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Sustaining the Work-Related Wellbeing of Early Childhood Educators: Perspectives from Key Stakeholders in Early Childhood Organisations

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Abstract

The capacities of early childhood educators to function well in their work environments are critical to providing high-quality programs for children. Few studies have investigated work-related wellbeing of educators from an organisational perspective. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that investigated the perspectives about the wellbeing of educators through interviews with nine senior managers employed in ECEC organisations in Australia. Data were drawn from individual interviews and analysed using principles of conventional content analysis. Four themes were identified in the data: health and safety issues (e.g. supports needed to ensure physical and emotional safety); operational challenges (e.g. issues related to work-related stress and importance of recruiting and retaining well-qualified educators); invisibility (e.g. complexities in educator’s work for which the impact on personal wellbeing may not be easily evident to others); supportive adult work environments (e.g. aspects of workplace design, work and staffing practices). The key stakeholders interviewed also identified strategies used to address workplace challenges that impact on educator wellbeing.

Résumé

La capacité des éducateurs de la petite enfance de bien fonctionner dans leur environnement de travail est cruciale pour que des programmes de haute qualité soient offerts aux enfants. Peu d’études se sont penchées sur le bien-être au travail des éducateurs d’un point de vue organisationnel. Cet article présente les conclusions d’une étude qualitative ayant examiné les perspectives sur le bien-être des éducateurs au moyen d’entretiens avec neuf cadres supérieurs employés dans des organisations d’éducation et de garde à la petite enfance (ECEC) en Australie. Les données sont tirées des entretiens individuels et analysées en faisant appel à des principes d’analyse conventionnelle de contenu. Quatre thèmes ont été identifiés dans les données: les questions de santé et sécurité (par ex. le soutien nécessaire pour assurer la sécurité physique et émotionnelle); les défis opérationnels (par ex. les questions relatives au stress lié au travail et l’importance de recruter et retenir des éducateurs bien qualifiés); l’invisibilité (par ex. la complexité du travail des éducateurs, dont l’impact sur le bien-être personnel n’est peut-être pas facilement perçu par les autres); les environnements de travail qui soutiennent les adultes (par ex. la façon de concevoir le lieu de travail, les pratiques de travail et de dotation de personnel). Les intervenants clés interrogés ont également identifié des stratégies utilisées pour relever les défis du lieu de travail ayant un impact sur le bien-être des éducateurs.

Resumen

La capacidad de educadores de preescolar para desempeñarse bien en su ambiente de trabajo resulta crítica para suministrar programas de alta calidad para los niños. Pocos estudios han investigado el bienestar ocupacional de educadores desde una perspectiva organizacional. Este artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio cualitativo centrado en las perspectivas sobre el bienestar de educadores, mediante entrevistas a nueve administradores de organizaciones de Educación y Cuidado Pre-escolar (ECEC por su abreviatura en inglés) en Australia. Se recolectó información de entrevistas individuales. Los datos se analizaron por medio del uso de principios de análisis convencional de contenido. Se identificaron cuatro temas: problemas de salud y seguridad ocupacional (p.ej., suministro de ayudas para asegurar la seguridad física y emocional); retos operacionales (p.ej., problemas relacionados con estrés laboral y la importancia de seleccionar y retener a educadores altamente calificados); invisibilidad (es decir, complejidades en la labor del educador para las cuales el impacto al bienestar personal puede no ser evidente a otras personas); ambientes laborales con apoyo (p.ej., aspectos del diseño del sitio de trabajo y prácticas laborales y de selección de personal). Los entrevistados también identificaron estrategias para combatir retos laborales que impactan el bienestar del educador.

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Notes

  1. Long day care refers to centre-based child care services aimed primarily at children from birth to school age. These services are typically open for a minimum of 8 h per day, 5 days per week and operate for a minimum of 48 weeks per year and may provide a preschool and kindergarten program. Preschools/kindergartens generally cater for children 3–5 years. They are usually open during school term between the hours 9am–3pm. (Productivity Commission 2019).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers who provided valuable advice on an earlier draft of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Teacher Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia

    Helen Logan & Tamara Cumming

  2. Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Sandie Wong

Authors
  1. Helen Logan
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  2. Tamara Cumming
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  3. Sandie Wong
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Correspondence to Helen Logan.

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Appendix: Interview Questions

Appendix: Interview Questions

  1. 1.

    Can we begin by discussing your role here in [organisation X]? What’s involved? What areas do you oversee?

  2. 2.

    How do you understand educator wellbeing?

  3. 3.

    Educator wellbeing is becoming increasingly important. Why is it important? And why is it important for your organisation?

  4. 4.

    What approaches does your organisation take to supporting educator wellbeing?

  5. 5.

    What factors do you think influence educator wellbeing?

  6. 6.

    How would you describe the turnover rate of staff? Does it vary much from year to year?

  7. 7.

    Do you see any patterns related to staff turnover?

  8. 8.

    Could you comment on staff turnover rates and job descriptions?

  9. 9.

    Could you comment on staff turnover rates and qualifications?

  10. 10.

    Are staff turnover rates related to any particular factors? (For instance, is there a relationship between age and years of experience?)

  11. 11.

    Can you give me an indication of the cost of claims for:

    • Sick days (per annum)?

    • Cost of injuries?

    • Cost of recruitment?

  12. 12.

    Does the cost of casual staff vary much from year to year?

  13. 13.

    What sort of injuries to EC educators commonly experience?

  14. 14.

    What sort of illnesses to EC educators commonly experience?

  15. 15.

    What sort of reasons do staff give for leaving the organisation?

Prompts: Other questions to elicit more information could be added such as:

  • Can you tell me more about what you mean by that? And

  • Can you talk me through the last time a situation like that affected your decisions about educator wellbeing?

  • What happened then?

  • So, what did that mean for your practice/organisation?

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Logan, H., Cumming, T. & Wong, S. Sustaining the Work-Related Wellbeing of Early Childhood Educators: Perspectives from Key Stakeholders in Early Childhood Organisations. IJEC 52, 95–113 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-020-00264-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-020-00264-6

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