Background. The study of the problem of methodological support for preschool teachers in the design of the educational program of a preschool organization is actualized by the need to improve the quality of education and the effectiveness of pedagogical work in the context of changing requirements of regulatory documents. In preschool education, this is the introduction of the Federal Educational Program of Preschool Education. The quality of the educational program design depends on the level of readiness of teachers for design activities, their competence, knowledge and skills, which determines the need to identify professional deficits and provide methodological support to fill them in a preschool organization.
Objective. Determining the possibilities of various forms of methodological work to fill the professional deficits of educators in design activities identified during diagnostics.
Sample. The study involved 420 educators of preschool educational organizations of the Chelyabinsk region in 2023 and 2024 (2023 - 270 people, 2024 - 150 people). Of these, 92 have the highest category, 178 have the first category, and 150 have no category.
Methods. The following methods were used: theoretical analysis of regulatory and methodological documents of the federal and regional levels, which are the basis for designing and implementing methodological work as a means of supporting teachers in designing the educational program of a preschool organization; comparative analysis of data from a diagnostic study of the level of development of design activities; diagnostic maps that allow identifying the degree of severity of teachers’ theoretical ideas about pedagogical design, its stages, project implementation indicators, as well as the degree of formation of design activity methods.
Results. A description of the forms of methodological work (reproductive, reproductive-heuristic, heuristic, heuristic-productive, productive) is given, which are correlated with a specific content of educators’ activities to fill professional deficits in design activities. Based on the analysis of the data of the diagnostic study of the level of formation of the design activities of educators, the main professional deficits are identified, leading to typical difficulties in designing the variable part of the educational program.
Conclusions. Taking into account the features of the forms (reproductive, reproductive-heuristic, heuristic, heuristic-productive, productive) of methodological work when replenishing the professional deficits of educators is a means of supporting educators in designing the variable part of the educational program of a preschool educational organization, contributes to improving the quality of preschool education.