Three validity evidence sources (test content, internal structure, and relationships to other variables) from the responses of 365 educators, purposely sampled from 36 US states, are presented to ...explore the use of the instrument, Early Childhood Educators' Spiritual Practices in the Classroom (ECE-SPC). Findings show expert panel agreed items accurately represented the desired construct and recommendations for revising multidimensional items were made by a psychometrician. The Rasch measurement analysis recommended collapsing the five-point frequency scale to four-point and removing two reverse-scored items. The revised instrument demonstrated excellent item fit, person and item reliability, separation, and practical unidimensionality. Relationships to other variables were established through no significant differences based on educator demographics. Differences were found based on school setting and educator values of spirituality, which aligned with expected differences. ECE-SPC is recommended as a self-report instrument, to determine to what extent early childhood educators nurture children’s spirituality in secular educational settings.
A series of studies have suggested that teachers are likely to experience professional burnout in various regions around the world. To date, no known research has been conducted to investigate the ...prevalence and correlates of burnout among preschool teachers in China. This study examined the level of self-reported burnout and correlates of burnout among Chinese preschool teachers.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among1795 preschool teachers in Tianjin, China, during August 2018-October 2018. The validated Chinese version of the 15-item Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to assess burnout. A self-administered questionnaire collected the sociodemographic factors. The psychological factors were collected by the Chinese version of the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Perceived Stress Scale-14.
The prevalence of burnout in Chinese preschool teachers was 53.2% (95% CI:51%─56%). Burnout rate was significantly decreased in overweight (P = 0.001, OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.42-0.79) and obesity (P = 0.048, OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.56-1.00) teachers compared with teachers with normal weight. The type of school (P = 0.007, OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.11-1.91), income satisfaction (P = 0.001, OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.53-0.86), depression (P < 0.001, OR = 3.08, 95% CI: 2.34-4.05) and perceived stress (P < 0.001, OR = 1.15, 95%CI: 1.13-1.18) were significantly associated with burnout.
The prevalence of burnout among preschool teachers in Tianjin, China, is high. Burnout was significantly associated with BMI, the type of school, income satisfaction, depression and perceived stress among Chinese preschool teachers.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Researchers are increasingly recognising the connections between early childhood educators’ well-being and their capacity for providing high quality education and care. The past five years have seen ...an intensification of research concerning early childhood educators’ well-being. However, fragmentation along conceptual, contextual and methodological lines makes it difficult to clearly identify the most effective focus for future research. The purpose of this article is to identify trends in, and implications of recent research concerned with educators’ well-being. Attention is given to ways recent studies address concerns raised in a review of earlier literature (Hall-Kenyon et al. in Early Child Educ J 42(3):153–162,
2014
, doi:
10.1007/s10643-013-0595-4
), and what implications recent studies have for future research efforts concerned with educators’ well-being.
Theory strengthens the methodological and interpretive stance of a research study and is most fruitful when theoretical understandings are shared within collaborative research teams. This paper ...describes an approach to engaging
productively with a theory, specifically the theory of practice architectures. Such engagement enabled the use of the theory for data gathering and analysis within an Australian mixed-methods research study - Exemplary Early Childhood
Educators at Work. Within the study, the theory offered a substantive lens for exploring exemplary educator practices and the organisational arrangements within early childhood education (ECE) sites that made those practices possible.
The 'unpacking' of the theory of practice architectures led to the development of a suite of resource materials. This paper acts as an invitation to interact with and think on a practice theory and provides insight into the positive
transformation of educational practices for the benefit of individuals and society. Author abstract
Abstract This study explores in-service early childhood educators’ understanding of children’s spirituality. Utilizing the recently validated instrument, Early Childhood Educators’ Spiritual ...Practices in the Classroom (ECE-SPC) , responses to the question, “What do you understand children’s spirituality to be?” were analyzed. Participants included 318 educators working in secular educational settings with children ages zero to eight years across 36 U.S. states. Findings reveal a multilayered understanding of children’s spirituality. Through a grounded theory approach to data analysis using in-vivo codes in initial and axial coding, participants’ responses were organized in a response framework comprised of three main categories of understanding spirituality: (1) as Essence in itself (f 208), (2) as its place of Origin (f 122), and (3) as Actions in relation to others or as ways in which it is practiced (f 86). This framework contributes to constructing a shared understanding of children’s spirituality to build efforts toward promoting holistic development and intentionally nurturing the spiritual domain.
Early childhood educators play a critical role in promoting physical activity and reducing sedentary time in childcare centres. However, early childhood educators receive limited specialised pre- and ...in-service learning opportunities relating to these behaviours and may lack the capacity to effectively engage children in healthy movement behaviours. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of an e-Learning course on increasing early childhood educators' physical activity and sedentary behaviour-related capacities. A two-group parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted with early childhood educators in Canada (M.sub.age = 41.78, 97% female). Participants randomized to the intervention group were asked to complete a physical activity and sedentary behaviour e-Learning course within a 4-week period. Participants randomized to the waitlist control condition were assigned to a waitlist to receive the intervention after the testing period. Participants reported on their self-efficacy, knowledge, intentions, and perceived behavioural control relating to physical activity and sedentary behaviours at baseline, post-intervention, and 3 months follow-up. Linear mixed effects models were estimated to determine difference in changes in outcomes from baseline to post-intervention, and follow-up. A total of 209 early childhood educators participated in the study (intervention n = 98; control n = 111). The TEACH e-Learning course was found to be efficacious at improving all of the examined outcomes, with standardized effect sizes ranging from d = 0.58 to d = 0.65 for self-efficacy outcomes, d = 0.66 to d = 1.20 for knowledge outcomes, d = 0.50 to d = 0.65 for intention outcomes, and d = 0.33 to d = 0.69 for perceived behavioural control outcomes post-intervention. The intervention effects were sustained at follow-up for all outcomes apart from perceived behavioural control to limit screen time. Additionally, the magnitude of the effect for knowledge outcomes decreased at follow-up, with standardized effect sizes ranging from d = 0.49 to d = 0.67. The e-Learning course was highly successful at improving early childhood educators' capacity pertaining to physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Providing training content through e-Learning may be an efficacious approach to providing continual professional learning opportunities relating to physical activity and sedentary time to early childhood educators on a large scale.
This study aims to examine pedagogical meanings of the
Mimamoru
approach frequently used by Japanese early childhood educators in children’s physical fights.
Mimamoru
is a strategy in which educators ...intentionally withhold an intervention, while carefully observing children, to foster children’s voluntary participation in their own learning, socially and cognitively. In this report, we examine why Japanese educators tend not to intervene, and how they determine whether their intervention is necessary. Using methods from Tobin’s video cued multi-vocal ethnography, we conducted focus groups at 9 early childhood education and care facilities (7 in Japan and 2 in the U.S.) with a total of 34 Japanese and 12 U.S. educators. They watched a short video clip in which a mid-career male teacher, one of the Japanese participants, used the
Mimamoru
approach with two children involved in a physical fight. Educators, then, discussed their interpretations of the teacher’s responses to children. The analyses of the participants’ discussion suggest that educators’ non-intervention, an important feature of the
Mimamoru
approach, provides children with opportunities to autonomously learn interpersonal skills, for example, through the experiences of feeling guilty and solving problems by themselves. Yet educators do intervene when they determine that the risk of physical harm caused by fighting is greater than the benefit for children to learn. Implications of the
Mimamoru
approach, including in other cultural contexts, are discussed.
Building on research demonstrating the importance of teachers' well-being, this study examined personal and contextual factors related to early childhood educators' (n=1640) depressive symptoms ...across licensed child care homes, centers, and schools. Aspects of teachers' beliefs, economic status, and work-related stress were explored, and components of each emerged as significant in an OLS regression. After controlling for demographics and setting, teachers with more adult-centered beliefs, lower wages, multiple jobs, no health insurance, more workplace demands, and fewer work-related resources, had more depressive symptoms. Adult-centered beliefs were more closely associated with depression for teachers working in home-based settings compared to center-based settings. These findings provide preliminary evidence about what relates to depression in the early childhood workforce, which has implications for supporting well-being across settings.
•This study explored what relates to early childhood educators' depression.•Sample consisted of early childhood educators in licensed homes, centers, and schools.•Aspects of teachers' beliefs, economic status, and stress related to depression.•Beliefs were more closely associated with depression in home-based settings.•Results suggest ways to support the well-being of the workforce.
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