Development of The Preschool Teachers' Partnership Competence
Development of The Preschool Teachers' Partnership Competence
Liudmyla Melenets1, Alla Goncharenko1, Nataliia Diatlenko1, Olena Ivanenko2, Anastasiia Kulbediuk1,
Iryna Sankovska1
1
Department of Preschool and Primary Education, Institute of In-Service Education, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University,
Kyiv, Ukraine
2
Department of Musicology and Music Education, Faculty of Musical Art and Choreography, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan
University, Kyiv, Ukraine
Corresponding Author:
Liudmyla Melenets
Department of Preschool and Primary Education, Institute of In-Service Education
Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University
Kyiv, Ukraine
Email: [email protected]
1. INTRODUCTION
At the same time, modern transformations in the world pose new questions to researchers that need
to be addressed in the context of effective pedagogical trends [1]. Partnership is one of the most widely
required soft skill of modern employers. The importance of a partnership approach in the interaction between
participants of the educational process is being increasingly recognized. For example, in 2018, a new
standard of primary education was approved in Ukraine, which introduced a new approach to learning in
junior high school. At the end of 2020, the updated basic component of preschool education was approved in
order to preserve the continuity of education, that is, steadiness and common principles of all the educational
levels. Crosscutting and most important for both documents is partnership interaction competence.
Partnership competence of preschool teachers determines their ability to cooperate, exchange information
and experience. Effective partnership work contributes to the harmonious development of preschool children,
increases the level of parents' satisfaction with preschool education, and creates a positive climate in the
educational institution. Partnership pedagogy becomes one of the key concepts that contributes to effective
learning of preschool children. Preschool age is a critical period for the development of social skills. Partner
interaction helps children learn to communicate, develop empathy, enter a wider social environment and feel
comfortable. Partnership pedagogy involves the active participation of young children in the process of early
education, the joint work of teachers and parents, as well as the promotion of mutual understanding and
cooperation between teaching staff. The other aspects of partnership competence of preschool teachers are
communication skills, teamwork, pedagogical interaction, reflection and striving for self-improvement,
adaptability, benevolence in communication with children, the absence of a superior attitude. This approach
is based on mutual trust, respect for the individuality of each participant, and recognition of their contribution
to the learning process [2].
Researches on the teachers’ partnership competence is generally focused on the interaction between
students and teachers of different school age [3], [4]. However, there are not enough studies on the preschool
teachers’ interaction with young children in the kindergartens, their parents and between the preschool
teachers’ staff. In the study, the most attention is paid on the last aspect from the listed. Understanding the
factors that facilitate or hinder partnership interaction between teachers is important for the development of
effective strategies for cooperation and team support. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study the
current level of preschool teachers’ partnership competence in the aspect of interacting in the teaching staff.
The main research objectives arising from the relevance of the issue under research are: i) Determine the
level of preschool teachers’ partnership competence; ii) Study whether there is a relationship between the
level of partnership competence and the psychological climate level in the teaching staff; and iii) Analyse
propositions for improving partnership interaction with colleagues among the teaching staff of the preschool
education institution.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Partnership pedagogy emphasizes the principle of parity, which is relevant for the cooperation and
teamwork of a teacher with persons interested in the quality of education, specialists, and experts [5]. Such
cooperation is aimed at achieving partnership agreement for educational purposes, personal progress of each
participant and consistency with the idea of the institution and the community. Pedagogical partnerships have
the potential to help students recognize and work with their emotions during learning positively [6]. Many
teachers and researchers have long advocated learner-centred and learner-driven pedagogy. Especially those
who deal with sustainable education [7].
The scope of the parity partnership is to study the academic performance of the pupil or school
concerned, as well as the characteristics of childhood (voluntary attention, development of thinking
processes, motivation). This study is based on the following sources: [8]-[10]. The fundamental postulates of
partnership pedagogy are respect for the individual, goodwill and positive attitude, trust in relationships and
relations, dialogue-based interaction, mutual respect, distributed leadership (initiative, right to choose and
responsibility for it, horizontal connections), the principle of social partnership (equality of parties, voluntary
acceptance of obligations, binding implementation of agreements) [11], [12]. The pedagogical partnership
competence includes: the ability to communicate with colleagues, parents, other specialists in order to
support students; the ability to actively involve parents in the educational process on the basis of partnership;
the ability to work in a team with parents and other specialists to provide additional support to students,
including to those with special educational needs [13]. Myllykoski-Laine et al. [14] define the concept of
'development of pedagogical partnership competence' as the process of active learning of partnership
pedagogy by a teacher based on subjective experience, which allows him/her to perform work functions
successfully. The result of this activity is the acquisition of practical skills. Criteria that determine the
effectiveness of the idea of developing partnership relations as the most productive system of relations in the
context of pedagogical interaction reflective analysis of one’s own behaviour in the context of the social
behaviour of other subjects [15].
The continuum of competence development consists of four levels: specialist, specialist of the
second category, specialist of the first category and specialist of the highest category [16]. Table 1 presents
the requirements for the development of pedagogical partnership competence. The analysis of the literature
on the issue under research revealed that the emphasis is mainly on the partnership between the teacher and
the student, but there is not enough research on the interaction between the staff of the educational institution.
The problem of the psychological climate in the team is also important in this context. Salamova and
Mirzoeva [17] note that the psychological environment reflects the emotional state of the team. The
psychological environment of the school and staff is quite stable, and the teachers’ attitudes to each other,
including people’s moods, inner worlds and surrounding events are relative. Therefore, the psychological
environment can be favourable or unfavourable, healthy or unhealthy. A study conducted by researchers [18]
found that academic collaboration is not common in educational institutions. The study identified several
potential consequences, including technical problems and competition.
3.2. Sample
The experimental base of the study was preschool education institutions in the cities of Kyiv, Lviv,
and Rivne. As of 2019, 137,688 employees of preschool education institutions worked in Ukraine. This was
taken into account to calculate the size of a representative sample (confidence probability-95%, confidence
interval-5%), which included 346 subjects. Of them, 112 people (32.37%) had a teaching experience of up to
5 years, 84 people (24.28%)-up to 10 years, 82 people-up to 20 years (23.70%), 68 people (19.65%) had
more than 30 years of experience. All specialists of the educational institution took part in the experimental
study-teachers, music directors, physical education instructors, teacher assistants, principals, psychologists,
as they are all involved in the preschool educational process. The experimental data of each teaching team
were tested for normality of distribution using the one-sample Lilliefors’ test for normality.
Table 2. The results of the diagnostics of the level of preschool teachers’ partnership competence
Item no. Criteria and questions for self-assessment Elementary level (%) Sufficient level (%) High level (%)
1 Criterion 1. Interaction with students in the educational process
1.1 Do you know how to apply the mechanisms of 32.37 42.86 24.77
implementing subject-subject relationship between a
teacher and a student?
1.2 Do you know how to use the skills of coordination 30.64 43.90 25.46
and stimulation of students’ educational and cognitive
activities, support their desire for self-development,
reveal their abilities and cognitive capabilities?
2 Criterion 2. Cooperation with parents of students, other participants in the educational process
2.1 Are you able to determine and take into account the 33.24 45.40 21.36
requests and expectations of parents regarding the
education of their children, participation in the
educational process?
2.2 Do you know how to involve parents in participating 25.43 47.62 26.79
in the educational process, as well as in making
decisions related to education, upbringing, and
development of their children?
2.3 Are you able to organize cooperation with involved 17.34 41.56 41.10
specialists based on the principles of team
interaction?
2.4 Are you able to cooperate with the involved 19.65 39.31 41.04
specialists when elaborating and implementing an
individual development programme, an individual
curriculum for persons with special educational needs
(if necessary)?
Table 3. Distribution of partnership pedagogy competence levels among preschool teachers with different
years of experience
Level/experience Up to 5 years (%) Up to 10 years (%) Up to 20 years (%) More than 30 years (%)
Elementary level 35.71 32.14 30.49 26.47
Sufficient level 42.86 47.62 43.90 39.71
High level 21.43 20.24 25.61 33.82
These results indicate that teaching experience can influence the level of teachers’ partnership
competence. Younger teachers may need more development in this area, while experienced teachers may be
more confident in their skills. Figure 1 shows the percentage ratio of the level of favourable psychological
climate in the team of preschool teachers. We can see that 82% of respondents consider the psychological
climate in the team to be moderately favourable, 6% consider it high, 9% consider it low, and 3% consider it
unfavourable.
The preschool teachers were distributed according to the levels of assessment of the psychological
climate in the team by the respondents. It helped further determine the dependence between the level of
partnership competence and the psychological climate in the team as shown in Table 4. The pearson
correlation coefficient was applied to calculate the correlation coefficient between the partnership
competence level and the psychological climate level as shown in Table 5. The pearson correlation
coefficient (r) is 0.408 (approx.). This value ranges from -1 to 1.
Figure 1. The results for the methodology for assessing the level of the psychological climate in the team [10]
Table 4. Distribution of preschool teachers by levels of assessment of the psychological climate in the team
Level Moderately favourable High Low Unfavourable
Elementary level 100 2 5 3
Sufficient level 123 12 10 4
High level 61 7 16 3
Table 5. The pearson correlation coefficient between the level of partnership competence and the level of
psychological climate
Indicator Value
Mean value of partnership level 30.35
Mean value of the psychological climate level 1.85
The sum of products of deviations 637.001
Covariance 154.665
Standard deviation of partnership level 27.64
Standard deviation of the psychological climate level 0.96
Pearson’s correlation coefficient 0.408
The value of 0.408 shows a positive correlation between the partnership competence level and the
psychological climate level in the team of preschool teachers. This means that when the partnership
competence level increases, the psychological climate level also increases. The relationship is moderate
because the value of the correlation coefficient is far from 0. A value closer to 1 indicates a stronger positive
correlation, but 0.408 is considered a moderate correlation. However, correlation does not mean causation. In
this case, this does not mean that an increased competence level will automatically improve the psychological
climate, although there is a positive correlation between the partnership competence level and the
psychological climate level. Other factors and context can also influence the psychological climate in the
team of preschool teachers.
A questionnaire based on [19] was used to provide recommendations for strengthening cooperation
in the preschool education sector. To the question that referred to partnership interaction with colleagues in
the pedagogical team of a preschool education institution, 56.4% of the surveyed teachers answered that the
principles of partnership interaction are fully implemented in the cooperation of the pedagogical team of their
institutions. At the same time, they noted that “there is a positive microclimate in the team”, “I do not
experience difficulties in cooperation with colleagues”, “there can be different working moments, but I
always try to adhere to the partnership principles”, “there are no problems in communicating with
colleagues”. A total of 43.6% of teachers noted that they try to establish partnership relations with
colleagues, but they do not always succeed. They indicated “different outlook”, “choice of different methods
of education”, “different cultural level”, “reluctance of colleagues to compromise”, “misunderstanding”
among the difficulties. Survey participants were asked to provide their own suggestions for improving
partnership interaction with colleagues. The generalized results are presented in Table 6 for convenience.
In general, the suggestions from the Table 6 indicate the importance of cooperation, mutual
assistance and mutual understanding between teachers to create a favourable psychological climate in the
team. These approaches can improve the interaction and collaboration of colleagues, which will contribute to
effective learning and development of students. The results of the diagnostics of the level of partnership
competence among preschool teachers showed that in general, 43.17% of teachers have a sufficient level of
this competence. 31.80% have an elementary level, and 25.03% of teachers have a high level of partnership
competence.
Handelzalts [20] emphasizes the need for regular communication and interaction with members of
the communities of practitioners for collaboration and effective learning. Creating positive relationships with
team members and building strong trust between them is important. If the level of trust is sufficient, members
will feel safe and it will help them to freely discuss any problems they have in various aspects of their work,
from their teaching methodologies to classroom management. Therefore, we determined the psychological
climate level in the team, which is generally characterized as moderately favourable (82%). The study
revealed a positive moderate correlation between the partnership competence level and the psychological
climate level in the team of preschool teachers.
The obtained results are similar to the findings [21], where showed a linear relationship between
teachers’ commitment to innovation and the socio-psychological climate in the team: the better the level, the
greater the teachers’ commitment to innovation and stimulation to the successful implementation of
innovations in the educational process. Bayrakcı et al. [22] determined that there is a high level of
relationship between the perception of teachers’ psychological climate and their performance. Besides, it was
determined that the perceived psychological climate helps to increase the effectiveness of the teacher’s work.
Aminu and El-Jajah [23] also found a statistically significant positive correlation between the psychological
climate in the school and the effectiveness of the teachers’ work.
Savas and Toprak [24] evaluated the mediating effect of psychological climate on the relationship
between leadership styles and teacher commitment. They found that psychological climate is a partial
mediator of this relationship. In other words, principals’ leadership abilities affect organizational
commitment both directly and through psychological climate. The findings in [25] are important in the
context of our study. They note that a favourable climate in a preschool education institution is positively
correlated with predicted organizational support, psychological empowerment.
Bolam et al. [26] indicate that teachers who had a good working relationship with their colleagues
helped their colleagues, share problems in the classroom with them, trust their colleagues, and they could get
help from them. As a result of the study, it was found that a large number of teachers feel safe being part of
communities of practitioners, they participate in various discussions with their colleagues and can
communicate with them about the difficulties they have in their work. Akinyemi et al. [27] recommend that
teachers spend enough time in meetings, perceive themselves as colleagues, interact as a team and build
strong bonds to have good relationships and high trust. However, Katz and Earl [28] argue that collaborative
cooperation is not enough to change the status quo in communities of practitioners.
Therefore, a positive psychological climate, characterized by mutual understanding, support and
openness, contributes to the creation of a favourable environment for partnership interaction. When teachers
feel comfortable and supported in the team, they are more inclined to work together, share experiences and
provide mutual support. The study confirmed the existence of a moderate positive relationship between the
partnership competence level and the psychological climate level in the team of preschool teachers, which
additionally emphasizes the novelty of the obtained results.
5. CONCLUSION
The issue of building preschool teachers’ partnership competence is relevant in the modern
educational context. The introduction of the principles of partnership interaction in the pedagogical process
contributes to the improvement of the quality of education and upbringing, the formation of a positive
psychological climate in the team, and enhances teachers’ motivation for professional growth. The study of
partnership competence contributes to the understanding of factors affecting effective cooperation between
teachers, contributes to the development of recommendations and programmes aimed at the development of
teachers’ partnership skills, which in turn will contribute to the improvement of professional activity and the
quality of the educational process.
The psychological climate in the teaching staff and the level of partnership between teachers
mutually influence each other. A positive psychological climate, characterized by mutual understanding,
support and openness, stimulates partnership interaction, promoting joint work, trust and openness between
teachers. In turn, strong partnership interaction can contribute to improving the psychological climate in the
team through joint support, emotional support, and open communication. The obtained conclusions can be
applied to the development of training programmes for preschool teachers and psychologists in order to form
a positive psychological climate in the team. Promising directions for further research may be the study of the
relationship between the professional development of teachers and their competence in partnership
interaction, as well as the study of the impact of distance learning on the partnership interaction between
teachers.
REFERENCES
[1] Y. M. Bidzilya, L. M. Rusynko-Bombyk, Y. O. Solomin, H. I. Hetsko, and O. V. Barchan, “Implementation of the of lifelong
learning principles as a background for quality specialized education of journalists,” Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 2022,
vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 142–153, 2022, doi: 10.5430/jct.v11n1p142.
[2] R. M. Cohen, and L. W. Mule, “Collaborative pedagogy in a design thinking education course,” InSight A Journal of Scholarly
Teaching, vol. 14, pp. 29-42, 2019, doi: 10.46504/14201902ma.
[3] O. Tretiak, and H. Smolnykova, “Diagnostics of the formation of the competence of pedagogical partnership among primary
school teachers,” Collection of Scientific Works: Psychol. Pedagogical Problems of the Modern School, vol. 1, no. 9, pp. 79-86,
2023.
[4] L. Piechka, S. Voloshyn, N. Muliar, T. Turbar, L. Boiaryn, and O. Vlasenko, “Neuropsychological approach in teaching children
in the context of partnership pedagogy as a key component of NUS,” BRAIN (Bacau), vol. 13, no. 1Sup1, pp. 67-79, 2022, doi:
10.18662/brain/13.1Sup1/303.
[5] A. De Bie, E. Marquis, A. Cook-Sather, and L. Luqueño, Promoting equity and justice through pedagogical partnership, New
York, NY: Routledge, 2023, doi: 10.4324/9781003446521
[6] J. Hill, R. L. Healey, H. West, and C. Déry, “Pedagogic partnership in higher education: Encountering emotion in learning and
enhancing student wellbeing,” Journal of Geography in Higher Education, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 167-185, 2021, doi:
10.1080/03098265.2019.1661366.
[7] X. Zhou, L. H. Chen, and C. L. Chen, “Collaborative learning by teaching: A pedagogy between learner-centered and learner-
driven,” Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 1174, 2019, doi: 10.3390/su11041174
[8] J. K. Andreasen, “School-based mentor teachers as boundary-crossers in an initial teacher education partnership,” Teach Teacher
Education, vol. 122, 103960, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2022.103960.
[9] F. Fitriati, R. Rosli, Z. Iksan, and A. Hidayat, “Exploring challenges in preparing prospective teachers for teaching 4C skills in
mathematics classroom: A school-university partnership perspectives,” Cogent Education, vol. 11, no. 1, 2286812, 2024, doi:
10.1080/2331186X.2023.2286812.
[10] C. Heckmann, I.A. Machura, H. Horz, N. Lustig, Y. Nunlist, and C. Stein, “Multilateral partnerships supporting community
engagement among pre-service teachers: The TELLUS partnership,” in Creating, Sustaining, and Enhancing Purposeful School-
University Partnerships: Building Connections across Diverse Educational Systems, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2024,
pp. 319-339, doi: 10.1007/978-981-99-8838-9_17.
[11] M. Rowell, M. Ennes, and B. Abramowitz, “Co-development of a museum-based scientist-teacher partnership,” in Connected Sci
Learning, pp. 1-9, 2024, doi: 10.1080/24758779.2023.2296751.
[12] V. A. Sopiansah, and S. Suryana, “The level of creativity of vocational school students in 21st century learning,” in 2nd
International Conference on Research of Educational Administration and Management (ICREAM 2018), Atlantis Press, 2019, pp.
53-57, doi: 10.2991/icream-18.2019.11
[13] K. Kupatadze, and E. Hall, “How can students as partners pedagogy succeed when not actively supported by the institution and/or
goes against institutional culture?” Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, vol. 8, no. 2, 2022.
[14] S. Myllykoski-Laine, L. Pastareff, M. Murtonen, and H. Vilppu, “Building a framework of a supportive pedagogical culture for
teaching and pedagogical development in higher education,” Higher Education, vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 937-955, 2023, doi:
10.1007/s10734-022-00873-1.
[15] M. Smyrnova, “Partnership in education: Practice of interaction in the context of educational activities on the path of building the
New Ukrainian School,” in Proceedings of the All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference. Kharkiv, Kharkiv Academy of
Continuing Education, 2022.
[16] T. Tamim, L. Gauthier, H. Ansari, and F. Ifikhar, “Working in partnership in Pakistan: Lessons from launching a pedagogical
partnership program,” Int J Students as Partners, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 172-182, 2023 doi: 10.15173/ijsap.v7i1.5177.
[17] K. Salamova and S. Mirzoeva, “The influence of the psychological climate in the school environment on the quality of
education,” European Science, vol. 1, pp. 125-139, 2021.
[18] O. K. Kilag, J. Marquita, N. Morales, and J. Laurente, “Teacher-led curriculum development: Fostering innovation in education,”
Excellencia: Int Multidisciplin J Educ., vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 223-237, 2023.
[19] J. T. Wong, N. Bui, D.T. Fields, and B. Hughes, “A learning experience design approach to online professional development for
teaching science through the arts: Evaluation of teacher content knowledge, self-efficacy and STEAM perceptions,” J Sci Teacher
Educ., vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 593-623, 2023, doi: 10.1080/1046560X.2022.2112552.
[20] A. Handelzalts, “Collaborative curriculum development in teacher design teams,” in J. Pieters, J. Voogt, and N. Pareja Roblin,
Eds., Collaborative Curriculum Design for Sustainable Innovation and Teacher Learning, Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2019,
pp. 159-173, doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-20062-6_9.
[21] Y. Ishchenko, A. Rusnak, V. Artemov, P. Syniavskyi, and I. Soroka. “Psychological and pedagogical aspects of adaptation of
students who received temporary shelter to the educational environment of another country,” Journal of Higher Education Theory
and Practice, vol. 24, no. 1, 2024. doi: 10.33423/jhetp.v24i1.6766
[22] A. Bayrakcı, Ö. İskender, and M. Taşkın, “The effect of teachers’ perceived psychological climate on job performance,” Political
Economy and Management of Education, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 44-55, 2022. [Online]. Available:
https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2459609
[23] C. Aminu and W. G. El-Jajah, “Psychological school climate as correlate of teachers’ job performance in senior secondary
schools in Yobe State, Nigeria,” International Journal of Philosophy and Social-Psychological Sciences, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 53-63,
2019. [Online]. Available: bit.ly/3KhlKVc.
[24] C. Savas and M. Toprak, “Mediation effect of schools’ psychological climate on the relationship between principals’ leadership
style and organizational commitment,” The Anthropologist, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 173-182, 2014, doi:
10.1080/09720073.2014.11891427.
[25] A. Shi, M. Zhang, Y. Wang, Y. Xu, and X. Yang, “Associations between kindergarten climate and retention intention of
kindergarten teachers: The chain mediating roles of perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment,” Frontiers
in Psychology, vol. 13, 2022, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.906434.
[26] R. Bolam et al., Creating and sustaining effective professional learning communities, Universities of Bristol, 2005.
[27] A. F. Akinyemi, S. Rembe, and V. Nkonki, “Trust and positive working relationships among teachers in communities of practice
as an avenue for professional development,” Education Sciences, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 1-15, 2020, doi: 10.3390/educsci10050136.
[28] S. Katz, and L. Earl, “Learning about networked learning communities,” School Effectiveness and School Improvement, vol. 21,
no. 1, pp. 27-51, 2010, doi: 10.1080/09243450903569718.
BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS