Identifying predictors of retention and professional wellbeing of the early childhood education workforce in a time of change

Early childhood educators’ well-being, work environments and ‘quality’: Possibilities for changing policy and practice

“…Participants reported that over 90% worked some unpaid overtime, indicating that non-contact work exceeds the time allocated to complete it, and educators are subsidising the true cost of quality ECEC with their own time. This finding concurs with that reported by Irvine et al, (2016) – that a high burden of paperwork accompanies Australia’s EC regulatory regime, often requiring long hours to keep up to date – especially for those in higher quality services (Thorpe et al, 2020). Participants’ reports of their experience of time pressures and work-related stress support this idea, with results demonstrating some very high scores – 4.5/5 on the time management sub-scale and 4.8 on the work-related stress sub-scale.…”

“…Even the averages of 3.2 for time management, and 3.07 for work-related stress should be ‘considered a potential problem’ according to the creator of this inventory (Fimian, 1988, p. 15). As Thorpe et al (2020) indicate, there is strong evidence that maintaining higher quality standards is associated with higher levels of educator stress, that can in turn negatively affect relationships with children and their outcomes.…”

“…While time pressure is a frequently-reported source of stress for early childhood educators (Thorpe et al, 2020), this is thought to be manageable for employees through resources such as good social support and autonomy (OECD, 2017). However, it seems that collegiality is not a resource widely available to participants – despite rating ‘collegiality’ as the most important aspect of work environment to them, participants rated their work environments poorly for this aspect.…”

Early Childhood Educators’ Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…There is growing recognition that the early childhood education and care (ECEC) profession faces challenging working conditions, leading to high levels of work-related stress, emotional exhaustion and staff turnover (Irvine et al, 2016 ; Jena-Crottet, 2017 ; Jones et al, 2017 ; McMullen et al, 2020 ; OECD, 2019 ; Thorpe et al, 2020 ; Totenhagen et al, 2016 ). The role of early childhood (EC) educators is complex and multifaceted, requiring a commitment to continuous improvement, resilience, and a willingness to take on many challenges (Beltman et al, 2019 ; Irvine et al, 2016 ; Liu et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Recent efforts to raise the quality and professionalism of the workforce has increased demands on EC educators, including requirements for higher qualifications and increased accountability (Cumming et al, 2015 ). Alongside meeting the increasing demands and expectations of their role, EC educators face numerous challenges including long working hours, low salaries, a lack of status and public recognition, and limited opportunities for professional development or career progression (Cumming et al, 2015 ; OECD, 2019 ; Phillips et al, 2016 ; Thorpe et al, 2020 ; Whitebook et al, 2014 ). The consequences of these challenges are reflected in high levels of emotional exhaustion and work-related stress, high staff turnover, and poor EC educator mental health and wellbeing in the early childhood sector (Irvine et al, 2016 ; Phillips et al, 2016 ; Totenhagen et al, 2016 ).…”