Having a qualified, stable, and healthy workforce is a critical component of a thriving early care and education (ECE) system. However, ECE educators--especially those who are women of color--have long encountered low wages and a lack of benefits, coupled with a physically demanding and stressful work environment. Burnout and teacher turnover are…

Researchers from the Happy Teacher Project found that many early childhood teachers experience stress and demonstrate lack of well-being at rates and levels that threaten the quality and sustainability of the workforce. Further, working with children exposed to trauma adds significant emotional and physical burden on teachers who already struggle…

Ventura County is home to approximately 55,000 children under age six, many of whom enroll in early care and education (ECE) programs (KidsData, 2023). The ECE workforce provides vital learning and growth for these children, complex work that demands energy and expertise. Building on the California Early Care and Education Workforce Study…

Researchers have studied stress and burnout in the field of education for decades. The problem addressed in this study was that early childhood (EC) teachers of kindergarten through second grade in a large, northeastern, suburban public school district have returned to in-person instruction with many challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Leadership is a relational practice that influences early childhood teachers' (ECTs) capability for agency. Agency contributes to the job satisfaction, wellbeing, and retention of ECTs-which are of pressing importance in a climate of global early childhood workforce sustainability challenges. Empirical insights presented in this paper explore the…

Early childhood educators' work, especially with children and families experiencing vulnerability, is complex, highly skilled, and can place significant psychological burdens on educators. This may adversely affect educators' well-being and contribute to the high levels of attrition seen globally. This article reports on an evaluation of a…

This study focused on identifying and describing practices or strategies that emerged in Maine and elsewhere in the US during the pandemic to support teachers' delivery of instruction through remote, online or hybrid modalities. Other types of support, such as mental health supports for educators were also investigated.

This article explores the experiences of four individuals who changed careers into early childhood teaching in Victoria, Australia and later left the profession. The study was conducted with a narrative inquiry approach and reveals insight into motivations for becoming an early childhood teacher (ECT), experiences of being an ECT and factors that…

Most efforts to improve school settings and increase student learning assume adequately trained and knowledgeable teachers with the personal capacity and professional support to effectively implement new programs. This is unlikely to be true in under-resourced communities where teachers face a range of personal and professional barriers to…

The study developed multiple independent scales of early childhood teacher experiences (ECTES). ECTES was co-constructed with preschool, kindergarten, and first grade teachers in a large urban school district. Demographic, ECTES, and teaching practices data were collected from 584 teachers. Factor analyses documented three teacher experience…

This bulletin is published as a much-need service to young men and women considering preparation for teaching. In it they will find information and judgments on duties, requirements, opportunities, satisfactions and annoyances in teaching as a life work. Because essential data has changed, the current report is written to describe the occupation…