Early Childhood Professionals Research Articles

Early Childhood Professionals and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Look at Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Self-Efficacy

Early Childhood Education (ECE) professionals faced unprecedented challenges, including the disruption of instructional programs and routines, since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The purpose of this study was to examine the physical and psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and job-related needs of early childhood educators and administrators during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 117 diverse participants from Southern California participated in this study. Results found that ECE professionals maintained close relationships with children and families, experienced low depression, and reported high job satisfaction despite all the challenges they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Open-ended questions related to challenges and self-efficacy also were explored. This paper includes ways to support ECE teachers and administrators and their well-being and job satisfaction, under the guidelines of the Family and Consumer Sciences Body of Knowledge, as the pandemic continues.

Exploring the Path of Curriculum Construction for Preschool Care in Secondary Vocational Schools under the Background of 1+X Certificate System

The 1+X certificate system is a new talent development and evaluation model that has emerged in the process of vocational education development in China in recent years. 1 refers to the educational certificate obtained by students studying in vocational schools after three years of on-campus learning, passing all theoretical examinations and skills tests, and completing corresponding internship tasks. X refers to obtaining a vocational skill certificate related to the major while obtaining the educational certificate. Taking the employment status and talent competence requirements of the intermediate professional early childhood education major as the starting point, and using the course 0-3 Years Infant and Toddler Care and Education as an example, this research aims to explore the curriculum construction path of the intermediate vocational early childhood education major through the integration of course and certificate, and cultivate students in this major with a solid foundation of professional knowledge, strong practical abilities, and competitiveness in the job market.

“If we can’t advocate for ourselves, nobody else will”: Teacher agency during early childhood reform

The Victorian Government has engaged in multiple reforms in early childhood education and care, marketed to support quality education and increase investment in social reform. Initiatives accompanying reforms, aiming to assist teacher knowledge and skills. However, with each new initiative more pressures are placed on early childhood professionals. Throughout 2021 and 2022, a group of early childhood teachers employed in kindergartens across Melbourne participated in focus groups and interviews, sharing experiences of working with these initiatives and providing recommendations for their roll out. The Capability Approach has been used to analyse their experiences and recommendations to identify how teacher's agency was enabled and constrained. We identified three key recommendations for Governments to consider during current and future early childhood reforms to support an agentic profession. Specifically, focused support for teachers, an urgent need for increased consultation with the EC community and new opportunities for career progression were identified.

Promoting care for the wellbeing of early childhood professionals in Australia

Early childhood (EC) professionals are valuable educators and teachers, and their work involves being caregivers, yet the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the lack of ‘caring about’ and ‘for’ EC professionals. With the increasing focus on educator wellbeing, this paper explores how eight EC professionals understand the role of care for their wellbeing. Drawing upon a feminist ethics of care, this paper interrogates the role of care in the everyday professional work lives of educators. The findings reveal that while EC professionals understand the importance of self-care, however, their self-care is more likely to be prioritised when it is promoted by leadership (e.g., centre directors, organisational). This study also found that EC professionals need to receive care through recognition by parents, centre leaders and colleagues.

Understanding reform discourses in complex times of change: Positions and practices of early childhood professionals from Victorian kindergarten settings

Australian early childhood education and care [ECEC] has faced a series of change and reform since 2009, including the introduction and later revisions of key curriculum and qualify frameworks, increased qualifications, shifting theoretical knowledge and pedagogies, and challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, early childhood professionals [ECPs] have been confronted with a succession of substantial changes impacting their professional practice. This paper reports on a qualitative, post-structural study identifying workplace and learning discourses as key influences for the reform engagement of eleven ECPs from kindergarten settings in Victoria, Australia. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis [FDA] revealed specific subjective positions and discursive practices among participants. Recommendations are offered to address issues related to the uptake of reform initiatives. It is anticipated that these findings may generate greater opportunities to support our existing, emerging and future generations of ECPs as they lead the transformation of ECEC and transition through complex times of uncertainty.

Bush Kinders: Building Young Children’s Relationships with the Environment

AbstractEarly childhood is an important time for building children’s affinity with nature and the environment. Early childhood professionals play a crucial role in developing young children’s understanding of the natural world. Over the past 50 years, there has been a movement in early childhood education and care contexts to provide young children with the opportunity to learn in natural surroundings such as forest schools and nature kindergartens. This research, occurred in four bush kinders, an Australian example of nature-based, early years education influenced by the forest school approach to education. In this paper we interrogate key ideas concerning environmental education, drawing on seminal empirical research, guiding curriculum documents such as Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework and government policy documents to build understandings of how children’s play can be observed by educators who can then support the children to develop their understandings of the natural world around them. Through ethnography, a methodology that uses both participation and observation of research participants, it became apparent that young children’s play-based learning offers opportunities for development of understandings of the environment. Applying a recent definition of environmental education from the US Environmental Protection Authority (2022), we analysed four vignettes which provide examples of educators and children’s interactions supporting children to build an affinity with nature observed during the research. This research’s implications are novel when considering the relatively new bush kinder approach to early childhood education as the findings remind us of the benefits of bush kinders in generating opportunities for young children’s environmental education.

Trauma-Informed Research-Practice Partnership Building to Support Early Childhood Educators in an Appalachian Community

Trauma-informed initiatives that prioritize educator well-being through equitable research-practice partnership (RPP) building are necessary to advance trauma-informed education and care for young children in rural Appalachian communities. Early stages of partnership building that consider dimensions identified by Henrick et al. (2017) foster trusting relationships, address the goals of partnering organizations, and work toward capacity building. Burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue are common problems faced by early childhood professionals who may be exposed to high levels of stress and trauma in their work with young children. Thus, any initiatives with early childhood educators should include short- and long-term strategies to address the status of the workforce. Recognizing how trauma and social determinants of health impact the rural early childhood workforce and their ability to implement trauma-informed practices in the classroom is a first step toward holistic professional development. The purpose of this article is to highlight how the early stages of a partnership study with a rural Appalachian pre-kindergarten (pre-K) program and two universities provided a foundation for future research, practice, and partnership activities. Often, trauma-informed professional learning relies on classroom strategies and swift problem-solving techniques that do not consider the primary and secondary trauma faced by early childhood educators and how these traumas directly impact educators’ ability to improve classroom practices.

The Mediating Role of Fear of COVID-19 in the Association between COVID-19-Related Work Stressors and Subjective Well-being: Path Analysis by Cross-sectional Evidence in the Child Care Sector across Three Samples.

COVID-19 has changed work conditions and instilled fear. However, research overlooked the contributing factors to fear of COVID-19 and its impact on well-being. We addressed this research gap and focused on the essential workforce of child care. Three samples of early childhood professionals (ECPs) ( NT1 = 423, NT2 = 142, NT3 = 584) were gathered in Germany between June 2020 and May 2021. We tested via path analysis whether (1) fear of COVID-19 relates to well-being, (2) COVID-19-related work stressors relate to fear of COVID-19, and (3) fear of COVID-19 mediates the relationship of work stressors and well-being. Findings of N T1 and N T3 lent support, while results of N T2 differed. This study underlines the importance of adapting the work conditions during pandemics to reduce the fear of infection and thus preserve ECPs' well-being.

Exploring the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®) as a Trauma-informed Approach in Two Tasmanian Child and Family Learning Centres

The impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is well documented and poses challenges for all those living and working with children who have experienced early adversity. The need to be trauma-informed when working with children in all educational settings is now recognised as essential if healing and learning are to take place. There are an increasing number of trauma-informed approaches available, but empirical evidence that supports their efficacy, particularly in the early years of education, is currently scarce. This paper presents the findings of a small-scale study which explored early childhood professionals’ perceptions of the effectiveness and sustainability of one trauma-informed approach, Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®). Used widely across the US and Europe, TBRI® is relatively new to Australia and was trialled for the first time in this Tasmanian study. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA, 2014) concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach was used to provide a theoretical framework. Online surveys were used to gather data after each professional learning workshop and three and six-months later. Participants reported several positives of TBRI®, including self-development and improved outcomes for children. Whilst challenges/barriers to using the approach were noted, many related to contextual issues rather than to TBRI® specifically. Findings also showed that equipping families with a similar skill set would be advantageous and integral to effecting sustainable change.

Early childhood professionals’ pedagogical decision making

ABSTRACT The present study sought to determine how and where pedagogical decisions are made, as well as how such pedagogical decisions construct pedagogy, in the early childhood education context. The data was collected through interviews conducted with 46 early childhood education professionals, both teachers and practical nurses. The questions focused on the participants’ perceptions of the children’s learning and their own role in the process. Both data-based and theory-driven analyses were employed. The theory-driven analysis was based on the ecological dimensions introduced by Bronfenbrenner [Bronfenbrenner, Urie. 1976. “The Experimental Ecology of Education.” Educational Researcher 5 (9): 5–15. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X005009005] and Sheridan (Sheridan, Sonja. 2007. “Dimensions of Pedagogical Quality in Preschool.” International Journal of Early Years Education 15 (2): 197–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760701289151, 2009. “Discerning Pedagogical Quality in Preschool.” Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 53 (3): 245–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313830902917295). We found that teachers and practical nurses generally make pedagogical decisions based on their knowledge of child development. Moreover, they use their knowledge of pedagogy and learning theories when making decisions as they make plans for the child or a group of children in advance.

Preparing for partnership: Using dilemmas to help teacher candidates apply anti-bias praxis to problem solving

ABSTRACT Teacher educators are charged with supporting adult learners as they prepare to collaborate with diverse families and colleagues . In this research, we examined how a cohort of teacher candidates (N = 29) developed over a semester in their understanding, dispositions, and knowledge of strategies for partnership through the dilemmas writing assignments using a Grounded Theory approach. The assignment and range of responses from teacher candidates are described, as are implications for teacher educators in helping candidates develop and articulate an anti-bias praxis and build an understanding of their ethical commitment as early childhood professionals to promote equity .

Ideologies of poverty and implications for decision-making with families during home visits

Early childhood professionals are increasingly called upon to be responsive to children and families experiencing poverty. Such responsiveness requires consideration of ideologies of poverty, including beliefs and assumptions about poverty that are deeply embedded within educational policy and practice. This investigation explored how four Early Head Start home visitors enacted ideologies of poverty with 12 families of infants and toddlers through their decision-making talk with families during home visits. Drawing on Gee's D/discourse theory, ideological assumptions about poverty were identified through discourse analysis of home visit transcripts, and supplemented by qualitative analysis of home visit documents and individual interviews with home visitors and families. In emphasizing parents’ ability to redress poverty through personal responsibility and individual action, identified assumptions predominantly reflected individualistic ideologies of poverty. Findings offer insight into how ideologies of poverty constrained decision-making and subtly reinforced deficit-based messages about families, despite home visitors’ empathy.

Families’ experiences with supports after receiving a prenatal diagnosis of down syndrome

In the United States, families whose infants or toddlers have a diagnosis that results in a high likelihood of developmental delay or disability are automatically eligible for early intervention (EI). When families know prenatally of this diagnosis, they are not eligible for EI until their baby is born despite other developmental programs starting during pregnancy. Seventeen families who had a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome shared their experiences with formal, intermediate, and informal resources during their pregnancy. Findings centered on families’ appraisals of those resources to meet their desire for a positive, hopeful pregnancy and parenting vision. Implications are discussed for early childhood prenatal home visitors, early childhood professionals overall, and EI systems and professionals.

Femininity, class & status: the societal devaluation of the female early years workforce

ABSTRACT This thesis responds to contemporary debates about early childhood education and the gendered nature of the workforce, drawing on feminist theory, interpretive methodologies and practitioner accounts. This project amplifies the female voice of practitioners in the workforce, using data drawn from semi- structured interviews with 11 early years practitioners. Drawing on intersectional feminist theories surrounding women’s liberation from misogyny, and Foucauldian conceptualisations of power, this project will highlight the role of femininity on predominantly working-class early childhood practitioners, and how it distorts their identity and their relationships with colleagues under the current neoliberal regulation of the sector. Through analysing the qualitative data, this thesis will explore the impact of the assumption that women are the traditional caregivers on practitioners themselves; how the patriarchy reproduces this norm by perpetuating misogyny and marginalisation; and how this notion affects women’s oppression and the consequent movements towards liberation. This thesis offers two conceptual and empirical contributions to the field of early childhood education research. Firstly, the theoretical underpinnings of Foucauldian and feminist theory with interpretive methodologies to explore women’s oppression in the early childhood workforce. Secondly, in exploring the role of gendered language and gossip in interactions between early childhood professionals, this thesis analyses the extent to which patriarchal language surrounding gossip is used to trivialise and devalue the female voice and probes the extent to which gossip is a form of power for women. This study contributes important perspectives on how current drives towards the ‘educationalization’ of early years settings can have harmful consequences for the professional development of early childhood educators, rather than raising the standards of childcare in the UK.

What are Convergence and Divergence in How Parents and Educators Interpret Child Development When Preschoolers Transition to Kindergarten?

This study investigated the interrater agreement between parents of young children and the early childhood professionals working with their family as they transition from preschool to kindergarten. The goal of this research is to identify clusters of greatest congruence and divergence. We examined clusters of agreement between 24 parent and educator dyads from rural Head Start programs in the Midwest. Differences in parent and professional assessment are represented, as well as areas where there are strong convergence. Results draw attention to the items where parents and professionals have greatest difference in the assessment. This study has implications for co-production of services for children and their families with professionals.

Leadership learning design principles: Co-creating dialogic and critical pedagogy within cohort and community contexts

The purpose of this paper is to share our pedagogical evolution as graduate faculty in relationship with increasingly diverse cohort communities of early childhood professionals learning across the landscape of leadership roles engaged with young children, families, and other adults. The early childhood leadership program described in this paper offers a graduate certificate where annually, a cohort of 18-22 early childhood professionals from across Colorado in the United States learn together for 13 months. As faculty, we share a strong commitment to both learning about our teaching and to inviting student voices, the early childhood professionals, through dialogic processes in participatory study as we co-learn and grow our practices of learning and teaching. This paper introduces and explores four leadership learning design principles: (1) identity and agency, (2) socially constructed pedagogy, (3) contextually relevant learning experience, and (4) appreciative stance. As we go, the story will unfold around how we engaged cohort members of the 2019-2020 program year through initial survey reflections and then deepening our shared understanding of these leadership learning design principles through iterations of dialogue after the program was concluded. We end the paper with reflections on how this process of study has ultimately brought us to an awareness and eagerness to engage in relational forms of inquiry, placing student voices at the center with even more intention and depth.

The Relationship of Work Stress and Somatic Symptoms Among Early Childhood Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world of work. Due to additional occupational health and safety measures early childhood professionals were faced with an increased workload, which may lead to an increased risk for their individual health. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to obtain updated prevalences of psychosocial work stress (effort-reward imbalance, ERI), overcommitment as well as somatic symptoms and their association during the COVID-19 pandemic. Early childhood professionals from a large city in North Rhine-Westphalia (N=1009) participated in the survey between June 2020 and May 2021. The Effort-Reward Imbalance at work questionnaire (16 items version) was used to assess work stress, and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15) was used to assess somatic symptoms. A multiple logistic regression tested the association between work stress and somatic health. In total, 72.3% of the sample showed an effort-reward imbalance, 25.0% showed a high overcommitment. The overall prevalence of somatization at a moderate to high level was 45.2%. Effort-reward imbalance and high overcommitment increased the odds of severe symptom presence by a factor of 4.12 and 5.20, respectively. This study shows the high number of effort-reward imbalances, the high overcommitment and the above-average prevalence of somatic complaints among early childhood professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In view of these high prevalences and their relationships, there is still a strong need for action and research to reduce work-related stress in this occupational group as well as to investigate the persistence of and the management of somatic symptoms in order to develop long-term preventive measures.

Early Childhood Educators' Professional Learning for Sustainability Through Action Research in Australian Immersive Nature Play Programmes

In this paper, I provide insights into how action research influenced the movement of Australian early childhood educators' worldviews, identities, and their agency in relation to education for sustainability (EfS) in natural outdoor settings. This was integral to a larger study that explored early childhood educators' understandings of a nature-sustainability nexus and its influence on their pedagogies in Australian immersive nature play programmes. The findings indicated personal transformations for some participants as individuals and as teams of early childhood professionals, resulting in new discourses for EfS-with others engaging in an ongoing journey of disrupting dominant anthropocentric ways of thinking.

Early Childhood Professionals’ Reported Use of Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Practices During Initial Evaluations: A Mixed Methods Study

We utilized a mixed methods design to analyze responses to a U.S.-distributed survey regarding early childhood professionals’ ( N = 1,047) use of culturally and linguistically responsive practices during the initial evaluation for early intervention or early childhood special education. Findings from the fully mixed concurrent equal status mixed methods design showed that personnel used some culturally and linguistically responsive evaluation practices, such as using interpreters and asking families about language use and routines at home. Other culturally and linguistically responsive evaluation practices were used by fewer than half of survey respondents. Participants noted a lack of bicultural and bilingual staff, training, materials, and other supports for implementing culturally and linguistically responsive evaluations. We discuss the need for ongoing efforts to ensure equitable access to early intervention and special education services for racially and linguistically marginalized young children.

Transcultural skills for early childhood professionals.

Transcultural skills are especially useful for those involved in the perinatal period, when parents and babies must adapt to one another in a setting of migration a long a focus of transcultural clinical practice. The aim of this article is to provide useful transcultural skills for any health care worker (e.g., psychologists, child psychiatrists, midwives, family doctors, pediatricians, specialized child-care attendants, and social workers) who provide care or support to families during the perinatal period. It highlights the cultural aspects requiring attention in relation to representations of pregnancy, children's needs, obstetric complications, and postnatal problems. Taking into account the impact of culture on clinical evaluation and treatment can enable professionals to distinguish what involves cultural representations of pregnancy, babies, and sometimes of disease from what is associated with interaction disorders or maternal psychopathology. After explaining the relevance of transcultural clinical practices to provide migrant mothers with better support, we describe 9 themes useful to explore from a transcultural perspective. This choice is based on the transcultural clinical practice in our specialized department. The description of these 9 themes is intended to aid in their pragmatic application and is illustrated with short clinical vignettes for specific concepts. We describe situations that are extreme but often encountered in liaison transcultural clinical practice for maternity wards: perinatal mourning with cultural coding, mediation in refusal of care, cultural misunderstandings, situations of complex trauma and of multiple contextual vulnerabilities, and difficulties associated with acculturation. The transcultural levers described here make it possible to limit cultural misunderstandings and to promote the therapeutic alliance. It presupposes the professionals will concomitantly analyze their cultural countertransference and acquire both the knowledge and know-how needed to understand the elements of cultural, political, and social issues needed to develop clinical finesse. This combined theoretical-clinical article is intended to be pedagogical. It provides guidelines for conducting transcultural child psychiatry/psychological interviews in the perinatal period aimed at both assessment and therapy.