Exploring early childhood teachers’ professional experiences in a high-risk setting

Early childhood (EC) teachers are considered critical in supporting young children's development (Burchinal et al., 2000), yet in this role, they are frequently vulnerable to stress, depression, and burnout, which constrains their capacities to engage in high-quality interactions with children (Curbow, Spratt, Ungaretti, McDonnell, & Breckler, 2000; Gilliam, 2008). Their challenges are especially taxing in high-risk environments (Raver et al., 2008), with stressors including inadequate supervisory support (Curbow et al., 2000). However, while the national picture of EC teachers' challenges is clear, we know little about EC teachers' views of their professional identities and work as related to their beliefs about supporting children's development. We also know little about their strategies and responses to daily stressors (e.g., children's challenging behaviors), considering in particular the extent to which they draw on self-regulation (S-R) skills or more externally focused strategies in response. Ultimately, the design of targeted, effective professional support depends upon such an understanding. This thesis, a year-long, mixed-methods study nested within a larger capacity-building initiative (Nonie Lesaux and Stephanie Jones, co-PIs), was designed to explore teachers' professional experiences and their strategies for stress and behavior management, with the goal of generating hypotheses for enhanced teacher professional development (PD). The first study explores EC teachers' views of their professional identities and work, and the ways in which these views relate to their perceptions of their classroom teaching, using teacher interview and survey data from 10 EC teachers at a high-risk site about their burnout, self-efficacy, and teacher experience, as well as teacher reports of daily stress and field notes from weekly workshops.

Grounded theory and descriptive analyses were used to investigate teachers' perceptions of interactions with children and other professionals. A second study explored EC teachers' use of stress and classroom management strategies, particularly in the context of escalating cycles of stress, utilizing classroom observations of teachers and surveys on teacher job stress, self-regulation skills, and teacher experience in addition to the interviews above. The thesis concludes with policy recommendations for enhanced support of EC teachers in high-risk settings, as well as hypotheses to support practitioners and site directors in those settings. Overall, study findings reveal that teachers supported children's developing independence with explicit teaching, but struggled to maintain their sense of competence in their professional interactions. Furthermore, teachers' responses revealed challenges with self-awareness and difficulties with emotional expression, which appeared to be exacerbated in the face of stress. Finally, even in the face of daily classroom challenges and emotional exhaustion, teachers described persisting in their support of children's needs.