Neglected Elements of a High-Quality Early Childhood Workforce: Whole Teacher Well-Being and Working Conditions
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Neglected Elements of a High‑Quality Early Childhood Workforce: Whole Teacher Well‑Being and Working Conditions Kyong‑Ah Kwon1 · Timothy G. Ford1 · Alicia L. Salvatore2 · Ken Randall3 · Lieny Jeon4 · Adrien Malek‑Lasater1 · Natalie Ellis5 · Mia S. Kile5 · Diane M. Horm6 · Sun Geun Kim1 · Minkyung Han1 Accepted: 12 October 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The majority of teachers in the early care and education (ECE) workforce face disparities in physical and psychological wellbeing as well as working conditions. This study examined the working conditions and physical, psychological, and professional well-being of early childhood teachers and compared the results by the child age group they care for and by teachers’ level of educational attainment. Two hundred sixty-two early childhood teachers completed a brief health assessment and a questionnaire on demographic information, well-being, and working conditions. A subsample of 40 teachers were observed for the quality of care they provided to the children. A substantial number of the teachers in the study reported physical and psychological challenges and suboptimal working conditions for well-being, a largely neglected workforce issue, for this working population. Several significant differences in teachers’ well-being and working conditions were found by the child age group for which they care and by teachers’ level of educational attainment. In particular, teachers with higher educational levels had greater resources for work and provided higher quality of care, however, they also reported poorer physical and professional well-being than teachers with less education. Overall findings indicate a need for policies and programs that will improve working conditions and health outcomes for early childhood teachers and the children in their care. These findings suggest that ECE teachers may have unique needs across the age groups with whom they work and teacher educational levels, regarding work-related resources and conditions. Keywords Whole teacher well-being · Physical and psychological well-being · Early childhood workforce · Working conditions · Classroom quality In recent decades, there has been increased attention to the relationship between working conditions and the health and well-being of workers (Landsbergis 2010; Lipscomb et al. 2006; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 2020; Stiehl et al. 2019). In particular, researchers have * Kyong‑Ah Kwon [email protected] 1
The University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, 4502 E. 41st Street (Suite 4W120), Tulsa, OK 74135, USA
2
Value Institute, ChristianaCare, Newark, DE, USA
3
The University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OH, USA
4
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
5
The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OH, USA
6
Early Childhood Education Institute, The University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
raised concerns about disparities in working conditions and workers’ health and well-being, particularly for low-wage and racial and ethnic minority workers
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