Abstract:

Nowadays, the social demands of our context reveal the need for a diverse and multifunctional teaching competency profile, oversized in requests by society (de la Ossa et al., 2012; del Pilar García-Gutiérrez & Aznar-Díaz, 2019).

Within this frame of reference, the need to establish a teaching competence profile emerges (European Commission, 2013, 2018; UNESCO & Opertti, 2022), thus, this work aims to analyze the perception of students of the Early Childhood Education Degree at the University of the Balearic Islands on the essential professional skills of an early childhood education teacher.

On account of this, we carry out quantitative research based on the distribution of a questionnaire in which the professional competencies of the teaching profile collected by Farró (2022) are reported: 1. Importance of active involvement in the school; 2. Management of emotions and feelings; 3. Importance of reflective practice; 4. Organization of learning situations and; 5. Evaluation in a complex and comprehensive way.

The questionnaire was established from a 5-point Likert assessment scale on the validity of the content, with 1 being “a little” and 5 “a lot” (Sireci & Faulkner-Bond, 2014). 152 students were engaged in the study, primarily women (90.4%), with a mean age of 22 years old and ranging in age from 18 to 55 years old; Almost half of the students (43.3%) enter the University via entrance exams, but the other half (46.5%) enter through Higher Education Vocational Training, reducing to 7% the number of students who access from different degrees.

The results show very high evaluations in every one of the competencies. Still, the dimensions of active involvement in the institution and Management of emotions and feelings in the exercise of the profession are those that obtain higher scores. Therefore, the results show the concern of the student body for competencies of a human and emotional nature, before other dimensions are more linked to didactics and research. In conclusion, the need to assume the formation of these competencies through spaces and learning experiences in Higher Education centers is evident.

References:
[1] de la Ossa, V. J., Pérez, C. A., Patiño, P. R., & Montes, V. D. (2012). La investigación formativa como una necesidad en el pregrado. Revista Colombiana de Ciencia Animal, 4(1), 1–3.
[2] del Pilar García-Gutiérrez, Z., & Aznar-Díaz, I. (2019). El desarrollo de competencias investigativas, una alternativa para formar profesionales en pedagogía infantil como personal docente investigador. Revista Electronica Educare, 23(1), 1–22.
[3] European Commission. (2013). Supporting teacher competence development for better learning outcomes.
[4] European Commission. (2018). Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. http://ec.europa.eu/
[5] Farró, L. (2022). El paradigma de l’aprenentatge realista a la pràctica. In M. F. Oliver-Trobat & M. R. Rosselló-Ramon (Eds.), Transformant la formació inicial del professorat: el paradigma realista. Lleonard Muntaner.
[6] Sireci, S., & Faulkner-Bond, M. (2014). Validity evidence based on test content. Psicothema, 26, 100–107.
[7] UNESCO, & Opertti, R. (2022). Sobre las competencias en la Educación.

Keywords:

Early Childhood Education, professional competencies, teaching profile, Higher Education.