School of Education, Johns Hopkins University, United States of America.
Moridge College of Education, University of Denver, United States of America.
J Sch Psychol. 2023 Jun;98:133-147. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2023.02.007. Epub 2023 Apr 3.
Teachers' capacity to cultivate children's social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in early childhood settings could depend on how connected they feel to their workplace as well as to their work. However, the role of teachers' perceptions of their workplace in their work engagement, as well as children's functioning (i.e., anger-aggression, anxiety-withdrawal, social competence, behavioral self-regulation), remains to be understood. Within this interdisciplinary study, we used self-determination theory and the Job Demands-Resources Model of Burnout, which propose that when teachers perceive a supportive workplace that enables them to feel capable of handling their responsibilities, they perform better in their role, and thus, could more positively contribute to children's development. The present study utilized a sample of 329 preschoolers and their 53 teachers. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we examined associations between teachers' sense of community (as measured by collegiality and involvement-influence), their work engagement as a moderator, and children's social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in early care and education (ECE) settings. As expected, we found that collegiality was negatively associated with children's anger aggression (β = -1.79, SE = 0.86). Also, work engagement was negatively associated with children's anxiety-withdrawal (β = -0.29, SE = 0.07). Unexpectedly, involvement-influence was positively associated with children's anger-aggression (β = 1.78, SE = 0.67). Relationships in the workplace are valuable to teachers, including how they engage with their work duties and children. However, more responsibilities in the workplace may present challenges that contribute to a less positive response to children or a less positive classroom environment. We discuss implications and potential workplace interventions for ECE educators.
教师在幼儿教育环境中培养儿童社交、情感和行为功能的能力可能取决于他们对工作场所的感受以及对工作的感受。然而，教师对工作场所的看法如何影响他们的工作投入，以及儿童的功能（即愤怒-攻击、焦虑-退缩、社交能力、行为自我调节），仍有待了解。在这项跨学科研究中，我们使用了自我决定理论和职业倦怠的工作要求-资源模型，该模型提出，当教师感受到一个支持性的工作场所，使他们能够感到有能力处理自己的职责时，他们在角色中表现得更好，从而能够更积极地促进儿童的发展。本研究使用了 329 名学龄前儿童及其 53 名教师的样本。我们使用层次线性模型，研究了教师的社区感（通过同事关系和参与影响力来衡量）、他们的工作投入作为调节变量，以及儿童在早期保育和教育（ECE）环境中的社交、情感和行为功能之间的关系。正如预期的那样，我们发现同事关系与儿童的愤怒攻击呈负相关（β=-1.79，SE=0.86）。此外，工作投入与儿童的焦虑退缩呈负相关（β=-0.29，SE=0.07）。出乎意料的是，参与影响力与儿童的愤怒攻击呈正相关（β=1.78，SE=0.67）。工作场所的关系对教师很有价值，包括他们如何参与工作职责和儿童。然而，工作场所更多的责任可能会带来挑战，导致对儿童的反应不那么积极，或对课堂环境不那么积极。我们讨论了对 ECE 教育工作者的影响和潜在的工作场所干预措施。
