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Relevance. In the modern world more researchers and practitioners from different fields are preoccupied with the changing the shape of a child in society: a child is not an object of pedagogical influence, but a subject whose opinion is valuable and should be taken into account when making decisions that directly concern him. The possibility for children to be heard at preschool age is an important basis for the development of civic competencies that do not appear by themselves at an older age. At the same time, the researchers also note that there is a gap between the recognition of the value of child and real practice. The possibility not only to hear the voices of young children, but also to make them visible and significant in society, to offer children the means of expressing their opinions is a methodological challenge for researchers and practitioners of preschool education, which requires special competencies.

The aim of the study is to analyze modern studies and projects devoted to the professional competencies of a teacher and the conditions accompanying their development necessary for the implementation of the principle of participation in educational practice.

Description of the research progress. 19 studies and projects were analyzed from the point of view of the possibilities and limitations of the implementation of the principle of participation in educational practice. Two key aspects were identified: the possibilities and limitations of the implementation of the principle of participation in educational practice, which include teachers’ ideas about participation and the influence of the broader context of the community and organizational culture, and professional competencies of teachers necessary for support their participation in kindergarten and primary school, and approaches to their development.

The results of the study. In the article the problem of implementing the principle of participation is considered not only in the context of the structure of a separate preschool group, but also in the organizational culture of the kindergarten as a whole. The authors conclude that it is necessary to reflect on the ideas of participation in order to create conditions for its support in kindergarten, as well as the need for a comprehensive study of factors related to the organizational culture of the kindergarten, which can influence the development of participatory practices. Based on the analysis, two groups of pedagogical competencies were identified: general competencies necessary to create basic conditions for participation, and more specific competencies necessary to empower children’s opportunities to influence decision-making.

Conclusion. The article formulates recommendations for training preschool teachers and kindergarten teams.

In this paper the author explores how our ideas about early learning have developed over time and proposes a new view of pedagogy, that is not based on the traditional Model of Deprivation, but outlines a new model which goes beyond deprivation. The new model proposes that the child is not deprived of culture, rather the child is deprived of opportunities for creating culture and dealing with culture. In this new perspective the child is not viewed as passive but active. The aim of schools should be to provide an “enabling culture” in which the child is involved in reinventing, refurbishing and refreshing the culture. The paper also identifies and explores

3 antinomies which have emerged as ideas about early learning developed;

• the ‘individual realisation’ versus the ‘culture serving’ antinomy

• the ‘talent centred’ versus the ‘tool centred’ antinomy

• the ‘particularism‘ versus the ‘universalism’ antinomy.

It is argued that an exploration of these 3 antinomies can provide a useful basis for thinking about what we have learned about early learning and where we are moving in current development.

The conclusion of this paper is that children from the start must be accepted as members and as participants in the culture and be given the opportunity to make and remake the culture in each generation. The case is made that we should stop thinking about deprivation of children and start thinking about participation of children.

The problem of communication between teachers and parents in research, law and practice. The problem of the relationship between education and family is shown. The involvement of parents has a positive impact on the results of child, the quality of education, the intensity of the parent-child relationship and makes children feel comfortable. However, interference in the life of the educational institution can create tension, have an association with mistrust, train lack of independence in a child, and put pressure on the educational process. The basis of the solution and building of friendly, effective communication must be a clear vision about what is the same and what is different in the opinions of teachers and parents, and which features of communication assure greater satisfaction from the relationship. The aim of this study is to research the preferable forms of the involvement of parents in the life of the educational institution and the conditions of satisfaction from communication with each other.

Methods of the research and sample. The parents and teachers of preschools in Tula and Moscow took part in this research, were asked to fill out the questionnaires in paper and in an electronic form. The questionnaires contain questions about the preferable forms of a parent’s engagement in the life of the preschool and the level of satisfaction from the relationship between parents and teachers.

Forms of parental involvement in the life of the kindergarten preferred by teachers and parents. It is shown that the perspectives of teachers and parents are largely similar: “live” communication is more preferable than remote, the traditional forms of involvement of the families in the life of the preschool like festivals and group meetings are popular. The work in a parent committee and the participation in the evaluation of the quality of education are unpopular. Some divergences in the perspectives of parents and teachers are revealed: the former prefer to involve parents as assistance or as a passive spectator, while the latter tend to prefer active forms of participation.

The satisfaction of teachers and parents from communication with each other. The satisfaction of teachers from the relationship is first of all related to the participation of parents in the design of the kindergarten. Teachers, who prefer financial support of parents are less satisfied from the relationship. Parents’ satisfaction is related to, in what degree their opinion is accepted in the process of communication with the teacher. Both parents and teachers consider themselves the initiators of the communication.

Background. Teachers’ ideas have a significant impact on their practical decisions. Supporting the child’s opinion and participation in decision-making helps children develop a sense of belonging and self-expression, which in turn has a positive effect on both educational achievement and overall quality of life. Nevertheless, issues related to teachers’ ideas of the concept of participation and its implementation in the study group remain insufficiently investigated.

Objectives. To develop a model of a participatory approach that allows determining the degree of implementation of the principle of participation in an educational organization. To analyze the relationship between the ideas of Russian teachers about children’s participation and the level of their support for children’s opinions and participation in decision-making.

Sampling. 42 teachers from 30 preschool groups participated in the study. To analyze the relationship between teachers’ ideas and their support for children’s opinions, all respondents were divided into three subgroups according to the quality level of the environment of the groups in which they work.

Methods. Teachers’ ideas about participation were studied using the author’s modification of the questionnaire “Preschool teachers’ ideas about kindergarten education” (Broström et al., 2012; modified by Ursulenko, 2020), in which an indicator of parental participation was added. The examination of the level of support for children’s opinions and participation in decision-making was carried out by a specially trained external expert based on the educational environment quality assessment tool “Support for children’s opinions and participation in decision-making”, developed by the Research Institute of Urbanism and Global Education MСU as a possible addition to the ECERS-3 scales.

Results. The respondents of the first subgroup, with unsatisfactory quality, have no significant correlations in the ideas describing children’s participation in decision-making. The respondents of the second subgroup, with minimal quality, have significant connections both in the ideas describing children’s participation in decision-making and in the ideas describing the manifestation of their initiative. But these ideas are not related to each other. Respondents in the third subgroup, with a good quality, believe that participation in activities affecting the interests of children is associated with decision-making and the ability to initiate joint activities. There are no subgroups with high-quality. The number of preschool groups in which teachers have created conditions that prevent or insufficiently support participation prevails — 80% (24 groups).

Conclusions. The structural and dialectical model of the implementation of the participatory approach developed by us allows us to perform a meaningful analysis of the practices of implementing the principle of participation in preschool education, which is presented in the theoretical part of the study. Teachers’ ideas about children’s participation are related to their support of children’s opinions and participation in decision-making. For participation in activities affecting interests, not only participation in decision-making is important, but also the ability to initiate joint activities that are interconnected.