ERIC Number: EJ1268196
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-9289
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Everyday Heroes: The Personal and Economic Stressors of Early Care and Education Teachers Serving Low-Income Children
Johnson, Anna D.; Phillips, Deborah A.; Partika, Anne; Castle, Sherri
Early Education and Development, v31 n7 p973-993 2020
Research findings: This study uses newly available data on low-income children and their teachers in a mixed-delivery, publicly funded early care and education (ECE) system to document the prevalence of personal and economic stressors that ECE teachers experience. We go on to explore whether these stressors are associated with child academic, self-regulatory, and social outcomes. Results indicate that ECE teachers in our sample report a high degree of personal and economic stressors -- for instance, rates of depression and food insecurity are relatively high. Yet, these stressors' associations with child outcomes are often weak and inconsistent. Practice and policy: ECE teachers in publicly funded settings face high expectations but are paid astonishingly low wages, which may contribute to high stress. More research is needed to understand why the many stressors teachers report did not consistently predict child outcomes in this study. What enables teachers to compartmentalize or absorb their personal and economic stressors such that their students are protected from its impacts? How can this information be applied to professional development focused on improving teacher wellbeing? Regardless of associations with child outcomes, reducing stressors reported by ECE teachers is a worthy practice priority because children deserve healthy and economically secure teachers and a worthy policy priority from a human rights perspective. [This article was co-written by the Tulsa SEED Study Team: Diane Horm, Gigi Luk, Anne Martin, April Dericks, Jane Hutchison, and Owen Schochet.]
Descriptors: Stress Variables, Preschool Teachers, Low Income Groups, Teacher Attitudes, Child Care, Incidence, Economic Factors, Correlation, Academic Achievement, Self Control, Social Development, Food, Security (Psychology), Depression (Psychology), Public Schools, Teacher Salaries, Prediction, Work Environment, Teacher Student Relationship, Faculty Development, Civil Rights, Educational Policy, Financial Problems, Mental Health, Preschool Children, Emotional Development
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Oklahoma; Oklahoma (Tulsa)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A