Principles for Designing the Content of an Internship Program for Teachers and Heads of Educational Organizations as a Form of Their Additional Professional Education

The research problem and the rationale for its relevance. This research was conducted to explore improving the quality of additional professional education for specialists in educational organizations. National projects are identified that guide school leaders and educators towards continuous development. The significance of practical forms of learning is emphasized, with internships playing a significant role. The importance of defining unified requirements for the development of the content of internship programs is substantiated. The research goal is to theoretically justify and characterize the principles of designing the content of internship programs for teachers and leaders of educational organizations as a form of their additional professional education. An analysis of the scientific literature reveals the broad possibilities of internships in helping prospective and current teachers and leaders master effective technologies for teaching, education, and management of these processes. It is stated that the internship is viewed as a professional springboard, a means of social adaptation, and a promising form for the realization of additional professional education for specialists in the field of pedagogy. The methodological foundation of the research is based on the principles of activity-based and andragogical approaches, according to which internships should maximally involve participants in the process of learning, transmitting, and gaining practical application methods, with the overall goal of providing advanced training. The research results are expressed in the development of principles for designing the content of the internship program. Principles of substantive and organizational planning are identified. The first group of principles involves updating the social demand, saturation with valuable knowledge, micro-learning, and mentoring. The second group of principles focuses on training participants in the style of storytelling, immersiveness, and supervision. It is stated that in accordance with these principles, the process of advanced training will be carried out in accordance with the social order, saturated with psychological and pedagogical knowledge, and involve concentrated and interactive learning with the involvement of effective practices of mentor teachers. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the description of principles that are promising for the implementation of modern internship programs, which reveal the substantive and organizational plans, and reflect new directions in the concentrated learning of participants. The theoretical significance of the research lies in enriching the basic tenets of the andragogical approach, concepts of continuous education for educators, and theories of continuous personality development. The practical significance of the publication is that the described principles can be applied to designing the content of internship programs implemented in educational development institutes and centers for continuous improvement of professional skills. The proposed approach may be useful when designing the content of in-house training for personnel of educational organizations.