Research On Driving Force Of Professional Growth Of Kindergarten Teachers

The continuous professional growth of kindergarten teachers driven by adequate forces is crucial for the development of high quality preschool education.Given the gap between the current professional competences of kindergarten teachers and the social expectation,the research on the driving force of professional growth of kindergarten teachers is crucial for dealing with the bottleneck of developing high quality preschool education caused by the inadequate growth driving force.The driving force of kindergarten teachers ' growth is referred to a compounded force which prompts kindergarten teachers actively internalize the social expectation for their professionalism as their own professional vision,furthermore,propels the professionalism to develop continuously toward the ideal status.It is a system of forces composed of internal and external forces which coordinate,interact and interfere with each other.This research adopted the mixed research approach and use method of interview and questionnaires to explore the professional growth driving force of kindergarten teachers.The main foci of this research were as follows.1)To explore in depth the connotation of driving force of professional growth.2)To investigate the status quo of professional growth of kindergarten teachers.3)To explore the influential factors.The data analysis was conducted by using the approach of open coding and axial coding qualitatively and by R Studio quantitatively.The results are as follows.Firstly,the agency,initiative and needs of professional development is the main cha racteristic of professional growth driving force of kindergarten teachers.Kindergarten teachers with adequate driving force take initiative in the following aspects,including professional learning,reforming the curriculum and caring in kindergartens,researching,undertaking tasks,realizing their life values,practicing their professional philosophies,seeking for the cooperation.They also are characterized by being able to realize properly the gaps between their current professional competence and the ideal,to actively improve themselves toward the ideal level so as to better achieve their professional values.On the contrary,inadequacy of driving force is characterized bylacking the initiative regarding the above aspects.Teachers with inadequate driving force are more likely to avoid or ignore the gaps between their current level and the ideal,to be accustomed to being self-enclosed and lack the growth need.Secondly,in overall,the driving forces of professional growth of kindergarten teachers,the levels of their active involvement in the work and learning,as well as the available external support for them are relatively low.The factors that impact their driving force are as follows.The philosophy and pattern of management as well as the derived interpersonal atmosphere are important external factors influencing the driving force of professional growth.The sincerity,equity,inclusion and understanding as well as the people oriented democracy embedded in the management could enhance the professional growth of kindergarten teachers.Besides,the external support is an important influential factor.According to the independent T test,teachers with the places and time as learning support score higher for driving force than those without such support.The anova results shows that teachers most frequently offered with training opportunities outside the workplace score higher than those less frequently and least frequently offered with such opportunities.Similarly,teachers rating their kindergartens with high level of learning atmosphere score higher than those rating their kindergartens with moderate level,which score higher than those rating low level of learning atmosphere.The third important influential factor is professional and educational belief.Kindergarten teachers with firm professional beliefs are able to work with professional self-awareness,professional initiative and professional self-reflection,enthusiasm,responsibility and a sense of mission,thus,more likely to experience a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment from the profession.Furthermore,they are adequate in driving force of professional growth.In contrast,a lack of educational belief leads to the perfunctoriness for work and the passive mindset for the obstacles in work and professional growth,furthermore,the inadequacy of professional growth driving force.Suggestions based on the investigation and analyses of the influential factors for driving force of professional growth of kindergarten teachers are as follows.First and foremost,to enhance the driving force of kindergarten teachers,directors of kindergarten need to optimize their management philosophy and behaviors by following the democratic management principles and conquering the disadvantages of hierachical management system.Besides,to enhance the growth driving forces of teachers,it isnecessary to develop the kindergarten featuring learning-promoting atmosphere by reinforcing the group learning of teachers,establishing a common vision so as to help kindergarten teachers understand properly the connotation and significance of self-transcendence and maintain the tension of growth and improve their self-reflection.Lastly,it is important to reinforce kindergarten teachers' educational belief by developing it in pre-service training and strengthening it in the in-service training.