A COMPETENCY-BASED PEDAGOGICAL MODEL FOR PREPARING PRE-SERVICE PRESCHOOL TEACHERS TO FOSTER HEALTH-RELATED SKILLS IN YOUNG CHILDREN

The professional preparation of preschool teachers is increasingly expected to address the complex developmental, educational, and health-related needs of young children. One important area of such preparation is the ability of future educators to foster health-related knowledge, habits, practical skills, responsible behaviour, and age-appropriate self-regulation in preschool children. However, traditional teacher education often presents theoretical knowledge, pedagogical methods, practical training, assessment, and reflection as relatively separate components. This conceptual study aims to substantiate an enhanced competency-based pedagogical model for preparing pre-service preschool teachers to foster health-related skills in young children. The study is based on theoretical analysis, conceptual synthesis, structural-functional analysis, and pedagogical modelling. The proposed model integrates five interconnected blocks: target-conceptual, content-competency, process-technological, diagnostic-evaluative, and result-reflective. It is implemented through four stages: diagnostic-motivational, cognitive-content, practice-transformative, and reflective-evaluative. The professional readiness of future preschool teachers is represented through motivational-axiological, cognitive, operational-activity, and reflective-evaluative components. The model combines competency-based, activity-oriented, contextual, and reflective approaches and promotes the transformation of theoretical knowledge into developmentally appropriate pedagogical action. It positions the future preschool teacher not merely as a transmitter of health information but as a designer of educational situations that support the gradual development of sustainable health-related skills in young children.