Peculiarities of biographical research for the analysis of the informal teacher education

Abstract

The article reviews peculiarities of biographical research. Emphasis is placed on the experiences determined by the biographical circumstances, which have served educators as impetus for informal studies, as well as founding layers for the growth of pedagogical professional competencies. When discussing lifelong learning and the growing demands on educators' professionalism, it is most important to understand how the competences of the teaching profession develop in informal learning; next, it is possible to identify the structures that enable this process. The aim of the article is to reveal the peculiarities of a biographical method and the expression of pedagogical competences of the pedagogical professionals formed through informal learning and stimulated by biographical circumstances. The analysis and results of the obtained data base on the study logic of the construction of the abduction theory according to Peirce and the Grounded theory methodology according to Strauss and Corbin [1]. The research revealed that the processes of informal learning, critical for the competencies of an educator‘s profession, take their route in childhood. Learning experiences in childhood, as well as further biographical experiences not only determine the interest in the pedagogical profession, but also determine pedagogical abilities and values.