Reshaping the Preservice Preschool Teachers’ Curriculum to Give the Emphasis to the Managerial Domain

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine whether emphasising the managerial domain of the preservice preschool teachers’ curriculum is capable to improve their management and leadership skills. This study used the mixed-method methodology that combined the exploratory design and the experimental design. It included three basic phases such as feasibility assessment of making changes to the curriculum, intervention, and controlled observation, followed by the analytical phase. It was proved that the university curriculum upgraded the training approach by using the guided interim directorship. This change addressed the Professional Standard requirements for the preschool heads as well as job requirements. The intervention produced a positive shift in students’ skills of micromanagement, long-term planning, communicating vision, emotional control, and mentoring. There was a shift from the basic level of management skills before the intervention to the intermediate level of the skills after the intervention. The number of students with a superior level of skills increased by 11.54% as well. The students’ comments concerning the integration of the managerial component into the curriculum were complimentary. The observers’ reports suggested that they appreciated the students' work which was the outcome of the updated curriculum.