New challenges in education and schooling: an example of designing innovative motor learning environments

The aim of this study is to address the key topical challenges in modern teaching from the perspective of competences. A special focus is placed on examining innovative early childhood education, which is defined as the basis – acquired through innovative methods – for quality development of hereditary motor skills and performance of body movement patterns. The study looks at which factors the respondents consider important in terms of innovative teaching of motor skills, which teaching practices they apply in their work, and the correlation between the reported importance rating of individual factors and the common practice in this particular area. The study included 132 preschool teachers, 73 (55.3%) of whom work in Slovenian and 59 (44.7%) in Croatian preschools, who completed an online questionnaire. The results show that the preschool teachers believe the most important factor in innovative teaching of motor skills is coherence of the child's overall development and that the child-oriented practice has been rated as the most important self-reported innovative teaching practice. The highest correlation (r = 0.679) was obtained between creativity and innovativeness and implementing child-oriented practice and between practising innovative approaches and practising professional competences (r = 0.673).