PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS

Sodobna družba je družba nenehnih sprememb, tako na socialnem, družbenem kot kulturnem področju, ki zahteva od posameznikov in organizacij fleksibilnost in pripravljenost za sprejemanje in prilagajanje. S tem družba jasno izkazuje potrebo po samostojnih, odgovornih, ustvarjalnih, samozavestnih, prilagodljivih in neprestano učečih se strokovnih delavcih na področju vzgoje in izobraževanja (Hmelak, 2012). V magistrskem delu smo proučevali profesionalni razvoj vzgojiteljev predšolskih otrok. V prvem delu smo predstavili teoretična izhodišča, pri čemer smo zbrali razmišljanja več avtorjev in si odgovorili na različna vprašanja, povezana z vzgojiteljevim profesionalnim razvojem. Pri tem smo se poglobili v njegovo strokovnost, kompetentnost in avtonomnost in pojasnili, kakšni so vplivi slednjih za profesionalni razvoj vzgojitelja. Razložili smo, kako poteka izobraževanje vzgojiteljev, predstavili njegovo profesionalno pot, kakšna znanja naj obvladuje na tej poti, da bo le-ta uspešna, in kako naj vzpostavlja avtonomni položaj v odnosu do svojega dela. V procesu profesionalizacije gre za prilagoditev vzgojiteljev (Zelena knjiga, 2001) v odnosu do otrok, staršev in drugih udeležencev v procesu vzgoje in izobraževanja, pri čemer je poudarjen pomen njegove profesionalne rasti (Marentič Požarnik, 2000). Vzgojiteljev profesionalni razvoj lahko opredelimo kot proces vseživljenjskega učenja, ki vključuje vzgojiteljevo osebnostno, profesionalno in socialno dimenzijo (Vonta, 2005). V drugem delu bomo predstavili izsledke empirične raziskave o profesionalnem razvoju vzgojiteljev predšolskih otrok in interpretacijo le-teh. Zanimalo nas je, kateri so bili motivi za izbiro študija/poklica vzgojitelj predšolskih otrok, kako se počutijo kompetentne za delo vzgojitelja in kakšna pričakovanja imajo pri svojem delu. Pri tem smo namenili pozornost vzgojiteljem predšolskih otrok z različnim številom delovnih let in stopnjo strokovne izobrazbe in regiji, v kateri so zaposleni. V raziskavi smo uporabili deskriptivno in kavzalno-neeksperimentalno metodo empiričnega raziskovanja. Podatki so bili zbrani s pomočjo anketnih vprašalnikov. Ugotovili smo, da se strokovni delavci v vrtcih zavedajo pomena kompleksnosti profesionalnega razvoja, ki vključuje dobro strokovno podkovanost in zrelo obnašanje vzgojiteljev predšolskih otrok. Vzgojitelji si razvijajo svoje osebnostne kompetence, ki so v tesni zvezi z njihovimi stališči, vrednotami, pričakovanji in samopodobo (Lepičnik Vodopivec, 2005), ob tem pa morajo biti fleksibilni, težiti k strokovni rasti in se zavedati pomena vseživljenjskega učenja za razvoj predšolske dejavnosti tako v ožjem, kot širšem smislu. Pri uresničevanju zastavljenih ciljev se jim zdi prehojena pot do cilja (procesni pristop) pogosteje pomembnejša, kot sam cilj (Cvetek, 2004).Modern society is a society of constant changes, both in the social and in cultural areas, and it requires flexibility, acceptation and adaptation from individuals and organizations. To that end, society needs independent, responsible, creative, confident, flexible and constantly learning professionals in the field of education (Hmelak, 2012). In the Master\u27s Thesis we studied the professional development of preschool teachers. In the first part the theoretical foundations are presented. In that part, we have collected reflections by several authors and we have answered to various questions related to the professional development of teachers. In doing so, we delve into his professionalism, competence and autonomy, and we explained the impacts of the latter on the professional development of teachers. The education of teachers is explained, their professional career is presented, knowledge and skills, that they have to achieve along the way in order to be successful, and ways of establishing an autonomy in relation to its work are presented. The process of professionalisation is an adaptation of teachers (Green book, 2001) in relation to children, parents and other participants in the educational process, while the importance of teacher\u27s professional growth is stressed (Marentič Požarnik, 2000). Teachers\u27 professional development can be defined as a lifelong learning process, which includes personal, professional and social aspects of a teacher (Vonta, 2005). In the second part the results of empirical research on the professional development of preschool teachers and the interpretation thereof will be presented. We wanted to know, what were the motives for the choice of study / profession of a preschool teacher, do they feel competent to work as teachers and what expectations they have regarding their work. In this context, we paid attention to the preschool teachers with different number of working years, levels of professional education and region in which they are employed. In this study, we used descriptive and non-experimental causal method of empirical research. Data were collected by means of questionnaires. We found that the professional staff in kindergartens are aware of the importance of the complexity of professional development that includes a good professional knowledge and mature behaviour of preschool teachers. Teachers have developed their personal competencies, which are closely related to their attitudes, values, expectations and self-esteem (Lepičnik Vodopivec, 2005), and at the same time they have to be flexible, they have to strive for professional growth and be aware of the importance of lifelong learning to the development of preschool activities, both in the narrow and the broad sense. Towards the goals, they find their walking path to the goal (process approach) more important than the goal itself (Cvetek, 2004)