Kindergarten teachers’ emotional experiences of identity formation: resilience and vulnerability towards the quality assurance reform

Research has shown that teachers’ emotional experiences at work significantly affect their identities, which often fluctuate during times of change, impacting the quality of education. While primary and secondary teachers have been the focus of much research, early childhood teachers’ identities and emotions have received less attention. This qualitative study adopts a narrative approach to investigate the identity formation of kindergarten teachers amidst the quality assurance reform, which functions as a high-stakes accountability mandate, using the lenses of emotional resilience and vulnerability. Based on stories collected from five teachers across three public kindergartens, the study identified four distinct identity types: competent multitasker, enthusiastic learner, caring reform hesitator, and traditional instructor. These types reflect the diverse ways teachers negotiate the tensions between their personal narrative identities and the roles expected of them under the reform. The findings reveal that emotional resilience and vulnerability are not static traits but dynamic characteristics experienced concurrently, directly influencing how teachers interpret and enact their professional roles. These results underscore that identity negotiation is a sophisticated emotional process triggered by systemic reform, rather than a matter of simple role adjustment. Consequently, the study offers considerations for policy and teacher education programmes, suggesting that providing external support and systemic validation can crucially help teachers navigate the emotional demands of these mandates and maintain the professional well-being necessary to sustain educational quality.