Using a relational survey design, this study examined the relationship between preschool teachers' emotional intelligence levels and their coping responses to stress. A total of 257 preschool ...teachers from public and private institutions in Istanbul participated in the study. Demographic information form, Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale-33-Tr (EIS), and Coping Responsive Inventory (CRI) were used to collect data. The results showed that preschool teachers' scores on the EIS and the CRI were not significantly affected by their age, education level, type of institution, or length of service. A positive and moderately significant relationship was found between teachers' EIS scores and their CRI total scores, as well as sub-scores for problem-solving, positive reappraisal, logical analysis, and seeking professional support. The EIS and the subscale of seeking environmental support in CRI, however, had a positive and low-level significant relationship.
Research in the field of education and teaching for sustainability in preschool has highlighted the importance of communication for knowledge development in the field of sustainability. This article ...presents a study of the variations that appear in preschool teachers' perceptions of the importance and the experience of having carried out systematic child talks in preschool. The experience is covered by 60 written comments from preschool teachers after they, within a research and development program (R&D program) in the spring of 2022, conducted systematic child talks in the children's groups where they are working. The data has been analysed based on a phenomenographic theoretical perspective. The result of the analysis shows that in the preschool teachers' perceptions of carrying out systematic talks with children, four varying perceptions emerge: Becoming aware of one's own actions; Exciting and educational to discuss with the children about sustainability; Talking with children was difficult;and,Sharing children's thoughts and experiences was the retention. In the preschool teachers' comments, it appears that some of them, through the systematic child talks, have deepened their reflection and their awareness of talking with the children about aspects of sustainability. At the same time, several difficulties are highlighted regarding the task itself and how to ask questions and maintaining children's interest during the talks. Finally, the study indicates that systematic child talks as a method and workingtool are not common in preschool, as several preschool teachers point out that they do not talk to the children in this way in everyday life.
This study sought to measure early childhood educators’ personal physical, emotional and financial stress impact related to the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic in Indiana. More research on ...early childhood educator stress and well-being is needed to fill a gap in the literature, especially as a national pandemic has placed unavoidable amounts of new stressors on the ECCE workforce.
This study examined the effects of pedagogical documentation (PD) on the classroom management skills of preschool teachers. A mixed methods intervention design was used to investigate the skills of ...teachers using different classroom management strategies. A multiple case study was conducted in the qualitative phase, while a pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental research design was used for the quantitative phase. Pre-interviews and post-interviews, pre-test and post-test applications, and semi-structured in-class observations were carried out with four teachers working in public schools. The results showed that PD contributed positively to the teachers’ planning and programming, behaviour management, in-class relations, and time management implementations at various levels.
•Implementing pedagogical documentation has a positive impact on classroom management for teachers.•The teachers who implement pedagogical documentation have made positive changes in their planning processes.•The use of pedagogical documentation aids teachers in enhancing their classroom management skills and improving the education provided to children.
The COVID-19 epidemic in the early 2020s is making a big difference for educators around the world. For the past 2 years, the curriculum and working patterns have been overturned in response to this ...epidemic, which has brought unprecedented challenges and physical and mental stress to preschool teachers. This situation can have a drastic impact on the acquisition of job well-being for preschool teachers. During this special time, the leader's management style will also influence the psychological feelings of the organization's staff. For example, empowering leadership is an important management function that empowers subordinates, emphasizes the meaning of work, promotes participation in decision-making, and expresses confidence. Therefore, in the current COVID-19 pandemic context, it is worthwhile to explore the topic of empowering leadership to ensure preschool teachers' well-being, by balancing work demands and work resources in a way that facilitates a sense of organizational support and reduces job stress, while relatively fewer studies have been conducted on the relationship between preschool teachers' job well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on this, this study proposed a research model from the theoretical perspective of the Job Demands-Resources Model to explore the influence of empowering leadership, sense of organizational support, and job stress on preschool teachers' job well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve the purpose of this study, a convenience sampling method was used to invite 500 preschool teachers in China to complete a questionnaire survey, and after removing invalid samples and data with incomplete answers, reliability and validity analyses and model fit tests were conducted, followed by a structural equation modeling method for path analysis. The results of the study showed that (1) in the kindergarten work context, empowering leadership showed a significant negative effect on job stress, but a significant positive effect on job well-being and a significant positive effect on sense of organizational support. (2) Sense of organizational support had a significant negative effect on job stress but a significant positive effect on preschool teachers' job well-being. (3) Preschool teachers' job stress and job well-being showed a significant negative effect. The contribution of this study was to explore the relationship between understanding leadership empowerment and preschool teachers' job well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic based on the Job Demands-Resources Model, which will facilitate educational organizational contexts to empower preschool teachers to work harder to reduce their job stress as well as enhance their sense of organizational support and promote the acquisition of job well-being.
Teaching is one of the most challenging jobs, with a high turnover rate. Unfortunately, we know very little about how to retain teachers. This longitudinal field study (N = 310) examined whether ...preschool teachers' stress mindset—that is, whether they believe stress is harmful or beneficial—predicted their job stress and turnover within a school year. The results suggested that teachers who believe in the potential benefits of stress experienced less job stress, and were therefore less likely to leave their jobs as quickly. These findings suggest that teachers' stress mindsets predict their psychological well-being and professional development.
•Teaching is one of the most challenging jobs with a high turnover rate.•A longitudinal study suggested that teachers' stress mindset predicted job stress and turnover.•Teachers who believe in the benefits of stress were less likely to leave their jobs within a school year.
This study explored the relationship among the emotional labor, psychological capital, and mental health of preschool teachers. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 411 preschool teachers in ...China. The results revealed the following: (1) One emotional labor strategy (Surface acting) had a significant negative effect on mental health, whereas two emotional labor strategies (expression of naturally felt emotions and deep acting) had significant positive effects. (2) The psychological capital of preschool teachers had a complete mediation on the relationship between expression of naturally felt emotions and mental health and between the deep acting and mental health.
•We explored preschool teachers’ views about children's different peer group behaviors.•Overall, teachers expressed more negative views towards child aggression as compared to social ...withdrawal.•However, teachers also made more nuanced distinctions among sub-types of both aggression and withdrawal.•Exuberance and rough-and-tumble play were viewed comparatively positively.
The goal of the present study was to examine preschool teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and emotional reactions in response to vignettes depicting a range of children's peer group behaviors. Participants were N=405 female preschool teachers, aged 20–65 years (M=41.54, SD=10.50), recruited from childcare centers and preschools located primarily in Ontario, Canada. Participants read a series of short scenarios depicting hypothetical children engaging in a range of peer-group behaviors at preschool, including: (1) physical aggression; (2) relational aggression; (3) shyness; (4) unsociability; (5) rough-and-tumble play; and (6) exuberance. Following each vignette, teachers responded to a series of items assessing their attitudes (e.g., intent to intervene, tolerance), beliefs (e.g., implications for children's social and academic functioning), and emotional reactions (e.g., anger, worry) toward each child behavior. Results indicated that preschool teachers expressed more negative views in response to child aggression as compared to social withdrawal. Exuberance and rough-and-tumble play elicited comparatively positive, but also somewhat mixed responses. However, clear differences were also evidenced among sub-types of both aggression and social withdrawal. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications of teachers’ distinctions among different types of young children's peer-group behaviors at preschool.
This study examines the attitudes of Israeli preschool teachers towards the teaching of science and technology (S&T) in preschools in general, and towards the Israeli Ministry of Education’s S&T ...program in particular. It assesses the connection between the teachers’ attitudes and their implementation of the program and examines the difficulties they expressed and improvements they suggested regarding the implementation of the S&T program in their classes. Ninety preschool teachers responded to a questionnaire assessing their attitudes regarding teaching S&T to preschool children. Eight of these teachers were interviewed regarding the content, methods, and application of the S&T program in their preschools.
The results show that most of the teachers are engaged in teaching scientific content in the preschool, despite time constraints. All the teachers expressed positive attitudes towards teaching S&T in preschool, attributed great importance to it, and said it is appropriate for children of that age. However, they admitted that they do not fully apply the official S&T teaching program in their classes. Further, they teach mainly according to their personal knowledge, rather than the professional program. Many said they lack sufficient knowledge and are not fully familiar with the S&T program. They stated that professional development could improve utilization of time and resources, increase cooperation with other educators, and promote positive attitudes towards teaching S&T in preschool. The main implication of this research is that a nationwide, professional training program for preschool teachers must be introduced along with the new S&T curriculum. Such training should provide teachers with in-depth knowledge of the program’s content, and methods for implementing it, and provide them with personal guidance to enable them to teach S&T with minimal difficulties or concerns.
PDF
