Over the past thirty years, the role (image) of preschool teachers has undergone many changes, from the image of “nice ladies who love children” (Stonehouse, 1989) to the image of a “complex and multidimensional profession requiring continuous professional development” (Docket, 2019). The literature suggests that this shift is related to changes at the policy level, where early childhood services moved up the policy agenda (Moss, 2006). This shift from the “nanny image” to the “image of a professional” was recognised in many educational systems (Harwood et al., 2013; Lightfoot & Frost, 2015; Monk & Phillipson, 2016; Zhang & Yu, 2016; O’Regan et al., 2019; Joyce et al., 2023). Contextual variations in conceptualisations of domains of the new professional image of preschool teachers across different Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) systems are negligible (Harwood et al., 2013). Preschool teachers, however, can differ in the degree of accomplishment of specific domains of their new role (Irvine et al., 2024), as well as in the extent to which their role is recognised or valued as the professional workforce (Joyce et al., 2023).

Docket (2019) identifies the following aspects of the new image of preschool teachers that are important for further research: a) implementing curriculum, interpreting curriculum, and contributing to curriculum development; b) maintaining a balance between top-down and bottom-up approaches to professional development; c) engaging in ongoing professional development opportunities; and, aspiring to improve your professional skills; d) being a model of respectful, reflective practice by demonstrating a sense of responsibility. Listed domains of the new image of preschool teachers can be an issue for preschool teachers at the level of their professional autonomy and the cost-effectiveness of the increased professional status of preschool teachers on expected benefits. Additionally, the misalignment between policy and educators’ perspectives on the image of the preschool profession can also be a point of instability in the co-construction of the ECEC profession in one educational system (Irvine et al., 2024; Hostettler Schärer, 2023). All listed stressors for establishing a stable image of a preschool teacher as a professional require for further continuous research in a specific educational context.

Context of the study. The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia introduced a new ECEC curriculum framework, Years of Ascent (Official Gazette, 2018), implemented in all public preschool institutions from 2019 to 2022 [1]. The new curriculum framework defines the image of a preschool teacher through four domains: 1) the domain of direct work of children, 2) the domain of curriculum development, 3) the domain of professional development, and 4) the domain of professional public engagement.

The objective of this study is to provide point-in-time insights from a group of Serbian preschool professionals on the changes in their image as professionals as they implement the new ECEC curricula framework.

[1] Implementation of the new curricula framework was supported by the Capacity Building Programme (CBP), under the project of The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia, “Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care” (part of the subcomponent 2.1.), supported by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The CBP is developed in cooperation with the MoE, UNICEF and the Institute for Pedagogy and Andragogy of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. Data from this study is collected as a part of a framework for monitoring and evaluation of the Capacity Building Programme.

Data for this study was collected as part of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of the CBP from 2021 to 2023, which included four case studies on different segments of new curricula implementation supported by CBP. The case studies utilised the participatory technique called The Most Significant Change (MSC), a story-based, dialogical evaluation tool that complements conventional tracking of quantitative indicators (Dart & Davies, 2005). Through this method, insight is gained into which changes educators value most, using an approach sensitive to the daily challenges and complex situations educators face. Several steps are involved in this technique: developing focus questions, collecting stories, verifying story content, selecting the story that describes the most significant change, and presenting the analysis results. Following the MSC technique, preschool teachers wrote 106 stories describing the most significant change in practice since introducing new curricula. Most stories described practices within kindergarten groups (72.6%), while the rest came from nursery groups. The story-writing process was facilitated using the following topics: a) the support that educators recognised as contributing to changes; b) A list of all observed changes; c) Identification of the most significant change; d) the context in which the selected most significant change occurred; e) Explanation of why the selected change was considered the most significant. In the second phase of applying the MSC technique, five group interviews were organised, involving 18 preschool counsellors (pedagogues and psychologists) from preschool institutions participating in M&E and four Capacity Building Program team members. During discussions about anonymised stories, preschool counsellors and team members identified five stories representing the change process experienced by educators. Focus group participants also defined how they envisioned further support to strengthen educators’ capacities to implement the new curriculum framework. A secondary thematic analysis of the stories about the most significant change and group interview responses was conducted.

This analysis shows that the changes brought by the new curricula framework in the Serbian ECEC system are complex and multifaceted. Moreover, by articulating the various areas of change achieved, the MSC stories explored the dimensions of practice that could help implement such changes. This result aligns with the image of ECEC teachers presented in the new curricula framework Years of Ascent (Official Gazette, 2018). The first aspect of the preschool teacher's image is understanding the new curriculum framework, Years of Ascent, as being personally relevant and connected to teachers’ practice. Each story emphasised this element. An equally important aspect of educators' professional role is the continual re-evaluation of their image of a child and teachers’ relationships with children. All the selected stories highlighted the importance of co-developing the program with the children as the most significant change to the previous curriculum. For this strategy to be successful, educators' perceptions of children must align with the image described in the new curricula, specifically their beliefs about how children learn. In addition, the image of the educator conveyed in the MSC stories includes aspects of practice specific to the learning community. This area of the professional role represents the third pillar of the described changes. There was an emphasis not only on developing reflective practices within their kindergartens but also on a shift in kindergarten culture and the empowerment to expand horizontal learning outside their institution through presentations at vocational conferences. Results were discussed in terms of further support in establishing stable relations between top-down and bottom-up efforts in the professionalisation of the ECEC workforce in Serbia.

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