A Case Study of Exploring the Reasons for Rural Preschool Teachers’ Retention from the Perspective of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Abstract

With the high attention given to the development of rural preschool education in China, a large number of studies have pointed out that the phenomenon of rural preschool teachers being unable to stay is worrying. This study selected a purposive sampling method and used a semi-structured interview method to conduct a case analysis of two preschool teachers in a rural X kindergarten in Hubei Province: Teacher A, who is willing to continue teaching in the kindergarten after an internship, and Teacher B, who has served for 3 years and still has a strong desire to stay. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, this study mainly explored the reasons for the two rural preschool teachers’ retention from the fi ve dimensions of their physiological needs, security needs, emotional needs, respect needs and self realization needs. Based on the research results, countermeasures and suggestions were proposed to enhance the willingness of rural preschool teachers to stay on duty, in order to provide reference for improving the professional attractiveness of rural preschool teachers, stabilizing the rural preschool teacher team, and promoting the revitalization of rural education.