Professional Development of Kindergarten Teachers in China from 2012 to 2022 A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This present study is based on a sample of 308 research papers on the professional development of kindergarten teachers (PDKT) collected by China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) from 2012 to 2022. CiteSpace software is used to conduct bibliometric and visualization analysis on the PDKT in China. The research results show that the number of literatures on the PDKT in China presents an uneven overall growth trend. However, the research subjects have not yet formed a close academic team, and the degree of academic consensus in the field is still low. The high-frequency keywords in the research on the PDKT are rural areas, kindergarten-based teaching and research, and narrative research. Case studies, key event studies, novice teacher and teacher learning communities on kindergarten teachers will be the focus of future research. On this basis, the present study makes five recommendations for future research: future research needs to strengthen the cooperation between researchers and institutions; strengthen the research on kindergarten teachers' professional development strategies, evaluation systems and teacher growth path; pay attention to rural areas and novice teachers; increase micro research and empirical research on teachers in education and teaching activities; and unify and deepen the details of future chart analysis using CiteSpace.