Personal characteristics of preschool education teachers: Assessment of professional identity and emotional sphere at different levels of professionalization
2 FSBEO "Yaroslavl State Pedagogiсal University after K.D. Ushinsky"
Introduction. The article analyzes the problem of continuous and successive development of a preschool teacher’s personality. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of professional identity and the emotional sphere of preschool teachers at different levels of their professionalization.
Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study was built by the provisions of the professional functioning theory (V. D. Shadrikov), as well as the conceptions of teaching as a profession (A. K. Markova, L. M. Mitina). They allow us to consider teacher’s professionalization as a continuous process that has specific features at different levels of teacher education and independent career. The  study was conducted using the following methods: theoretical analysis of scholarly literature and regulatory documents, psychological assessment methods, and methods of statistical processing of the empirical data. The sample included 236 undergraduates majoring in Preschool Education and 1565  teachers of preschool educational settings.
Results. The authors obtained the following results: 1) summarized Russian and international methodological and theoretical studies of continuous and level-based professional development of a preschool teacher; 2) disclosed the content of the main regulatory documents governing the implementation of the idea of continuity and succession in the professionalization of a teacher; 3)  presented the results of the empirical study demonstrating a set of positive and negative trends in the development of the preschool teacher’s personality in the context of continuous professionalization.
Conclusions. Finally, a contradiction was established in the process of continuous professionalization of a preschool teacher. Strict normative regulation and broad theoretical elaboration of the problem are combined with significant negative trends in the development of the personality of a preschool teacher at different levels of their professional development.
Professional development; Preschool teacher; Professional identity; Emotional sphere.
- Pushkareva E. A., Kiryakova I. D., Pushkarev Yu. V. Organizational culture of professional's personality: Features of modern content and formation in the context of digital development of the educational environment. Professional Education in the Modern World, 2024, vol. 14 (3), pp. 420-428. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=80281651 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20913/2618-7515-2024-3-6
 - Khoron'ko L., Bojchuk S. The crisis of professional education and dismantling the professional's personality in the modern world. Didactics of Mathematics: Problems and Research, 2022, no. 1, pp. 40-45. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=49324842
 - Zielinski M. J., McLaughlan C. L., Jahangir T., Bull C. E., Reece S., Allison M. K. Community-driven strategies for implementing suicide prevention education in jails. Psychological Services, 2025, vol. 22 (3), pp. 477-492. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000927
 - Shahid S., Bishop R., Shahid S., Noguchi K., Greer T., Stepanova E. V. Acculturative stress and sociocultural adaptation of international students in the United States. International Perspectives in Psychology, 2025, vol. 14 (4), pp. 185–195. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1027/2157-3891/a000131
 - Neimeyer G. J., Horn J. B., Messer-Engel K., Nishi-Strattner L., Orwig J., Slusky A., Taylor J. M., Williams L. The perceived contribution of continuing professional development activities to ongoing professional competence. Practice Innovations, 2025, vol. 10 (2). pp. 156-171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000282
 - Davis D. E., Hunter E. A., Lee Y., Choe E. J. Y., Sandage S. J., Hook J. N., DeBlaere C., Owen J. J. Culturally humble continuing education: A multicultural orientation perspective. Practice Innovations, 2025, vol. 10 (2), pp. 189-201. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000272
 - Barata M., Santos J. M., Sousa D., Silva C., Alface C., Coelho P. We are on the road to somewhere: How deliberate practice can enhance the path of continuing education in mental health. Practice Innovations, 2025, vol. 10 (2), pp. 132-143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000273
 - Ettekal I., Mohammadi M., Shi Q. Transactional associations among children’s externalizing and internalizing behaviors, teacher and peer relationships, and academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000966
 - Núñez-Regueiro F., Wang M.-T. Adolescent well-being and school engagement as a function of teacher and peer relatedness: The more (relatedness) is not always the merrier. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2025, vol. 117 (3), pp. 466–484. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000910
 
10. Thomas K., Ross L., Ruzek E. Teacher discrimination and student engagement in the context of classroom quality: The mediating effect of relational trust. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2025, vol. 117 (3), pp. 434-444. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000920
11. Blömeke S., Nilsen T., Scherer R. School innovativeness is associated with enhanced teacher collaboration, innovative classroom practices, and job satisfaction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2021, vol. 113 (8), pp. 1645-1667. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000668
12. Klusmann U., Aldrup K., Roloff J., Lüdtke O., Hamre B. K. Does instructional quality mediate the link between teachers’ emotional exhaustion and student outcomes? A large-scale study using teacher and student reports. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2022, vol. 114 (6), pp. 1442-1460. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000703
13. Chehlatova E. V. Development of the pre-school care and education system. Design. Experience. Result, 2023, no. 5, pp. 47-50. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=54819393
14. Scionti N., Luzi G., Zampini L., Marzocchi G. M. Identifying children with self-regulation problems: Factorial structure and psychometric properties of the QUVA-p, a screening tool for preschool teachers. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 2023, vol. 39 (2), pp. 106-113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000706
15. Kelly C. L., Whitaker A. A., Burchinal M., Jenkins J. M., Vandell D. L. Testing the structure–process–outcome model across different early care and education policy contexts. Developmental Psychology, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002018
16. Nesyna S. V. Dynamics of the individuality spheres of students - future teachers in the process of vocational education. Pedagogy and Psychology of Education, 2021, no. 1, pp. 171-181. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=45761010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31862/2500-297X-2021-1-171-181
17. Hoffman J. A., Schmidt E. M., Arguello D. J., Eyllon M. N., Castaneda-Sceppa C., Cloutier G., Hillman C. H. Online preschool teacher training to promote physical activity in young children: A pilot cluster randomized controlled trial. School Psychology, 2020, vol. 35 (2), pp. 118-127. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000349
18. Veretennikova V. B., Shikhova O. F., Shikhov Yu. A. Aсаdemic expertise for the structure and content of professional competences for future preschool teachers. Education and Self-development, 2020, vol. 15 (4), pp. 80-98. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=44553254 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26907/esd15.4.09
19. Özen-Uyar R., Aslan D., Reinke W. M., Aktaş-Arnas Y. Training and coaching early childhood teachers to foster social, emotional, and behavioral competence of children in Turkey. School Psychology, 2025, vol. 40 (3), pp. 309-322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000625
20. Zhao L., Yan W., Harris P. L., Lee K. Telling young children an adult’s emotional reactions to their future honest or dishonest behavior causes them to cheat less. Developmental Psychology, 2025, vol. 61 (9), pp. 1625-1640. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001936
21. Blalock S. M., Goble P., Purswell K., Greene-Rooks J. H., Glosoff H. L., Moreno S., Flores L. Preschool teacher perceptions of child–teacher relationship training. International Journal of Play Therapy, 2025, vol. 34 (1), pp. 14-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000229
22. Blinov V. I., Sergeev I. S., Osadcheva S. A. Continuity in education: Modern approaches. Professional Education and the Labor Market, 2025, vol. 13 (1). pp. 6-21. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=80538103 DOI: https://doi.org/10.52944/PORT.2025.60.1.001
23. Laugen N. J., Kårstad S. B., Reinfjell T., Wichstrøm L. The development of emotion understanding in children: The importance of parents, teachers, and peers. Developmental Psychology, 2024, vol. 60 (2), pp. 255-264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001627
24. Alamos P., Williford A. P., Downer J. T., Turnbull K. L. P. How does inhibitory control predict emotion regulation in preschool? The role of individual children’s interactions with teachers and peers. Developmental Psychology, 2022, vol. 58 (11), pp. 2049-2063. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001415
25. Curby T. W., Zinsser K. M., Gordon R. A., Ponce E., Syed G., Peng F. Emotion-focused teaching practices and preschool children’s social and learning behaviors. Emotion, 2022, vol. 22 (8), pp. 1869-1885. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000988
26. Rojas N. M. Patterns of preschool teachers’ use of discourse strategies with individual Spanish-speaking dual language learners. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2021, vol. 113 (3), pp. 446-461. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000481
27. Baiborodova L. V., Belkina V. N., Burukhin S. F., Gushchina T. N. The formation of a reflexive pedagogical position for the students. Pedagogy, 2021, no. 1, pp. 84-93. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=44738938
28. Coffman J. L., Westover A. E., Cook O. K., Curran P. J., Ornstein P. A. Children’s strategic memory development: The delayed role of kindergarten teachers’ instructional language. Developmental Psychology, 2025, vol. 61(10), pp. 1941–1953. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001951
29. Belkina V. N., Moiseeva Y. A., Safarov E. V. The problem of forming the foundations of the professional activity of a preschool teacher at a university. Revista De La Universidad Del Zulia, 2021, vol. 12 (35), pp. 123-133. URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=69651373 DOI: https://doi.org/10.46925//rdluz.35.07
30. Belkina V. N., Moiseeva Iu. A. Professional and pedagogical trials as a leading factor in the development of professional competencies among students. Bulletin of Cherepovets State University, 2024, no. 4, pp. 133-143. URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=68566928 DOI: https://doi.org/10.23859/1994-0637-2024-4-121-12
31. Buonomo I., Fiorilli C., Benevene P. Unravelling teacher job satisfaction: The contribution of collective efficacy and emotions towards professional role. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020, vol. 17 (3), pp. 736. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030736
32. Gruzdev M. V., Baiborodova L. V., Kozlovsky A. N. Pre-professional training of schoolchildren in the context of continuing pedagogical education. Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin, 2023, no. 3, pp. 8-19. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=54124111
33. Cherednichenko G. A. Russian youth in the education system: From stage to stage. Education Issues, 2017, no. 3, pp. 152-182. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=30053453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2017-3-152-182
34. Kaur Bagga M. Being, becoming, and belonging: Professional identity of teacher educators. Education and Self-Development, 2023, vol. 18 (3), pp. 38-49. URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=54890084 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.18.3.03
35. Donaldson J. M., Holmes S. C., Lozy E. D. A comparison of good behavior game team sizes in preschool classes. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 2021, vol. 21 (1), pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1037/bar0000187
36. Huang R., Siraj I., Melhuish E. Promoting effective teaching and learning through a professional development program: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2024, vol. 116 (8), pp. 1352-1367. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000851
37. McLean D., Eklund K., Kilgus S. P., Burns M. K. Influence of teacher burnout and self-efficacy on teacher-related variance in social-emotional and behavioral screening scores. School Psychology, 2019, vol. 34 (5), pp. 503-511. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000304
38. Bradley C., Cordaro D. T., Zhu F., Vildostegui M., Han R. J., Brackett M., Jones J. Supporting improvements in classroom climate for students and teachers with the four pillars of wellbeing curriculum. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2018, vol. 4 (3), pp. 245-264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000162
39. Chebotareva I. V., Korotkova S. V., Reznik A. V. Spiritual and moral development of future preschool teachers as a prevention of emotional burnout (on the example of using cinema art). Bulletin of Donetsk National University. Series B: Humanities, 2025, no. 1, pp. 87-94. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=80437550 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14939746
40. Carstensen B., Aldrup K., Lüdtke O., Klusmann U. How stable is student teachers’ emotional exhaustion? Disentangling different components of stability and change using the STARTS model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2024, vol. 116 (5), pp. 703-718. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000852










