Influence of In-service Preschool Teachers’ Education on their Perceived Competences for Counselling Parents

Abstract

With a half-century of tradition, early and preschool education in the Republic of Croatia is a highly organised system in which preschool teachers meet high professional standards. Among their professional requirements, they have been legally bound to counsel parents since 2008. However, no other documents or papers in Croatia describe or specify what counselling entails. The present research explored 136 preschool teachers and their self-assessment of competence in counselling parents. The results indicate that: (a) preschool teachers rate themselves moderately competent in counselling parents; (b) joining the in-service training is related to a higher level of their self-assessment in counselling parents. Although it is evident that they had acquired the competence for counselling parents during their personal and professional development, the in-service training plays the key role in providing it.

Keywords

• competence
• counselling parents
• preschool teachers