Job stress, self-efficacy, burnout, and intention to leave among kindergarten teachers in Taiwan

Facing enormous challenges in today's interconnected, competitive, global society, teachers have to be well-prepared, capable, skillful, and have creative ideas. Teaching is far more stressful and challenging than ever before, and teacher burnout has an alarming effect on teaching quality, student achievement, school climate, and teacher's intention to leave. Kindergarten teachers in Taiwan not only confront a heavy workload in teaching, but also have to cope with parental pressures, rapid changes in curricular demands, disruptive classroom behavior, pressures from bureaucrats and administrators, and developing scholastic programs for future education. Battling teacher burnout and intention to leave are the most critical issues in a school system. In Taiwan, the percentage of kindergarten teacher turnover is even higher, about 65% (National Policy Foundation, 2002).;The general purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental comparative (exploratory) and correlation (explanatory) study is to examine the relationships between level of stress, burnout, self-efficacy and intention to leave among the kindergarten teachers in Taiwan. The sample consisted of the total target population of approximately 1,599 teachers of schools with kindergarten in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The post mailed survey obtained teachers' perceptions of job stress, self-efficacy, burnout, and intention to leave. The survey was translated into Traditional Chinese.;Independent t-tests and ANOVA with post hoc comparisons will be used to answer the exploratory (comparative) research questions. Multiple regression analyses, simple regression analyses, mediated multiple regression analyses was used to test the explanatory hypotheses.;Findings indicated that Taiwanese kindergarten teachers' demographic characteristics (gender, marital status, age, educational level, and religious category), work profile (working hours, salary satisfactory, total years of teaching experience), job stress, and self-efficacy, showed significant differences on the levels of burnout (Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accomplishment). Another finding suggested that levels of burnout were significant contributors to the intention to leave. In addition, there is an inverse relationship between job stress and self-efficacy.;The empowerment training for teaching should not only focus on theoretical preparation, but also pay much attention on individual's personality characteristics, included mental and physical factors. Let teachers motivate themselves. Moreover, the school systems should focus on strengthening teachers' self-efficacy. Just like let teachers participate in the decision making about school goals and structure; supply constant professional consultation and support; and go through informative feedback and regular evaluation sessions. Let teachers be proud of being a teacher and create value for students. Overall, teachers will build a sustainable competitive advantage, and gain superior performance for future education.