"Weary but Not Leaving": A Study on the Influencing Mechanism of Retention Intention among Teachers in Rural Inclusive Private Kindergartens

Research on the retention intention of teachers in rural inclusive private kindergartens is a key factor influencing the quality of early childhood education in rural China, holding significant importance for promoting educational equity. This study employed a combination of stratified sampling and cluster sampling, selecting 334 teachers from 54 rural inclusive private kindergartens in Hubei Province, China, to investigate their retention intention and its influencing factors. The results indicate that teachers' retention intention is generally at a relatively high level. Marital status, parental status, age, teaching experience, income perception, and kindergarten rating significantly influence retention intention. Job burnout (β = -0.370, p < 0.01) and occupational commitment (β = 0.497, p < 0.01) have significant negative and positive predictive effects on retention intention, respectively. Furthermore, occupational commitment plays a partial mediating role between job burnout and retention intention, with a mediation effect of 46.5%. Compared to objective income level, subjective income perception has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between job burnout and retention intention (β = -0.369, p < 0.001). This study provides an in-depth analysis of the complex interaction mechanisms among various factors influencing retention intention, offering scientific empirical evidence and decision-making references for stabilizing the kindergarten teacher workforce and constructing long-term guarantee mechanisms.