Perception communication of pedagogical workers at teamwork in a kindergarten group

摘要

Constructive communication of kindergarten teachers at team work within a section is very important for maintaining interpersonal relations as well as for effective team work. It is the main bearer of social occurrences among participants (Lipičnik 1996: 68). Feedback is important to maintain a positive communication process (ibid. 69). With the research within my master’s thesis I wanted to determine how kindergarten teachers feel communication in their teams. I formed research goals and hypotheses which I wanted to answer and which are bound to experience, opinions and observations of kindergarten teachers and their assistants. The research sample includes kindergarten teachers and assistants from Slovene kindergartens. I chose a non-probability, convenience sample. The research included 156 educators, among them 100 (64.1 %) kindergarten teachers and 56 (35.9 %) kindergarten-teacher assistants.udThe data was collected with a pre-set questionnaire which included closed- and open-type questions and a marking scale. To form the questionnaire I collected the questions and statements from scholarly sources by different authors (A. Polak 2012: 59; 2007: 51—55; C. Razdevšek-Pučko 1994: 23—25). The questionnaire included 4 closed-type questions, 3 open-type questions and a marking scale with 30 statements. The data was gathered anonymously; the educators answered the questionnaire in the form of an internet survey. Based on the research results I can affirm that the perception of communication in teams of kindergarten educators is constructive.udWith the second research question I explored the expectations of educators regarding team communication. I found out that educators in most cases expect friendly communication, straightforward expressing of criticism in a team, two-way communication, and the possibility of expressing opinions and ideas in a relaxed atmosphere. In the third research question, Which communication problems do kindergarten teachers within a section encounter, the educators most often expressed that there were no problems regarding interpersonal communication within teams in kindergarten sections. In the fourth question I asked about the successfulness of resolving communication problems within a team, and the research results showed that resolving communication problems in teams is successful. In the fifth research question I asked about the strategies of resolving communication problems, and the interviewees in most cases stated that they solved communication problems together with their team co-workers. In the sixth research question I asked about the opinion of educators on advantages of constructive communication, and as an advantage most often the interviewees listed atmosphere (respect, trust, feeling of acceptance, relaxed atmosphere).udWith the research I confirmed (H1) that in the perception of communication in a team there is a statistically important difference between kindergarten teachers and kindergarten-teacher assistants, (H3), that there is a statistically important difference between kindergarten teachers and kindergarten-teacher assistants in the perception of the successfulness of solving communication problems at team work, and rejected H2.udI can conclude that teamwork communication in a kindergarten section has to be positive, honest, open, two-way and trust-worthy, so that the team can work more effectively.ud