The Early Childhood Education Teacher Workforce: Journeys of Stress, Identity, and Choice

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Twelve
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers' Experiences and Journeys of Stress (Table 1)

Abstract

The early childhood education (ECE) workforce is critical. Research, however, focuses on stress as obstacle rather than stress as shaper of identity and choice. Once considered one of the fastest growing industries, obstacles (e.g., assessments, COVID-19) decimate the profession today with 25-30% of the workforce leaving annually. To reveal truths, the current study centered six Head Start (HS) teachers’ voices, implementing a sequential mixed-method design, asking (a) Who are the members of the ECE workforce, (b) With which stressors do they contend, and (c) What are the choices they make? Results and findings indicated that HS teachers saw themselves as 1) fragile and overburdened, 2) undervalued and ignored, and 3) planning to leave the profession. Implications and insights are discussed.

Author

• Cynthia Arraya Wiltshire, University of Texas - El Paso
  Presenting Author