Competencias Profesionales en Educación Inicial y su vínculo con la vocación y formación ética

Abstract

Abstract: The present research aimed to analyze the relationship between professional competencies, teaching vocation, and ethical training in Early Childhood Education teachers in Ecuador, with the purpose of understanding their influence on professional performance and on strengthening early childhood. The research used a mixed approach, with a descriptive and interpretative design. The population consisted of 48 early childhood educators, and the sample was a non-probabilistic convenience sample comprising 14 educators, who completed the Teachers 360°: Competencies, Vocation, and Ethics questionnaire. The results showed favorable levels in pedagogical and didactic innovation (79.7%), teaching vocation and ethical training (78.3%), as well as in social-emotional (77%), communication (73.6%), and logical-mathematical (72.4%) competencies. The dimension with the lowest rating was digital skills (66.4%). Furthermore, a Spearman s rho coefficient of 0.9736 was obtained, indicating a strong positive association between the variables. It is therefore concluded that these dimensions strengthen teaching performance and educational quality. As a proposal, the Magic Apron was implemented as an interactive teaching resource designed to enhance meaningful learning in early childhood education.