Holistic Competencies of Chinese Preschool Teachers: Psychological, Physical, and Educational Dimensions.

Qian Wang; Abdul Rahman, Mohd Nazri; Yahya, Amira Najiha; Xinyue Zhang; Nina Wang

Preschool teacher training and development addresses the multiplicity of domains and competence areas important in the general development of young children. The psychological, physical and pedagogical aspects of holistic capabilities of preschool teachers have been discussed in this study carried out in China. The research utilized the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) as well as a quantitative approach in collecting information from 325 preschool teachers located in different regions. Consequently, it is clear that there are significant relationships among the competences: psychological competences like stress management and emotional intelligence have an acceptable influence on educational and physical competences as well. Teachers' energy levels and physical health greatly affect their efficiency at teaching their pupils. These results emphasize the importance of an integrated approach to pedagogical development involving professional, emotional and psychical training for better instruction provision. This paper also underlines correlations between various capabilities, which is congruent with Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory. Some suggestions include creating inclusive teacher education programs; developing inspiring work settings; starting health initiative programs among others. Hence policy decision makers can understand that massive needs have to be met by facilitating holistic programmatic growths whilst rewarding continuous professional development in academics field. This study provides imperative insights into the diverse responsibilities of preschool teachers and lays the groundwork for future research probing longitudinal consequences and objective measures of teacher competence, despite its reliance on self-report data and a narrow geographic emphasis.

ECOLOGICAL systems theory; CAREER development; MULTIPLE intelligences; TEACHER development; PRESCHOOL teachers

El Profesional de la Información, 2024, Vol 33, Issue 4, p1

1386-6710

Academic Journal

10.3145/epi.20243.ene.0409