The well-being of head start teachers: a scoping literature review

ABSTRACT

Attention to students’ socio-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes raises important considerations for the psychological well-being of teachers, especially Head Start teachers who often work with underserved families. This scoping review summarizes current literature on Head Start teacher psychological well-being and identifies 1. how teacher well-being is conceptualized and measured, 2. Which interventions exist to promote Head Start teacher psychological well-being or help them manage stress and 3. directions for future research. The review resulted in 32 articles (29 peer-reviewed and three gray literature). Findings highlight that research is primarily descriptive using cross-sectional surveys and secondary data. Evidence suggests that although resilient and committed as educators, Head Start teachers struggle to cope with the stressors involved in supporting early childhood education. Interventions to decrease stress and promote the psychological well-being are few but teachers indicate interest in such interventions. Autonomy, feeling valued for their work, collegiality between staff, and a supportive supervisor help improve job satisfaction, retention, and psychological well-being. Future research should be guided by conceptual models that prioritize Head Start teachers’ input, use of validated measures of psychological well-being with consideration of cultural and structural factors that influence well-being.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Donna Hesson, Welch medical library informationist for assistance in identifying search string strategies and Dr. Ginger Hanson and Dr. Lieny Jeon for their feedback and insights.

Author contributions

This article was conceptualized by Deborah Wilson and Dr. Nancy Glass. Deborah Wilson conducted the literature search. Deborah Wilson and Corinne Plesko reviewed the abstracts and read final full text articles for inclusion/exclusion. Deborah Wilson crafted the original draft preparation with Dr. Teresa Brockie and Dr. Nancy Glass. Corinne Plesko, Dr. Teresa Brockie reviewed, Deborah Wilson, Corinne Plesko and Dr. Nancy Glass edited subsequent versions. Dr. Nancy Glass provided overall guidance and supervision of this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1F31NR019742-01 FAIN: F31NR019742. “The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”; Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing Discovery and Innovation Fund. Under grant number 80055563; and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Center for Qualitative Studies (no grant number); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.