This research paper substantiates the relevance of developing the innovative stance of educators in preschool educational institutions within the context of postgraduate education. It emphasizes the alignment of this development with scientific programs and research themes. The paper defines the research object, subject, purpose, objectives, and methodology while also highlighting its scientific novelty, as well as the theoretical and practical significance of the obtained results. The research presents the theoretical and methodological framework for studying the development of an innovative stance, as well as contemporary scientific discourse on pedagogical, psychological, and theoretical-methodological principles related to this issue. The paper also provides data on the validation and implementation of experimental research results. A theoretical analysis and systematization of the conceptual and categorical framework of the research have been conducted, including the terms: «innovation», «innovative pedagogical technology», «innovative stance», «innovative stance of an educator», and «innovative stance of a preschool educator». Their interrelation and interdependence have been established.
Content analysis has helped generalize the concept of stance across different spheres, including the professional domain of educators. Based on this analysis, an authorial definition of the term «innovative stance of a preschool educator» has been formulated. This concept is a construct grounded in the educator’s innovative intention — a system of interests, value orientations, and needs correlated with the implementation of innovations. It reflects the educator’s worldview and attitude towards innovation and its potential integration into the preschool didactic system, while also determining the nature of the educator’s innovative behavior in professional and pedagogical activities.
Educators' innovative stance has been categorized based on their functional role in society (active or passive) and the stability of their stance (stable or situational), resulting in four identified types: actively stable, actively situational, passively situational, and passively stable.
The structural components of an educator’s innovative stance have been characterized and identified as follows: motivational-value component (includes goal-setting and motivation for engaging in innovative activities, as well as a well-developed system of interests, value orientations, and needs related to the implementation of innovations); cognitive-informational component (comprises the educator’s knowledge of the essence and specifics of innovative pedagogical technologies, along with a set of skills and competencies necessary for their application in professional practice); activity-creative component (reflects the alignment between the educator’s internal beliefs regarding innovative technologies as drivers of progress and their professional activities in implementing these technologies in the educational process. It also encompasses the ability to transform innovative technologies, methods, and approaches in accordance with methodological objectives, tasks, and the needs and capacities of learners); emotional-reflective component (involves the educator’s ability to understand, interpret, and evaluate their own achievements in innovative pedagogical activities, as well as the presence of a positive attitude toward innovations and a sense of satisfaction derived from engaging in innovative practices).
The key functions of postgraduate education in developing the innovative stance of preschool educators have been substantiated and characterized as follows: compensatory function (aimed at addressing educational gaps and discrepancies to ensure a balance between the educator’s existing level of general and professional competencies and contemporary requirements); adaptive function (ensures the timely training and retraining of educators in response to changing professional and social conditions); transformational function (focuses on overcoming stereotypes and negative attitudes toward pedagogical innovation); analytical function (involves critical reflection on the existing educational reality, as well as the analysis and evaluation of one’s own professional performance; stimulating function (supports and encourages educators to pursue continuous professional improvement, self-education, and self-development, particularly in the direction of innovation).
