A Study on Job Satisfaction and Professionalism Perception as Predictors of Childcare Teachers' Intention to Stay

Abstract

The intention to stay of childcare teachers is an important factor to be considered in providing quality childcare services. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of childcare teacher job satisfaction and professionalism perception on a teacher's intention to stay. By examining these variables, this study can help enrich existing studies on teacher education program development. The subject of the study was 280 childcare teachers working in care centers located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. A survey was conducted from November 3 to November 25, 2019. 245 collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 by performing reliability coefficient calculation, technical statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results of this study are twofold. First, job satisfaction is positively correlated with professionalism perception and the intention to stay, as professionalism perception is likewise positively correlated with the intention to stay. Second, job satisfaction and professionalism perception have a positive effect on the teachers' intention to stay. Based on these results, this study concludes that the school administration and other stakeholders who are concerned with teacher education development must consider job satisfaction and professionalism in order to increase the intention of childcare teachers to stay.