Analysis of Research Trends on the Happiness of Early Childhood Teachers in China: Focusing on Keyword Network Analysis

This study analyzed research trends on the happiness of Chinese early childhood teachers using key word network analysis. A total of 199 papers-comprising 56 dissertations and 143 academic journal articles published in China between 2003 and 2023-were selected for analysis. After refining the collected keywords, 159 were identified and analyzed for frequency using SPSS 26.0. The top 82 keywords, with a co-occurrence frequency of two or more, underwent centrality analysis using UCINET 6 and overall network visualization and community analysis using Gephi 0.10.1. The findings revealed that the most frequently occurring keywords in previous studies were as follows: early childhood teachers, occupational happiness, subjective happiness, happiness, rural early childhood teachers, and social support. Centrality analysis showed consistently high values for the keywords early childhood teachers, occupational happiness, and subjective happiness. Community analysis identified five substructures in the research: Development of Teaching Professionalism, Job Satisfaction and Mental Health, Work Environment, Teaching Identity and Psychological Capital and Human Resources and Organizational Management. This study provides insights into research trends and offers directions for improving the happiness of Chinese early childhood teachers. It also serves as foundational data for conducting cross-cultural studies on the happiness of Korean and Chinese early childhood teachers. By examining happiness-a universal human emotion-through a cross-cultural lens, this research aims to develop strategies to enhance the happiness of early childhood teachers, acknowledging both shared and distinct cultural influences.