Early childhood (EC) environments that are safe and engaging can positively influence developmental outcomes in children. Indeed, the benefits of a high-quality environment for young children are numerous (Kostelnik et al., 2019). The EC classroom is also the primary workplace of EC teachers and much like the children they serve, they can also…

For too many educators, the idea of a morally centered school may seem like a fantasy--or be so novel a concept that it is hard to grasp. In this article, the authors describe such schools, which truly serve students' best interests by following a set of shared professional values, and how educators and their unions can help create them. The four…

Teacher wellbeing has gained increasing attention in recent decades, intricately related to the problems of teacher retention, attrition and shortages. In some respects, the emerging debates have been fundamentally disconnected from the everyday lives of teachers, schools and school communities. Teacher wellbeing is repeatedly foregrounded as a…

This unique thought experiment invites the field of agricultural education to a critical dialogue on issues related to making teaching a career. Leveraging elicitation techniques, we introduce a series of nine letters on agriculture teacher retention. Written by agriculture teacher education faculty with expertise in teacher retention, these…

The Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success is a national effort to better support the professoriate. In 2018, The Delphi Project launched an award for campuses that had made significant efforts to better support their nontenure-track faculty, including exploring and implementing new faculty models that lead to more secure and…

This research commentary illuminates teachers' insights that help examine the nuanced relationship between spaces and situations that describe the impact of fostering belongingness and elevating their voices. Data includes results from a qualitative survey, which was a convenience sample across the southern region of the United States. The…

This is the third publication in a series of research reports from the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership-led study, The Impact of the ECF Programme on the Work Engagement, Well-Being and Retention of Teachers: A Longitudinal Study, 2021--2026. This paper describes the conditions in schools which advance the development and retention of teacher…

The COVID-19 pandemic sounded alarms about the precarity of the teacher workforce as teachers reported high levels of burnout, stress, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave teaching. Research using statewide administrative data has shown teacher turnover climbed in 2021 and 2022 in several states, raising concerns that the worst could be yet to…

In 2023, Wilder Research contracted with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and Department of Human Services (DHS), in partnership with the Children's Cabinet, to conduct an Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Survey. A similar study was done in 2011. The purpose of the study is to describe characteristics of the ECE workforce and…

Student voice is, of course, fundamental -- who could argue against democracy? It is important that we do not return to a time where students were seen and not heard and positioned as subordinate figures but at the same time, do teachers suffer because of this democracy? Although student voice policies can represent positive developments, it would…

This Educator Voices report examines the working conditions that impact educator practice and well-being in center-based programs in Flagler and Volusia Counties, Florida. The study documents the experiences of early educators since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and is the first to look at the relationship between educators' future plans and…

This article provides a conceptual framework of the dimensions of a toxic culture in higher education and the impact it has on the meaning of work. Seven dimensions of a toxic culture in higher education are presented as follows: toxic leadership; bullying and mobbing; colleagues as enablers; reinforced toxic social norms; purposeful, chaotic…

UNESCO, the Teacher Task Force, and the International Labour Organization continue to highlight the need to create healthy, thriving working conditions for educators. They seek respect and dignity in the education professions, as demonstrated through regular, fair, and life-sustaining remuneration, as well as through recognition of the expertise,…

Early childhood educators are key to delivering early childhood education and care (ECEC) for the benefit of children, their families and society alike. For the benefits of ECEC to be realised, however, the educators who deliver these services need to be well. Despite growing attention to attracting and retaining a high-quality early childhood…

The author's statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions on the challenges faced by America's classroom teachers focuses on a few of the factors that lead to teacher frustration and burnout that higher pay, however well-intended, does not change. They include, but are not limited to, poor teacher preparation,…