Lipscomb Shannon T, Chandler Kelly D, Abshire Caitlyn, Jaramillo Jamie, Kothari Brianne
Human Development and Family Sciences, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University - Cascades, 1500 SW Chandler Ave, Bend, OR 97702 USA.
College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR USA.
Early Child Educ J. 2022;50(4):675-685. doi: 10.1007/s10643-021-01182-5. Epub 2021 Apr 21.
Early childhood teachers play a central role in children's learning and development. Yet, they encounter stressors that can negatively impact their well-being, relationships with children, and, ultimately, job retention. To inform efforts to support early childhood teachers' work-related well-being, the current study examines positive factors that predict work engagement. Participants were 50 early childhood teachers from Head Start (34%), center-based programs (32%), and licensed home-based programs (34%). Consistent with a resilience framework and the Job Demands-Resources model, we examined both a personal resource (self-efficacy) and a workplace resource (professional support) in relation to work engagement, or the positive, fulfilling connection to one's work. Teachers' self-efficacy and professional support predicted greater work engagement, accounting for job demands (teachers' compassion fatigue/work distress and children's challenging behaviors) and teachers' education and professional development. Although not causal, findings are suggestive that supporting early childhood teachers with what they need to do their job effectively and feel that they can make meaningful differences in children's lives may help them to engage in their work with passion, dedication, and positive energy. Ultimately, supporting teachers' work engagement may in turn have developmental benefits for children as well.
幼儿教师在儿童的学习和发展中发挥着核心作用。然而，他们面临着一些压力源，这些压力源可能会对他们的幸福感、与儿童的关系以及最终的工作保留率产生负面影响。为了为支持幼儿教师与工作相关的幸福感的努力提供信息，当前的研究考察了预测工作投入的积极因素。参与者是来自开端计划（34%）、中心式项目（32%）和有执照的家庭式项目（34%）的50名幼儿教师。与复原力框架和工作需求-资源模型一致，我们考察了与工作投入相关的一种个人资源（自我效能感）和一种工作场所资源（专业支持），工作投入是指与个人工作的积极、充实的联系。教师的自我效能感和专业支持预测了更高的工作投入，同时考虑到工作需求（教师的同情疲劳/工作困扰和儿童的具有挑战性的行为）以及教师的教育和专业发展。尽管并非因果关系，但研究结果表明，为幼儿教师提供有效开展工作所需的支持，并让他们觉得自己能够对儿童的生活产生有意义的影响，可能有助于他们以热情、奉献和积极的能量投入工作。最终，支持教师的工作投入反过来也可能对儿童的发展有益。
