: • habits of mind, • habits of practice, • habits of maintenance and improvement.
Selected physics habits of mind: • noticing application of physics laws in the surrounding world, • approaching problem solving as a physicist, • treating physics as a process, not a set of rules or a collection of information, • using mathematics in a physics-specific way, • even helping students learn, starting by helping them connect new ideas to their existing ideas, • attending to students' thinking specifically regarding physics mechanism, interaction, conservation, constraint, and processes of change and transformation, • encouraging students to test their ideas experimentally instead of waiting for validation from authority, • listening to student conversations, comments, and questions related to physics, • reflecting on the role that language plays in student learning and making conscious choices of words and grammatical construction when talking about physics so as not to create confusion.
Several comparative studies discuss the training of future teachers [23], [24].With the transition to the Bologna system of education, the training of future teachers is mainly focused on a 3-year bachelor's degree and a two-year master's degree.Teaching physics in Slovakia is studied in combination with a second academic subject.A unique system of training future teachers is used at the Faculty of Science of the UPJŠ in Košice.It consists of an interdisciplinary bachelor's degree and a master's degree in teaching.An overview of blocks of subjects and credits is presented in table Our effort is to constantly improve the profile of the teacher graduate and to modify the study programs for their effective preparation.We continuously map students' attitudes with entrance questionnaires, surveys and evaluation questionnaires.

Results
On a sample of N=64 students of the interdisciplinary study of physics, we determined the dominant factors that influenced their decision to study at university.The results are shown in figure 2. We can consider the attractiveness of physics as a science presented to young people as key factors.Students perceive with interest the new physics topics that science solves, the importance of physics for society as well as for improving the quality of life.Personal success in physics as a subject, good evaluation, success in solving physics competitions, is the second most influential factor in choosing to study physics as a teaching major.

Figure 2. Dominant factors influencing the choice of a teacher's study of physics
From a time point of view (figure 3), a relatively strong group of students already decides on their university studies in the second grade of elementary school.On the other hand, however, we see a significant part of the decisions about the choice of field of study in the 3rd and 4th year of secondary school.In the given period, students attend elective courses, which conditions their preparation for university studies.What is surprising is the strong group of students who do not make their decision until just before applying to university.We explain this phenomenon by the wide availability of studies and the possibilities of free choice.List at most three of the above facts (A -N) that were crucial for you in deciding on the field of study of your university studies.Indicate when you finally decided on the choice of physics education study.
On a sample of 24 students of a bachelor's interdisciplinary study with physics, we comparatively determined the factors that they currently evaluate as having contributed to the choice of a study program at the university (figure 4).Significant factors associated with the attractiveness of physics as a science and the personal success of students studying physics at secondary school were confirmed (figure 5).Students for whom physics was not the main subject but chose it as the second major for teacher studies, come to university studies from secondary schools.This reflects the difficulty of physics education, but also its insufficiently mastered level in high school.However, in the preparation of future physics teachers, we need to develop interest and enthusiasm for the subject, show its potential and attract future teachers to devote themselves to it.

Conclusion
Based on annual discussions, surveys and questionnaires with students of interdisciplinary studies combined with physics, we find that: • in secondary school, as a rule, they carried out only a minimum of school experiments, demonstrations, measurements, • preparation in physics is weaker compared to mathematics, which dominates the choice of study, • only a minimal number of them were involved in solving physics competitions, they achieved success in lessons, which corresponded to a good assessment in the subject, • participation in extracurricular activities with a physics theme is weak, • lack of enthusiasm for the teacher's work, following the teacher's role model, • interest in the field as such dominates, the study of teaching is not a priority, • interest in mathematics significantly exceeds interest in physics, • during their university studies, they gradually build a relationship with physics teaching, • a strong factor is the building of belonging to the community of students and later physics teachers.We believe that university preparation for the profession of physics teacher can increase the attractiveness of the field of study and support students' decision to devote themselves to the work of a physics teacher in school.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The time frame when applicants decide to study physics teaching

Figure 4 .Figure 5 .
Figure 4. Comparative study of factors affecting the choice of study program

Table 1 .
Determining the number of credits and blocks of subjects within the interdisciplinary study 1. and table 2. For both tables we consider abbreviatos: CScompulsory subject, CES -Compulsory elective subject, ESelective subject, BSE -Bachelor's state exam, SFE -State final exam

Table 2 .
Determining the number of credits and blocks of subjects within the teaching study in combination