Effects of Organizational Culture of Early Childhood Education Institutions and Emotional Labor of Early Childhood Teachers on Professionalism: The Mediating Effect of Grit

Objectives In this study, we sought to verify the mediating effect of grit in the impact of the organizational culture of early childhood education institutions and the emotional labor of early childhood teachers on professionalism. Methods For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 371 infant and toddler teachers working in kindergartens and daycare centers in Gyeonggi-do, and the collected data were subjected to frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 25.0, and the mediation effect was analyzed. The Sobel test was performed to verify statistical significance. Results First, there was a significant positive correlation between the organizational culture of early childhood education institutions and the grit and professionalism of early childhood teachers, and there was a significant negative correlation between emotional labor. Second, the organizational culture of early childhood education institutions had a positive effect on the professionalism of early childhood teachers, and grit had a mediating effect in the process. Third, the emotional labor of infant and toddler teachers had a negative impact on professionalism, and grit had a mediating effect in the process. This means that there is a direct effect of organizational culture and emotional labor and an indirect effect through grit on the expertise of infant and toddler teachers. Conclusions It is meaningful that the theoretical basis was expanded through verification of the mediating role of grit along with the importance of organizational culture and emotional labor to improve the expertise of early childhood teachers.