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

Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the professional competencies of early childhood educators, their pedagogical vocation, and their ethical training within the framework of Ecuador s priority curriculum, with the aim of supporting and guiding the design of an innovative and relevant pedagogical approach to teaching. This study employed a mixed-methods approach that was descriptive, non-experimental, and cross-sectional. Ten early childhood and elementary school teachers participated, selected through non-probabilistic convenience sampling. Data were collected using the 360° Competencies, Vocation, and Ethics for Teachers questionnaire, digitized in Google Forms. The instrument consisted of 78 items, distributed across five dimensions related to teachers professional performance; the results revealed a high level of professional competencies. Among these dimensions, the areas Digital Competencies (79.6%) and Pedagogical Innovation (88.3%) received the lowest scores. Based on these results, the pedagogical concept Magic Apron: A World of Digital Innovation was developed, with the goal of strengthening these dimensions through innovative strategies, teaching resources, and practical activities that promote teaching and the educational process.