Concern For Early Childhood Teachers’ Wellbeing - Survey

Inadequate staffing levels at early childhood centres may be compromising teachers’ wellbeing, according to the findings of the New Zealand Early Childhood Education and Kōhanga Reo Hauora Health and Wellbeing Survey.

NZEI Te Riu Roa is calling for better teacher to child ratios in the early childhood education sector to address the problem.

The Deakin University survey, commissioned by NZEI Te Riu Roa, asked early childhood and kōhanga reo union members about their working conditions, health, and wellbeing. 228 New Zealand early childhood teachers and centre managers took part in the survey in 2021.

According to the findings, respondents in early childhood centres that are staffed at the minimum required ratios are experiencing more burnout, more sleeping problems, higher job demands, and are twice as likely to experience physical violence when compared to their counterparts at centres staffed better than the minimum required levels.

“These findings suggest that the staffing levels at our early childhood centres are inadequate and need to be reviewed,” said NZEI Te Riu Roa ECE representative Virginia Oakly. 
“We must ensure that all teachers are supported to provide the best possible education for tamariki without compromising their wellbeing.”

Regardless of staffing levels, early childhood teacher and centre manager respondents are experiencing significantly higher levels of burnout, stress, and sleeping troubles when compared to a general healthy working population, the survey found.

Alarmingly, one third of respondents also reported experiencing bullying during the last 12 months. 15% indicated they had experienced bullying from colleagues, 5% from parents, and 1% from tamariki. 25% of respondents also reported experiencing physical violence from tamariki, while 2% was from parents.

“It is not acceptable that early childhood teachers are dealing with bullying and physical violence in the workplace,” said Ms Oakly.

“Early childhood teachers do vital work to educate and care for our tamariki, and they should be safe at work.”

The survey confirmed that the respondents care deeply about their work, with 80% of respondents reporting they are passionate about their work – significantly higher than the global working population average of 11 – 13%.

“Early childhood teachers’ passion for educating our tamariki should not be exploited,” said NZEI Te Riu Roa President Liam Rutherford.

“We need better adult to child ratios, guaranteed and funded non-contact time for teachers, and more support for tamariki with additional learning needs in the early childhood sector.”

This can be achieved through both Government policy and collective agreement negotiations.

Early childhood teachers need more support to be able to guarantee the high-quality education that all whanau expect and that all tamariki deserve.

Click here to view the full Early Childhood Education and Kōhanga Reo Hauora Health and Wellbeing report.

Notes: 
- Though these data may reflect the current situation and trends, there is no guarantee this survey sample is representative of the broader early childhood teacher population. 
- Job demands are the physical, psychological, social and organisational aspects of a job that require continuous physical and/or psychological effort.
- Bullying in the report is defined as repeated exposure to unpleasant or degrading treatment in the workplace, which the person finds it difficult to defend themselves against.
- The current minimum teacher to child ratio is 1:5 for under twos. For two-year-olds and over, the current minimum ratio is 1:10. NZEI Te Riu Roa wants to see ‘real ratios’ where the number of teachers per child allows teachers to give adequate supervision and teaching to all tamariki.

© Scoop Media