Peer-reviewed article
Early childhood professional well-being in Nova Scotia: A mixed methods study
Elizabeth Jean Larson, Jessie-Lee McIsaac ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This mixed methods study looks at the well-being of people who work in early childhood education in Nova Scotia, Canada. It used a questionnaire with 27 items and one open-response question. The statistical analysis found five profiles of professional well-being, from highest to low. The written responses were mostly negative and pointed to several overlapping external factors. The authors argue that understanding these patterns can inform policy supports that protect program quality for children.
Key points
- Latent profile analysis found five profiles: highest well-being, generally high well-being, active agency, comfortable well-being, and low well-being.
- More years of experience were associated with higher professional well-being.
- Newcomer status was associated with lower or medium levels of well-being.
- Content analysis of the open responses showed mostly negative views of professional well-being, often due to overlapping external factors.
- The document says professional well-being has been negatively associated with staff turnover, which can affect program quality.
Limitations
The study is about the well-being of early childhood professionals, not children, so any effect on children is indirect and not measured here. The abstract gives no sample size or details of how participants were recruited, and the survey design cannot show cause and effect.
Abstract
Ensuring access to high-quality programs and services can improve children’s long-term health and education outcomes and reduce inequities in health, income, and education in the population. The professional well-being of those working in the early childhood education sector has been negatively associated with levels of turnover, which in turn can impact program quality more broadly. Considering the variability of professionals working in the field of early childhood, it is important to better understand how their experiences influence their professional well-being. This study aims to address this gap, through a mixed methods exploration of survey responses to items on an Early Childhood Professional Well-Being questionnaire. We conducted both an Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) on 27 items and also a conventional content analysis of one open-response item and then compared and contrasted results to create a fulsome illustration of patterns of early childhood professional well-being. The LPA revealed five distinct profiles of professional well-being: highest well-being, generally high well-being, active agency, comfortable well-being, and low wellbeing. Years of experience and newcomer status had a relationship to profile membership, with more years of experience associated with higher professional well-being and newcomer status with lower or medium levels of well-being. Our content analysis revealed mostly negative perspectives regarding professional well-being, most often due to various, overlapping external factors. Greater understanding of profile membership and what may impact it as well as the larger external systems that affect early childhood professionals will help to inform policy supports for professional well-being of specific individuals, thereby promoting professional wellbeing and, in turn, overall program quality.