Forms Of Collegial Cooperation Of Pre-School Teachers

The article explains the professional development of pre-school teachers through different models and stages of development. Collegial cooperation of pre-school teachers is shown as a factor influencing professional development of individuals as well as entire organizations aiming to learning community. According to the author, pre-school teacher is professional who possess sets of competencies that have been developed throughout the process of collegial cooperation and learning at different levels. The empirical part of the article presents the results of qualitative and quantitative research obtained of the sample of pre-school teachers and their assistants employed in public kindergartens in Slovenia. The results are presented through three main sets of research questions. The first set is based on collegial cooperation of pre-school teachers within the kindergartens, where they work. The second set is based on collegial cooperation of pre-school teachers between kindergartens in Slovenia, and the last one is based on international collegial cooperation of pre-school teachers. Estimations of impacts of interpersonal collegial cooperation in the kindergarten, the most desire forms of cooperation among pre-school teachers, knowledge and skills obtained with such cooperation and the effects on their professional development as well as factors that promote or hinder diverse forms of cooperation are presented.