Background. The relevance of this study stems from the contradiction between the growing demand for the development of young children (aged 1–3) and the insufficient preparedness of educators to address their specific needs. Preschool teachers lack competence in areas such as pre-verbal communication, emotional regulation in toddlers, and working with parents, yet standard professional development courses fail to account for these specific aspects. This necessitates the development of a comprehensive personnel training concept, new educational programs, and flexible formats for non-formal education.
Objectives. To theoretically substantiate and empirically verify a holistic concept of developing professionalism among early childhood educators in the context of non-formal education, revealing its essence, structure, and dynamics as a nonlinear process of qualitative transformation of the specialist’s personality and activity.
Sample. The study sample consisted of 445 specialists from four regions of the Russian Federation, including 282 early childhood educators and 163 experts from psychological-pedagogical and methodological services. A subsample of 45 educators participated in the formative and control experiments.
Methods. A questionnaire survey with self-assessment and expert assessment of deficits, 18 focus groups (182 teachers), and analysis of activity products. A pedagogical experiment (N=45) based on the implementation of a non-formal learning community program, followed by verification of its effectiveness.
Results. A stable discrepancy was found between teachers’ self-assessment and the expert assessment of their professional deficits (p < 0.05), the most acute being in the methodological sphere (mean scores of 6.2 and 4.8, respectively). Professional deficits of teachers were recorded. Qualitative analysis of interview data showed that teachers are aware of their difficulties but do not have a sufficiently diverse set of tools to overcome them. The developed concept posits non-formal education as a special environment that generates professional new formations through the mechanisms of social learning, kinesthetic attunement, and collective creativity.
Conclusions. A holistic concept is presented that defines non-formal education as a possible resource for developing the professionalism of early childhood educators. Empirical evidence of its validity was obtained: statistically significant positive dynamics across all diagnosed indicators (p < 0.05), with the greatest increase in pedagogical sensitivity (32%) and pedagogical tactility (28%). Prospects for use are associated with the development of variable regional models of learning communities for specialists working with young children in different types and kinds of institutions.