Are Chinese kindergarten teachers professionally qualified? Evidence from the triangulated perspectives of stakeholders

The Educational Authorities of China established the National Professional Standards for Kindergarten Teachers (NPST) in 2012. This study aims to examine whether Chinese kindergarten teachers are professionally qualified after the eight-year implementation of NPST. Altogether 115 preservice teachers, 178 inservice teachers, 10 teacher educators, and 10 principals were randomly sampled and surveyed through a major teacher education university in Hubei, China. The results indicated that: (1) there were significant differences in the perceived understanding of NPST between the preservice teachers, inservice teachers, teacher educators, and principals; (2) there were substantial differences in the achieved level of NPST requirements between the preservice teachers, inservice teachers, teacher educators, and principals; (3) the teachers’ education background was highly correlated with their understanding and achieved levels of each NPST item. The findings imply that more efforts and measures should be made to improve the implementation of NPST.