Psychosocially Safe Early Childhood Workplaces: The Role of Administrators' Own Social Emotional Competencies

• In Event: 66.057 - Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 66.057-10 - School Leaders Ready to Lead: Developing the Social and Emotional Skills of School Administrators

Abstract

Significance & Theoretical Framework
Demand for early childhood education is on the rise and programs struggle to attract and retain a suitable workforce. In order to provide high-quality instruction, especially around social-emotional learning (SEL), early childhood teachers need to feel that their emotional health is also valued; that the workplace has a psychosocially safe climate (PSC; Dollard & Bakker, 2010). The construction and maintenance of a positive PSC likely also requires an administration that values and possesses emotional competence (Dollard, 2007). Through a relational developmental systems theory perspective (Lerner, 2006), preschool programs can be viewed as complex emotional ecologies wherein transactional relations promote child and adult growth and well-being. In this study we will provide evidence of the role of administrators’ SEL competencies in creating PSCs in preschools.

Objectives
This presentation will (1) briefly review prior qualitative evidence of pre-school administrators’ management practices that reflect a valuing of teacher well-being and psychological safety, (2) new survey data will be used to confirm the structure of the PSC model in preschool, and finally, (3) we will test whether administrators’ own emotional intelligence, and prioritization and provision of supports for SEL are associated with greater PSC.

Method
Data are drawn from two sources: (1) qualitative data garnered through a re-analysis of embedded case studies of two large Head Start programs represent an initial exploration of the psychosocial safety climate model in preschool settings; (2) an ongoing online study of administrators from early childhood programs across a Midwestern state (pilot N = 53, anticipated = 400) will be used to address aims 2 and 3.
Along with program and demographic characteristics, respondents to the online survey completed The Self-rated Emotional Intelligence Scale (Brackett et al., 2006), which assesses for components of perceived emotional ability (perception, understanding, regulation, and use of emotions) on a 5-point scale. Additionally, participants took the Psychosocial Safety Climate Scale that assessed four domains of PSC (commitment, prioritization, communication & participation; Hall, Dollard, & Coward, 2010). To more directly assess the PSC component of prioritization, program administrators ranked 10 common early childhood education director responsibilities by importance and reported on presence of 13 SEL and behavior management supports available to teachers (e.g., SEL curriculum, mental health consultation).

Results
Qualitative data showed mixed evidence of the four components of PSC across the two sites, with the components of management commitment and management priority being most robustly supported. These findings indicated a need to explore what contextual factors contribute to an administrator’s ability to facilitate and maintain a PSC that promotes teacher well-being. Analysis of our initial pilot survey data indicates variability in administrators’ beliefs and perceptions about the value of children’s emotions and investing in SEL, their own emotional intelligence, and their prioritization of teacher well-being. Final analyses will test differences by program type (center-based vs. home-based care) and funding source (tuition vs. non-profit). Mediation analyses among administrators’ emotional intelligence, provisions of supports for SEL, and center PSC will be presented.

Author

• Kate M. Zinsser, University of Illinois at Chicago