Profesionalni razvoj vzgojiteljev z vidika vzgojiteljevih pojmovanj

Continuous professional learning of preschool teachers today is no longer the choice of individual enthusiasts, but a necessity and a professional duty of every preschool teacher. Professional development of preschool teachers in the broadest sense means the process passing from the individual’s decision of a profession or from the beginning of training to retire. In a narrower sense, the professional development of preschool teachers is limited to the period of “critical situation”, during which the individual actually professionally develops - changing his or her perceptions, attitudes, and practices of action. Researching professional development, we distinguish different approaches. Some researchers focus on the research phase that affects professional development, while others are more interested in exploring the factors that influence development, while still others place greater emphasis on the forms of vocational learning. The educators’ adherence to professional learning to the extent of exploiting the opportunities of formal learning or to the extent to which they learn from daily experience depends significantly on these educators’ understanding of professional development. In this paper, we present the results of empirical research that was conducted on a sample of 92 preschool teachers in Croatia. We were interested in how preschool teachers though about their own professional development and whether or not their perceptions changed over the years of work. We found that lower conceptions of professional development are prevailing. The finding is important for all who are engaged in promoting professional development and it is reasonable to consider both the design and the implementation of educational programs