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Review
. 2023;51(4):781-789.
doi: 10.1007/s10643-022-01345-y. Epub 2022 Apr 12.

Exploring the Challenge of Teachers' Emotional Labor in Early Childhood Settings

Cammy J Purper  1 , Yvonne Thai  1 , Thomas V Frederick  1 , Shari Farris  1
Affiliations
Review

Exploring the Challenge of Teachers' Emotional Labor in Early Childhood Settings

Cammy J Purper et al. Early Child Educ J. 2023.

Abstract

One challenging aspect of working in early childhood education settings is engagement in emotional labor. Research suggests that emotional labor is associated with emotional exhaustion and burnout in early childhood teachers, but there is limited research available on this issue. Research focusing on early childhood contexts in the United States is especially limited. This paper explores the concept of emotional labor by early childhood teachers and reviews some of the research on teachers' experience of emotional labor in the classroom. Implications of the current research are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided. Possible solutions to the challenges of emotional labor are presented, focusing on mindfulness strategies.

Keywords: Early childhood; Emotional labor; Mindfulness.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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