This study aimed to examine structural relationships among factors affecting professional identity of early childhood teachers' , which indicate early childhood education institutes' organizational creativity and professionality support environment and early childhood teachers' organizational commitment, and investigate the effect of mediation that such commitment has on either of the other two factors. The study hopefully provided data or materials equivalent to necessary conditions for better instruction in the field of early childhood education as well as basic information about what are needed to form early childhood teachers' better work environment and enhance their competence.
For achieving its goals as described above, this study set up the following research questions on the basis of prior studies.
First, how is the structural relationship between organizational creativity of early childhood education institutions, professional support environment, early childhood teachers' organizational commitment and professional identity?
Second, how is a mediating effect that organizational commitment has on relationships between organizational creativity or professionality support environment of early childhood education institutes and professional identity of early childhood teachers?
In order to get answers to the research questions, this study conducted a questionnaire survey of 700 early childhood teachers working for public or private preschools located in B, U and G regions. For the survey, the study utilized some scales that could measure organizational creativity, professionality support environment, organizational commitment and professional identity. Regarding its procedure, this study made a literature review at first, which was followed by setting up a research model, preparing a questionnaire form, performing a preliminary survey and conducting a main survey. Of the copies of the form that were distributed and then collected, some that were unfaithfully filled in were excluded, and the remaining 650 were finally analyzed in terms of structural relationship and mediating effect. For the analysis, the above mentioned research model in the form of structural equation was applied according to SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 25.0 programs.
The findings of the study can be summarized as follows.
First, organizational creativity of early childhood education institutes was found having a positive influence on their teachers' professional identity. And, professionality support environment of the educational bodies for youngsters turned out to be positively affecting professional identity of early childhood teachers. In addition, it was discovered that organizational commitment was having a positive effect on professional identity. Moreover, organizational creativity of early childhood education institutes was found positively influencing organizational commitment. Furthermore, it was shown that professionality support environment of those institutes was having a positive impact on organizational commitment.
And second, organizational commitment was found having a partially mediating effect on relationships between organizational creativity of early childhood education institutes and professional identity of early childhood teachers. And, relationships between professionality support environment of the educational establishments for young children and professional identity of those teachers turned out to be partially mediated by organizational commitment.