Research on Professional Characteristics Influencing Work Engagement of Rural Early Childhood Teachers

Authors

  • Yuping Cao Faculty of Teacher Education, Yuxi Normal University; Yuxi, Yunnan, China
  • Lydia Yoke Yean Foong Taylor's University, Malaysia
  • Chengjun Zhang Faculty of Teacher Education, Yuxi Normal University; Yuxi, Yunnan, China
  • Yu Zhang Faculty of Education, Languages, Psychology & Music, SEGi University, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v10i31.6523

Keywords:

Rural Early Childhood Teachers; Work Engagement; Professional Characteristics

Abstract

Rural early childhood teachers' work engagement directly impacts their professional development and significantly influences the quality of the early childhood education system. However, rural early childhood teachers in China face numerous challenges in maintaining high levels of work engagement. This study used the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) to examine the relationship between professional characteristics and work engagement among 530 rural early childhood teachers. The results showed that teaching tenure, educational level, professional background, and other factors significantly affected their work engagement.

Author Biographies

Lydia Yoke Yean Foong, Taylor's University, Malaysia

Taylor's University, Malaysia

Chengjun Zhang, Faculty of Teacher Education, Yuxi Normal University; Yuxi, Yunnan, China

Faculty of Teacher Education, Yuxi Normal University; Yuxi, Yunnan, China

Yu Zhang, Faculty of Education, Languages, Psychology & Music, SEGi University, Malaysia

Faculty of Education, Languages, Psychology & Music, SEGi University, Malaysia

References

References

Babbie, E. R. (2020). The practice of social research. Cengage learning.

Baig, J., Soon, N. K., Elmabrok, A. A., Shanker, S., Sirisa, N. M. X., & Ahmad, A. (2016). Causes of organizational cynicism and its consequence on teaching staff in Malaysia. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(1), 1-4.

De Carlo, A., Girardi, D., Falco, A., Dal Corso, L., & Di Sipio, A. (2019). When does work interfere with teachers’ private life? An application of the job demands-resources model. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1121.

Guo, F. X., Chen, W. (2020). Research on the current situation, influencing factors and support strategies of professional development of rural kindergarten teachers - A case study of Y City, Jiangsu Province. Education Guide (Second Half Month), 05, 58-63. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:YJYE.0.2020-05-011

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2005). New developments in social interdependence theory. Genetic, social, and general psychology monographs, 131(4), 285-358.

Jiang. (2021). A comparative study on the professional identity of regular and non-regular teachers in public kindergartens [Master's degree thesis, Anshan Normal University] https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CMFD202202&filename=1021856669.nh

Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of management journal, 33(4), 692-724.

Korsakienė, R., Stankeviciene, A., & Nawal, A. (2024). Work engagement and individual performance of teachers: The role of job demands and job resources. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 22(3), 528.

Lau, S. S., Shum, E. N., Man, J. O., Cheung, E. T., Amoah, P. A., Leung, A. Y., Okan, O., & Dadaczynski, K. (2022). Teachers’ well-being and associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Hong Kong, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(22), 14661.

Munir, Y., Khalifah, Z. B., Asif, T., & Khan, H. (2014). Interactive effect of organizational cynicism on perception of organizational politics and citizenship behaviour. International Journal of Information Processing and Management, 5(1), 18.

Pau, K., Ahmad, A. B., Tang, H.-Y., Jusoh, A. J. B., Perveen, A., & Tat, K. K. (2022). Mental health and wellbeing of secondary school teachers in Malaysia. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 21(6), 50-70.

Petrou, P., Demerouti, E., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2017). Regular versus cutback-related change: The role of employee job crafting in organizational change contexts of different nature. International journal of stress management, 24(1), 62.

Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Defining and measuring work engagement: Bringing clarity to the concept. Work engagement: A handbook of essential theory and research, 12, 10-24.

Simbula, S., Panari, C., Guglielmi, D., & Fraccaroli, F. (2012). Teachers’ well-being and effectiveness: The role of the interplay between job demands and job resources. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 69, 729-738.

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2016). Teacher stress and teacher self-efficacy as predictors of engagement, emotional exhaustion, and motivation to leave the teaching profession. Creative Education, 7(13), 1785.

Wang, M. (2024). Research on the work engagement issues and improvement strategies of preschool teachers [Master's thesis, Heilongjiang University]. https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CMFDTEMP&filename=1024056901.nh

Wang, Y. (2016). Research on the living conditions of “non-staff” teachers in public kindergartens in Tangshan City [Master’s degree thesis, Hebei University]. . https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CMFD201801&filename=1017971960.nh

Zhang, P. N., & Bai,W. F. (2020). The current situation and optimization strategies of teacher resource allocation in rural kindergartens in western China: A case study of Dingbian County, Shaanxi Province. Journal of Xianyang Normal University(04), 111-114. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:XYSF.0.2020-04-026

Published

2025-02-01

How to Cite

Cao, Y., Foong, L. Y. Y., Zhang, C., & Zhang, Y. (2025). Research on Professional Characteristics Influencing Work Engagement of Rural Early Childhood Teachers. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 10(31). https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v10i31.6523