The study mainly concentrates on identifying the need to form the skills and abilities of educational and research activity of future teachers as the foundation of the Gnostic criterion to evaluate their readiness for innovation. Through the research, the subsequent tasks were established: the investigation of the literature on the research issue, determination of the leading indicators of the gnostic criterion of the future teacher's readiness for innovation, construction of a questionnaire for teachers to recognize their readiness level for innovation, performing a survey, examining the outcomes. To address the issue, we applied particular methods as analysis, questioning, mathematical investigation of data. The author put forward the following hypothesis: if the future teachers do not improve the skills and capabilities of educational and research activity, then the Gnostic criterion for evaluating the teachers' readiness for innovative activities would demonstrate a low level. The study's conclusions revealed a low level of teachers' mastery in the skills and experiences of research and educational activity. As a result, a low level of teachers' readiness for innovation from the Gnostic criterion, which confirmed the theory put forward.