Chinese Kindergarten Teachers’ Proactive Agency in Job Crafting: A Multiple Case Study in Shanghai

Job crafting is the process of individuals redefining and adjusting their job in personally meaningful ways to improve their work experience. In this multiple case study, we explore how a group of kindergarten teachers conducted job crafting and examine its potential outcomes. Based on criterion sampling and purposeful selection, we recruit 28 kindergarten teachers and four principals working in Shanghai, China. Qualitative interviews and the analysis of kindergarten teachers’ diaries and work documents demonstrate that kindergarten teachers are not necessarily passive recipients of job characteristics; instead, they have the potential to be proactive agents in their work. Teachers craft their jobs in four main ways: task crafting, relational crafting, cognitive crafting, and work-life crafting. In addition, they employ 12 specific crafting techniques. The interviews reveal that by aligning work with teachers’ abilities, needs, and preferences, job crafting can help improve kindergarten teachers’ work experience and reduce occupational dysfunction. The results call for more focus on individual teachers’ discretionary and extra-role work behaviors. The findings have implications for policymakers, administrators, and principals in considering crafting a new pathway to increase staff stability, reduce teacher attrition, and improve education quality in early childhood settings. Some potential side effects of job crafting and precautionary strategies are also discussed.