Abstract
The article reveals the role and significance of innovative approaches and methods of teaching prospective pedagogues in mountain secondary educational institutions of the Ukrainian Carpathians. It is emphasized the importance of studying the problems of human relations and the mountain environment of the Carpathians, geopsychic and geoethnological features of mountain inhabitants in the context of the formation of an innovative educational environment in a higher educational institution. Author highlights the leading role of V. Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in providing specialists in practically all pedagogical specialties for mountain institutions of Ivano-Frankivsk region. Various innovative methods, aimed at training socio-psychological and professional readiness of prospective teachers in distant and hardto- reach mountain areas, are approved here. The study outlines a number of both negative and positive specific factors that affect the educational process in mountainous regions. The innovative experience of the first and only integrated project in Ukraine, aimed at studying the influence of the mountain environment on the student’s development, training and education, is analyzed. The international scientific project "Mountain School of the Ukrainian Carpathians" has become an effective factor in combining science and practice in a globalized world. It drew attention not only to researchers in Ukraine, but also to scholars in the United States and a number of European countries. Creative educational laboratory contribution of the International project "Mountain School of the Ukrainian Carpathians" is highlighted in the development and popularization of innovative methods of training and retraining of pedagogical staff for the Carpathian region. The importance of educational, cognitive, scientific, research and practical correlation in prospective teachers training is substantiated. Issues of the university teaching staff scientific works on the formation of innovative potential and innovative thinking of modern pedagogue, his/her professional mobility and professional culture are outlined. The expediency of enriching the content of theoretical disciplines with the innovative component is proved, and the importance of using ethnic and cultural potential of the Carpathian region in professional pedagogical training of the prospective teachers is emphasized.