PEDAGOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FORMING PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE IN FUTURE TEACHERS

The article examines the pedagogical and psychological foundations of forming professional competence in future teachers. The problem is considered from a theoretical and methodological perspective, because professional preparation at pedagogical universities cannot be reduced only to the transfer of subject knowledge. The educational result depends on how accurately psychological mechanisms of personality development are connected with pedagogical conditions of professional training. The purpose of the article is to define the main conditions under which the process of forming professional competence in future teachers becomes pedagogically productive and psychologically grounded. The research is based on a focused analysis of recent studies on teacher competence, professional identity, reflective practice and teacher self-efficacy. The article clarifies the distinction between the notions of qualification, professional readiness and professional competence. It also proposes criteria for evaluating the level of formation of professional competence in pedagogical universities. The main result is a structural model that connects motivational, cognitive, operational, communicative and reflective components of professional competence. The study argues that professional competence is most effectively formed when academic knowledge, practical activity and personal reflection are organized as one continuous process during the years of study at the university.