Abstract:
Job demands and satisfaction are an important correlate of early childhood (EC) teachers’ and educators’ intention to leave, and a critical consideration in the current Australian context, where attrition and workforce shortages are widespread. EC work involves high levels of multi-tasking, task rotation, and other stresses, but also reported as professionally and socially rewarding. This paper draws on Bakker and Demerouti’s (2007) Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model to explore these seemingly discordant findings in a national sample of teachers/educators working in high quality EC settings. Sample selection and recruitment was guided by information provided by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.
Detailed information on participants’ work activities and ratings of job demands and satisfaction were gathered on an hourly basis, via a smartphone time use diary (TUD) app. A total of 3,512 hours of TUD data were recorded by 321 teachers/educators for 20 randomly selected hours over 10 workdays. Overall ratings of job satisfaction were high (M = 7.2 on a 10-point scale) and low for job demands (M = 3.8), but varied across the day, by the type and number of work activities completed, and by participants’ qualifications, positional responsibility, and type of EC workplace. While satisfaction was negatively correlated with demands (r = -.40), high ratings were maintained during periods of high job demands. Importantly, TUD data enabled fine-grained insights and more nuanced understandings of work demands/satisfaction than possible through one-off surveys. Findings have important implications for supporting quality EC practice and reducing educator burnout and attrition.
Detailed information on participants’ work activities and ratings of job demands and satisfaction were gathered on an hourly basis, via a smartphone time use diary (TUD) app. A total of 3,512 hours of TUD data were recorded by 321 teachers/educators for 20 randomly selected hours over 10 workdays. Overall ratings of job satisfaction were high (M = 7.2 on a 10-point scale) and low for job demands (M = 3.8), but varied across the day, by the type and number of work activities completed, and by participants’ qualifications, positional responsibility, and type of EC workplace. While satisfaction was negatively correlated with demands (r = -.40), high ratings were maintained during periods of high job demands. Importantly, TUD data enabled fine-grained insights and more nuanced understandings of work demands/satisfaction than possible through one-off surveys. Findings have important implications for supporting quality EC practice and reducing educator burnout and attrition.