The influence of pre-service early childhood teachers’ human rights sensitivity on their recognition of children’s rights: The mediating role of personality and professional ethics

This study investigates the impact of pre-service early childhood teachers’ human rights sensitivity, personality, and professional ethics on their recognition of children’s rights. It also aims to verify the mediating effect of personality and professional ethics between human rights sensitivity and recognition of children’s rights. For this study, survey data from 111 pre-service early childhood teachers were collected and analyzed. The results of this study are as follows. First, the human rights sensitivity of pre-service early childhood teachers influenced the recognition of children’s rights, and the influence of the sub-variables of human rights sensitivity was in the order of responsibility perception and result perception. Second, the personality of pre-service early childhood teachers influenced the recognition of children’s rights, and the influence of the sub-variables of personality was in the order of professional personality and universal personality. Third, the professional ethics of pre-service early childhood teachers influenced the recognition of children’s rights, and the influence of the sub-variables of professional ethics was in the order of early childhood ethics and social ethics. Fourth, personality and professional ethics partially mediate between human rights sensitivity and recognition of children’s rights. This study is significant because it provides basic data to explore elements to promote pre-service early childhood teachers’ recognition of children’s rights.