Bildiri Konusu:Okul Öncesi Dönemde Güncel Sorunlar
The Factors Affecting Early Childhood Teachers' Personal and Professional Well-Being with Coping Strategies and Suggestions
Introduction
The most general definition of well-being is being open, engaged, and functioning well (Ryan & Deci, 2011). Teachers' well-being is often referred to as professional well-being in the literature. However, in recent years, it has been emphasized that personal well-being is as important as professional well-being (Bermejo-Toro et al., 2016). There are many factors affecting preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being. In the literature, negative factors such as the number of children in the classroom, and long working hours are mentioned (Yaşar-Ekici, 2017). In this study, in addition to the negative factors, the factors that positively affect teachers' personal and professional well-being are also investigated. Additionally, teachers' coping strategies and suggestions for dealing with negative situations are explored. It is expected that the data obtained at the end of the study will make a significant contribution to the literature in terms of supporting preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being.
Therefore, this study aims to examine not only the factors that positively and negatively affect preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being but also their strategies and suggestions to overcome the factors that negatively affect their personal and professional well-being. In line with the aim, the following research questions were tried to be answered:
1. What are the factors affecting preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being?
2. What are preschool teachers' strategies for coping with the factors that negatively affect their personal and professional well-being?
3. What are preschool teachers' suggestions for supporting their personal and professional well-being?
Method
Exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used in this study. The researchers first explored the viewpoint of participants qualitatively regarding their personal and professional well-being. Then, they analyzed and used qualitative data to create the quantitative phase of the study. In this way, it was tried to understand whether the views of a few participants can be generalized to a large sample of a population.
A total of 276 early childhood teachers participated; 21 of which were in the first phase and 255 in the second phase of the study. The qualitative data was collected through an online open-ended form while the quantitative data was collected with an online survey. The researchers collected data by interacting with teachers via telephone, e-mail, and social media from all around the country. After teachers accepted to participate in the study, the researchers started to collect data. The researchers analyzed the qualitative data by coding the answers through content analysis Then, the quantitative part was analyzed through descriptive statistics of SPSS 28.0.
Findings and Conclusion
Preschool teachers mostly emphasized the factors of “being in good health for themselves and loved ones”, and “a safe and peaceful working environment” as factors affecting personal well-being positively. They specified the factors affecting their personal well-being negatively as “negative situations related to the health of themselves and their loved ones” and “their financial concerns”. Among the factors that positively affect professional well-being, the most preferred factors were “positive relations with colleagues”, “positive situations about the children in the classroom”, “the dignity that the profession deserves”, and “the positive attitude of the school administration”. When the factors that negatively affect professional well-being were examined, the most preferred options were "lack of breaks", "insufficient professional respect", "negative attitude of the school administration" and "insufficient financial income".
As strategies, teachers generally focused on “solution-oriented” thinking to cope with the factors affecting both their personal and professional well-being. Moreover, they mostly suggested the improvement of working hours/conditions to support professional well-being and financial improvement for supporting personal well-being. Therefore, it can be concluded that improving personal and professional conditions for all early childhood teachers may positively affect their well-being.
References
Bermejo-Toro, L., Prieto-Ursúa, M., & Hernández, V. (2016). Towards a model of teacher well- being: Personal and job resources involved in teacher burnout and engagement. Educational Psychology, 36(3), 481-501.
Ryan R. M., Deci E. L. (2011). A self-determination theory perspective on social, institutional, cultural, and economic supports for autonomy and their importance for well-being. In Chirkov V. I., Ryan R. M., Sheldon K. M. (Eds.), Human autonomy in cross-cultural context: Perspectives on the psychology of agency, freedom, and well-being (pp. 45-64). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Crossref
Yaşar-Ekici, F. (2017). Evaluation of preschool teachers in terms of professional burnout. Journal of Social Sciences of Muş Alparslan University, 5(2), 425– 446.
Anahtar Kelimeler: personal well being, professional well being, early childhood teacher, mixed method
The Factors Affecting Early Childhood Teachers' Personal and Professional Well-Being with Coping Strategies and Suggestions
Introduction
The most general definition of well-being is being open, engaged, and functioning well (Ryan & Deci, 2011). Teachers' well-being is often referred to as professional well-being in the literature. However, in recent years, it has been emphasized that personal well-being is as important as professional well-being (Bermejo-Toro et al., 2016). There are many factors affecting preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being. In the literature, negative factors such as the number of children in the classroom, and long working hours are mentioned (Yaşar-Ekici, 2017). In this study, in addition to the negative factors, the factors that positively affect teachers' personal and professional well-being are also investigated. Additionally, teachers' coping strategies and suggestions for dealing with negative situations are explored. It is expected that the data obtained at the end of the study will make a significant contribution to the literature in terms of supporting preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being.
Therefore, this study aims to examine not only the factors that positively and negatively affect preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being but also their strategies and suggestions to overcome the factors that negatively affect their personal and professional well-being. In line with the aim, the following research questions were tried to be answered:
1. What are the factors affecting preschool teachers' personal and professional well-being?
2. What are preschool teachers' strategies for coping with the factors that negatively affect their personal and professional well-being?
3. What are preschool teachers' suggestions for supporting their personal and professional well-being?
Method
Exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used in this study. The researchers first explored the viewpoint of participants qualitatively regarding their personal and professional well-being. Then, they analyzed and used qualitative data to create the quantitative phase of the study. In this way, it was tried to understand whether the views of a few participants can be generalized to a large sample of a population.
A total of 276 early childhood teachers participated; 21 of which were in the first phase and 255 in the second phase of the study. The qualitative data was collected through an online open-ended form while the quantitative data was collected with an online survey. The researchers collected data by interacting with teachers via telephone, e-mail, and social media from all around the country. After teachers accepted to participate in the study, the researchers started to collect data. The researchers analyzed the qualitative data by coding the answers through content analysis Then, the quantitative part was analyzed through descriptive statistics of SPSS 28.0.
Findings and Conclusion
Preschool teachers mostly emphasized the factors of “being in good health for themselves and loved ones”, and “a safe and peaceful working environment” as factors affecting personal well-being positively. They specified the factors affecting their personal well-being negatively as “negative situations related to the health of themselves and their loved ones” and “their financial concerns”. Among the factors that positively affect professional well-being, the most preferred factors were “positive relations with colleagues”, “positive situations about the children in the classroom”, “the dignity that the profession deserves”, and “the positive attitude of the school administration”. When the factors that negatively affect professional well-being were examined, the most preferred options were "lack of breaks", "insufficient professional respect", "negative attitude of the school administration" and "insufficient financial income".
As strategies, teachers generally focused on “solution-oriented” thinking to cope with the factors affecting both their personal and professional well-being. Moreover, they mostly suggested the improvement of working hours/conditions to support professional well-being and financial improvement for supporting personal well-being. Therefore, it can be concluded that improving personal and professional conditions for all early childhood teachers may positively affect their well-being.
References
Bermejo-Toro, L., Prieto-Ursúa, M., & Hernández, V. (2016). Towards a model of teacher well- being: Personal and job resources involved in teacher burnout and engagement. Educational Psychology, 36(3), 481-501.
Ryan R. M., Deci E. L. (2011). A self-determination theory perspective on social, institutional, cultural, and economic supports for autonomy and their importance for well-being. In Chirkov V. I., Ryan R. M., Sheldon K. M. (Eds.), Human autonomy in cross-cultural context: Perspectives on the psychology of agency, freedom, and well-being (pp. 45-64). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Crossref
Yaşar-Ekici, F. (2017). Evaluation of preschool teachers in terms of professional burnout. Journal of Social Sciences of Muş Alparslan University, 5(2), 425– 446.
Keywords: personal well being, professional well being, early childhood teacher, mixed method