Scientific Literacy, Professional Development, and Support of Teachers in Selected Kindergarten Schools in Guiyang City, China

Abstract

The study aimed to address the critical issues of scientific literacy among the selected kindergarten teachers by comprehensively assessing their current level of scientific literacy and identifying the influencing factors. The research design was a descriptive quantitative design aimed at assessing and developing the scientific literacy of kindergarten teachers. The primary respondents of this study were teachers from three selected kindergartens in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province. These 147 teachers were responsible for the care and education of children aged 3 to 6 years old in three different early childhood institutions. By focusing on kindergarten teachers, recognizes the direct influence of teachers' scientific literacy on children's scientific literacy in the critical period of children's development. The study concluded:1. The main characteristics of kindergarten teachers in Guiyang City include a predominant age distribution of less than 25 years old, a preponderance of females, a predominance of undergraduate degrees, and a preponderance of 0-3 years of experience in kindergarten teaching. These characteristics provide basic information for understanding the overall literacy level of teachers.2. The overall level of scientific literacy of kindergarten teachers is good. Teachers' mean score of 3.04 in the areas of scientific knowledge, instructional practices, and use of resources indicates that teachers overall have a good level of understanding and application of scientific literacy.3. The personal background of kindergarten teachers had less influence on scientific literacy. Educational background factors such as age, gender, academic qualifications and teaching experience had a small effect on teachers' level of scientific literacy, indicating that educators had relatively consistent levels of scientific literacy across different characteristics.4. Kindergarten teachers are actively involved in professional development. Teachers' mean score for professional development and support was 2.89, indicating that teachers as a whole were actively involved in professional development activities and received some level of support.5. kindergarten teachers' personal backgrounds had less impact on professional development. There were no significant differences in the level of career development and support among teachers of different ages, genders, academic qualifications and teaching experience, indicating that these factors have less influence on teachers' career development support.6. Scientific literacy of kindergarten teachers is significantly associated with career development. There is a significant positive correlation between teachers' level of scientific literacy and their career development and support, emphasizing the importance of improving teachers' scientific literacy for their career development.