Assessment of Early Childhood Teachers' Competencies for Care and Education of Toddlers

Contemporary trends in the education and care of toddlers shed light on the specific competencies of early childhood teachers. The aim of this empirical qualitative study with elements of a comparative approach is to investigate, look at and understand the perspective of early childhood teachers about their own competencies for working in toddler groups in kindergartens in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Republic of Slovenia. We collected the data needed for the research in 2022 from 91 respondents using a self-created structured online interview in written form. Through the thematic analysis of the content of respondents' answers and the theoretical setting of the concept of early childhood teachers' competencies, nine categories of difficulties and six categories of advantages related to their competencies were distinguished. The findings of this study point to the fact that early childhood teachers for toddlers do not assess their own competencies as optimally developed.