INTERPRETATIONS OF TEACHING METHODS IN CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE: SOPHISTIC DIMENSION

Introduction. This paper focuses on the issue of conceptual thinking inherent in modern scientific dis-course. The idea is emphasized that in any field of pedagogical activity, the acquisition of subject knowledge and thinking skills requires an understanding of the subject content, which is considered to be a complex and methodologically im-portant task not only in secondary school instruction, but also in professional training. An equally important aspect related to the understanding and interpretation of the senses embedded in texts is the awareness of the semantic core of those concepts that form the pivotal foundation of scholarly text. It is posited that the semantic essence of concepts is always formed at the stage of their emergence in a particular field of knowledge and has to remain unchanged while it is further being evolved. Extending the foregoing, the emergence of new concepts involves their logical coordination with the semantic foundations of the conceptual system inherent in the relevant field of knowledge. Under other conditions, new concepts do not get enrooted, and the tentative to make use of them is at variance with the systemic and conventionally accepted interpretations of other concepts. Besides, it and confuses their semantic interrelations. Therefore, for each field of knowledge, the logical completeness and unambiguity of the semantic attributes of the employed concepts is essential. Purpose. This article is aimed to review the positions of the contemporary scholars in interpreting the tradi-tional concept "teaching methods". Furthermore, it illus-trates the paradoxical essence of the proposed conceptual oxymorons, and to this end, it attempts to prevent the distortion of the conceptual meanings of the established pedagogical entities. Among the employed research methods, the priority is given to “modi operandi” of content analysis, which are non-inherent in the qualitative characteristics of the pedagogical concept “teaching method”. Nonetheless, in recent decades they have been actively implanted in pedagogical discourse by budding researchers. Results. The study has analyzed the issues of conceptual thinking immanent to contemporary scientific discourse. In particular, it has concentrated on investigating the semantic dimensions of interpreting the pedagogical concept “teaching method”. In addition, it has illustrated the semantic maxims of its gradual modifications to the levels of “active”, “effective’, and “innovative”. Furthermore, the article has revealed the inaccurate and incorrect usage of the qualitative characteristics of the notion “teaching method”. Hence, it has actualized the necessity to eradicate the previously introduced conflicting concepts from a pedagogical domain in order to prevent the attempts of modifying the domestic pedagogical system in accordance with foreign educational practices. The proposed study stands out for its originality, since it presents the scholarly substantiation and multi-tudinous illustrations of the absurdity of the artificially coined and adopted qualitative characteristics of the notion “teaching method”, which are continuously employed in contemporary scientific discourse. Conclusion. On this basis, it has been summarized that in the last decade the spreading of illogical and contradictory interpretations of pedagogical concepts has caused confusion in the system of basic pedagogi-cal dominants (principles, concepts, and relations). This requires an uncompromising response from leading educationalists and scholars in order to eradicate from Pedagogy, which is a systematized field of knowledge, the imposed contradictory notions, and to prevent the attempts to modify the domestic pedagogical system to conform to foreign standards, which run counter to the pedagogical system of domestic Pedagogy. This study though far from being conclusive, yet proposes several insights into understanding the core of domestic pedagogical notions and provides implications for further research in this domain in terms of conceptual content and pedagogical entities in order to rid domestic Pedagogy of the conceptual disorder that is actively introduced by unknown "experts" into pedagogical information resources.