Kindergarten principals' ethical leadership, preschool teachers' perceived organizational support, voice behavior, and work engagement are important components that promote high-quality development in kindergartens. In order to understand the relationship between the four variables, this study conducted an online survey of 819 preschool teachers.…

This study examined how early childhood leaders working simultaneously as kindergarten teachers perceive the professional learning communities they lead -- explicitly identifying the factors that promote or hinder the communities' development from the leader's point of view. A qualitative-phenomenological approach was applied using semi-structured…

Despite the acknowledged complexity and time pressures of early childhood educators' work, very few studies have examined the nature of this work, minute-by-minute, over the working day. This paper reports on data gathered through 10,155 time-use diary (TUD) records provided by 321 educators participating in the Exemplary Early Childhood Educators…

The Early Childhood Education Quality (ECEQ) initiative is a pioneering approach toward supporting ongoing, self-organized professional development in the private kindergarten sector in Japan. The purpose of this study is to examine how kindergarten teachers and ECEQ coordinators experience this approach and view the ECEQ process. Online…

Using action research, this study examined the professional development of teachers through the reflections that kindergarten teachers obtain from children's voices and the relevance between the working environment and teachers' reflection at teacher conferences in Japan. Four teachers participated in the study. Data sources included teachers'…

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the levels of occupational professionalism and occupational alienation in kindergarten teachers. Correlational survey model among the quantitative research models was used in the research. In this context, 224 kindergarten teachers were reached via convenience sampling model. The…

Research Findings: The aim of this study was to examine associations between two aspects of teachers' occupational well-being, i.e., teaching-related stress and work engagement, and the quality of teacher-child interactions in Finnish kindergarten classrooms. Participants were 47 kindergarten teachers with their classrooms of 6-year-old children.…

Research Findings: The aim of the present study was to identify profiles of kindergarten teachers based on the observed quality of interactions with the children in their classrooms and to explore possible differences between the profiles in terms of teachers' occupational well-being and teacher and classroom characteristics. Participants were 54…

California is expanding transitional kindergarten (TK) to become a universal preschool program for all four-year-old children. Upwards of 300,000 children are expected to enroll in universal transitional kindergarten (UTK) by 2025, requiring thousands of additional lead teachers and classroom aides to meet lower student-to-teacher ratio…

An online survey of 1577 private kindergarten teachers was conducted during the pandemic, and their career situation and its influencing factors were described and analyzed. The results indicate that, although the private kindergarten teachers tended to cope positively with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, their concern for future development…

This article explores how three early childhood teachers working in grant-funded preschools within a public school context construct and negotiate their professional identities. Teachers share narratives that contribute to an understanding of how their beliefs, knowledge, and practice are marginalized by the context in which they work. The…

Much research on educational innovations treats them as purposeful endeavours, initiated with a clear goal for improvement of practice and eventually evaluating the fidelity of their implementation as well as effectiveness. However, innovative practices in schools can have many sources and their implementation often takes a surprising and…

Early care and education (ECE) programs for children prior to kindergarten in California are provided through a mixed delivery system that includes licensed home- and center-based programs as well as school settings. The requirements, experience, and supports for educators vary widely across settings, depending more on funding sources and…

The present study, employing the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey, aims to compare and explore possible differences to the levels of burnout reported by the two main professional groups working in the early childhood education and care sector in Greece, that is kindergarten teachers and childcare workers. The correlation between the…

Beginning teaching is challenging; this article examines the realities of practice for beginning early childhood teachers. Fourteen participants in their first year of teaching were interviewed; they worked in private and public early childhood education settings. Findings reveal that the reality of moving from the role of the student to teacher…