Sustaining the work-related wellbeing of early childhood educators: perspectives from key stakeholders in early childhood organisations

The capacities of early childhood educators to function well in their work environments are critical to providing high-quality programs for children. Few studies have investigated work-related wellbeing of educators from an organisational perspective. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that investigated the perspectives about the wellbeing of educators through interviews with nine senior managers employed in ECEC organisations in Australia. Data were drawn from individual interviews and analysed using principles of conventional content analysis. Four themes were identified in the data: health and safety issues (e.g. supports needed to ensure physical and emotional safety); operational challenges (e.g. issues related to work-related stress and importance of recruiting and retaining well-qualified educators); invisibility (e.g. complexities in educator’s work for which the impact on personal wellbeing may not be easily evident to others); supportive adult work environments (e.g. aspects of workplace design, work and staffing practices). The key stakeholders interviewed also identified strategies used to address workplace challenges that impact on educator wellbeing.