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Early career guidance – helping a child in pre-professional self-determination, choosing a suitable type of work, taking into account his needs and capabilities – is an essential condition for training professional personnel capable of ensuring Russia’s global competitiveness. It is necessary to start early career guidance from kindergarten, since it is during preschool childhood that a child develops an attitude towards work, professions, and a model of work activity. Early career guidance is included in the educational program of the preschool educational institution (area “Social and Communicative Development”) as an integral part of the full development of the individual. However, in the mass practice of kindergartens, early career guidance most often comes down to acquainting children with professions and types of work and the formation of a value attitude to work and representatives of professions. At the same time, children are not included in real professional activities, they can’t try themselves in different professions. This article proposes a means of strengthening the practical orientation of early career guidance of preschool children – including them in trial professional activities in specially equipped centers of professional tests based on the kindergarten and its social partners. The authors analyzed the available scientific research, innovative projects and programs for early career guidance implemented by kindergartens. The experience of organizing professional mini-tests for preschoolers, available in the kindergarten of the Chegdomyn village, was studied. The ways of developing this experience are shown through the creation of centers for professional tests based on kindergartens and its social partners, equipped with modern professional realities and safety requirements of preschoolers, and organizing children’s trial professional activities in them during regime moments as part of the “Professional Navigator” program (component variable part of the main educational program of preschool education). The article reveals the conditions for the inclusion of preschool children in trial professional activity.

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.

Background. The current stage of preschool education development is characterized by the active implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Despite the understanding of the indispensability of personal communication between teacher and child, AI tools can optimize the professional activities of educators, freeing them from routine tasks and providing data for personalized learning. However, there is a lack of empirical data on the practical application of AI assistants directly in the work of educators in kindergarten groups.

Objective. To test and evaluate the effectiveness of integrating AI assistants into the educational process of preschool educational institutions in Kazan to personalize learning and optimize the professional activities of teachers.

Sample. The study involved 180 children aged 5 to 7 years (60 preschoolers aged 5-6 and 120 children aged 6-7), 24 teachers (educators and kindergarten specialists), and 180 parents (legal guardians of the children participating in the experiment) from six municipal kindergartens in Kazan.

Methods. The study was conducted using an experimental design and included four stages (preparatory, training, main, and evaluation). A combination of diagnostic methods was used: assessment of teachers’ digital competence (surveys and interviews), analysis of the individualization of the educational process, pedagogical assessment of children’s development (speech, cognition, socialization, emotional-volitional sphere), and parental surveys. Statistical data processing was performed using the Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, Pearson’s c² test, variance and correlation analysis, and Cohen’s d coefficient for effect size assessment.

Results. AI assistants were integrated into the educational process of kindergartens. A significant increase in the digital competence of teachers in the experimental group was observed, and a reduction in the time teachers spent on recordkeeping was found due to the use of a digital platform with AI analytics. Statistically significant differences in the cognitive and speech development of children in the experimental group compared to the control group were found. A strong positive correlation was found between the use of robotic assistants and the development of social skills, as well as between specialized AI platforms and personalized learning. Positive trends in parental attitudes toward the implementation of AI were also recorded.

Conclusions. The integration of AI assistants allows for the optimization of educators’ work and the personalization of educational trajectories without replacing the role of the teacher. Key conditions for successful implementation include data security, technological reliability, and the critical selection of tools (taking into account the risks of commercial support, as in the case of the Moxie robot). AI assistants should not be viewed as a replacement for the teacher, but as a tool that enhances their capabilities and allows them to see the child more deeply, without replacing human warmth and understanding.