USING VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY (VR/AR) TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PREPARATION OF FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Abstract

This article provides a scientific-theoretical substantiation of the use of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies in the professional preparation of future primary school teachers. The relevance of the study stems from the persistent gap between the theoretical training of primary-school teacher candidates and their practical readiness for real classroom activity, and from the capacity of immersive technologies to reconstruct authentic pedagogical situations in a safe, repeatable, and controllable form. The aim of the research is to substantiate a structural-functional model for the pedagogically grounded application of VR/AR in primary teacher preparation, to define the stages through which the corresponding professional competence is formed, and to identify the pedagogical conditions ensuring its effective functioning. The study employed the methods of theoretical analysis and systematisation of scientific literature, structural-functional modelling, comparative-pedagogical analysis of immersive learning tools, and pedagogical observation. The analysis established that the model comprises five interrelated components — target, content, technological-immersive, simulation-practice, and diagnostic-reflective — and that the competence in question is formed through three successive stages: orientation-adaptation, simulation-practice, and reflective-professional. It is shown that VR/AR tools such as immersive virtual classrooms, avatar-based teaching simulators, and augmented visualisation of educational content function not as illustrative supplements but as a didactic environment that transforms the very mechanism of professional-skill formation. The conclusion substantiates the necessity of purposefully training teacher educators in immersive-pedagogical design, of developing nationally adapted VR/AR content aligned with the primary-school curriculum, and of integrating immersive simulation with the teaching-practice component of teacher-training programmes. Practical recommendations are proposed for the gradual introduction of the model into the educational process of higher pedagogical institutions.