What Drives Professional Fulfillment for Early Childhood Educators of Color? Workplace Relationships Are the Key

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

Educators of color working in early care and education (ECE) settings play an important role in cultivating an equitable environment for children’s development. To better understand the experiences of ECE educators of color and investigate the relational and psychological processes that sustain them in the profession, the current study examined the direct and indirect associations between workplace relationships (i.e., relationships with children, families, and colleagues) and teachers’ professional fulfillment (i.e., sense of meaning and accomplishment) via their perceived flourishing. The results suggest that positive relationships with children and colleagues play a critical role in promoting educators’ flourishing, which in turn relates to their greater professional fulfillment, whereas relationships with families were not directly related to sense of meaning and accomplishment.

Authors

• Xiangyu Zhao, University of Virginia

• Lieny Jeon, University of Virginia