Teachers´perceived supervisory competence in supervising teaching practice in the context of Finnish early childhood teacher education

Teaching practice is an essential part of Finnish early childhood teacher education. An experienced early childhood education and care (ECEC) teacher works as a supervisor for the student during the teaching practice. The supervisor's task is to support the development of the ECEC expertise of the student teacher. In our research, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse the supervising ECEC teachers' perceived supervisory competence. The research data consist of nationwide survey data collected in the OHOSKE project from ECEC teachers acting as supervisors. The data were analysed using explorative factor analysis. The qualitative data used in the survey supported the research results. The results show that supervisory competence is built from two elements: 1) supervising the student's individual professional growth and learning, and 2) supervising the student as part of the professional community of ECEC. In addition, the results suggest that the perceived supervisory competence is connected to the completion of supervisory training. We propose that supervisory training should be offered for all the ECEC teachers acting as supervisors, and the training should be developed to consider the community element of supervision better.