Over the past decade, theoretical and directive educational documents of the European Union and other countries have increasingly emphasised the importance of preschool education, highlighting its long-term impact on children's academic, social, and emotional development and subsequent success in school (Basaran, 2021; Jiang, 2022; Khonajazeva, 2022). Ensuring the quality of preschool education depends directly on the professional competencies of the teachers, therefore the assessment of teachers' competencies is becoming a priority area in both Lithuanian and international educational contexts.

Studies (Ibda, et al., 2023; Carmen, et al., 2022) have shown that teachers most often improve their subject-specific competencies but emphasise the importance of psychosocial competencies. The competencies of a preschool teacher have their own particularities – a greater need for personal, pedagogical, and psychological qualities, a professional focus, and an understanding of children and childhood (Jurašaitė-Harbison, 2000). According to S. Poteliūnienė (2019), subject-specific and general competencies are synergistic and must go hand in hand, i.e., it is important to know not only what to teach, but also how to teach. Empowering teachers and strengthening their social and emotional competencies is essential; together with teachers' subject-specific competencies, this can help ensure high-quality education.

Teachers in Lithuania and around the world face many challenges in their work. They are at high risk of professional burnout, which is particularly evident in today's context. Recent scientific studies have placed particular emphasis on the topic of teachers' psycho-emotional well-being: the links between teacher burnout and job satisfaction have been examined (Gedvilienė, Didžiulienė, 2020), drawing attention to the importance of the social and emotional well-being of preschool education specialists (Jennings, 2020) and emphasising that the emotional well-being of the employees themselves is important for the quality of the services they provide (Susman-Stillman et al., 2020). Disruption of lessons due to children's behaviour and social-emotional difficulties is one of the key factors increasing the risk of teacher burnout (Mijakoski et al., 2022). Data from Lithuania is consistent with global trends: even among preschool teachers, professional burnout is associated with the emotional and psychological difficulties exhibited by children (Murauskienė, 2023). Unfortunately, research into teachers' work-related needs and the improvement of their psychological well-being has not yet received sufficient attention.

According to the TALIS data for 2024, Lithuanian teachers improve their qualifications the most compared to teachers in other countries, but this does not have any significant impact on the effectiveness of their work (TALIS, 2024). Stanichenko, Makarenko, Mksymova, and Fedorova (2024) argue that there is a lack of effective methods for training teachers to work in preschool groups and developing their competencies. It is therefore important to examine both the pedagogical preparation and practical experience of teachers in the field of pre-school education and to seek new opportunities to improve the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems in Lithuania.

Educational reforms and rapid changes in social life influence the qualifications, professional competencies, and abilities of preschool teachers. It is no longer sufficient to have acquired knowledge alone – it is becoming increasingly important to develop new competencies. Every teacher should continuously improve his or her competencies and skills in line with current changes. Therefore, it is very important to continuously assess teachers' competencies and, based on the data obtained, help improve teacher training and competency development programmes.

The aim of the study is to investigate how preschool teachers assess their competencies and identify the need for professional development in order to improve their psychosocial well-being in the educational process.

In order to define the knowledge, abilities, and skills required for the profession of preschool teachers, a study was conducted. The study of the structure of preschool teachers’ activity and competencies conducted in this work is one of the areas of research on professions, but it is important, for it is directly related to professional training as the qualifications required in the activity system become the goals of professional training, thus determining the quality of the renewal and improvement of the training content. The study on the professional education and training of preschool teachers was performed during 2025. For this study, we prepared a 39-item self-designed questionnaire consisting of instructions and structured questions, questions with a nominal scale format, and open-ended questions. The studied sample consisted of 105 preschool teachers working in Lithuania. The study data obtained from closed-ended questions were processed by applying statistical data analysis and using the SPSS 22.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for Windows software. The content of the open-ended questions was processed by applying content analysis.

The changing concept of the profession of a preschool teacher also influences the qualitative transformation of professional training parameters. The areas of activity and competencies defined on the basis of an analysis of the professional activities of preschool teachers are the starting point for the development and improvement of the preschool teacher professional training curriculum. The results of the study on the professional activities of preschool teachers showed that they had good social, organisational, and pedagogical qualifications, but lacked psychological skills, and their research qualifications were inadequate. Teachers usually improve their qualifications only because of the possibility of a salary increase, and they are encouraged to do so by the head of the institution. Teachers only stated that they would like to improve their psychological qualifications, but did not mention research qualifications. Therefore, the development and integration of these qualifications should be a task for the education system. The research is still ongoing, and the data are in the process of being collected. Based on the results of the conducted educational research, recommendations will be prepared for education policymakers. This research No. P-EDU-23-22 is co-funded by the European Union (the project „ Breakthrough in Educational Research“ No 10-044-P-0001) under the 1st April 2025 Agreement with the Research Council of Lithuania (RCOL) and the 17th April 2025 Joint Activity Agreement with Lithuanian University of Health Sciences

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