Abstract:

In the processes of the change and renewal of education, the first stage of human life – childhood – gains special importance. Childhood is a special period that is important for the child’s purposeful and high-quality education and his/her life both in the present and in the future. The research has proved that early childhood education guarantees the opportunities of the expression of the child’s social, cultural, emotional, and intellectual potential, as well as the quality of his/her education at the preschool institution and in further stages of his/her education (Taggart, Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj, 2015). The quality of preschool education is also increased by the application of innovative methods, techniques, and tools in the educational processes and the demand for the creation of educational environments. It is especially relevant to teachers working with preschool-age children, who have to more and more intensively improve their professional experience and competences related to modern child education, to update and constantly broaden their knowledge, to learn to work applying innovative methods, educational strategies, and innovative tools. Therefore, in recent years more and more attention is being paid to the creation and modernization of the environment that promotes children’s education, the application of information technologies in the educational process, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) educational innovations. According to the scientists, the implementation of innovations in the educational process determines better educational outcomes, meanwhile, the application of innovations increases the scope of the organization of the models of education and thus provides educational institutions with a greater number of options.

Aim:
to discuss the educational experiences of preschool teachers from the aspect of the application of innovations.
Methodology: 60 preschool teachers from various preschool institutions of Lithuania working with children under six years of age participated in the research. The questionnaire created for the respondents consisted of the demographic block and the block of the assessment of the situation of the application of innovations in the preschool institution X.

Methods of the research:
Analysis of scientific, methodical, and informational literature, the method of the questionnaire survey; the absolute and relative frequencies have been calculated.

Results:
The analysis of scientific literature allows stating that preschool childhood is a special period that is important for the child’s purposeful and high-quality education and his/her life both in the present and in the future. The quality of preschool education is also increased by the application of innovative methods, techniques, and tools in the educational processes and the demand for the creation of educational environments.
The results of the research show that the majority of the respondents often apply innovative methods and tools of children’s education that promote children’s creativity, as well as the abilities of the application of information technologies, knowing how to learn, and problem solving. However, the innovations, with the help of which teachers would succeed in better children’s achievements in some STEAM activities, should be more actively implemented and used in preschool institutions.

Keywords:

Teachers’ educational experiences, innovations, preschool institution.