The purpose of this study was 2-fold: to validate the Private Kindergarten Teachers' Intention of Remaining (PKTIR) Questionnaire and the Factors of Teachers' Intention of Remaining (FTIR) ...Questionnaire, and to comparative study to explore the effects of organizational and individual psychological factors in China. A total of 22 experts were recruited to modify and validate both questionnaires. The results showed that both questionnaires had instruments that are reliable and valid. Then, a total of 582 kindergarten teachers were recruited to explore the comparison between the effects of organizational and individual psychological factors. The results from the structural equation model suggested that the influence of individual psychological factors on kindergarten teachers' intention of remaining was greater compared to the organizational factors. Second, among all the factors, the most explanatory are work connections, sense of work gained from it, satisfaction with the salary, and work discard. To our knowledge, this is the first comparative study to explore the effects of organizational and individual psychological factors in China.
In China-Mainland, the turnover rate of private kindergarten teachers remains high for a long time. With 692 Chinese private kindergarten teachers as subjects, we applied a questionnaire survey to ...examine the relationship between self-occupation stereotypes held by private kindergarten teachers and their turnover intention and the underlying mechanisms. The structured equation model (SCM) was conducted to analyze data and revealed a significantly positive correlation between self-occupation stereotypes and turnover intention. Further analyses showed that on the individual level, personal control sense mediated the relationship between self-occupation stereotypes and turnover intention, and on the organization level, professional identity mediated the relationship between them. Additionally, self-occupation stereotypes were also related to turnover intention via the chain-mediating role of personal control sense and professional identity. The current research firstly clarified the acting paths between self-occupation stereotypes of private kindergarten teachers and turnover intention on both the individual and the organization levels. In practice, the research provided a novel perspective for policy makers to alleviate the turnover tendency of private kindergarten teachers.
Aim. The number of kindergartens is swelling in China, and that of private kindergartens in particular. The quality of teaching in the latter is positively linked to the levels of teachers’ ...professional competence. Thus, to enhance the teaching quality in private kindergartens, strengthening teacher’s professional competence is one of the vital approaches. Teacher’s professional competence can be enhanced via effective CPD activities. Therefore, this study aims to explore the types and content of CPD activities for Chinese private kindergarten teachers.
Methods. A qualitative approach was adopted in this research. 18 kindergarten teachers were selected as participants from three private kindergartens in Shenzhen. Data was collected by semi-structured interview from 18 teachers.
Results and conclusion. The findings showed that the school-based CPD activities are valued by most private kindergarten teachers. Furthermore, this study found that CPD activities can help private kindergarten teachers to be more inclusive and positive in teaching. They enabled teachers to acquire knowledge and skills that are relevant to child care and development, teaching, as well as cooperation with colleagues and children’s parents.
Practical application. The research findings presented herein have significant implications for the knowledge base of private kindergarten teachers’ CPD in China. It also has implications for the practice that is relevant to private kindergarten teachers, principals and policy makers.
Abstract The earlier starting age for learning English is apparent in the non‐Anglophone world. However, in China, kindergartens are banned from delivering subjects that are designated for primary ...school level, including English language lessons, as part of reforms to eliminate “schoolification” of preschool education. This qualitative study takes a multi‐level approach to language‐in‐education planning to explore how local education authorities and different types of kindergartens in the city of Hefei, China, interpret and respond to this macro‐level policy. The findings reveal a disparity between officials and school participants in their attitudes toward preschool English language education, as well as divergence between public and private kindergartens in their current English provision. The study probes these disparities and their links to the interplay between the meso‐level local education authority and the different types of kindergartens, as well as the relationship between the government and the market.
摘要 在非英语国家, 英语学习的低龄化趋势愈发明显。然而, 在“去小学化”政策的要求下, 英语作为小学科目被禁止在中国幼儿园教学。本定性研究采用多层级语言教育规划框架, 主要探讨地方教育局及不同类型幼儿园对这一政策的认识和回应。研究结果表明, 教育局工作人员和学校相关利益者对学前英语教育呈不同态度, 公办和民办幼儿园对这一政策的回应也存在差异。据此, 本研究深入讨论了地方教育局和不同类型幼儿园之间的相互作用, 以及政府与市场二元关系对中国学前英语教育的影响。
The Early Childhood Education Quality (ECEQ) initiative is a pioneering approach toward supporting ongoing, self-organized professional development in the private kindergarten sector in Japan. The ...purpose of this study is to examine how kindergarten teachers and ECEQ coordinators experience this approach and view the ECEQ process. Online questionnaires were distributed to the teachers of 20 kindergartens that implemented the ECEQ for the first time in 2019 and to the ECEQ coordinators who supported them. The answers from 126 classroom teachers and 15 ECEQ main coordinators were analysed. Results indicate that: (1) almost all kindergarten teachers found the ECEQ experience meaningful; (2) teachers were resistant to holding open classes (work shadowing by colleagues from other kindergartens), but they nevertheless recognized the benefits; (3) teachers reported that the ECEQ enabled them to think about ECEC practices based on the children's perspectives; and (4) teachers reported that the ECEQ coordinators were supportive in terms of including teachers' ideas; however, they also felt that the ECEQ coordinators did not provide enough backing for autonomous meetings and in-house workshops after the ECEQ process had been completed. These results indicate both the strengths and difficulties associated with transforming the ECEQ into a system for supporting self-organized professional development.
An online survey of 1577 private kindergarten teachers was conducted during the pandemic, and their career situation and its influencing factors were described and analyzed. The results indicate ...that, although the private kindergarten teachers tended to cope positively with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, their concern for future development exhibited significant correlation with work fatigue and avoidance of learning, reflecting the negative occupational ecology for private kindergarten teachers during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a substantial reduction in income for the private kindergarten teachers, with a decline of 50% or more in income for more than 76% of teachers; the higher the reduction in income for the private kindergarten teachers, the more strongly their work fatigue, concern for future development, and avoidance of learning were expressed, accompanied by a significant decline in the frequency of online teaching activities. To address the current state of career situation among private kindergarten teachers produced by the pandemic, support mechanisms should be strengthened, to prevent the erosion of teachers; measures to combat the pandemic in the industry should be furthered, to build occupational confidence; educational equity should be promoted, to achieve balanced development; and online educational resources should be enriched, to standardize online educational activities.
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