VISUAL CULTURE AND PROFESSIONAL IMAGE OF THE CONTEMPORARY PRESCHOOL TEACHER AS A TOOL FOR ENHANCING THE PRESTIGE OF THE PROFESSION

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical substantiation of the phenomenon of visual culture of the contemporary preschool educator and reveals its relationship with professional image and the social prestige of the profession. The relevance of the problem is determined by the transformation of the educator’s professional role, the expansion of professional communication contexts, and the need to enhance the social visibility of the complexity and significance of pedagogical work. Particular attention is paid to reconsidering visual culture beyond its traditional association with the educator’s external appearance and conceptualizing it as a mechanism for professional representation.

The aim of the study is to theoretically substantiate the visual culture of the contemporary preschool educator as a component of professional image and to determine its potential for shaping a positive public perception and enhancing the prestige of the profession.

Methods. The study employed theoretical methods of scientific inquiry, including analysis and synthesis of contemporary scholarly literature, regulatory documents, and analytical sources; comparison, systematization, and generalization of scientific approaches; and structural-component analysis.

Results. The concept of the “visual culture of the contemporary preschool educator” was clarified, and its relationship with professional identity, self-presentation, and professional image was substantiated. An original interpretation of visual culture as an integrative component of professional culture is proposed, enabling the conscious, ethically responsible, and pedagogically appropriate representation of an educator’s professionalism in both face-to-face and digital environments. A five-component structural model was developed, comprising personal-visual, nonverbal-communicative, professional-aesthetic, digital-visual, and value-image components. The concept of “visual congruence of the professional image of a preschool educator” was introduced to describe the consistency between the educator’s professional representation and their actual behaviour, competence, values, and ethical principles. Individual, institutional, and socio-professional levels of realizing the image-building potential of visual culture were identified.

Conclusions. It was established that the visual culture of the contemporary preschool educator should not be regarded as an independent technology for creating a positive professional image; rather, it functions as a mechanism for the authentic representation of professionalism. Its potential for enhancing the prestige of the profession lies primarily in increasing the social visibility of educators’ professionalism and shaping public perceptions of the content, complexity, and significance of their professional activity. At the same time, this influence is indirect and is realized in interaction with socio-economic and institutional factors.