The rapid scientific and technological progress along with many social changes represent many challenges for professional workers at preschools. Their professional role is becoming more and more complex, which is why the need for their professional development is rising in importance and does not end with graduation; it demands life-long learning and constant acquiring of new knowledge (Valenčič Zuljan and Marentič Požarnik, 2014).
The research of teacher’s professional development is therefore becoming one of the most prominent themes. Various models of professional development by Slovene and foreign experts mostly refer to teachers in primary and secondary schools and do not include all the specificities and differences in the field of preschool teaching. The possibility of transitions between educational programmes and professions enables people with various educations to become preschool teachers, which is why Slovene preschools employ extremely diverse staff. The work of a preschool teacher is different from the work of a primary or secondary school teacher; the main difference is that a preschool teacher must be able to successfully cooperate with their assistant, to perform tandem work, which ensures a supporting teaching and learning environment, successful pedagogic work and professional development of both, the teacher and the assistant.
The main purpose of this thesis was to analyse career paths of pedagogic workers at preschools and to create a new model of professional development of preschool teachers and assistants on the basis of the acquired information and the existent phase models of teacher’s professional development. The qualitative research included 31 preschool teachers and 32 teacher assistants in different stages of their professional development and gained the information on their professional path and development using a semi-structured interview.
The results of the research have shown that working with children gives the most contentment in the occupation of preschool teachers and teacher assistants, while ensuring the children’s safety, relations with the preschool management and parent-teacher communication are the cause of most stress and concern.
Among preschool teacher assistants there is a growing number of those who meet the requirements for being employed in the preschool teacher position. At the same time there are preschool teachers and teacher assistants with post-graduate education entering the job market, which is why in the years to come a change in the system will be necessary. Besides their formal education, professional workers at preschool also engage in other forms of further education, which benefits their professional development. They gain new knowledge and competences which help them at their work and at the same time give them an opportunity for promotion to pay grades and for preschool teachers also for appointment to titles.
Due to the importance of experience gained during student years in comparison with the S-model, which we referred to in the process of creating the model for preschool teachers and teacher assistants, we added a pre-career period. It is followed by the period of survival and stabilization, which is similar in commitment to the occupation among preschool teachers and teacher assistants. In the middle career period some crucial differences in experiencing and expressing their views on their careers are seen between preschool teachers and teacher assistants. The results of the research have also shown that due to physical and mental stress 25 % of participants believe that they will not stay in this profession until retirement. Some preschool teacher assistants even decide to abandon the profession in the middle career period.
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