The engagement and burnout profiles of preschool teachers are closely linked to young children’s developmental outcomes. This study investigated engagement and burnout profiles among 529 Chinese preschool teachers in relation to their emotional states, varying experiences, and professional backgrounds. The sample predominantly consisted of early-career educators, with 47.8% aged between 21 and 30 years and 33.1% having 0–5 years of work experience. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design and latent profile analysis (LPA), this study identified four distinct profiles: slightly exhausted (48.58%), moderately burned out (18.53%), engaged (25.90%), and highly burned out (6.99%). Positive emotional states, such as enjoyment, were associated with higher work engagement, while anxiety was associated with a higher probability of belonging to burnout profiles. In contrast, perceived career success and negative emotions like anger did not significantly predict work engagement and burnout profiles. Teachers with extensive teaching experience and pre-service early childhood education (ECE) training were more likely to maintain high work engagement. This study highlights the critical role of emotional states and professional ECE training in promoting preschool teachers’ work engagement and sustainable practice, particularly among early-career teachers.

ABSTRACT This study examined preschool teacher applicants’ views on UTP youngsters. The study included 10 preschool teacher candidates who took Teaching Practice 1 at a state institution in 2023–2024. Content analysis was used to examine semi-structured interview data from one-on-one interviews. The investigation found that pre-service instructors had never worked with UTP youngsters before. Most approached children with positive attitudes, with communication being the most challenge. Teacher candidates reported that communication was difficult in their practice classrooms. Pre-service teachers also noticed UTP children’s poor behavior and inability to follow directions. They struggled to adapt and involve children in activities. Teacher candidates stressed the necessity for pre-service and in-service training to address their difficulties.

We conducted a conceptual replication efficacy study using a cluster randomized controlled design to examine the effects of two variants of a professional development (PD) intervention for preschool teachers known as Tools for Teachers (TfT). The practice-based focus of the PD was embedded instruction (EI), which is a recommended and empirically supported naturalistic instruction approach to ensure children with individualized education programs have equitable, intentional, and individualized learning supports. A total of 111 teachers in 78 schools and 327 children in these teachers’ classrooms were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: TfT with on-site practice-based coaching (PBC), TfT with self-coaching, and business-as-usual (BAU) PD. We examined the fidelity with which the active ingredients of the two variants of the TfT intervention were implemented and the effects on teachers’ EI knowledge and skills and children's learning outcomes. Results showed that on-site PBC TfT had more robust effects on the quality of teachers’ EI learning targets and their instruction than TfT self-coaching or BAU PD. Children whose teachers participated in TfT with on-site coaching showed more advanced engagement behaviors, positive engagement with adults during child-directed activities, and frequent use of skills targeted for EI than children whose teachers participated in TfT self-coaching or BAU PD. Findings from this replication study are discussed and compared to those from an earlier randomized controlled trial of TfT. We offer implications for future research and practice focused on efficacious PD to support the implementation of EI and other effective practices in early childhood classrooms.

ABSTRACT The professional development of preschool teachers is a core element and key issue in ensuring the quality of preschool education and achieving educational equity. This study explores the impact of preschool teachers' Confucian cultural perception on their professional growth, as well as the chain mediating effects of technology usage intention and technology pressure in this relationship. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect valid data from 406 teachers in 38 inclusive kindergartens. The results show that preschool teachers' Confucian cultural perception significantly positively promotes professional growth. Technology usage intention serves as a mediating variable between Confucian cultural perception and professional growth, while technology pressure also acts as a mediating variable between Confucian cultural perception and preschool teachers' professional growth. Moreover, technology usage intention and technology pressure together play a chain mediating role in the relationship between Confucian cultural perception and professional growth.

ABSTRACT Children with communication disorders require additional support in school to cope with the social and academic demands. Teachers play an essential role in creating environments that facilitate children’s communication development in schools. This study aimed to explore Malaysian preschool teachers’ knowledge about communication disorders, strategies they use when interacting with students with communication disorders, and their attitudes towards communication disorders. Fifty-four teachers from the Preschool Special Education Program of the Ministry of Education Malaysia provided information about their knowledge, practices, and attitudes by completing a questionnaire developed for this study. Teachers demonstrated limited knowledge about the symptoms, treatments, aetiologies, and impacts of communication disorders. However, despite having limited knowledge, they reported using various facilitative strategies when interacting with students with communication disorders in the classroom. Teachers also reported that managing students with communication disorders was challenging, and they were keen to learn more. This study highlights the need for Malaysian preschool special education teachers to receive adequate pre-service and in-service training to enable them to create environments that support communication development to prevent learned helplessness among students in the classroom.

ABSTRACT This study explores physical touch as a pedagogical action in the interplay between male preschool teachers and children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Sweden. Previous research shows that preschool practitioners view touch as a resource for supporting children’s care and development. However, touch has also been scrutinised amid discourses on children’s protection and the implementation of policies safeguarding children’s bodily integrity. Men, as a minority in female-dominated ECEC, report being particularly cautious about touching children to avoid potential suspicions. The study is grounded in John Dewey’s pragmatism from a transactional perspective, with fieldwork – including participant observation supported by field notes and video recordings – conducted across three Swedish preschool classes involving 45 children and three male preschool teachers. A qualitative analysis using an abductive approach identified five types of physical touch as pedagogical actions: focus-oriented, guiding, assisting, affectionate and playful. Touch takes different forms and is shaped by various contextual factors observed across pedagogical situations. These findings suggest that touch can support children’s care and learning and enhance male preschool teachers’ professional practice.

Abstract The development of reading literacy in the contemporary context, characterised by the predominance of digital technology, poses a significant pedagogical challenge. In the Slovenian higher education system, future preschool and primary school teachers are educated at the Faculty of Education, which enables developmental continuity in pedagogical approaches from kindergarten to primary school. This article reports the findings of a study involving prospective preschool and primary school teachers who participated in projects designed to cultivate digital literacy to enhance teaching efficacy through the use of digital technology. The study employed a qualitative approach. In the first phase, students reflected on their individual trajectories of reading literacy development. In the second phase, participants considered the advantages and disadvantages of developing reading literacy through digital technology, drawing on their personal experiences of learning to read and of using digital tools in pedagogical contexts.

Leadership behavior and career resilience in Chinese preschool teachers: A sequential mediation model of trust and professional identity

Emotional labour and job burnout among Chinese preschool teachers: Exploring the mediating role of job stress and the moderating role of difficulties in emotion regulation

ABSTRACT To explore the relationship and its mechanisms between empathy and burnout among preschool teachers, data from 1577 preschool teachers were analyzed using a multiverse-style analysis approach to test the robustness of the relationship between empathy and burnout. Based on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theory and the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study employs Response Surface Analysis (RSA) to examine the relationship between empathy and occupational burnout, while exploring the mediating roles of three emotional labor strategies (surface acting, deep acting and natural acting) and the moderating effect of mindfulness. The translation strictly adheres to the original Chinese meaning, conforms to academic writing norms, and follows English idiomatic expressions in a single coherent paragraph. The results of the multiverse-style analysis indicate that the relationship between empathy and burnout is robust. RSA analysis shows that this relationship is curvilinear, where empathy positively affects burnout in the initial stages but negatively in the later stages. Surface acting and natural acting have mediating effects, whereas deep acting does not. Mindfulness moderates the relationship between empathy and both deep acting and natural acting, but not surface acting.

This study examines the relationship between teacher motivation and cyberloafing among preschool teachers. The study included 209 preschool teachers from both public and private schools in Turkey. The study employed the predictive correlational method. Utilized were the independent sample t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and simple and multiple linear regression analysis. The findings indicated that teachers are highly motivated and engage in below-average cyberloafing. According to the findings, compared to other groups, male teachers and teachers employed by private schools had greater levels of cyberloafing. Additionally, a negative and significant relationship was observed between teachers' cyberloafing levels and their general teacher motivation, as well as the administrative, extrinsic, and intrinsic motivation sub-dimensions. However, the level of teachers’ cyberloafing engaged in did not significantly correlate with their seniority or age. With an explanatory power of 3.6%, a simple linear regression analysis showed that teacher motivation had a weak but significant impact on cyberloafing. According to multiple linear regression analysis, the intrinsic motivation variable was the only significant predictor, explaining 6.4% of the variation in cyberloafing. As a result of, the data indicate that a drop in teachers' motivation, especially intrinsic drive, correlates with a modest rise in their cyberloafing levels.

In this article, the psychometric properties of a new scale aimed at quantifying social skills are explored. The social skills scale is a quantitative, easy-to-administer measure designed to be context-independent. The Social Skills Scale was tested on a sample of 127 children aged 3–5 years (mean age = 3.83, SD = 0.72) from Iceland, allowing for an initial examination of its applicability, internal consistency, and reliability. Preschool teachers tested/evaluated the children. The findings indicate that the scale is suitable for use with children in this age range. All individual items showed positive correlations with the total score, with item-total correlation coefficients ranging from 0.35 to 0.76. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89 for the standardized items. To assess inter-rater reliability, two independent observers (preschool teachers) evaluated a subset of 10 children (mean age = 4.04, SD = 0.21). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the two raters was 0.88, indicating good reliability for this age group of Icelandic children.These promising initial results support further development of the Social Skills Scale, including norming the instrument on a larger and more representative sample and carrying out further validation of the scale.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role of professional development in early childhood education (ECE), with a focus on the Kid Writing (KW) approach, a literacy development approach designed to support young children’s writing. The KW approach utilizes a coaching model where external literacy coaches collaborate closely with preschool teachers to model and scaffold the KW strategies, providing personalized- support. This ongoing coaching model allows teachers to reflect on their practices and integrate new strategies into their teaching, which research suggests is crucial for improving instructional quality and student outcomes. Data for this study were collected over three years from five preschool centers in a northeastern urban district, involving 27 lead and assistant teachers. The data included classroom observations, focus groups with teachers and literacy coaches, and field notes from leadership meetings. Data analysis involved a thematic analysis of focus group discussions and observational field notes. The findings demonstrate that the KW coaching model offered ongoing, tailored support that significantly enhances teacher efficacy, fosters reflective practices, and helps teachers implement new strategies in the classroom. Results suggest that combining coaching with mentoring provides a comprehensive framework for teacher development.

Principals’ Beliefs–A Crucial Aspect in Positioning Preschool Teachers and Caregivers in Relation to Teaching in Preschool Education

The article explores the pedagogical essence of preparing preschool teachers for inclusive activity and systematically analyzes its social, psychological, and professional aspects. Preparation for inclusive activity is not limited to theoretical knowledge; it also requires the development of human qualities such as empathy, tolerance, cooperation, and respect for diversity. The preparation of future preschool teachers in this direction is presented as an integral part of their pedagogical competencies.

The article examines the features of the development of creative activity of future teachers of preschool education institutions in the process of professional training. We consider the creative activity of a future preschool teacher as an integrative characteristic of a personality, manifested in the ability for original thinking, initiative, flexibility in solving pedagogical tasks, and the desire for self-realization in professional activity. It combines motivational-value, cognitive, activity, and reflective components. It has been established that the effectiveness of the development of creative activity of future educators in the process of professional training is ensured by the following pedagogical conditions: creation of a creative educational environment (an atmosphere of support, trust and cooperation stimulates students' initiative and self-expression); the use of innovative teaching methods (project activities, trainings, role-playing and business games, case methods, etc. contribute to the formation of creative thinking of future educators); individualization of learning (taking into account the individual characteristics of students allows them to reveal their creative potential); involvement in scientific research (participation in conferences, competitions, preparation of scientific articles develops analytical and critical thinking of future educators); formation of a reflective culture (self-analysis and self-assessment contribute to professional growth and awareness of one's own achievements). It was found that innovative technologies in the training of future preschool teachers ensure the formation of their professional competence, creative activity, and readiness to implement new approaches in working with preschool children. Their systematic application contributes to the renewal of the content of pedagogical education, its improvement in quality and compliance with modern social challenges. It is the innovative orientation of professional training that is the key to the formation of a new generation of educators – creative, competent and open to continuous development.

Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) is becoming a valuable tool in education. It supports personalized, interactive, and scalable learning. However, little is known about how preschool teachers continue using AIGC in their daily practice. This study explores the key factors that influence their sustained intention to use AIGC technologies. It integrates three theoretical models, including Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM), and Flow Theory, into a unified framework. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 433 preschool teachers in China. The results were analyzed using both Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Results indicate that confirmation and perceived usefulness are robust predictors of continuance, whereas perceived ease of use exerts a comparatively smaller effect. The fsQCA uncovers three equifinal configurations that lead to high continuance intention, highlighting complementary pathways that combine confirmation, usefulness, attitude, satisfaction, and flow experience. These findings offer both theoretical and practical implications. The stronger influence of flow experience and satisfaction over perceived usefulness challenges the rational evaluation assumption of classic technology adoption models. This underscores that affective engagement, not rational utility, plays the critical role in shaping long-term adoption. To promote the effective integration of AIGC in preschool contexts, administrators could adopt differentiated support strategies tailored to teachers’ motivational profiles. They should strengthen confirmation through real-time feedback and targeted training that aligns with expectations. Systems should deliver stable performance and preschool-suited interfaces to raise satisfaction. Platforms must cultivate flow by incorporating gamified interaction, adaptive content creation, and visually engaging features. While these findings are grounded in the Chinese preschool setting, they may inform AIGC adoption strategies in similar educational contexts.

Teachers’ professional characteristics significantly influence children’s emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development. Work engagement, as a core aspect of professional well-being, serves as a critical indicator of educational environmental quality, which in turn shapes developmental outcomes for children. Identifying predictors of work engagement is essential, with psychological well-being emerging as a potential key factor. Elements of the PERMA model of well-being were considered factors of preschool teachers’ work engagement. Additionally, cultural contexts may further modulate preschool teachers’ well-being. This study examines the psychological well-being profiles of preschool teachers in Serbia and Russia and explores how well-being characteristics relate to professional engagement. The total sample incorporates 654 preschool teachers aged from 18 to 70 years (M = 44.8, SD = 9.87), 98% female. The Russian sample comprises 388 individuals, the Serbian one – 266. Data collecting was performed using online survey method. Participants answered the PERMA-profiler questionnaire and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The findings emphasized cross-cultural differences in indicators of psychological well-being of teachers. Russian preschool teachers demonstrated a higher level of accomplishment and negative emotions, while their Serbian colleagues showed a higher level of positive emotions, meaning, health and work engagement. Predictors of work engagement varied culturally: for Russian preschool teachers, engagement was driven by positive emotions, meaning, and accomplishment; for Serbian teachers, it was linked to accomplishment, happiness, and low negative emotions. These findings underscore the interplay between cultural context and well-being in shaping preschool teachers’ professional engagement.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly integrating into educational practices, yet its impact on teacher professional practice within the highly context and relationship-dependent field of early childhood education remains poorly understood. This study explores how GenAI functions as a "digital scaffold" to support novice preschool teachers in de-signing contextualized, kindergarten-based curriculum within the Chinese context. Through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis with 10 teachers, we discovered GenAI's dual potential: it empowers educators by providing instant re-sources and inspiration, yet its "decontextualized" outputs create tension with the contextual and relational core of early childhood education. Crucially, teachers demonstrated robust professional agency by critically evaluating and localizing AI-generated content. This process of "mediated reflection" catalyzed their professional knowledge development. Ultimately, AI integration does not replace teachers but re-configures their professional roles toward higher-value, human-centered core competencies-situational judgment, ethical decision-making, and emotional connection-which form the bedrock of resilient and sustainable educational ecosystems. Our findings underscore that responsible AI integration in education must prioritize sup-porting teacher agency and well-being to enhance systemic sustainability.

The development of computational literacy (CL) through computational thinking (CT) is becoming increasingly crucial in preschool teacher education. However, a critical gap in the literature persists concerning effective professional development models for pre-service preschool teachers. This study aimed to fill this gap by designing and implementing an educational intervention to support the cognitive, material, and social components of CL. Drawing on a design-based research-informed approach, the intervention was conducted over 5 weeks with second-year preschool education students enrolled in an “Instructional Technologies” course. Twenty-six participants completed the study. Quantitative data from cognitive tests, performance rubric, and attitude surveys were analyzed via paired-sample and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests; qualitative reflections were examined using reflexive thematic analysis. Results showed significant improvements in cognitive knowledge (p < 0.05) and positive attitudes toward CT integration (p < 0.01). Participants engaged in creating instructional activities that reflected the application of CL principles. Qualitative findings highlighted the role of a supportive social environment fostering enjoyment and practical use in building confidence. The study’s main contribution is an empirically informed set of initial design considerations centered on (1) grounding abstract concepts in playful pedagogy, (2) enabling learning through material production, and (3) cultivating socially mediated collaborative sense-making. This framework informs more holistic teacher preparation for the digital age.