Teamwork represents an important component of present-day pedagogical practice in preschool settings and is defined as one of the fundamental principles of early childhood education, as reflected in both legislation and professional documents. It goes beyond mere organizational cooperation among professional staff and includes collaboration in planning, implementing, and evaluating educational work in kindergartens. In the kindergarten environment, where we encounter diverse children's needs on a daily basis, teamwork enables the integration of different knowledge, experiences, and approaches, contributing to a more holistic approach to children’s development. The importance of teamwork is reflected both in direct work with children and in cooperation among professional staff, as well as in the functioning of the entire institution. Teamwork between the preschool teacher and the preschool teacher assistant represents a complex process that requires open communication, mutual adaptation, and continuous professional reflection from all team members. In practice, professional staff experience teamwork differently, and their experiences and perceptions of its advantages may vary depending on the work environment, job position, or years of service. For this reason, the aim of this bachelor’s thesis was to examine which advantages of teamwork professional staff actually recognize in their work, how they evaluate them, and whether differences appear in their perceptions according to years of service and job position. The research is based on both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data were collected through a questionnaire as part of an empirical study within the internal research project UL PEF Psihološke razsežnosti timskega dela in njihov prispevek k učinkovitosti timov v vzgoji in izobraževanju (TIMDEVI, 2022-2023, led by dr. Alenka Polak), The obtained data were analyzed within the project Interdisciplinarno timsko delo v vzgoji in izobraževanju (INTERTIMDEVI, 2024-2025, led by dr. Alenka Polak), in which I was actively involved. The sample included responses from seventy-four preschool teachers and preschool teachers’ assistant employed in Slovenian kindergartens. In addition to Likert-scale items, the questionnaire also included open-ended questions. The results indicate that both preschool teachers and preschool teachers' assistants strongly recognize the benefits of teamwork across all three domains: working with children, their own professional development, and the quality of pedagogical work at the classroom and institutional level. The average ratings of individual statements were high, confirming strong recognition of the benefits of teamwork. The benefits rated highest were joint planning, sharing pedagogical experiences, and developing communication and teaching skills. Slightly lower ratings were given to expressing personal ideas and reducing stress.The analysis of open-ended responses shows that professionals see the main benefits of teamwork in the variety of ideas and approaches it brings, the support team members provide to one another, the improvement of pedagogical work, and the positive relationships built within the team. The statistical analysis did not show significant differences in these views based on job position or years of service, although small differences in average scores were noted. Overall, the findings suggest that professionals consider teamwork to be an important part of quality pedagogical work, professional growth, and effective cooperation. At the same time, successful teamwork depends largely on good interpersonal relationships and on how well the work within the team is organized.
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