Kindergarten Teachers Research Articles

Psychological empowerment and job burnout in Chinese kindergarten teachers: The mediating effect of occupational stress

We explored the role of occupational stress in the relationship between psychological empowerment and job burnout in kindergarten teachers. Chinese female kindergarten teachers (n = 243) were participants (mean age = 28.2 years, SD = 5.08 years; specialist and below = 64.6%, formal work systems = 37.9%). They completed surveys on psychological empowerment, occupational stress, and job burnout. Path analysis findings suggested that higher psychological empowerment was associated with lower job burnout. Lower occupational stress mediated the relationship between psychological empowerment and job burnout so that the teachers with a sense of psychological empowerment were likely to report less job burnout. The higher the psychological empowerment, the lower the occupational stress and lower job burnout relationship held for older age teachers and those with undergraduate degree or a higher level of education and formal employment. Kindergarten teachers should be supported in improving their psychological empowerment to reduce occupational stress, and thus, limiting their risk for job burnout.

Music education training for kindergarten teachers: a workshop integrating Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical reasoning and action model

ABSTRACT Kindergarten teachers often express concerns about the insufficient preparation they receive in their training programs to effectively teach music. This lack of confidence in their music teaching and musical ability can impact their effectiveness of teaching, which in turn can affect children’s music learning. To address this deficiency in music training for preservice teachers, this study consists of a workshop that integrates Shulman’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) through the Pedagogical Reasoning and Action Model (PRA). The workshop takes an experiential approach, moving away from the traditional separation of content knowledge and pedagogy. Nine participants took part in the workshop and were interviewed to address two research questions: 1. How do preservice teachers perceive the significance of their musical competence and music pedagogy skills when conducting a music lesson? 2. In what ways does the workshop contribute to the professional growth and effectiveness of preservice teachers in music teaching? The integrated approach employed in the workshop proved effective in enhancing the preservice teachers’ comprehension of PCK through PRA model. The study emphasizes the significance of designing training programs that encompass the breadth and depth of Shulman’s theory of teaching, equipping teachers to deliver music education.

Kindergarten Teachers’ Mindfulness in Teaching and Morale: A Moderated Mediation Model

Kindergarten Teachers’ Mindfulness in Teaching and Morale: A Moderated Mediation Model

Examining the Value of Teachers' Guidebook to Field Activities in Kindergartens

Kindergarten teachers' guidebooks play an important role as a medium for teachers to carry out educational activities and guide children's learning and development. However, at present, kindergartens do not set specific selection criteria and evaluation standards when selecting teachers' guidebooks, and the issuance and selection of teachers' guidebooks are characterised by arbitrariness. Excellent teacher guidebooks should have the values of "re-selecting excellent culture", "reflecting the integrity of the elements of the five areas", "containing the concept of curriculum reform in the new era", and so on. An in-depth analysis of their values will help teachers to improve their training. An in-depth analysis of these values will help teachers to improve their pedagogical concepts and make teachers play their proper roles.

Difficulties Faced by Kindergarten Teachers in Applying the Discover Curriculum (2.0) in English at Governmental Language Schools

Difficulties Faced by Kindergarten Teachers in Applying the Discover Curriculum (2.0) in English at Governmental Language Schools

Mentoring in Initial Teacher Education: Practices and Needs for Continuing Professional Development of Romanian School-Based Teacher Educators

Practical training is an important component of initial teacher education (ITE). Interactions with the educational reality in schools and with school-based teacher educators (SBTEs) are crucial to practical training. Often, SBTEs lack specific and consistent training to work with future teachers. This study aimed to identify the practices and needs of SBTEs guiding the pedagogical practicum of students, future teachers working in Romanian kindergarten and primary education. A questionnaire provided by the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development (InFo-TED) was administered in December 2021 to January 2022 to 116 SBTEs conducting mentoring activities for future teachers in primary schools and kindergartens. The analysis of their responses by level of education and experience highlighted the perceived usefulness of activity types considered relevant and less relevant in mentoring, training activities previously accessed, professional training needs, and how research is valued in mentoring. Specific training practices and needs are highlighted, providing grounds for developing training programs and interventions aimed at enhancing SBTEs’ competencies in mentoring prospective teachers.

Strategi for et psykisk sunnere folk 2024

Good population mental health is a country’s most important resource. Without it, a country cannot utilise its other resources optimally. Mental disorders account for a country’s most costly health conditions. In Norway, like other high-income countries, 7–8% of children and young people and 16–22% of adults have a mental illness. This costs us at least NOK 340 billion, or USD PPP 35 billion annually. The loss of health due to mental illness in the working-age population is greater than that for all somatic non-communicable diseases combined, and the loss of healthy life years is as great as that for all cancers combined. More treatment cannot reduce this. Health promotion and disease prevention are the only way out. Based on current theory and evidence, 13 principles are presented for an effective community-oriented strategy for a mentally healthier population, which are then compared to the main points in Norway’s new Escalation Plan for Mental Health 2023–2033. Four evidence-based priorities are recommended: general screening of mental health in women during and after pregnancy, mandatory personal guidance for all pre-school (kindergarten) teachers, mental health as a separate subject in schools, and meaningful work for all. Keywords: society-oriented prevention, health promotion, strategy, Escalation Plan for Mental Health

Proactive Motivation among Kindergarten Teachers

The current study aimed to investigate the level of proactive motivation among kindergarten teachers. The researcher used the descriptive approach is appropriate for the current study., and the current study community is kindergarten teachers in Iraq, Wasit Governorate, Al-Aziziyah City/ for the academic year (2023-2024). Accordingly, the study relied on the stratified random method in selecting its research sample, as the sample size amounted to (60) teachers from government kindergarten teachers in Al-Aziziyah City, affiliated to Wasit Governorate in Iraq. The researcher constructed a proactive motivation scale consisting of (30) paragraphs distributed over (3) axes, and each axis has (10) paragraphs. The study concluded that there is a statistically significant effect of proactive behavior and perception on proactive planning at a significance level of 0.05 in the study sample, and there is a statistically significant effect of proactive behavior on proactive planning at a significance level of 0.05 in the study sample, and there is a statistically significant effect of proactive perception on proactive planning at a significance level of 0.05 in the study sample.

Economic education of preschool children. A pedagogical view of the phenomenon

The article presents the significance of economic education in a person’s life and the need for it from an early age. The stage of development from which education on the basics of economy should start is the preschool age (3-6 years). The age of the ancestors, the initial stage of the child’s consumer socialization, during which its effects and ideas about the world of consumption are shaped. The consumer behavior of preschool children is determined by parents, who can use the purchasing process in the upbringing process. This issue is very relevant, since it constitutes an integral part of each person’s life and it’s also a subject of interest in many fields of social sciences, each of which introduces a different view, hence it’s multidimensional nature. The essence and significance of the process of economic education, including equipping children with knowledge about economics as well as basic ability of its usage in certain life situations were presented based on the research of recent publications collected from the Scopus and Google Scholar databases. The article points out the existence of tools that could be used in the methodology of preschool teacher’s work. The offered examples taken from pedagogic practice could help teachers with implementing methods of efficient economical education in the field of preschool pedagogy. The findings presented in the article point towards the need for economic education of preschool children and show its integral and timeless nature. One of the tasks of economic education in kindergarten is to shape the foundations of economic culture, which emphasizes the relationship between economic education and morality.

Inquiry into Teachers' and Parents' Experiences of Radio-Based Instruction and Modular Distance Learning in Early Childhood Education

This study examines the perspectives and experiences of educators and caregivers regarding radio-based instruction (RBI) and modular distance learning (MDL) in early childhood education. Semi-structured interviews with 10 parents and 6 kindergarten teachers in the Bay Sub-Office, Laguna, Philippines revealed significant challenges in access to technology, parental involvement, and socio-emotional development of learners. The findings underscore the need for clear instructional guidance and accessible resources. The study concludes that guardians’ participation, engagement, instructional clarity, and material accessibility are crucial for effective remote learning. As a result, the RADIO model and a comprehensive course outline were developed to address these needs, emphasizing resilience, collaboration, and inclusivity. Recommendations include enhancing technological infrastructure to ensure equitable access, implementing customized parental education programs, integrating socio-emotional learning (SEL) into the curriculum, providing targeted professional development for educators, and establishing continuous research and evaluation mechanisms to adapt strategies effectively. These recommendations foster an inclusive and dynamic educational ecosystem, enhance early childhood education and ensure quality remote learning experiences.

Burnout risk among German and Ukrainian kindergarten teachers depending on individual stress coping strategies

Burnout risk among German and Ukrainian kindergarten teachers depending on individual stress coping strategies

A Review of Changes and Issues in ‘Special Education Kindergarten Curriculum’ Documents through Diachronic Analysis: Focusing on the「2022 Revised Special Education Curriculum」

A Review of Changes and Issues in ‘Special Education Kindergarten Curriculum’ Documents through Diachronic Analysis: Focusing on the「2022 Revised Special Education Curriculum」

Countermeasures for Teachers Under the Forest Kindergarten Model

With the popularization of the education concept of forest kindergarten in China, more and more teachers and parents recognize this education model. The forest kindergarten education model is based on nature. Children can release their nature in the outdoor forest, especially in the wild forest, and cultivate their leadership, independence, problem-solving ability and other abilities. In this education mode, preschool teachers play an important role. They no longer blindly impart professional knowledge, but hope to give full play to the autonomy of children, so they change from leading to auxiliary people. However, the responsibility of teachers is more significant, and they need to have more relevant knowledge to play the biggest role of nature for young children. This paper mainly discusses how preschool teachers should deal with the development model of forest kindergarten.

Undoing the knots. A gender-historical perspective on debates about kindergarten in German-speaking Switzerland (1950–1980)

ABSTRACT This article discusses how a gender-historical perspective may still be productive in today’s historiography of education. In doing so, it relies on theoretical approaches developed in feminist and gender-historical debates and in debates about the ontological turn in historiography. Categories are thus understood as “world-giving” and changing entities which cannot just be analysed in their varying historical contexts but must be examined and historicised themselves in order to capture their fuzziness and fluidity. Against this theoretical background and on the basis of professional journals of kindergarten teachers and published speeches of seminar teachers, this article analyses debates about kindergarten in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, focusing on the years 1950–1980. In these debates, it examines what “productive work” (Scott) the categories “child” and “mother” did with regard to social and gender order and how they emerged from various knowledges becoming entangled in specific places and times. The allegedly clear “inside-outside boundaries” and “dichotomies” (Haraway) between the categories are questioned by turning to conflicts, to the unresolved, to the paradoxical. Furthermore, the paper reflects on the tasks assigned to kindergarten and the arguments which were put forward to legitimise it within the category-related “meshwork” (Ingold) of knowledges and power. Finally, it is shown how powerfully the categories “child” and “mother” acted in the debates about kindergarten in German-speaking Switzerland when stabilising and perpetuating a strongly gendered social order.

Effects of an interdisciplinary approach in science and arts on cognitive development of kindergarten children

ABSTRACT Kindergarten education is a fundamental building block in educating young learners and has long-term implications for educational outcomes and adulthood. Applying effective pedagogical and didactic approaches that support children’s overall development, including their cognitive development, is imperative. Interdisciplinarity positively affects children’s learning and cognitive development. However, this approach in Kuwait has received less attention, especially regarding the Science and Arts discipline in kindergartens. This descriptive study explored the effects of an interdisciplinary approach on the cognitive development of kindergarten children in Kuwait. The study sample comprised 17 participants aged 4 to 5 years from single kindergarten. Natural observations, drawings, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The data was analyzed using a mixed methods design. The results indicate that the interdisciplinary approach effectively improved children’s cognitive development. Integrating the arts with science enhances children’s creativity, which fosters problem-solving skills. Additionally, encouraging children to explore scientific concepts from kindergarten effectively minimises future persistent misconceptions.

Game Technologies for STEM/STEAM Education in Kindergartens

The article considers the need to apply innovative educational models in modern education. A brief scientific review is made of the emergence of the STEM/STEAM education, the latter currently being one of the priority approaches for application in educational policies around the world. The basic integrating factor for the STEM and STEAM education is games. Through games, children apply their real-life experience, and they favour their overall cognitive development. Game technologies for STEM/STEAM education in kindergartens are aimed at developing the skills of modern children for critical and creative thinking, design and coding, communication and interest in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The connection between the traditions and innovations of the more-than-a-century-old tradition of preschool pedagogy in Bulgaria is emphasized.

Mismatch between classroom furniture and anthropometric measures in children aged 3 to 6 years: Case study of the south-west region of Kosovo

Appropriate seating environments and comfort during educational activities at worktables are prerequisites for educational institutions in general. In this regard, special attention should be given to children enrolling in early childhood and kindergarten education within the pertinent institutions. Many researchers have concluded that a bad posture among children can be indicative of health problems and stagnation in the education process. The main purpose of this study is to determine whether the chairs and tables are suitable ergonomically for children aged 3 to 6. Also, in the study, the dimensions of children were analyzed and calculated to design ergonomic chairs and tables for this age group. The research was carried out within early childhood and kindergarten institutions in the southwest region of the Republic of Kosovo. Measurements were taken of 210 children in public and private institutions. According to (ISO 7250-1: 2017), field measurements include 12 body parts needed to determine furniture dimensions. The study’s findings indicate a significant mismatch between anthropometric measurements and the dimensions of furniture across all the institutions examined.

Creating A Positive Learning Environment: A Closer Look At Classroom Management In Kindergarten

This study explored strategies used by kindergarten teachers to create a positive learning environment in the classroom. Teacher narratives provided insight into both effective strategies and challenges faced in establishing a positive environment. Eight kindergarten teachers from Compostela East District in Davao de Oro province participated in the study. Data collection involved in-depth interviews with participants via virtual conference and limited face-to-face meetings, while strictly following health and safety protocols. Thematic analysis revealed the following key strategies employed by teachers: Positive student-teacher relationships and positive reinforcement. Regarding challenges faced, themes that emerged included: Disruptive Behavior and Overcrowded classroom. Insights gained from analyzing strategies and challenges suggested building strong parent-teacher partnerships and allocating additional funding for schools. From the outset, this study aimed to provide useful perspectives of kindergarten teachers working to create a positive learning environment in the classroom. The new knowledge derived here has implications for enhancing education quality in schools.

Critically Conscious Family Engagement: Positioning Families as Co-Teachers Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT This research article highlights how two dual language kindergarten teachers in an urban Title I school incorporated family relationships and cultural practices to support children’s learning through online schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report from ethnographic work conducted during the 2020–21 school year through virtual classroom observations and teacher interviews. We combined the lenses of equitable family engagement and critical consciousness to examine how the teachers regarded the role of families as schooling entered homes. Our findings show that the teachers perceived families’ expertise as equally influential as teachers’ knowledge of children’s learning, considering them “co-teachers.” Rooted in their beliefs about families’ central role in education, the teachers’ approach exemplifies what we term “critically conscious family engagement,” a novel conceptualization of family engagement that connects critical consciousness to teachers’ active and consistent relationship-building with parents, caregivers, and children. Our implications highlight strategies for educators to build and sustain such relations in any instructional modality.

Special needs teachers in emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personal resources and teaching motivation on burnout

BackgroundThis cross-sectional study explores the connections between burnout, personal resources, and teaching motivation among Italian special needs teachers (SNTs) one year following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It specifically seeks to determine if and how personal resources and teaching motivation can help SNTs by buffering the effects of burnout symptoms.MethodsThe study was conducted using a sample of 837 full-time, in-service kindergarten and primary teachers at public schools in Italy. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires, including the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, the Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale, the Crèche Educators Emotional Style Questionnaire, and the Autonomous Motivations for Teaching Scale. A multiple regression model was performed to assess the predictive role of personal resources and teaching motivation on the burnout of special needs teachers.ResultsThe findings indicate that higher levels of autonomous motivation are associated with reduced burnout, specifically among special education teachers. Conversely, higher levels of negative emotion regulation strategies were linked to increased burnout, and this relationship was stronger in mainstream teachers than in special education teachers. We found no significant association between teachers’ compassion and burnout.ConclusionsOur research supports the need for educational policymakers and school leaders to focus on personal resources and work-related well-being to enhance and support teachers, in particular during emergencies (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic) and for specific groups of teachers, such as SNTs.